I just cut through a 6x6 pressure treated beam with my Ryobi brushless circular saw. Didn't even bother to upgrade to a diablo blade. And it worked great!
I made six more similar cuts. No problem.
If I was doing this every day, would I upgrade to Milwaukee? Probably. (More than likely buy a corded saw.) But for weekend home improvement projects, don't doubt the power!
Yeah I heard they made a promise back in the day or something, that they wouldn't change the battery dimensions. Hence you still have the old school "stalk".
Which I really admire, but I'm currently looking for a tool ecosystem for at home, and it makes me lean away from them for some reason. No real logical reason, as I absolutely love the wide range of diy tools they have.
Same for Harbor Freight. Great tools for light duty use, but if you're doing big jobs frequently, spring for something better.
I've had a HF drill since 2005 and it only recently died. It can probably be fixed since it seems the trigger just wore out, but I got 18 years of use from it for like $15.
There are 2 schools of thought, and both are situationally relevant.
Buy the 2nd last tool you will ever need.
IE, buy light duty. If it breaks and you've been using it a lot, you will likely know what features you want, how much to spend etc on the replacement. At which point you buy a more suitable tool.
Buy once, cry once.
If you are spending $200 on a tool, and the $300 is better, maybe just buy the $300 one.
Certainly more applicable to when you already use similar tools, and you need another.
I bought early into the Dewalt system based on people saying Buy Once Cry Once. But the problem is that it locks you into the ecosystem and batteries. Then even if I want a relatively light-duty cordless tool, I’m sort of forced to always go to Dewalt.
If you’re relatively new to DIY work and similar, I do recommend the first philosophy.
I am in the same boat. I've bought a few of their tools and they are great for my purposes. I have a miter saw and a table saw of theirs. Both are probably junk compared to more expensive tools, but I use them 2-4 times a year. It doesn't make sense for me to get the more expensive stuff.
That said, if I start doing more I'll probably ditch them in a heart beat. 😆
This is a guess, but if you see a lot of gatekeeping on instagram - it's completely marketing crap. I notice the anti-ryobi posts (advertisements) often and it's ridiculous.
Got a great 5 pack and jigsaw, all brushless, for like $300 total at Home Depot during the memorial day sale. My first "tool kit". I'm hoping they hold up for a couple years!
I don't hate Ryobi I just prefer other tools. Milwaukee 12v are amazing for lightweight battery tools. They punch above their weight in a small light package.
When it comes to anything else heavy duty I just prefer corded tools. I have a Ryobi corded hammer drill and it's great.
I had a Ryobi battery mower and it went back to the store the same day. I replaced it with EGO.
Hilti is top teir, if I was working as a professional in construction I would probably invest in their tools over Milwaukee, same with Makita . I used to use lots of Hilti for powder actuated fasteners when I did commercial networking and fiber-optic infrastructure installation.
not every company makes a perfect tool for every market. Ryobi has some good ones, I am sure the Milwaukee 18v is good too but once im at that level of power I just get a corded tool, it costs less and its more reliable plus the batters are not $300 each.