Hitachi isn’t one of the most dominant players in the USA cordless power tool market, but they make some fine tools. I drilled plenty of holes and drive in plenty of fasteners with an older Hitachi 18V drill, before donating it to Habitat for Humanity.
They last made headlines in 2013, when they launched a sizable expansion of their 18V Li-ion cordless tool platform. Hitachi’s 18V platform now includes brushed and brushless motor drills and drivers, a jig saw, planer, right angle drill, circular saw, reciprocating saw, grinder, blower, vacuum, impact tools, and a work light.
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Hitachi has been pressing forward, and recently announced their first-ever brushless oscillating multi-tool, model CV18DBLP4. The new brushless oscillating tool will be sold as a bare tool, and is compatible with all of Hitachi’s 18V slide-type Li-ion battery packs.
Features include:
- Tool-free blade change mechanism
- 6,000 to 20,000 oscillations per minute speed
- Variable speed dial
- “Auto-mode” speed select, which lets the tool determine the appropriate oscillation speed
- Soft startup
- Constant speed control
- Universal accessory holder is compatible with a majority of available accessories
- LED worklight
- Low battery indicator light
- Includes bi-metal plunge cutting saw blade
Hitachi also mentions that the feel of the brushless tools in hand reflects Hitachi’s detailed attention to balance, soft grip handle and pressure points; making this tool extremely comfortable to use, especially in odd positions or in tight places.
Price: $200
Available: Now
Buy Now(via Amazon)
I’ve used my fair share of oscillating multi-tools, and discussed the best oscillating multi-tools in a roundup-style recommendations post. Hitachi is a little late in the game, but I’m curious to see how well the new oscillating tool performs.
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The tool-free universal accessory holder is a plus, as is the brushless motor. The automatic speed selection feature is a new concept for this type of tool, and has added to my interest. Finally, all the talk about the feel in-hand has me convinced that this might not be a “me too” type of tool.
I’ve been somewhat jaded when it comes to oscillating multi-tools, but find myself excited to see Hitachi jump into the game. It sounds like Hitachi might have designed their new oscillating tool to give competitors something to sweat about.
I am also curious to see how well the tool-free blade change mechanism works. Not all tool-free mechanisms work alike, and so this is one feature that I have found can make or break a tool.
If you happen to get your hands on one before I do, please let me know what you think of it!
Jason
I wonder why Hitachi can’t gain any traction in the cordless tool market. They have a pretty big lineup of tools. I think they suffer from weak marketing. I think they could build their brand if they ran more deals like Milwaukee with buy a tool get a free battery or bare tool. That would bring some excitement to the brand at least.
pete
We have an 18v hitachi drill at the shop that floats around. Can’t seem to kill that thing. I’m actually surprised every time I see that thing. This looks nice.
Nick
I think Hitachi usually makes decent stuff. I’m interested in their bushless tools. They are my go to standards for corded tools when I shop for ‘ value’. Cheap, decent power and 5 year warranties. I’m still on the fence on who’s 18v stuff to get if I ever get a need to change from my Milwaukee M12 and Hitachi is on that list.
ccb
And they even make an adapter to use 18V slide batteries on the older 18V stick battery tools. Not the cheapest thing at ~ $51 but I wish more companies would have something similar.
HITACHI 327055 – Adapter Slide 2 Stick Battery
Ralph
Have you used this adapter? I think it is made for the 14.4V slide batteries. I’ve noticed, from my time with Hitachi tools, that the 14.4V slide batteries will work on 18V tools, but 18V batteries will not even fit on to the 14.4V tools. There is a little notch on the 14.4V tools that prevent the 18V battery from sliding on. You could use this awesome new oscillating tool to remove that notch, but I guarantee the people over at Hitachi would not recommend it…
crb
No. Looking more closely it does look like the 14.4V.
Miranda
Hi I have been trying to find an adapter for my husband for 18v found the ones the guy above has stated but can’t find out if they are for 18v does anyone know???
Bruce
Well, crappy combo options, top tier pricing, non-existing marketing. Can’t imagine what is wrong.
Jason
I was a little surprised on the price of the multitool 200 dollars is pretty high for a bare tool like that.
John
Stuart,
Could you expand on this remark?:
“I’ve been somewhat jaded when it comes to oscillating multi-tools…”
Thanks!
Stuart
With most types of power tools, there are ones that are clearly better. With oscillating tools, I have yet to find the *best* one.
As discussed in my recommendations a while back (https://toolguyd.com/best-cordless-oscillating-multi-tool/), Bosch’s is best overall, although it’s chunkier than I’d like. Dewalt’s is more ergonomic, but the blade change holder isn’t tool-free outside of Dewalt’s blade and accessory style. Milwaukee’s isn’t tool-free, and it’s not brushless, although it does have decent ergonomics.
Even the Fein cordless MultiMaster, which needs to be added to an updated version of that oscillating tool recommendations post, isn’t clearly “the best.” It’s powerful and darned good, but I find the Dewalt and Milwaukee ergonomics to be better enough that it’s tough to compare all these tools to each other in a more simplistic sense.
These days, if I need an oscillating tool for a quick task, I dig into my oscillating tool box and dig out any with a universal blade holder.
The product category was trendy, too few brands care to innovate with new designs or new accessory styles these days. It has just become another “okay, everything is good enough” category, which is why I’m excited to see something fresh from Hitachi. Let’s kick things up a notch.
Pablo
I’ll be interested to see if Hitachi can tackle vibration control well.
Bosch and Fein is head and shoulders above everyone else in this regard, although only on the 18v Bosch. The 12v produces a ton more vibration, I’ve been hoping they’d update the 12v at the same time, but it’s been almost 2 years now since the 18v brushless came out with no sign of a 12v update.
mike aka Fazzman
That seems pretty pricey for a bare tool,especially one that alot of folks arent even likely to have invested in the platform.
cody
Hitachi also has a brushless circular saw and brushless grinder in the UK. Hitachi has 42 18volt tools available in their slide style packs.
fred
With cordless tools – its all about the platform. With corded tools and pneumatics, its easy to cherry-pick – buying what you think is best for your application. With cordless – a set of batteries and charger may set you back as much ore even more than the bare tool – and most of us don’t want a plethora of different chargers lined-up at the job site. We bought spare Makita 18V batteries in bulk to save money – and probably had 100 in inventory – when I retired – our M12 battery count was also probably starting to approach this number. This sort-of locks you in to the “platform”.
We had chosen Hitachi for some of our pneumatics (NT65MA2 finish nailer, NV45AB2 coil roofing nailer, N3804AB2 1/4 crown stapler, and N5024A 1-inch crown staple gun) because – when we bought them – we thought they were best-in-class. I also know someone who really like Hitachi routers – but again with cordless tools – its hard to compete with the more ubiquitous offerings from Makita and Milwaukee – with Bosch and Dewalt also in the mix for the higher-end market – and Ridgid and Ryobi taking up shelf space for the budget-minded at HD etc.
For the same reasons, I think that Metabo may also be having similar problems making inroads in the US market – despite some very nice features and perhaps even best-in-class performance on their offerings.