New Hitachi Cordless Tools Hint at a Comeback
It’s no secret that Hitachi seems to have fallen behind in the realm of professional level cordless power tools. Their strength has been in a loyal customer base and a physical design that is near the top in grip and feel. The power hasn’t been there as shown in our recent Heavy Duty Drill Shootout and 18V Impact Driver Roundup. It looks like that may all be about to change though.
Fresh on the heels of Hitachi’s purchase of Metabo, a new line of brushless cordless tools looks to bring Hitachi back to the professional conversation in a big way. The big news in the line is a new hammer drill that offers just over 1200 inch pounds of torque. On paper, the Hitachi DV18DBXL/JX Hammer Drill (Combi Drill on the other side of the pond) is the most powerful cordless drill available.
Hitachi has built in active torque control (Reactive Force Control) and worked out a new aluminum gear case. The kit comes with Hitachi’s new 6.0 amp hour batteries. This has been a point of concern since the kits we’ve tested recently have still been packed with 3.0 amp hour batteries. Hitachi did launch a 5.0 amp hour battery early last year in the US, but we haven’t seen it show up in our kitted tools yet. There’s also a new fast charger to talk about. This fan cooled system is said to charge the 6.0 amp hour batteries in just 38 minutes.
Hitachi DV18DBXL/JX Hammer Drill (European Model) Specifications
- Power Source: Hitachi 18V Battery
- No Load Speed: 0 – 500/0 – 2100 RPM
- Maximum Torque: 136 nm (1203.7 inch pounds)
- Hammer Rate: 31,500 BPM
- Drilling Capacity: 5/8″ (masonry), 3″ (wood), 1/2″ (metal)
- Torque Settings: 22
- Length: 8.03″
Other new Hitachi cordless tools in this 18V brushless family seem to include several drill/drivers, an impact driver, circular saw, bandsaw, angle grinder, and oscillating multi-tool.
On the storage side of things, Hitachi also has a new case coming out. The Hitachi Stackable case system is a Festool Systainer or Bosch L-Boxx-esque style with several different sizes available. Beyond simple storage, it looks like there will be custom cases for tool kits and a rolling caster base to move sets around. If we get to see all of these improvements in Hitachi cordless tools this year, it’s a pretty good bet that we’ll see the brand quickly rising.
Local Lowe’s is blowing out all Hitachi stuff, 25% to 50% off. I smell a total relaunch coming I bet with new displays and everything. Lowe’s had signed some deal with Hitachi last fall and I’ve seen nothing new so far. I just hope they stay with the 18v slide system!
Is there an SDS rotary hammer? I remember this sight saying that theirs was in serious need of an update. I also didn’t see an impact wrench in the lineup. Finally what size is the circular saw? 6 1/2″?
When is the NA release date??
When will they cross the pond??? I am a fan of their ergonomics, warranty is decent and have gone back and forth between their kits trying to settle on one but cant based on their offerings as far as tardy saws and other 18v guys. I see them on Hitachi UK but nothing for NA and was wondering if you had an ETA…..
Those boxes look an awful lot like old-style Systainers, which were sturdy but kind of a pain in the ass.