Wow. I'm blown away with the great length you guys went through to put together the best tool test/review I've ever seen. Nice job guys and TY 👍

Amazing review! I wonder is the major companies do as in-depth as you guys?’!?! Simply amazing.

You guys put a LOT of thought and thorough, insightful analysis into all of your reviews. Keep up the good work!

It is nice to see unbiased and very well thought out testing procedures as well as real life applications with tools. Nice job!

This comparison review is one of the best I’ve ever seen... Well done.

I own the Makita as I'm pretty vested into their 18v LXT lineup. The one thing that Makita did with their cordless compact is that they made it interchangeable with all of the corded version bases along with the dust collection port which is a huge plus. I usually keep my cordless in with my corded kit so I'm fully equipped out in the field. I agree that it would be nice to have a better micro adjustment, but my plunge base works great for that. Good video, thanks!!

As always the best reviewing channel hands down. I watch reviews on everything. This channel by far is the best. Keep up the good work. You guys have something special here.

I love the reviews of the cordless stuff because even if I don’t run that particular battery platform in general it gives me places where exceptions can be made and it makes buying a certain brand while not all that often, worth it.

I'm a part time technophobe or maybe just lacking common sense. Either way it wasn't so long ago that in order to get the information from channels like yours you had to actually know a woodworker (willing to school you). And outside of a bored uncle who does more grumbling than teaching.(ok that's my personal experience) The point of my rambling is to say 💭 "I'm truly grateful to you, the Tool Box Buzz crew and the other ppl and channels dedicated to keeping the craft of wood working not just alive but thriving.. My 10 yr old grandson spends a weekend with me each month. And one of my biggest joys is watching him bypass the playstation 🎮 to don work clothes, goggles. Eager to build something. Seriously Thankful for all that you do 👍🏾

Wow that's a lot of good information! Half of that I never even thought of. I love your passion for getting us the information we need

Wanted to thank you guys for all the time you put in to the test you do.

As always another great review. Your channel has helped me make quite a few tough tool decisions and it is great to get such good details and knowing exactly where each manufacturer stands with each tool. Thanks

TBB - Thank you’re for another great tool review. Keep the videos coming!

This is how comparison videos should be done. Right to the point, specific details and explanations of the characteristics compared, why they matter and how each router fared. I'm just getting back into woodworking after learning a bit as a kid and I don't often know which features are most important for me or why I should look for them. I bought a starter pack of power tools from a bunch of different sellers on a garage sale app. I did pretty well (I think) saving a ton of money over new and videos like this helped a bunch in choosing. But, I didn't look at (apparently) the right video before buying a used corded plunge router and got a Craftsman Industrial for $30. It wasn't until I started to look at it and clean it up that I realized two limitations that I'd overlooked (3 if you count the fact that Craftsman is now owned by Stanley Black & Decker and parts are problematic because it's on the older side): it's got 1 speed at 12,000rpm and it came with zero accessories, which means I need a 1/4" adapter if I'm going to use anything other than 1/2" bits. Still, so far it seems to be a pretty good buy, though I haven't actually used it, yet. Lesson learned. One lesson I did learn before I started was to buy all corded tools in the beginning and I did. With the exception on cordless drill and driver which I got from my brother in law, they're all corded. The drill/driver set are Dewalt, and I have two batteries and a charger for them, so I got lucky there. Likely, if I buy any other cordless tools, they'll be Dewalt, too, if for no other reason than batteries are ridiculously expensive and don't often come with the tools much, especially second-hand. Glad he knew what he was about with tools and didn't buy cheap.

I've been looking for a comprehensive review of cordless routers and this is by far the best and most comprehensive review I found anywhere. Thank you for the detailed information. I can now make my purchase with peace of mind.

This is the review I was waiting for, thanks and good work

Amazing review! I don't know how you guys find the time to do such in-depth reviews, but we all appreciate your efforts. Well done and thank you.

I am blown away by the time and effort that you put into this video! It is greatly appreciated. Thank you. I just subscribed.

AGAIN ANOTHER HOME RUN !!! I honestly have been in the market for one of these new cordless routers but I was waiting for all the manufacturers to get their foot in the door.. Thank you so much for another killer review and for helping me make my decision and cut one more cord outta my life!! Big 👍

The corded Makita is the reason why I bought 2 of the cordless ones. Absolutely love everything about that trim router. That also got me into their 18V platform which was nice. Excellent comparison video.

Always the best reviews keep them coming . And I just want to say it’s great how much work your crew and yourself puts into testing all these tools. Thanks for the great and honest reviews 👍🏼

Thanks for putting all this time in to doing this test. very well done

As usual. I like the unbiased reviews Rob & his team.

Comprehensive as always Rob and team. Great work

Awesome job guys!! Y’all are the best unbiased tool review channel on here! Hope your channel continues to grow!!

A year after this well done, as always, video I still highly value my Makita 18V trim router. I chose it mostly for battery commonality with my many other Makita cordless tools but still appreciate the meticulously tested competing brand evaluation points. Thanks again!

Wow! One of the best reviews I’ve ever seen!! No delays, no repeats, no stumbling, just review!!! Thanks. I’m getting the Milwaukee

Your videos are really top quality material. Your explanations are clear and simple with no bull. Thank you for your time and work. Big thumb up!

Again thorough and outstanding review thank you all very much KCB (UK)

the best tool review channel on youtube hands down!

Another great vid. Guy’s so intense and passionate. You know his job sites are productive as hell. It’s awesome to see that old school seriousness in a builder, I’m pridefully thinking it’s a mass. thing.

Robert and Crew, thank you for the amazing tutorial on these awesome tool line. It took lots of time to think the process through, time to film this, edit it, and push it out to us. Much appreciated, in all of the outstanding details you put in it. I am a Makita man myself and will be picking one up today for sure, I don't do tons of router work but enough to have one when I need to, and how can I go wrong with Makita. Thank you!!

Best comparisons on the web guys. Methods that reduce bias. Congratulations

A lot of detail and work went into this video. Keep up the good work.

Love your work Sir You guys put lot of time and effort to break down the nitty gritty details Thanks heaps

One of the best reviews i've ever seen. I wasn't even that interested in routers, but I watched whole video and feel confident knowing what to get even though I have the ridgid platform. I would get the dewalt. Thanks.

I paid $36 for the Ryobi around Xmas. It's worked fine for my handheld uses. Those other brands seem to sell for 4 to 5 times as much in the real world. But if I had a CNC rig like that, Yes I'd want a better router to go with it.

Thank you, thank you!!! Maybe the best product comparison video I have ever seen! I'll look for more on your channel.

You guys are the kings of testing tools, it's astonishing. Love your thorough videos. I'm glad you pointed out the Makita base plate issue, I ended up selling mine when I couldn't get a Chamfer bit through it, never thought to just plunge it through. The Dewalt is an amazing tool.

Love the iced coffee inside the styrofoam cup. I'm going to use this trick from now on.

Love my ridgid. Great video, thanks for putting it together.

Excellent and thorough explanation and experimental design. This is truly useful information. Well done and thank you.

Another great, thorough, attention to detail review. Thanks for sharing!

You guys are the best! Thank you. I'm buying the dewalt.

Just brilliant comparison! Great review! I am just about to make my choice. Thanks for your help! Greetings from Russia!

Another excellent review. I so appreciate all the work you do for your viewers. A+

I always look for your channel because the information is always right on point. Thanks

The Ryobi ia on sale at Home Depot for $49. Two 4 hr batteries are on sale for $79. That's a winner for me.

absolutely awesome video as always. I'm a makita guy and got all makita stuff except for the nailers where I opted for Ryobi and use a makita-to-ryobi battery convertor I got for 20$. I love the makita trim router - I think it's great value.. If I had to remake the choice of "which company to swear by" I did years ago I'd say I would have a hard time between makita and dewalt.

Lovly refreshing straight to the point review Thankyou. Been looking at the dewalt for some time and you’ve sold it to me so appreciate your time and effort 👍🏻

Thanks for the video.What truly is amazing to me is the technology growth in the last 30 years I was a Trim Carpenter back then and I remember when Makita came out with their cordless Drill with the long battery in the handle that started the technology race very nice there was nothing more frustrating than having to walk down 9 or 10 floors to trace your power loss Semper Fidelis

I have the Dewalt Cordless Router and love it, glad to see it won the testing, but like others have said, I'm heavily committed to the Dewalt Battery lineup and while I do have a few Milwaukee tools and a few batteries, I mostly try and stick to DeWalt unless I feel that the Milwaukee or Metabo or whatever is that much better. (I own the Milwaukee gen2 Brad nailer and the Metabo cordless framing nailer because I believe they are so much better than the dewalt that I'm willing to have other batteries kicking around just for those tools)

Great review as always. your reviews are must watch any time i'm in the market for a new tool. I appreciate the work you put in to giving us an unbiased review of the tools in all different categories. for me, I am pretty heavily invested in one battery platform so i will usually go with that particular platform if it comes out near the top of the testing. But i do have a few cordless tools of other brands where the tool is just so much better.

This was a great review. I mean, this is how reviews should be done. Gold standard. Thank you! I'm right handed so Milwaukee (which of course means... the good earth) it is. Also I already have Milwaukee batteries for my drill/driver set.

Outstanding. The DeWalt Cordless Router will be my seasonal gift to myself. Thank you.

Gee i DO love your "Head To Head tests. It seems like you're having a lot of fun doing a real piece of work at the same time. I think I envy you. And it's so pleasant to watch the competition even though my favouite didn't take the lead. :)

Love the use of the CNC in your testing...Do you have a previous video where you do a rundown/walkaround of this machine or planning on doing one in the future?

I have a plunge base that a rub collet fits into from a Corder dewalt router. It fits the cordless 20v router! It's a nice stable 2 handled base to fit a cordless router. Makes the dewalt more useful in my opinion. It's been very convenient running that platform of batteries! Great reviews here. I love it keep it up!

great video . Was wondering about this for months. Thank you.

Agree with your ranking, but I wound up getting a Ryobi at a ridiculous low price (

Early Halloween video? You got most of the ingredients for a pretty strong jumpscare at the start of this video.

Fantastic review. I really appreciate your attention to detail. All the best in the new year.

This video was essential to helping me choose which router to buy. Thanks Rob!

I just bought the ryobi in a three pack bare tool set from Home Depot. Glue gun, cordless router, and sander for 74 bucks. It was on the daily deal page. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I don’t use a route a bunch and have a big corded Hitachi when I need to get super serious. Thought that a cordless router will come in handy though when I don’t want to pull the big hitachi out. Great review as always!! 🍻🍻

Great review! Bigger stator diameter on the motor translates to lower RPM, but higher torque. That's why the Dewalt was the fatty of the group/less comfortable to hold over time, but ripped through the boards faster. That also translates to increased efficiency/longer battery life and most likely more longevity.

When I look for tools review I always eek you guys out first keep making great videos.

Very comprehensive as always. Thank you!

Great job on this video guys! My boy dewalt champion again. I gotta be honest I kinda don't like the screw adjustment. I had an old black & Decker with the rack and pinion which was basically a copy of the dewalt at the time. Maybe I'm just used to the old one. I've only used the dewalt twice since I got it a year ago. Maybe it'll grow on me. I love everything else about it. Love the soft start. (I'm talking about the corded router)

I love these reviews SO much!!! I have the Makita router and was just using it today. I love it and if I had to have one complaint it would be the small base size. But if the base was larger it wouldn't really be a compact portable router. Keep up the great work Rob! I'm sure everyone appreciates everything you do.

Wow....What a FANTASTIC review! Thank you!

Rob, another great review! Thanks for that, I just ordered my own based on your review.

Your scoring system does help us very much. Just pure ranking doesn't help to know how much difference there is between them. (I.e. the 1st and 5th may be nearly the same on some categories and vastly different for others.)

One of the best tool comparisons ever. Excellent work and info.

I was on the fence on which router to get my hands on. Now thanks to you I know what to get. Dewalt it is 👍🏼👍🏼

I like this style of review straight forward and highly informative, you must have been good at presentations in school!

Great job as usual....keep 'em coming!

Great review as usual and only channel on KZfaq id take tool advice from

The Dewalt has the benefit of being the same size as their compact routers so the plug in stuff is the same size; I gave the plunge base and it makes it a much more useful tool.

Your reviews are great and very much assist in my new purchases. Thank you...

Best testing on KZfaq. Always. No silliness as we see on some other channels.

i have Makita and all i ever done with it is cut hinges and intuminescent strips :D, all my cordless tools are makita :D

Great review! In my opinion all of this brands get the job done some have better features than other. But that’ll mean different chargers and batteries. I’ll have to stick with Ridgid just because already own 4 of them tools. Great job thank you 👍

My go to channel when I'm getting a new tool. Thanks

Best unbiased review!!!!!! Good stuff guys!!

Man I like this guy

hi guys as a owner of many milwaukee (mostly smaller tools impact wrenches skillsaw) and dewalt ones (mostly big ones table saw, planer etc) i bought router from dewalt in uk , it comnes as a set with two base 2 fences separate translucent bases for fixed base dust shrouds and 2 collets in box ....pricy but amaizng value, for 30 pounds you get atachment that conect your router to dewalt rails (any dadaos in any place on earth) fixed base is a bit thick but you can buy spare one from corder version (both are almost same) which doesnt have that rubber pad around (that make it thick ) its true about posubility to move ring during work ...but you really have to push on it ,,,,and personaly i keep my both hand on d shaped piece of base for stability(that ring have small advantage beyond being more precise than others , if you fill up inside your base with chips you can press both butons on ring remove base tilt to clear it (still holding ring in other hand ) than put it back keeping same bit distance ,sound dodgy but found it working with mdf a life saver , ps . plunge base acceps guides , same as round insert (translucent plastic) for fixed base (in uk its TREND standard) best regards mark

Great review! Quick, no nonsense, get to the facts review. Just what viewers are looking for. Thx

This is probably the single best comparison for actual use ive ever seen

Comprehensive testing and evaluations, but Ryobi was rarely even mentioned. Some DIY vs Pro snobbery? Ryobi certainly does what it needs to do in the DIY arena, its intended market. Are there some design issues? Absolutely! But for the current price of $49, the occasional trim router user can't go wrong. I own both Dewalt and Ryobi cordless tools and each is chosen based on my needs, features and perceived value and each well satisfies.

I have the Ryobi router here, and while I think you were a bit hard on it in some spots -- e.g. you said it had one of the best depth adjustment mechanisms, then in that ergonomics category it placed 4th somehow -- I agree it probably comes in last when compared to these other routers. But if you're already invested in the Ryobi line, it's a very capable tool and a great deal, so you should buy it. That said, if I was to replace all my Ryobi 18V today, it'd probably be with the Milwaukee stuff over the Dewalt. I'm starting to get into Milwaukee's 12V line now, and it's great for lighter-duty tools, with a nice trade-off in size and weight. The 12V stuff used to be dogs, but Milwaukee's 12V tools are the sweet spot for DIYers today -- mostly the FUEL brushless stuff, but even some brushed tools like the 3/8" ratchet is excellent and in some cases a better choice.

Another excellent review. I'm all Makita in the shop and in the field. The cordless router is a sweetheart. I make my own bases so I fixed the small base issue.

Incredible attention to detail. Great job guys

These detailed tool performance videos are interesting and helpful but for a lot of us I suspect it will come down to which manufacturers system we’re already invested in. It’s great to see the progress with cordless tools over the past few years and it’s tempting to just get the tool that wins the “best of” in shoot-outs like this but how much time and / or money does one save, or how much benefit does one derive from having the “best” cordless saw from one company, the “best” drills from another and the “best” router from yet another - especially given the the differences are often small? Just having to deal with spare batteries and chargers from multiple manufacturers more than offsets performance differences between most tools. How about an adapter that allows a Makita battery work in a Milwaukee tool? Or a universal charger that will work with any of the big 3?

As a cabinet maker who rounds all my edges on cabinetry... I could spend 8 hours on a trim router on a large job. Holding a trim router with 1 hand for that amount of time is excruciatingly painful and difficult. I had to add a hardwood handle onto makita trim router. And yes the base on it sucks. I made my own base kinda like the DeWalt base but with a larger square flat surface. After taking care of those details I have 0 issues with the router and I could not imagine replacing it at this time. I already went through a DeWalt router. The motor speed was all funky. I don't have much confidence in DeWalt durability since I've had 2 DeWalt Routers and a few DeWalt drills that crapped out on me. Never had a Makita crap out unless I broke it being a dummy

Glad to see you have ryobi in the mix even if it can't keep up

Hey guys, Thanks for your review on Cordless Routers. Very informitive, detailed information that is truely relative to the end user. Thanks again now to go by my new Cordless Router:)

Thanks for keeping us Left Handers in mind!

LOVE my Dewalt trim router.

These have to be the best tool test vids on You Tube

I have and like very much the Makita unit. I found the base to gall sometimes creating a kind of rocking motion in travel. I made a replacement base with a piece of HMWPE. It works so much more smoothly now.