That’s right, Lowes and Kobalt have launched their very own line of 18V cordless power tools! While there have been Kobalt power tool offerings here and there for quite some time, this is their first major foray into the cordless tool market.
The initial launch includes:
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Kobalt Compact Lithium Ion Drill Driver
While I’m not sold on the looks of the drill/driver, it has decent specs to justify its Porfessional Grade description. The driver features ratcheting keyless chuck, 2-speed 0-450 RPM and 0-1650 RPM gearbox, and 455 in./lb max torque. The kit includes two 18V compact lithium-ion batteries that fully charge in 20mins. ($159)
I’ve got to say, the boxes looked pretty snazzy. I’m a sucker for nice packaging and presentation.
Kobalt Cordless Power Tool Combo Kit, NiCad
The drill included in the NiCad combo is a bit longer than the compact li-ion version. $169 for a 4-tool combo is pretty decent, and upon rough inspection the tools seem to be comparable to Porter Cable’s NiCad combo kit. The kit includes a drill/driver, circular saw, work light, reciprocating saw, kit bag, charger, and 2 NiCad batteries.
Kobalt Cordless Power Tool Combo Kit, Lithium Ion
The drill/driver looks different than both the compact and NiCad versions. The circular saw looks about identical to the NiCad version except for the color scheme. Upon first inspection I thought the reciprocating saw was identical to the one included in the NiCad kit, but after looking over the photos I am no longer certain about this. The work light is also different – pivoting (and rotating) LED head, vs. a larger (incandescent?) version in the NiCad combo. You also get a kit bag and charger, plus one compact lithium-ion battery and one extended-run battery. ($269)
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Kobalt Cordless 1/2″ Impact Wrench
Only after reviewing this photo of the endcap display did I notice that a 1/2″ impact wrench will be included in the initial launch. It it curious why Kobalt is including an impact wrench in the new lineup but no impact driver.
Complete product specs and details of all these tools will be emerging soon, and we will share any information we find out.
One thing that is uncertain is whether these new Kobalt tools will affect Lowes’ selection of similarly priced Porter Cable power tools. But what we do know is that Lowes has Home Depot’s Ridgid brand in its sights. A small portion of the banner behind the display was devoted to a comparison between Kobalt and Ridgid’s leading drill/drivers.
What I find somewhat amusing is the “ergonomic design” vs. “standard design” bullet points.
One thing’s for sure – it will be interesting to see how these tools compare against others in their price range and those that are also considered professional grade.
Kevin
I wonder who the OEM is on these.
Like you mentioned it looks like these are to compete with Ridgid, but I’m kinda confused as to what Lowes is trying to accomplish here, for awhile it looked PC was going to be the house label, now they seem to have more of the same tools for same spec/price. Kinda confusing tier system.
I think PC would have been the better heavy duty candidate to compete with Ridgid line and the Kobalt name would have been perfect to compete with Ryobi.
AmyInNH
I like all the Kobalt I have so far. Can’t say the same for Ryobi.
Stuart
I’m not sure who the OEM is, and don’t really have any way to find out.
From what I have seen, Porter Cable has already started branching out with their cordless power tools. It used to be that these tools were only found at Lowes, but I’ve now seen them elsewhere at competitive or even lower prices. With the winter holidays approaching, it is unlikely that Lowes would promote the Porter Cable brand. Why advertise a particular brand that people may learn about and then purchase from a competitor? In developing their own exclusive power tool brand, Lowes matches up better with Sears (Craftsman) and Home Depot (Ryobi and Ridgid).
There are also added long-term benefits to establishing Kobalt as a comprehensive one-stop brand. It will be interesting to see how things evolve over the next few months.
fred
Sometimes the UPC / GTIN code can give you a lead on who the OEM is.
Kevin
Ok the OEM is Chervon Limited out of China. Lowe’s is currently going to be pushing these tools against Craftsman, Ridgid, and Ryobi. I know that sometime starting in November or December they will be pushing a free battery promo of some kind. The warranty for all of these tools is going to be 5 years on the tool and 3 year on the battery no questions asked. The exchange process will be very similar to the current hand tool warranty. The lithium batteries have a 20 and 30 minute charge time while the nicad is one hour. Overall for the money the lithium kit will be the better buy. Most stores should have these tools out on display and i can honestly say that they are a lot nicer than i would have expected them to be.
Stuart
I can now confirm that Chervon is indeed the OEM.
And thank you, Kevin, for the additional information!
Scott
I work for Lowe’s, and I have to say I was very skeptical when I saw these come off the truck for the first time, having no prior heads up. The specs are more impressive than I would have guessed, all three drill models have more torque than PC’s two models, (they feel more solid, too) the saws (circ and recip) feel good (I powered up the circ saw, very nice), and the LED swivel (Li ion) is pretty dang bright. I have no XP with the 18V impact wrench (why not an impact driver?) Both the Nicad and Li ion feel good and solid, but IMO the Li ion is more job site worthy. Who knows if and when more tools will be available. I would say that Lowe’s is definetly targeting Rigid with the Kobalt and Ryobi with the PC, but so far they just dont have the variety of available tools to do so. So far there are only two corded tools, a circ saw and recip saw (with orbital action and a rotating head.) Both feel pretty job site worthy. Hope this helps any one out there.
Brad
I just came across the deal of the century….I was in my local LOWES store, cruising for clearance when I came across a Kobalt bag with 6 lithium ion batteries, and 3 chargers. 3 of the smaller batteries, 2 of the big ones, 3 chargers and a nice tool bag….on clearance for $75. Yes, I snapped it up, but have no kobalt tools…..any ideas how to by any bare tools? Or, will Lowes ever be selling the bare tools….if anyone has a crystal ball, that is. Please shoot me an e-mail if you have any ideas for me. thx, [email protected].
Brad
Sorry….can’t count…..actually there were 3 large 18volt lithium and 3-small 18 volt lithium batteries in the bag. A total of 6.
Stuart
Scott, good to hear from you, and thanks for the information!
Brad, that is one heck of a good deal! I have no idea if the tools will be sold as bare-tools, and I imagine it may be some time before that happens. If you can’t think of a thing to do with the batteries in the meantime, perhaps they could be modded to fit or upgrade your existing tool batteries?
I would bet that what you picked up are the chargers and batteries from the Li-ion display samples.
Iván González
Tengo curiosidad por utilizar una llave de impacto kobalt , pero no las he visto de venta en México , quisiera saber en qué tiendas las pudiera encontrar .
Stuart
Lowe’s stores now carry Kobalt 24V Max cordless power tools, including an impact wrench. The Kobalt brand is exclusively available via Lowe’s, but you might be able to find some on 3rd party marketplaces where they are resold. If you don’t have access to a Lowe’s store, your best bet is to shop for a different cordless power tool brand.
Scott
Even though I work their tools dept, I have no idea if bare tools are in the line up… sounds like you (Brad) got the display batteries and chargers. Nice find! Keep a look out in the future, If Kobalt is smart they will release a line of bare tools with many more options too.
myo
I bought the 4 pcs tool set nicad $169.00.this tool is way better than porter-cable set and ryobi set.work like dewalt/makita.very strong and durable.the best thing is 5 years warranty.i don’t need to spend ton of $ on dewalt/makita.
Bob A.
I have not seen them in person but my experience with Kobat has been mixed. Some of their mechanics tools are nice and their PEX crimper is awesome but their pliers and other hand tools leave much to be desired. I considered the Kobalt sliding miter saw a while ago and went with a Ridgid fixed saw instead and I couldn’t be happier. The Kobalt saw seems loose and has a lot of plastic where my Ridgid is heavy as hell and feels like I could drop it down the stairs and it would still cut square. I am a Bosch fanboy when it comes to drills but I look forward to stopping by Lowes to grope these new Kobalts – perfect excuse for my weekly run.
Stuart
The thing about Kobalt is that they source their tools from a number of different manufacturers. The new mechanics tools, although imported, are said to be of higher pro-level quality compared to the previous generation. These power tools are similarly being described as pro-grade. Going by specs and features alone, they do seem to be designed as pro-level tools. Whether they stand up to the competition remains to be seen. But this also depends on who they’re competing with. I’m not sure that they’ll take market share away from the more popular pro brands, at least not yet, but it looks like they’re priced to directly compete with Hitachi, Porter Cable, Ryobi, and Craftsman.
Jason
Well the Tools kinda look like Makita Drills to me and the cordless sawzall to I have the makita lxt combo kit wonder if these are comparable because the price is alot more liked
Karl
Truth in advertising is such a problem for corporations…
Ridgid has a lifetime warranty, not 3 years, and that includes the batteries.
An all metal would be preferred but I can’t see where the plastic is that they refer to.
Admin note: Karl is affiliated with The Home Depot.
Kody
In regard to their comparison. I work at home depot and have never seen anything from ridgid with a 3 year warranty. Possibly unless registered, but everything is either lifetime warranty, or lifetime service agreement. So this is deffinetly deceptive and… well a lie.
Adam
The warranty is not the only thing their comparison chart gets wrong. Not long ago, we at Home Depot got a special comparison sheet of our own, which basically mentions the same points as Lowes’ but instead, Ridgid comes out on top. Its actually very sad what companies can get away with in advertising, Home Depot included. Often times, charts compare new products with imaginary ones. In most cases, the comparisons are mearly Our new product versus Their product specs from 5 years ago. And lets not forget the cordless tools weight listings, which could include the tool itself, tool with compact battery, or tool with high capacity battery, not to mention whether the battery is nicad or lithium.
Scott
Rigid has a lifetime warranty on their cordless power tools, but NOT the batteries. The batteries have a 3 year warranty. By simply going to Rigid’s or Home Depot’s website, you can read it. I found this site via a Google search. Others that find it don’t need to be misinformed about Rigid’s warranty. (This ‘rumor’ about lifetime battery warranty came from a misread press release from Rigid/Home Depot years ago and still persists today. Funny how the internet spreads ‘truth’).
Luke
I recently purchased the li-ion 4pc power tool set and Ot came with a free impact wrench and I was in the market looking for a good combo pack I almost bought. The identical rigid pack as it has a lIfetime warranty for 500 but the package deal I got at lowes for 270$ was unmatched the closest competitor was PC with a price of 200 without the impact wrench all li-ion as well so I felt confident with my purchase so far I’ve. Put twenty hours worth of work into these tools and my dewalt friends are jealous of the look and the price I got on this 5 star review these tools are magnificent highly recommended
Ken
I recently purchased the 4 piece ni-cad combo kit. Overall I am pleased with the performance, however I think the battery life is fairly short in comparison to other cordless tools I’ve bought. The major complaint is with the saw, they put the discharge chute on the operator side (if your right handed) so when your cutting all of the shavings are blowing into your face. I would suggest putting the chute on the right side of the saw.
Brad
@ Scott: RIDGID 18v batteries do have a Lifetime Service Agreement if they are purchased as part of a kit and properly registered for the LSA. If they are not registered, or if they are purchased separately, the batteries are only covered for three years. If the registered batteries are replaced under warranty/LSA, the registration must be updated for the new serial numbers in order to continue the LSA. Otherwise, again, the warranty defaults to three years. That’s on all of RIDGID’s and Home Depot’s websites and advertising and packaging for items eligible for the LSA.
Funny how a minimal amount of reading clears up a lot of misinformation.
lawrence parten
Is Kobalt going to come out with more 18 volt tools, looking for a 3/8 square impact and maybe higher torque 1/2 impact.
ron hardin
just purchased a kobalt 40v max leaf blower, can a person also buy a hedge trimmer with out a battery as they are inter changeable,
Stuart
If also Kobalt 40V Max? Most likely.
Rafe
I recently had my Kobalt ni-cad 4 tool kit stolen. I have no complaints about the kit, absolutely loved it! Would love to get another, but would like to see additional tools I could add to the kit. Only reason I am considering a Dewalt, Milwaukee, or Ridgid kit.
marty
Where can I get a battery for kobalt drill: 1.3ah, 18 v, model K18 LBS23A lithiun-ion?
Stuart
Lowes should still carry 18V/20V Max Li-ion battery packs that fit your drill.
marty
I’ve checked on-line with multiple varieties of the description, and keep getting nothing but offers to but drill WITH battery, but no battery itself. I guess I will have to go to the store and hopefully find someone with knowledge on batteries. Do you have a suggestion on how I should word the search on-line?
Stuart
Yikes, I checked online too, and couldn’t find any 18V or 20V Kobalt battery packs. That sucks! I’ll investigate further.
marty
Appreciate it.
David Hippensteal
Lowes do es not have batteries. I found some in original package on e-bay, I hope this helps. I have the same combo kit and have abused it around my house, and doing side jobs. For the price you can not go wrong. It has done everything that I have asked it to do flawlessly.
Kelly
I am looking for replacement 18 volt NiCd batteries as the one remaining battery that I have will not hold charge for more than a few minutes in use. Any recommendations on whether or not it is ok to use lithium batteries? Any other solutions to battery problem…the cordless equipment has been infrequently used & I don’t want to replace them if there is a simple fix to battery issue!
Stuart
The 18V or 20V Max Li-ion batteries should work, but you’ll need the Li-ion charger.