We talked about Metabo’s 12V cordless power tools launch back in March, and many of those new cordless and brushless drills and impacts drivers are now shipping.
The new Metabo 12V cordless drills and drivers look quite compact, especially the brushless models. There’s also the “quick chuck” on certain drill/drivers, which I think is a worthwhile feature. And, the brushless tools ship with a compact 4.0Ah battery as standard, which differentiates them from other brands’ kit inclusions of 1.5Ah and 2.0Ah batteries.
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Our earlier request for a test sample fell through the cracks, and so we don’t have any first-hand opinions to share, but the new tools are interesting enough that we’re trying again.
Here’s what you can pick up now, and for how much:
Metabo 12V Cordless Power Tools
- Compact Drill Kit BS 12: $170
- Compact Hammer Drill SD 12: $170
- Compact Impact Driver Kit SSD 12: $170
- SB 12 Drill/Driver and SSD 12 Impact Driver Combo Kit: $210
Metabo 12V Brushless Power Tools
- Brushless Drill with “Quick” Chuck BS 12 BL Q: $240
- Brushless Hammer Drill SB 12 BL: $240
- Brushless Impact Driver SSD 12 BL: $240
- SB 12 BL Hammer Drill and SSD 12 BL Combo Kit: $300 – the product image conflicts with the description as to whether the kit comes with 2.0Ah or 4.0Ah batteries
Metabo 12V Batteries
- 2.0Ah Battery: $60
- 4.0Ah Battery: $80
Discussion
Definitely refer back to our original news post if you need some help making sense of what the new tools offer. There are 4 different drills/drivers, 2 hammer drills, and 2 impact drivers. At this time, either Metabo is only bringing some of the offerings to the US market, or they’ll be launched in stages.
Personally, I like the “Q” (Quick) chuck, which I demoed on their 18V drill a while back. My first cordless drill, a Black & Decker 12V Firestorm, had a similar feature. The drill/driver has a 1/4″ chuck onto which a removable 3/8″ drill chuck can be mounted. Thus, it makes the drill part drill, part screwdriver. It’s a convenient accessory that allows for quick swapping between using a drill bit and power bit for driving screws or fasteners, although it does make the tool slightly longer.
If you wanted to give Metabo’s compact cordless or brushless drills and impact drivers a try, now you can.
If you like this form factor, Dewalt also recently launched their 12V Max Xtreme brushless drills and impact drivers. They already launched at some online retailers and are also now available at Amazon as well. There’s also Makita’s CXT line, and Skil’s 12V Max line, which has greatly impressed me so far.
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Thom
I assume this is Chinese manufacture now?
Altan
The good thing with Metabo is that they have two manufacturing plants, one in Germany and one in China, so if you don’t see “Made in Germany” on a Metabo product it is made in China then, but other brands do make in a lot of countries.
Ryan
That is not 100% true though, I got my Metabo angle grinder that made in Korea whereas my Metabo light is made in Taiwan.
Altan
It might be, thanks for correcting. I don’t have any Metabo tool, I just said that according to what I have read online, With DeWALT, Makita and Festool I am more familiar. I just follow them online as I like the idea of CAS that they have with other good brands like Rothenberger and Mafell. I have mentioned here on ToolGuyd before that I support the idea of having a compatible battery for all brands and that could be done with a brand like Duracell which is dedicated to batteries only. It seems most of the brands are abusing the situation now, they know they have a fixed amount of users/buyers and when it comes to making/introducing new tool, they don’t need necessarily (sometimes) to come up with very good quality tool as they know users would not switch to another brand just because of a few “semi professional” tools. But if there is no issue with using the same battery for all brands then users would be able to choose more freely.
Altan
Most of the brands make their 10.8V (12V) tools in China! Even some Fein 12V tools are made in China.
Rob Potson
I don’t know why anyone would buy this. Metabo is more difficult to buy in the US (their full tool roll out does not exist here), its a 12v system made in china meaning the ‘premium german’ experience is not gonna be there.
Much easier to go out buy 12v of your favorite flavor of red, blue or yellow that have better support (more places to send it in for repair if needed), cost, and platform expandability (more tools).
Metabo screwed me long ago on a warranty claim and I’ve been waiting for my 18v tools and batteries to die so I can switch brands to something with more tool offerings across the battery platform at cheaper prices. Having been around people with many different brands, I’ve never felt my overpriced Metabo stuff offered anything more than anyone else’s. Definitely been a regret.
Altan
What you said might be correct, I don’t live in the US. Here in the UK you don’t see Metabo at the same level with Makita and DeWALT. Then Bosch and Milwaukee and then Metabo. There are two reasons I follow reading about Metabo, first reason is that they have a cordless alliance system with other good brands and I want to know how much further they will go inviting more brands to this platform. Metabo is not a big brand like DeWALT or Makita, that is why they need to have some sort of alliance like this to be able to compete with bigger brands if there is a real competition of course 🙂 and the second reason is that Metabo does make some cordless tools that other brands do not. I want to keep an eye on Metabo and others to see if any come with the cordless tools that just Metabo has.
Altan
That “quick change chuck” mechanism should also be for SDS+ hammer drills to accept 1/4″ E6.3 hex shank bits on a SDS+ hammer drill. If I want to use Auger bits bit SDS+ hammers I don’t want to use an extra adapter, that makes the tool longer.
Corey Moore
This isn’t going to have the percussive mechanism to actual drill as an sds is supposed to. Even if it had an sds adapter, it wouldn’t work an differently than if you chucked an sds bit in any drill/driver.
Altan
They made a lot of drill bits with SDS+ shank, specially Auger bits. The thing here is the ability of using the tool for different purposes, Imagine you are three guys working together, one is doing the wiring, one carpentry and the other one is doing the plaster boards, you have one drill/driver and one SDS+ hammer drill. If the carpenter is going to use the drill/driver how can the other one run the cables through joists? If they make Auger bits with SDS+ shanks that means people are using them with SDS+ hammer drill, of course not in hammer mode. But then the issue is that you have to buy SDS+ shank auger bits which is extra cost and more things to keep organised. but if there is an adapter for SDS+ hammer drills to accept 1/4″ hex shank bits that would be amazing. I know there are some cheap made ones that you can shaft into a SDS+ drill, but that becomes quite long then.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CK-T2944-FAST4-WOOD-SDS-PLUS-AUGER-4-FLUTE-DRILL-BIT-Various-Diameter-Bits-/400834233030?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10&var=670388676698
Corey Moore
But they already make auger bits shanked in plain old hex and 3 flats, which this can already accept in it’s standard chuck… I believe I’m confused lol
Altan
loool They make Auger bits or flat bits with round shank, hex shank, 3 flats and E6.3 1/4″ hex shank or 5/16″ hex shank. E6.3 1/4″ hex shank Auger bits are becoming common slowly slowly, as they can be used with impact drivers also. You can still use E6.3 1/4″ hex shank bits in standard chucks I have even used SDS+ shank bits in standard chucks. My aim is to use SDS+ hammer drill as an impact driver (in case) let’s say with E6.3 1/4″ hex shank bits and I want to have a specific adapter for that for SDS+ drills with interchangeable chucks. Normally when you buy a SDS+ drill with interchangeable chucks you get two chucks, one for SDS+ drill bits and one standard chuck for standard shank drill bits, I want a third chuck also for E6.3 1/4″ hex shank bits. I hope I am clear now 🙂
Nathan
Isn’t Metabo owned by the new Hitachi tool (hikio or whatever) Or am I thinking of another?
Meanwhile I too like the idea. I’m sort of pro and con on it. Pro – when I pack up a bag to do a quick chore I could pack this and have both the drill and driver in one tool. And potentially this would have other attachments like the Bosch flex-click.
Con – in the shop I really like having both my drill and driver as seperate pieces I can quick change from one to the other by grabbing the other tool.
Anyway – interesting.
Matt J
It’s really confusing. As far as I understand it, Hitachi Koki Holdings, which made the former Hitachi Power Tools, bought Metabo in 2015. Then, a different company bought both Hitachi Power Tools and Metabo from Hitachi Koki Holdings in 2017. Part of that deal, I believe, was that the new parent could no longer use the name Hitachi on the power tools, so they switched the branding of the former Hitachi Power Tool line to Metabo HPT.
So yes, they are owned by the same company, but it’s not Koki Holdings anymore. And Metabo and Metabo HPT battery platforms are not cross-compatible. It’s all very very confusing.
Brad
Craftsman
“Hold my beer.”
Rob
?????
Best reply ever! ^^^
Nathan
I don’t get it big dan.
Stacey
Nice tools, but at that price it only makes sense for pro’s. I’m glad I scored two 12v Hitachi combo kits cheaper than this. The batteries are lower capacity, but who cares when they give you two. I absolutely love them, light and fit my hand like a glove.
Gordon
I think this might be a mistake with the Metabo HPT line already in stores, and incompatible with these.
The What?
Why didn’t they just make it like the b&d matrix with modular impact and drill attachments being that most people use a drill to make the hole & an impact to drive in the fastener? It’s sort of cool I guess, but at the end of the day you’re still stuck with two separate chucks but no impact for fastening. And as we all know, a drill is inferior compared to an impact for fastening. I did something similar to what Metabo did here, but I made a few chuck attachments for my impact driver. Both ⅜” and ½” chucks. I bought a makita “impact rated” ⅜ chuck attachment and the damn thing wasn’t worth a shit. I just used some old broken parts drills I had with all metal chucks & broke the chucks loose then I chucked em in the lathe and dead centered a ¼” hole in the back end of both chucks then I took a few long broken driver bits and pressed them into the hole. It’s a lot easier than having to carry around both a drill and an impact. Here’s the thing, you can turn an impact driver into a drill very easily using a drill chuck attachment. However you cannot turn a drill into an impact driver unless you have some sort of impact driver attachment that’s rated to be used with drills. The only ones I’ve seen are for a select few modular tool attachment systems like the matrix. Let me guess, these will be available for online purchase only. And the price for this thing is pretty steep considering all your getting is a 12v drill and 2 chuck attachments.
Stuart
Don’t forget that impact drivers don’t have adjustable clutch controls for repeatable driving depth, which are especially helpful when working with smaller fasteners.
Stacey
I know I’m posting off topic, but couldn’t find another way to post..
Just a suggestion to check out Panasonic’s Huskie tools. I ran across these on Amazon here: Huskie Power Tools by Panasonic: Battery-Operated 1/2 inch Drive Impact Wrench Kit (HTP-IPW) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KXYGKHP/
Kk
The big mistake was to name hitachi tools only in north america as metabo-hpt. Two completely different tool companies, battery platforms. It has a negative impact on sales.
Hpt better or hikoki.
Altan
CAS (Cordless Alliance System) has included a few new brands in their alliance, one is called Edding which makes mostly markers, I just checked their 229 pages PDF catalogue, there is nothing related to cordless power tools in their catalogue, but now it is clear that they will release some cordless tools in near future using Metabo batteries. Maybe Metabo’s 12V batteries also will be included in this alliance? Maybe we will see a cordless labeller similar to Brother ones? Anyone has some information?
Altan
A £3,600.00 cordless tool from Metabo/Edding
https://edding.tech/en/shop/edding-portable-12
This is something great. I have to read about it tonight.
Altan
This is what I was asking DeWALT to make one, a printer which you can print on any material. You don’t need a label anymore, that’s it! I am considering to move to Metabo now. Made in Germany.
Altan
Metabo has come up with 12V recip. saw and angle grinder.