We first learned about new SKil PWRCore 20V cordless power tools 6 months ago, when they started popping up on Amazon.
Shortly after that, we spoke with Skil about their brand relaunch. Skil told us that their new cordless power tools would be designed for modern DIYers, centered around brushless motors, and deliver outstanding performance. The tools would feature competitive pricing and a 5 year warranty.
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It has been six months, and a note in my calendar reminded me to take a close look at their current offerings and availability. I was expecting to see a swarm of new tools.
There are new tools, but not the kind I had been expecting. In my brand relaunch post, I wrote:
When I asked about pricing, I was told that Skil was entering the mid pricepoint market, and that although their new PWRCore cordless power tools will be competitively priced, the performance of their tools will surpass that of their competitors’.
What I am seeing now are very competitively low-priced brushed motor offerings with modest features and specs. Right now, Skil’s PWRCore 20V cordless power tools look to be on-par with competitors’. That’s good, but not what I had been expecting. What are they doing to raise the bar, rather than meet the status quo?
Here’s the good part. Actually, the great part. Skil isn’t quite conforming to the traditional DIY tool-selling practices of the past. There are individual cordless power tool kits, meaning DIYers or other users don’t have to start off with a cordless drill kit or multi-piece cordless power tool kit.
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Instead of combo kits and maybe a drill kit and impact driver kit, there are standalone saw kits and different combo kit options.
Craftsman has also done this, with a couple of their V20 cordless power tool kits last holiday season.
What it means is that if a DIYer wants a cordless jig saw, they can get just a cordless jig saw in a kit, equipping them to work on a project without having to spend more on tools they might not need or want.
This also allows users to “test the waters,” buying a Skil 20V cordless power tool to satisfied an unfulfilled need. If you’re a corded tool user, or mainly use 12V cordless power tools, or 18V/20V Max tools from another brand, you can invest in a Skil tool without being forced into duplication.
If you want a “complete” all-in-one cordless jig saw kit option, where you have the tool, charger, and one or two other batteries, you can’t get that from Ryobi and some other brands, at least not without having to buy a combo kit, or a bare tool and other components such as a battery and charger. You can, however, get a “complete” jig saw kit from Skil, and also Craftsman.
There are other cordless power tool combo kits, such as this one with Skil 20V drill, jig saw, and USB charger bundle.
But where are the Skil 20V brushless power tools? Maybe we’ll still see some more Skil PWRCore 20 offerings ahead of Father’s Day.
I reviewed the Skil PWRCore 12 brushless cordless drill kit, and it was very impressive for its size, besting entry-level 18V and 20V Max cordless drills on performance. Based on that experience, I had been hoping to see an expansion of their 12V line with additional brushless power tools, and eager to see the emergence of PWRCore 20 brushless power tools. That hasn’t happened yet, but it has still only been a few months – we’ll check back periodically over the next few months, and again next Fall.
Do you know what else I really want to see? Skilsaw cordless power tools.
Buy Now(Skil 20V via Amazon)
There is one curiosity, even a concern. After a few months, there aren’t very many user reviews for the new Skil cordless power tools. There are some, but very few aside from those by the “Vine” reviewers who received free product. No matter how good the launched and upcoming tools are, if they’re going to compete with brands such as Craftsman and Ryobi, Skil needs to work on their exposure. Ryobi has a large userbase with a community-like following, and Stanley Black & Decker inherited the Craftsman Tools legacy and fanbase. Skil has for years been a forgettable player in the DIY cordless power tool market. Maybe they’ll improve their visibility once the new “outstanding performance” tools hit the market.
Have any readers purchased or used Skil PWRCore 12V or 20V cordless power tools yet?
Matt J
It was a really strange move on their part to release more expensive 12V brushless tools together with cheaper brushed 20V tools, and to wait on the 20V brushless options. This has resulted in some really weird appearances from a pricing perspective because to non-ToolGuyd people (i.e., Skil’s target market) it doesn’t make sense that a 12V tool would be more expensive than a 20V tool. It is also not made clear at all that the 20V tools are brushed, and when I asked the question on the FAQ section for one of their tools, I was told to contact a customer service representative at an 800 number.
I think that move and the fact that their sole retailer, Amazon, is selling the new decent Chervon stuff alongside the old, kinda crappy Skil stuff sends a confusing message about what kind of quality to expect.
Overall, the tools look pretty darn good for the price from everything I’ve seen, and hopefully the release of the brushless 20V tools will result in a much clearer line in terms of pricing.
CountyCork
I think the impact in the picture above is brushless. At least I can see BL listed on it, and just guessing BL stand for brushless?
Stuart
Sorry, I should have added a caption. It is brushless, but it’s 12V, not 20V.
CountyCork
Core 12 is listed on battery and charger. Missed that.
Hub H
I heard about that 20V brushless tools would be release soon. Wait to buy them.
Stuart
Where have you heard this?
Hub H
I saw a tool review about SKIL 20V brushless impact driver already at protoolreviews.com.
click the link and you would see it：https://www.protoolreviews.com/tools/power/cordless/drills-drivers-cordless/skil-20v-brushless-impact-driver-review/44407/
Stuart
They say it’s not a production sample.
We’ve seen several comments like yours in the past few weeks. Do you happen to be affiliated with factory sources?
Matt J
There was a post on another blog recently where they tested a forthcoming 20V Skil brushless impact driver. The numbers sounded very solid to me for an upgraded DIY/prosumer tool.
Chuck
I bought the skil pwrcore 12v set, drill and impact.i wanted the 20v but as a set, you only get 1 battery, an extra battery is $50 bringing the total for the drill and impact as a set to $250
Michael
I just bought the 12v set. Got it last week or the week before off Amazon . As for the 20v a standard 2ah battery is 39 without the usb. I’ve been also getting batteries off the Amazon warehouse section for my 20 and 12v. For the quality and use It’s worth the price. I’ve used them almost every day since July.
James
I’m eyeing the 12v products to keep as my “in the house” offering. Holding out for a Fathers day sale though.
Flotsam
I thought this stuff was being sold in Walmart as well?
Flotsam
I actually take that back! i just checked Walmart web site and they only have the old Skil stuff. Needed to go to Amazon to see the new Skil stuff. Meanwhile on Walmart they are pushing the Porter Cable brand big time. Wonder if that is the case in the stores?
I truly feel sorry for how far Porter Cable has fallen from the once proud company it was and what it represented. I was a staple for tradesman for years!
fred
It was inevitable I guess. B&D had done much to de-value their own brand name as a professional product they had to do something. What they did was to build up the Dewalt brand name from its “one-note” association with the RAS to being a well known and respected professional brand for a broad range of power tools. Then, when they acquired Porter Cable – they did not want it to cannibalize Dewalt sales – so they pushed the P-C brand down-market. After Stanley bought B&D (B&D would probably say merged with them) – there were even more brands – recently adding Craftsman to compete and muddy the waters. I would not be surprised if the decided to retire the P-C brand or focus it on a more narrow product line.
Michael
Wal mart has basically pushed everyone out now and is basically only Hart and hyper tough now.
Perry
I’ve been holding off on purchasing the 12v line until I see what else they come out with. I was anticipating a wider release, but it hasn’t happened.
Toolfreak
What’s odd is Chervon hasn’t done the legwork to get new Skil products into retail stores, like Lowe’s, Walmart, etc. They are still offering the post-sale-by-Bosch but pre-logo-redesign tools in stores that have them, but apparently they either still have so much stock they don’t have room for newer models yet, or are still fufilling the original contract and won’t be putting new tools in until after it’s up.
That plus the introduction of way more Hyper Tough 12V/18V stuff in walmart, also made by Chervon, in a pre-sale-by-Bosch agreement, and of course the SBD Craftsman stuff in Lowe’s.
Really odd that the Skil brand is kinda getting squeezed. Will be interesting to see what winds up happening, I doubt they will do very well as an online-only brand, or even only offering the PWRCORE tools online, unless there was something that REALLY set them apart from the competition.
Stuart
It’s possible that HD or Lowes didn’t sign on, or won’t sign up until the line is a little more proven. There’s no benefit in distributing through Home Depot or Lowes if you can’t get in-store visibility.
When Chervon came out with EGO, there was huge potential and light competition.
Home Depot might not want to put a Skil display anywhere near their Ryobi tools. Lowes might not want to put a Skil display anywhere near their new Craftsman tool displays.
Frank D
Indeed would be competitive with the brands that are their primary tool sales volume. And, who knows what language is stipulated in those new exclusivity agreements as well. ( you get the new craftsman catalog of tools, and can still sell brands x & y, but will phase out z, … )
Toolfreak
I was actually expecting Walmart to start carrying more Skil tools (they already carry Skil circular saws in-store) and replace their Hyper Tough brand with them – it’s basically the same Chervon-made tools with a red casing, just less black overmold. Along with Black & Decker, that makes for a pretty good assortment / choice of homeowner-grade power tools.
I don’t see HD adding any Skil tools due to shelf space already taken by Ryobi (though I’m amazed HD still carries any Bosch given the HD relationship with TTi/Milwaukee), and yeah, Lowe’s might eventually not carry ANY Skil since they will have a new line of Craftsman (which will also be red, if that makes any difference) and will presumably still carry Black & Decker as their lower-end offering.
There’s still plenty of other big box hardware stores for Skil to go after for their new tools, but they’re going to be in a catch-22 of not having any tools in the wild for consumers to get hands-on with to determine if they want to buy, and there aren’t going to be reviews/accounts of the tools if nobody decides to buy them, unless Skil starts sending them out to Toolguyd and other reviewers and hopes positive reviews will lead to more online sales.
Michael
You can order the tools through Lowe’s and some Lowe’s locations have them in store.
The What?
Without a store that’s willing to stock Skil tools besides Walmart, they aren’t gonna last. They don’t have the clout to stay alive on online sales only. Very few brands have the ability to survive like that. They are gonna have to be seen on shelves at a big box store if they are expecting to regain any sort of relevance within the market. Otherwise it’s over for Skil. The glory days of “the saw that built America” are long gone mostly because of Bosch and the direction they took. Skil relied on that for a while and it kept them relevant for some time, but when Bosch bought them, it was straight downhill from that point. Except they went past downhill and directly into the ground. It’s unfortunate that Bosch took a similar approach to sbd in how they acquire once well established and proud brands and completely ruin their reputation. And when a brand gets pulled from the shelves at Walmart, it can’t get any worse. Skil can thank Bosch for letting that happen. At least sbd had enough dignity not to let pc suffer the same fate. Without the Skilsaw brand, which probably accounts for the majority of Skil’s money, they wouldn’t have made it this long. So while chervon is making a valiant effort into trying to regain some degree of recognition for Skil, I’m afraid that it may be too late. The market is over saturated as it is, and without a store to carry the brand, I don’t see many people having enough interest in Skil to keep it going.
Nathan
Isn’t this stuff – made by the people that make the sears craftsmans stuff . And thus the same?
I wonder if the batteries are interchangeable – might be interesting.
I agree the packaging is sort of interesting.
Stuart
No?
fred
I’ve seen UPC #’s (starting with 692042) on some Kobalt power tools that indicate Chervon was the OEM.
With Lowes possibly de-emphasizing Kobalt power tools as they ramp up on Craftsman (SBD as the OEM) – perhaps Chervon may try to promote Skil tools sales at other retailers
Kyle
“In contrast, if you want a cordless jig saw, and just a jig saw, you can’t get that from Ryobi. ”
Ummm….. REALLY?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-18-Volt-ONE-Cordless-Brushless-Jig-Saw-Tool-Only-P524/305439007
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-18-Volt-ONE-Cordless-Orbital-Jig-Saw-Tool-Only-P5231/301916606
Stuart
Two paragraphs before that I wrote: “What it means is that if a DIYer wants a cordless jig saw, they can get just a cordless jig saw in a kit, equipping them to work on a project without having to spend more on tools they might not need or want.”
Here’s the sentiment behind it – while bare tool options are good for existing users, what are new users going to do with a tool-only jig saw without a battery and charger? Perhaps I could have been clearer, but I expected the context of what I had said and continued to mean to follow through. As far as I can see, Ryobi does NOT offer a jig saw kit.
Ryobi’s lowest priced starter kits are $99 and $119. So to put together a bespoke Ryobi jig saw kit requires two purchases totaling $163 at the least. That’s different than being able to get a Craftsman or Skil kit in a single SKU for under $100.
Frank D
In his defense, the wording tripped me up at first too, and I was fact checking myself on the HD site last night as well …… as the wording seemed to imply that the cordless jig saw was only sold in a multi tool bundle … which I know have seen as tool only … but what you meant was as a kit with battery and charger. Which is what I came to understand the second time reading and looking up that Skill sells with battery and charger.
Stuart
I struggled to find a better way to put it without awkward clunkiness. Maybe phrasing it as “complete jig saw” would have been better?
Frank D
In some of those possibly confusing types of instances, whether to new users / readers – or in cases where I’m not sure of the exact terms, perhaps due to translation, where I could either be the newbie or the expert … I often put something between ( ) as in ( a complete kit being tool + battery + charger )
Michael R Morgan
You worded it correctly. Tool with battery and charger is a kit. That’s how I took it.
Michael R Morgan
I may be wrong, but the 20v brushless are on amazon.
Stuart
Now, yes!! But not at the time of this posting.
Michael
Just got the some of the tools last month. Amazon had a number of coupons. Got the 20v brushless drill and impact combo, grinder, brushless jigsaw, brushless sander, vacuum, 12v brushless rip saw, brushless oscillating, brushless right angle impact and 4v 2 position screw driver. Let me say I’m very impressed and glad I sold all my porter cable tools. I will be getting either the 12v or 20v circular saw and the 20v rip next.
Craig
So, are you still impressed with the Skil cordless tools? I’m strongly considering getting the brushless drill & impact kit to replace my ancient blue Ryobi drill (with a NiCd battery, no less). I’m looking for a decent priced, decent performing cordless platform with a decent array of tools.
I already have the Skil cordless screwdriver. It’s worked fine, so far, and has held a charge for several months (unlike my ancient Ryobi battery).
Michael
Yes I’m very happy. I added the 12v radio and the brushless 20v planer. I’m about to add the 20v brushless impact wrench.
Michael
Looking back and as they add more tools and also taking suggestions I can say money well spend.
Diane Ferguson
I’m new to DIY power tools and I even got the, you have to buy a battery separate, the way it was written. I bought a Skil because the battery came with it.