Makita Made a Surprising Black Friday Deal Switcheroo

I have been sorting through all of the many early Black Friday promos that just started, and took notice of the Makita tool deals at Home Depot.

Let me cut to the chase before I tell you the full story: wow, I am impressed. What I saw was something good, and not at all bad.

Many brands and retailers have modified their tool deals for the 2025 Black Friday and holiday season. While a lot of deals are repeats from earlier years, I have also been seeing higher prices and lower values.

That’s not the case here.

As usual, if you buy the Makita 18V 2-tool combo kit, with brushless hammer drill, impact driver, 2x batteries, and a charger, you can choose 1 FREE tool.

The model number was unfamiliar to me, and the tiny “new!” tag next to the combo kit on Home Depot’s signage caught my attention.

This time of year, and especially this year, “new” is not usually an optimistic. “New” these days typically means something has been cheapened or taken away from a combo kit.

This is the Makita XT297T 2-tool combo kit.

I see that it comes with the high powered drill, an impact driver, rapid charger, and 2x 5Ah batteries.

Rapid Optimum Charger? Check. 5Ah batteries? Check. So far, so good.

4-speed impact driver…?

Aha, a mistake! That happens a lot these days with retail listings.

Shown here is a different Makita impact driver than is included in kit. Look at the base of the tool – do you see the small strip with electronic controls? That’s where you typically access different speed settings or different modes.

This is the impact driver that’s included in the kit. Do you see any settings or mode selection controls? I don’t.

I then checked the model number. XDT20.

The Makita XDT20 indeed has 4-speed settings, plus an assist mode to help eliminate screw cam-out and cross threading, and 2 tightening modes for faster driving of self-drilling screws.

It seems that the XDT20 launched last year during the holiday shopping season, and I completely missed it.

When other brands are switching things up and charging you more, sometimes for less, Makita actually upgraded their holiday promo with what looks to be their newest and best 18V brushless impact driver.

Okay, but did they swap the rapid charger for a slower “standard” charger? No. Swap the 5Ah batteries for 3Ah or 4Ah batteries? No. Are they only giving you just one battery? No, you get two.

They raised the price, right? No. The promo is still $399 as it usually is.

If there’s a catch, I’m not seeing it. This looks like a great deal with no compromises.