Over on social media, several people have posted about a new Bosch cordless table saw GTS 18V-216, which we tracked down and found in Bosch New Zealand’s latest product catalog.
Bosch is only the latest professional tool brand offering a cordless table saw, following on the heels of Dewalt, Milwaukee, Metabo, and Metabo HPT.
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The new Bosch cordless table saw looks to be a straight-up adaptation of their GTS 635-216 corded table saw, but with a slower motor.
The corded table saw operates at 5,500 RPM, while the new cordless version operates at 4,000 RPM. Both have a 216 mm (8-1/2″) blade size. Keep in mind that these are specs for the international version – it is unknown as to whether Bosch North America will be releasing this or a different model to the USA market.
In comparison, most other cordless table saws feature a 8-1/4″ or 10″ blade size.
Metabo’s 18V cordless table saw has a 10″ blade size and operates at 5,000 RPM. What’s special about the Metabo is its built-in rolling stand.
Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel brushless table saw has an 8-1/4″ blade size and operates at 6,300 RPM, and it also features built-in One-Key connectivity.
Metabo HPT’s MultiVolt 36V cordless table saw has a 10″ blade size and operates at 5,000 RPM. The HPT can operate via battery power or MultiVolt AC adapter.
Dewalt’s Flexvolt table saw has an 8-1/4″ blade size and operates at 5,800 RPM.
In comparison, the specs for Bosch GTS 18V-216 cordless table saw are a bit of a disappointment. It has a small blade, similar to Milwaukee and Dewalt saws, but operates at slower motor speeds, at least on paper. Metabo and Metabo HPT (formerly Hitachi) have larger blade sizes and faster motors.
Milwaukee and Metabo cordless table saws are also powered by 18V power tool batteries, while the Dewalt is a 60V Max tool and the Metabo HPT a 36V tool.
Based on product imagery, it seems that Bosch simply took their existing 8-1/2″ table saw, and changed out the AC motor to a slower 18V DC-powered motor.
Maybe there’s more to it? If not, this seems to be a lackluster offering, but one that’s necessary if Bosch has any hope of keeping up with competing brands’ expanding cordless power tool lineups.
There is no word as to whether this will be coming to the upcoming line of Bosch Profactor cordless power tools. Their microsite lists some tools, such as the new Bosch Profactor cordless track saw, Bosch Hitman cordless rotary hammer, and several other Profactor tool categories, with no mention of a cordless table saw.
We would ask Bosch USA for more information, but 1) they have not answered questions about whether other international tool releases would be brought to North America, and 2) given Bosch’s historical patterns it’ll likely be a long time until it launches here, and that’s IF a variant of this cordless table saw is even slated for released here.
Jared
Any preliminary thoughts on how this compares to the competition?
It looks small, but it’s not like we can see it side-by-side with a red or yellow version.
A slower motor doesn’t sound like Bosch will be able to claim they have “corded level performance”.
Stuart
I can only speculate that maybe Bosch’s motor can’t eke enough power at higher RPMs, and so they dialed it back to prevent the saw from bogging down with deeper cuts or when working with denser hardwood materials.
On paper, other brands’ cordless table saws can deliver faster motor speeds with comparable and larger blade sizes.
Other brands also seem to have designed their cordless table saws from the ground up. From product imagery, the new Bosch looks identical to their corded saw except for 18V-related markings, which is why I used it as the front page image. Perhaps this placed some constraints as to the size of brushless motor Bosch could engineer into the same space?
I hope to learn more, but Bosch USA has not been answering questions about new or upcoming tools, and the questions they do answer are non-answers.
Jim Felt
It’s amazing to me as a ten plus year 10.8/12v and 18v Core battery system user that has had great Bosch US service that they are now so boneheaded regards press response and amateurish marketing. WTH?!
Stuart
To be fair, Bosch has always been standoffish when it comes to discussing international releases.
These days, it seems they’re standoffish about everything unless you’re an influencer that’s deemed worthy of special treatment.
fred
“influencer” as in yes-man or shill?
Maybe you should start of all your posts with “ladies and gentlemen step right up” and that might get their attention.
Big Richard
Metabo HPT has it figured out. 10″ blade for a little extra capacity over the competition, and AC capable. Win, win.
CountyCork
Stuart any information on these bit-turbo brushless motors and how they may or may not differ from other competitors brushless motors?
Stuart
Nothing yet.
Bosch USA/North America has only said that details will first be available in February.
I have never seen any specifics about what “BiTurbo” entails. It seems that Profactor tools with BiTurbo motors are optimized for use with their larger Profactor Core18V batteries.
In other words, BiTurbo seems to be brand designation (akin to M18 FUEL) for their tools that require high-capacity batteries for rated performance.
Todd
And here I thought this saw actually had turbos on it.
A W
Twin turbos, to be specific.
Peter
Details might be available soon but when the actual tool shows up if ever is another story.
Mike S
That looks like the smallest table for a table saw ever …
And, I have and use as my only table saw – the Milwaukee M18 Fuel saw.
I like my saw a lot, it works great – but, I wish it had a larger table.
Tom D
I can’t but Help read this as a “burrito table saw”.
Maybe 🌮 🔔 will but a bunch.
Koko The Talking Ape
I’m chary of the weird blade size.
Frank D
I may like a small table saw this day, for portability and small jobs, but I’d want it to be dual power = 110v & 18v
Or probably better than 18v: 36v using two 18v batteries
Add a similar dual power double bevel sliding or articulating chop saw.
Bingo. 110v power when you have it or setup for an extended period of time. 18v or 36v when you’re off the grid or won’t need to do anything extensively.
I don’t want get into 40v, 56v, 80v battery packs.
David Zeller
On a related (tablesaw, anyway) note, Stuart, can you share your thoughts on when you think we might have some SawStop competition, now that some of their patents will be expiring?
Thanks!
Stuart
My thoughts are that brands WILL come out with SawStop-like tech, if only as a legal defense.
https://toolguyd.com/bosch-reaxx-table-saw-delayed-interesting-lawsuit-reading/
https://toolguyd.com/thinking-aloud-about-the-bosch-reaxx-table-saw/
But even if competing products will exist, will they be competitive?
Before Bosch’s Reaxx was declared by the court to be infringing upon SawStop IP, early adopters didn’t have the best experiences with it.
https://toolguyd.com/court-rules-in-favor-of-sawstop-over-bosch-reaxx-injury-mitigating-table-saw-patent-infringement-suit/
I didn’t have the best experience testing it – https://toolguyd.com/bosch-reaxx-table-saw-review/
Shortly after+wards, Bosch put out a statement saying that you couldn’t use a smartphone near the saw and that if you had to have your phone with you it needs to be in “airplane mode.”
https://toolguyd.com/bosch-reaxx-table-saw-hesitations/
Brands are all going to have a learning curve getting to the reputation SawStop enjoys today.
When the Bosch came out, it retailed for $1500.
I ended up giving it back to Bosch, via pickup by the local service center manager.
Overall, it seemed like a great concept but the product wasn’t quite ready for market.
Bosch has had several years to refine their tech, and I cannot imagine that they wouldn’t have put the time to good use, refining their own active injury mitigation tech.
In other words, my predictions are based on past observations and experiences, but much of that isn’t valid anymore when looking to the future. I’m not quite sure what to expect.
David Zeller
I guess my twist on your thoughts (thank you, by the way), would be that the other companies wouldn’t have to go through the full process that Bosch did in terms of avoiding patent infringement. Let’s hope that’s the case anyway.
Plain grainy
I wonder if we will ever see a battery powered Sawstop?
Plain grainy
Funny! I didn’t read David’s post on Sawstop until I posted. We were thinking down the same lines!
David Zeller
That is funny. I saw your comment and wondered. 🙂
Stuart
Keep in mind that Festool now owns SawStop.
Festool’s table saw products aren’t available here, but they could make Festool cordless power tool tech available to SawStop engineers.
OldDominionDIYer
Lackluster is a great way to phrase this potential entry. No rack and pinion fence adjustment either, blah, so yesterday! I would guess they will go down to 8 and 1/4 blade size and up the RPMs slightly for any USA version. Still not exactly a great competitor especially from Bosch, I tend to think their corporate plan has gotten off the rails a bit recently, sad really.