The new Makita XPH14 brushless hammer drill is set to launch this month (March 2021), and apparently there’s a new combo kit that comes with this drill and the XDT16 impact driver.
A reader came across this new combo kit, model XT288T, and asked if it’s a good deal.
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Not only is there a new Makita 18V combo kit that includes their new 2021 flagship cordless hammer drill, it’s launching with a pretty substantial promotion bundle.
At this time, it seems that Home Depot is the only retailer offering this special launch bundle on the Makita XT288T cordless hammer drill and impact driver combo kit. All of the independent Makita dealers we checked are only carrying the combo kit by itself and no promo bonus items.
The seemingly Home Depot-exclusive launch bonus bundle comes with 2x 5.0Ah batteries and a 45pc Impact XPS screwdriver bit set.
The battery 2-pack sells for $149 separately, and the 45pc bit set (E-01650) sells for $25. The XT288T combo kit, with the drill, impact driver, charger, 2x batteries, and case, sells for $399.
Is this a good deal? On paper, it’s a great deal, you’re getting $174 worth of freebies compared to paying full price for just the combo kit at other retailers.
But should you buy it?
We requested a hammer drill test sample from Makita USA, but have not yet heard back with a definitive answer. Despite several past requests, they never supplied a test sample of the predecessor model either.
It might not be available yet, or maybe they’re declining the request. Either way, I haven’t had any opportunity to see their new hammer drill in action yet and am unable to provide you with any hands-on feedback or insights.
Makita’s older model was very powerful, and this new model is even more so, according to its on-paper specs.
If you ask for my (hands-off) opinion, there are good reasons to wait, and I said as much in my news post about the XPH14 hammer drill.
The Makita XGT 40V Max cordless power tool lineup still hasn’t launched here in the USA, despite having already launched in Europe, Japan, Australia, and Japan, at the least. Even if Makita launches the new XGT lineup here last, I would think (hope) this is still set to happen in 2021.
The new Makita 40V Max tools will be more powerful and better featured, such as with an anti-kickback feature for the hammer drill (at least in other countries’ releases).
So, despite this being Makita’s latest and greatest 18V brushless hammer drill in 2021, there’s still something better on the horizon if you’re willing to buy into their 40V Max lineup.
Maybe that’s why Makita and Home Depot are trying to boost interest with heavy incentives for this combo kit?
Despite this being a brand new combo kit that includes Makita’s brand new hammer drill, there are already 590 user reviews at Home Depot’s website.
If you think that it’s odd, for there to be so many reviews so quickly, you’re not alone.
Looking closer, many of the user reviews seem to be for the screwdriver bit set by itself, and NOT the new 18V cordless power tool combo kit or this particular bundle. Past the first few pages, there are reviews for Makita batteries, and also ratings that don’t even mention which products they’re for.
Do you need the bonus batteries? Do you absolutely have to upgrade right now?
If you pass on this deal, the next all-but-guaranteed promo will kick off next November. Home Depot usually has a “buy this combo kit, get 2 free bonus tools” promo, featuring different brands’ flagship brushless drill and impact driver combo kits, including Makita’s. Here are details for their 2020 holiday season promo.
There could be other promos between now and then, such as for Father’s Day, or the next iteration of whatever promo is happening right now that created this bundle kit.
If you buy this combo kit now, you’re getting a great deal, assuming there are no issues or common user complaints about the new hammer drill, but that’s always a risk for early adopters.
But will you regret your purchase if Makita USA launches their XGT 40V Max cordless power tools the following week? Month? Around Father’s Day?
The bundled batteries and impact-rated screwdriver bit set makes for an enticing promo, although the high number of unrelated user reviews is a curiosity – and one we’ve seen before when user reviews are automatically aggregated.
Home Depot says this launch bundle is part of a promo that ends 03/21/2021. Sometimes their promos end early, other times they’re extended. They say the deal started 3/1, but the reader that brought my attention to this asked about it in late-February.
Think this one through carefully.
Buy Now via Home Depot
Compare via Acme Tools
Compare: 5Ah Batteries via Amazon
Compare: Bit Set via Amazon
Noah
I’ve seen this in store for a few weeks now. As much as I’d like the latest impact and a new drill what I have works fine and there’s no reason to upgrade. I’d rather put that money toward a tool that will improve my workflow. Anti-kickback would certainly make the drill more appealing.
fred
There are some folks who almost seem obsessed with having the latest and greatest of any tool – even though what they already have works well. For them and others who need new tools this might be a sweet deal.
In our businesses – we’d often run tools until they died – introducing new ones in small batches to test out. If our testing suggested that a new tool was truly a game changer in terms of increased productivity, improved safety or added capability – then we might switch over on an expedited schedule.
Meanwhile, if you are using Makita 18V batteries and need a hammer drill now maybe you should buy this – waiting on a 40V XGT to arrive in the US market might prove a long wait.
Franco Calcagni
“There are some folks who almost seem obsessed with having the latest and greatest of any tool – even though what they already have works well”…this is quite true. I would say that any home DIYer or even most contractors can easily get by on any of the 18v-20v Makita, Dewalt and Milwaukee tools. As long as you have an extra battery, it is very difficult to go through one battery before the other battery has been recharged for the majority of tools.
I think the 40v XGT is overkill for many. To me, I see the only people really needing them are teams that are large enough where 1 person is just screwing in 3” screws all day and another just making cuts all day, and so on.
Your typical 2-3 man team where someone takes a measurement, makes a cut, then nails or screws the part in, should do fine with most of the top name 18v
Jared
Drills probably aren’t “driving” (😄) the industry to higher voltages.
I think the move is for things like table saws, chainsaws, mowers, compressors… etc. Then drills, impact drivers and other tools that can perform well at lower voltages get drug along because the tech is available. Especially for Makita XGT where there’s no cross-compatibility.
Stacey Jones
Great advice Fred! I’ve been tempted to trade up on my Ryobi 18v tools, but the truth is I don’t need more powerful tools yet. I do use an impact a lot though, when the Ryobi dies, I may have to get a Milwaukee Hydraulic Surge. I do like low noise tools!
Lance
XGT 40v is quite a bit more expensive than LXT 18v, another reason not to bother waiting.
Small handheld 18v tools are more than powerful enough as is, and continue to get better. 40v is overkill and unnecessary for a drill or impact driver, in my opinion.
Where does it stop and how much power do you need? If someone introduced a 5000W 1/2” cordless drill tomorrow should we all line up to buy it? Such a tool could literally tear you in half, but it could objectively be called the best because it’s the most powerful.
To quote a nuclear weapons engineer on miniaturization of the technology, “We could make a nuclear hand grenade if we found someone dumb enough to throw it.”
With 40v you also lose the ability to have compact (5 cell) batteries. That’s a BIG deal, and another area Makita is lacking: the largest compact 18v battery they offer is 2.0Ah. Embarrassing really, since many competitors offer compact 18v 3.0-4.0Ah batteries based on 21700 cells.
I sense some deep politics within Makita’s ranks…
Pink porkchop
Every review I’ve seen on the 40v says any extra power is negligible but the run time is far better.
A-A-Ron
I’d pass. The previous versions of the hammer drill and impact seem to give you plenty to work with. Makita makes more versions of drills and impact drivers than any brand I know, yet this newest drill still doesn’t feature anti-kickback tech. What’s the big incentive to upgrade?
Adam
I still can’t understand, why Makita hasn’t released XGT in America, I’ll say one thing I can buy an XGT 40 volt impact driver in England, it’s a lot more expensive then the 18 volt and for an impact driver I think the 18 volt has enough power.
josh Morris
Metabo hpt aka Hitachi is just as bad they keep repeating new multivolt options in Japan and euro but nothing for America
Mac
I have the 03 model of the impact driver and it will not die. Kinda thinking of replacing it with the oil impulse if it ever went on sale.
Noah
I have the oil impulse and it’s difficult to go back to my other impact drivers. I use mostly 3”-4” screws and under and it is plenty powerful. I’ve certainly regretted pricey purchases but this is not one of them.
Lance
Agreed. The oil impact is a fantastic tool. Smooth, quiet, the best option for small to medium size fasteners.
JamesR
I purchased the XDT16 impact by itself, and in my collection of Milwaukee, Bosch, and Ryobi gear, its probably my most premium tool. It is just a pleasure to use. I don’t often find myself in need of a beefy hammer drill, so this isn’t super enticing for me. However, if I didn’t already have XDT16, I’d be pretty tempted for the price and the extras included.
Clos
The benefits of the new drill (XPH14) are also its new size. Its 7″ long which has proven work great between studs. The XDT16 impact driver is a big step up from XDT14. Nothing but a win here
Jon
Agree. The XDT16 is a fantastic tool. If I didn’t already have one along with my other Makita tools, and didn’t already have a few dual battery chargers and several 5ah batteries, I’d jump on this. Good value – but of course, only if you need the tools. Nice to see that they’re offering top tools in a combo that also provides good discount value.
Jason
Makita lost me when they made their new 18V tools and batteries incompatible with their older ones. I sold mine and switched everything to Milwaukee.
Franco Calcagni
???? LXT 18v, which are incompatible?
Jason
If you look at the batteries and tool ports, if they don’t have an asterisk, or yellow battery connector, they aren’t compatible with the new batteries and tools. You can do some modifications to make them work, but I didn’t want to do that.
Franco Calcagni
Including vacs, flashlights, and radios, I have about 40 Makita 18v tools. The earliest going back to 2008 and the most recent about 9 months (tracksaw). Batteries I have 6 x 5.0, 7 x 4.0, 14 x 3.0, and 2 x 1.5…some going back to 2008 and some as recent as the past year; never had any that would not slide on except the first 4.0 I bought. I cut the notch off on it and it works with all the tools. Also, the 1.5’s have a different kind of notch which will not allow you to put it on a recip, circ saw, grinder or any other tool that has a high draw.
BTW, in the over 12 years, none of the tools ever died and only 1 of the 3.0 (2008 or 2009 purchase) has died.
I once left an M18 first gen Fuel impact driver, Makita circular saw and Fein drill outside overnight and it rained. The Fein and Makita worked once I aired them out and let them dry. The M18 Fuel worked sporadically but then just stopped working. I gave it weeks and it never worked again, so I put it aside and was going to take it apart and see what the problem was, but have not had the time to look into it. Also had an M12 drill (non Fuel) just start smoking and died… it is also in that pile of “I need to fix these tools”.
I think I have gone a bit off track…
CountyCork
I’ve left a bosch 18v recip saw in a wheelbarrow and rained over night completely submerged battery and all. Pulled it out and let dry and has worked without any issues for the last 6 years.
Franco Calcagni
“CountyCork
16 hours ago
I’ve left a bosch 18v recip saw in a wheelbarrow and rained over night completely submerged battery and all. Pulled it out and let dry and has worked without any issues for the last 6 years.”
I just wanted to point out that the almighty Milwaukee has had 2 tools fail me out of close to a hundred tools I have from various brands. No others have failed yet. I think all the main players have top tools and most people won’t go wrong with whichever brand they go with. For the red team hardcore players that believe they are the “best”, if that is what turns you on, so be it.
Ben
At one point Makita made new batteries that are not compatible with older tools. I know this because I had a 10 year old LXT drill and newer batteries wouldn’t fit it anymore. The drill itself died shortly afterwards and I’ve basically forgotten. Overall I don’t think it was big enough of a problem to ditch Makita.
It does show a lack of … forethought .. on Makita’s part to make new batteries not work with old tools, but old batteries to work with new tools. Given the battery is the wear out component, not the tool (generally), they really did that backwards.
Xrh07
They did it backwards because they had to. Early tools were less sophisticated with their overheat/discharge protections.
Milwaukee had similar issues between V18 Li-Ion around the same time. Except instead of offering partial compatability going forward like Makita they just jumped ship and started over with M18.
Steve
What hammer drill with anti kickback would you recommend? I use cordless Makita and M18 tools.
Big Richard
Milwaukee’s newest ONE-KEY models have it, the 2805 and 2806. I’m almost certain the previous gen 2705 and 2706 did as well.
Gene
I just bought an M18 Fuel 1/2 Hammer Drill with a free 5ah battery for 159 bucks from Grainger.
https://www.grainger.com/product/MILWAUKEE-Cordless-Hammer-Drill-Driver-338AH0
Pink porkchop
I have the 07 and have never been in a situation where and extra power was needed, bit a few times where a bit extra space was.
I wish makita would spend time on the lower power tools. I’m in need of a hex driver and they only have the 12v brushed in the us. But they offer the 12 & 18v brushless in the rest of the world.
Franco Calcagni
There are many, such as yourself (and me also), that understand that if a tool is really working well and doing its job….great. But there are some that need to have the latest and greatest….just because. If one impact wrench has 750 ft lbs of torque and another has 795 ft lbs, they are realistically equals but to some owning the extra 45 ft lbs of torque is worth so much in bragging rights
Pink porkchop
I had to upgrade my impact driver last year. I had the original makita from about fifteen years ago. I got the best makita has and I figure I’ll have it as long as possible. I don’t see how having any extra power would be useful since snapping extensions would be the outcome.
Someone mentioned a possible fix for my old one, 3in1 oil in the hex and it worked, stopped jamming bits. Now it lives in the garage.
Xrh07
You can swap the gearboxes between a 12V and a subcompact XFD11
Rob
I was going to grab the XPH14z, but ended up grabbing this kit because it amounted to me getting a free spare XDT16z and I wanted just a few more batteries. The XPH14 is more powerful in gear 2 than my 3-Speed Metabo by a margin. It’s better than my XFD07 (actually, it’s now my tenant-at-work’s XFD07).
Makita drills usually disappoint me at the trigger. The XPH14 is not a Festool, but it is markedly improved. MUCH better control than the other cordless Makita drills I own. It’s also not a Festool in that it has loads of power. I really like it. The shilltubers have been going on about how true it rotates….well…I’d hope it runs true. What are they comparing it to that this is impressive? The only negative thing I can say is, “Where’s the electronic clutch?”. I should mention: it is a hole drilling champion. …a very smooth hole drilling champion.
The XDT16 is what it is: one of the best (if not, the best) impact drivers on the market. It’s successor is already out in Japan, but it’s not really appearing to be any better. I don’t mind having two around. That said, the XPH14 has been taking the wheel from the XDT16 during many recent driving duties.
The bits. So, after watching shilltubers go on and on about how great they are and showing off carnival tricks that any good bit is capable of, I was finally (literally) handed the opportunity to try a whole bunch of XPS bits out for myself. Well, as I had suspected: they’re garbage. They are the worst fitting bits I have ever used. If anyone has praise for these, I feel bad for you, son, I got 99 problems and a bit ain’t one.
Marcelo
Here at Brazil we have the XGT 40v line for sometime. I’m a good friend (and client) from the largest dealer in town and he lets me test Makita tool line-up. The 40v line is way way heavier than 18v and batteries are much – much – much more expensive.
Also, they seem to be phasing out their 36v line (like Bosch), so I wonder if in the future (say 10-15 years), they will still be around.
18v line has some 330+ tools. 40v has about 30-40 tools.
Nah, I’d and will pass.
The older drill model (we have European model numbers here) is already a beast! The 40v is as heavy as a jack hammer.
In the voltage department, I had a Bosch 36v hammer drill that can not compare with my Makita 12v SDS-plus hammer. And it gets kicked out by my 10 year old Bosch PS41 impact driver when I want to drive screws and bolts. Yet, I sold the Bosch and bought the Makita hammer and many other tools with the money. Never regretted moving out of 36v (too heavy/bulky/expensive).
Franco Calcagni
We have the 40v VGT in Canada for maybe a year now. Marcelo mentioned that in Brazil they have the European part numbers. Makita is kind of funny with their part numbers. From what I have seen, they have a part number for Europe, Canada and pretty much everywhere worldwide….except the US. The part numbers in the US are different and have been like that for at least 10 years that I am aware, but could be 15, 20 or more years; never paid attention before. All the models can be matched up between the worldwide models and the US models. There may be the odd item not offered in one market or the other, otherwise the vast majority of their products are the same worldwide and US, just different part numbers.
Milwaukee, Dewalt, and pretty sure Bosch (and I am guessing Metabo, Hilti and any other major tool makers also) have the same part numbers be it US or the rest of the global market. Again, there may be an oddball item which is offered in certain markets only, but otherwise same part numbers everywhere.
STUART, maybe you could ask Makita about this and see why this is the case? (Or maybe you are already aware of why this is)