Bosch has come out with a new “FREAK 2.0” 18V brushless impact driver/wrench, model GDX18V-1800C.
There hasn’t been any press materials on the new Bosch Freak (Freak 2.0?), but it looks to be a completely revamped design.
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Compared to the original model, the new Bosch Freak 18V brushless impact/driver wrench is faster, more powerful, more compact, and a little lighter.
Design-wise, the new Bosch Freak has a base-mounted LED, compared to around the chuck for the original model. It is also Bluetooth connectivity-compatible (GCY30-4 is optional, not included).
Basically, it’s a complete upgrade.
Like the other hybrid-chuck tools, the Bosch 18V brushless impact driver/wrench has a 1/4″ hex screwdriver bit holder and 1/2″ square drive anvil. It also has 3 speed/torque settings, for better control and reduced chance of fastener damage.
- 1/2″ square drive
- 1/4″ hex shank power groove chuck
- 1800 in-lbs max torque
- 0-1,100 / 0-2,300 / 0-3,400 no-load RPM settings
- 0-4,200 IPM max
- 5.8″ length
- Weighs 2.6 lbs
GDX18V-1800CB25 kit comes with (2) CORE18V 4.0Ah compact batteries, Bosch’s next-gen 21700 cell tech batteries, a charger, belt clip, and carrying bag.
A bare tool version, GDX18V-1800CN is also available.
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Price: $299 for the kit, $159 for the bare tool
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Bosch also has a brushed motor version of the 2-in-1 impact driver/wrench. It’s currently bundled as part of a drill and impact combo kit, for $149 at Amazon.
Harry Ballzanya
I’m still confused as to why Bosch is trying so hard to work the edgy / eXtReMe angle. It’s just beyond cringeworthy
Truth
Kinda like the name
Tool Time Paddy
I’m not a big fan of the names & cartoonish promotional material but it has people talking which is not a bad thing for a company that has been lagging behind the competition. I can deal with silly marketing names if the products deliver top notch performance and longevity at a competitive price.
Jared
The “freak” really is a good idea. Combo wrench/driver makes this tool kind’ve a bargain since you don’t need to buy both.
Why move the LED to the bottom though? Wouldn’t it provide better, shadow-free illumination with the old design?
When I scanned the new version picture I thought, just for a moment, maybe those three lines on the grip meant it was heated. 😛
Stephen
It looks like they did some work to make the working end of the tool more compact. Especially in the area above the trigger. Maybe they ran out of room for the LEDs?
Stuart
That’s what I thought too. Remember, it’s not just LEDs, but LEDs and wiring, however small.
Jason
I wish Milwaukee made an impact driver with a combo 1/4″ hex / 1/2″ square drive like this. Really great idea and seems so simple, just sucks that it’s on the Bosch cordless platform which doesn’t seem to be nearly as prolific as Milwaukee or DeWalt’s offerings (especially not in my shop)
Eric
The problem is torque. The Milwaukee 1/2″ impacts make tons of torque. You would probably find yourself breaking lots of 1/4″ hex bits, screws, and maybe the mechanism itself. They do make adapters though for both 3/8″ and 1/2″ to 1/4″ hex. I have one for my 3/8″ stubby impact.
The Bosch has the opposite problem in my mind. Not enough power. I think it would make a lot more sense with a 3/8″ anvil. That’s a more appropriate size for it’s torque. With only 150ft/lbs your not going to be using anything bigger than a 19mm socket on it anyway.
JakeJ
Your exactly right. I use the older GDX to drive 12mm (~1/2inch) coach screws (lag bolts). It’s perfect for this. I wouldn’t try to drive anything bigger, especially into hardwood
Bruce
150ft/lbs? Yeah, that’s about useless in a 1/2″ drive. Call me when you solve the problem of providing adequate torque for 1/2″ drive and not break bits in 1/4″
Joe framer
Awesome…only Milwaukee has more bpm..at 4300.. combined with 1800 inlb..makes it a very good tool…very nice design ……I picked up the brushed version at Lowe’s ..it was $79 but marked down to $59…with a charger and 1/ core battery 2ah
Corey
To me, 150 ftlb still seems paltry for an adequate half inch drive torque wrench. I dig on the concept of the tool, but there’s just such a gap from it’s capability to almost any other dedicated tool.
Jim Felt
We’ve had the predecessor model for a number of years and everyone appreciates its dual nature. That said we’ve got far bigger impact gear if needed. But that’s not these thing’s advantage.
It’s exactly what it is. And if our old one ever fails (not likely in our 20+ year Bosch experience) I’d replace it with this newer model.
Oh. Hate the branding “names”…
Jorn
Finally! I’m definitely buying this. Thanks for the update.
Jorn
Aaaaand it won’t ship for 2-3 months…. booo.
NewtonsApple
This would be much more compelling if it did around 250 ft/lbs torque given the 1/2″ drive.
Stephen
As others have noted, more torque would increase the risk of breaking 1/4″ bits and/or the fasteners they drive.
Eric
I’m quite sure a 1/4” hex wouldn’t hold up. Kind of defeats the purpose. Although I’m not sure what the purpose of this is. Maybe a 3/8” drive anvil would be more size correct
JakeJ
I saw one on a job site here in Australia a few weeks ago. It was this model , but with just a 1/4 inch bit holder. Felt really light and compact but the handle was a little different than the older brushless model. Still very comfortable, but just a little thicker I guess. (Maybe due to the space for the Bluetooth module??)
Chip
I’m pretty sure that they have to have the meat of the 1/2 square, because there is close to 5/16(from corner to corner of the 1/4 hex) taken out of the center of it.
Basically a square,with a hex removed from the center.
IMO it would be better to have a short bodied 3/8 square,and add an a 1/4 adapter to go over the end for the power aspect.
You couldn’t have a 3/8 square,with 5/16 taken out of the center…they would snap immediately.
CountyCork
If I didn’t already have the older version I’d be getting this. A lot of commenters seem to dislike the hybrid aspect because it doesn’t have enough torque to fully utilize the capabilities of 1/2 sockets. That’s not really a very good argument since having it eliminates the need for a torque reducing adapter. From all the videos Bosch has released on this it appears this was specifically made for construction crews vs the automotive world. I can say this takes off all my tire lugs for (2014 Sienna, Old 2000 Tundra, 2008 Santa Fe, and 2010 Hyundai Accent) but I also torque them correctly and take them off twice a year. When building my shed this impact was golden handling screws and lugs. I do have Bosch’s 500 ft.-lb torque wrench which I love using but it sits in my Husky Tool Box 99% of the time.
I’ve had the old impact for about 3 years now and has held up extremely well with quite a bit of farm abuse.
The What?
If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t the 1st generation of the freak released less than a year ago around the beginning of summer? This has got to be the shortest gap between generational tool releases that I’ve ever seen. It’s pretty bad that Bosch is having to release the 2nd generation of the freak this soon because of it being underpowered. You would think that with a name like the freak, Bosch would have made the most badass impact driver available with unmatched torque and power. But instead they made an underpowered 2in1 impact that couldn’t contend with tools in either class. They should have called it “the weak”. Bosch has never made an impact that could contend with Dewalt, Milwaukee and others even before the freak and yet they continue to promote themselves as a professional brand. Everyone else has already released an impact with the same specs or better more than a year ago aside from the recent Milwaukee release which Bosch doesn’t even come close to in comparison. Two generations released in under a year should definitely raise red flags and they obviously knew that they released a dud the first time around and now they look like Johnny come lately. This certainly didn’t help their reputation for being considered as a professional brand and the whole megawatt thing seems like an attempt to try to catch up to everyone else.
Stuart
You are mistaken.
The first tool of this kind came out 5 years ago: https://toolguyd.com/bosch-18v-brushless-hybrid-impact/
A new brushed motor version came out last year: https://toolguyd.com/bosch-18v-socket-ready-impact-driver/
Bosch renamed the original brushless model last summer: https://toolguyd.com/bosch-renames-their-18v-brushless-impact-driver-wrench-its-now-the-freak/
Clifford Alloway
Impacts are very nice, but the people making deck screws and lags need to catch up with impacts and produce fasteners rated for the power of today’s impacts and make them widely available for impact drivers before any tool company adds any more power to these tools, ’cause even this weak tool, as you call it, will break3 in. deck screws on speed and power 3 from time to time.
Regardless of brand we have started limiting the speed and torque on impacts because of what happened this summer. We had a steep roof that was 14 ft high in the attic above a 10 ft ceiling. We had to erect temporary wooden scaffolding to frame said roof, with deck screws after framing was done, and when we started taking the scaffolding apart I started finding a fair amount of broken screws. One man used a kobalt impact while the other impact was the bosch.
To conclude, big boy power is useless if it breaks fasteners, regardless of brand. I think there needs to be better fasteners made available and better education about the dangers of impacts used in residential construction or somebody will get seriously hurt. Thankfully, none of my men got hurt.
Seamus
GRK screws. Expensive yeah. But don’t strip or break. Unless you run in the small pan head ones into 2x on the highest Milwaukee torque setting like I did last week. The longer 3 to 4” ones I use most of the time? Haven’t broke one yet.
Clifford Alloway
Thanks, for info, just have been apprehensive about impacts from the beginning when I saw a friend using a m12 which broke deck screws in spf lumber.
We use grx brand for installing cabinets, but haven’t looked into their deck screws
DannyK
Bosch is getting into the brushless cordless tool game. A little late, but yay! Some people say 150ft/lb is weak. But that is what being used for years. I still have my Dewalt 20V 1/2″ mid torque impact wrench, which also is rated 150ft/lb. But I do like that hex/square drive a lot. I wonder if anybody is going to copy that.
Sam
Hmm, I am not a fan of the new Led lighting placement. They should have kept the older Led light positions as it’s far more user friendly and logical for actual use…kinda a slug move.
kjk
150 ft / lbs is pretty good for a small cordless compact impact wrench. Remember it is a tightening torque.
i prefer the 1/2 for everything, screws, bolts. No need to used adapter with this.
I do have a 2010 made 1/2 compact impact wrench from bosch. About an hour ago, tightened the bolt to 200nm with my 1/2 gedore torcofix k torque wrench. It opened in a 1-2 seconds. ( Only the electronics module once changed, and greases )
Jared r
Response to “the what?” There’s more to a professional tool brand than just power and torque. Bosch is a professional tool brand because they withstand abuse as good as any brand and can last for years. There’s more to tools than just a torque race.
Hank
Most deck screws shouldn’t be used in a shear situation anyways. There are some that are far superior than others, and also screws designed for structural applications. Use the right fastener for the job.
Bernice
Smaller physical size and lightweight cordless impact can get into places a larger and bulkier cordless impact could never get into. This becomes very important when wrenching on vehicles to construction. Weight becomes a big deal when there are a few hundred screws to install over several hours day after day.
Got the first generation of 14.4 volt Blue Core powered Bosch cordless impact wrenches over a decade ago. While these are short on power, they are small with good battery life and have proven to be totally reliable, durable and extremely useful to this day.
Torque spec for 1/2″ diameter x 20 Tpi, Grade 8 and M12 x 1.75 pitch Grade 10.9 hex head cap screw is about 100 ft/lb. These are about the largest common hex head cap screws-bolt used. At 150 ft/lb, that should be enough for the majority of common threaded fasteners used. Once threaded fasteners go past these diameters, that is when MUCH more powerful drive tools are needed. Other times when truly powerful impact tools are a must is when trying to deal with a stuck bigger threaded fastener larger than M10 or 3/8″ diameter with significant risk of breaking the head off the stuck fastener resulting in the horrid problem of trying to dig out a broken threaded fastener.
Ken
Can anybody tell me the difference between a GDX 18V- 1800C and a GDX 18V-200C
Stuart
I *believe* that one is the USA model in in-lbs, and the other is in Nm for metric regions.
To me, it looks like the same tool.
Ben
The only reason this impact has more torque is because of the 4 amp battery. The tool itself is dumb and both would most likely work poorly like mine with the 2 amp battery same as any other DC powered power tool. If you have the old version just get the higher amp battery it will work the same.