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[sc_fs_faq html=”true” headline=”h2″ img=”” question=”Which are the best power tool brands in the world?” img_alt=”” css_class=””] Short answer: DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Makita.  [/sc_fs_faq]

Review chart: Best power tool brands in the world

	DeWalt	Milwaukee	Makita
Years in industry	96	96	105
Cordless power tools #	≈240	≈300	≈80
Net Trust Quotient	118.0	110.2	110.2
Warranty	3-7 years	5 years	3 years
Constant innovation and tech research	Yes	Yes	Yes
Annual Sales (in billions)	$7.14	$5.04	$3.5
Tier	Mid/Professional	Professional	Professional

There are many power tool brands out in the market, all of them competing for a big slice in this 32 billion industry. However, if you click here, you probably don’t need to know all of them. You’re looking for the cream of the crop. The best of the best.
If you got here, maybe you’re looking to build your power tool kit, and want to stick to a brand. Maybe you’re just debating with your neighbors or colleagues, or it might happen you just love power tools as much as we do, even though we don’t think so.
In either case, this article will review the top 3 power tool brands, and how they make it all the way here, among dozens of other high-quality manufacturers.

What makes the best power tool brand?

To know which are the best power tool brand, first, we got to know: what is it. In other words: what does being the best mean in this industry?
You would agree is a tricky question even for the most experienced professionals.
Is it the one with the highest earnings? The one with the most long-lasting tools? The most well-known? The most trusted? The most experienced in the market? The brand could vary for each question.
Those are just some key criteria,  there are many others. Every DIYer, mason, carpenter, engineer, or tool enthusiast, could consider different factors, according to personal and professional needs. Furthermore, the best brand could be different depending on product lines. 
Having this in mind, we knew we had hard work ahead. So we proceeded to set up the investigation.

Our research 

We collected data alongside our veteran employees and specialized web pages like Handy Mans World,  Pro Tools Review, and Durability Matters. We also checked some extra opinions at Quora and Reddit, just to be sure we were listening to everyone.
Then we proceeded to examine some papers, starting with this one about  America’s most trusted power tools brands; a couple of financial reports, to get an overview of who’s dominating the market; and finally, we put an eye on how are the web searches going for each of the most popular brands.

Power tools expert’s opinion 

There are many high-quality brands when it comes to the constructor market. The “best power tool brands” articles ranking on the first Google page usually enlist between 8 and 12. We read them carefully and confront their arguments against our criteria. Most of the time we agreed with excellent reviews of many brands, including Bosch, Ridgid, Ryobi, Hitachi…
However, we had to left many of them behind in order to make this final countdown.
So with the help of our expert team, and reviewing specialized forums threads we observed that among all the brands mentioned, three of them stood out over and over again: DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Makita, as you can see in the following gallery:
[foogallery id=”12584″]

Experts opinions compilated from specialized forums, Reddit and Quora.

DeWalt

DeWalt power tools set. Source: DeWalt

 

“Having originally been started by the inventor of the radial arm saw, Raymond E. DeWalt,  in 1923, DeWalt is one of the oldest and best-known tool makers in the world”.
Handy Mans’ World

With almost 100 years in the industry, more than 200 cordless toys under their 20V Max portfolio, constant technology research and innovation, 3 years warranty for their products, 1 year of free service, the best ergonomics in the market,  and 5 billion in annual revenues, this king couldn’t be left out.

Milwaukee 

Milwaukee power tools set. Source: Milwaukee

Milwaukee’s giant technological leap in Lithium-ion batteries tools, back in 2005, was the first of it kind, an all-in gamble… and they won. Their victory made all industry sheiks’ stagger. They revolutionized the whole business and forced every other brand to follow their steps. 
Besides the well-known Red power and durability, supported by 96 years of experience, Milwaukee also has an extensive range of options with more than 150 tools for its M18 System and about 50 others for the M12 system, not to mention their new generation M18 FUEL set, and the vast quantity of classic corded devices.
On top of that, they arguably produce the most innovative tools in the market, having an extensive fleet of unique cordless tools including the world’s first cordless grinders with the power to grind, the full 7-1/4” cordless circular saw that could outperform corded, the famous Sawzall, the cordless hole hawgs, and more.

Makita

Makita power tools set. Source: Makita

Despite the overseas brother of this threesome started its operations in Japan, earlier than DeWalt and Milwaukee, Makita didn’t start manufacturing power tools until 1958. In the early years, Makita was focused on construction tools, but eventually, due to exponential growth, they diversified.
Nowadays Makita produces nailers, shears, heat guns, trimmers, drills, impact drivers, rotary hammers, nibblers, vacuum cleaners, all kinds of saws, grinders, multitools, rebar cutters, toolbelts, caulk guns, electric bicycles, planers, radios, coffee machines, compressors, cold-temp clothing, and protective gear.
Besides the tremendous amount of product lines, it is often said they have the best performing, long-lasting brushless motors. This is due to their unique Star protection computer controls, a communication system that keeps them overheating, over-discharging, and overloading. 
However, the Star system is just one out of their many patented high-tech mechanisms. As its American competitors, Makita invests millions to ensure state-of-the-art technology. They have also developed LXT, XPT, AVT, MM4, SJS, BIG BORE, DXT, and many more computing systems that enhance their machinery in many ways.

America’s most trusted power tool brands

American most trusted power tool brands. Source: Lifestory Research

This study, conducted by the Lifestory Research team, was designed to determine the most trusted power tool brands in the United States. With this purpose, they reviewed 8.365 opinions of customers actively shopping power tools between January and December in 2019.
Unsurprisingly, we discovered our picks in the first 4 positions. As you can see in the graphic above, Dewalt got first, scoring 118.0  on Net Trust Quotient, and 5 Stars on Trust Rating, while both Milwaukee and Makita tied for the third position with 110.2 points for Net Trust Quotient and 3 Stars on Trust Rating.
For a better understanding of this rating system, we suggest you read the whole study on the Lifestory Research website.

Who’s leading the power tool market?

Moneymaking tool makers. Source: Pressure Washr

This infographic summarizes a financial study in the power tool business. The companies are represented by a circle; the bigger circle,  the highest earnings. The three grays serve as a guide for the $5 billion, $1 billion, and $500 million in revenues.
As you can see, Stanley Black & Decker Inc (DeWalt’s company) kept the larger piece of cake with $7.14 billion in sales, representing 14% of the total industry income. It would be fair to clarify this amount is knead along with many other Stanley Black & Decker Inc subsidiaries, including Stanley, Black and Decker, Craftsman, Portable Cable, and 10 more brands.
A few positions behind, with a net income of $5.04 Billion, comes Techtronic Industries Company Limited (TTi), the multinational enterprise that bought Milwaukee in 2005. They also own AEG, Ryobi, Empire, and 7 more brands. 
Finally, in the 7th position, we have our last awarded: Makita. Although not the best position, it must be considered that unlike their global competitors, they are a single subsidiary company. Still, they managed to make $3.5 billion, representing 6.86% of the global industry incomes. Bravo Makita.

What power tool brands are the most searched?

The following graphic shows the internet search interest of the top three brands over the last 5 years (2015-2020).

As you can see, Makita has always prevailed in this field, followed by DeWalt and then Milwaukee. Let’s see why.

Though DeWalt and Milwaukee have the highest interest in North America (about 40% each, against fairly 20% for Makita). Makita dominates all the eastern hemisphere, including Europe, Asia, and most of the African countries.

Conclusion 

The power tooling industry has been growing for decades, and according to experts, it won’t stop. Thus, there’s tight competition out in the market. Many manufacturers have been making top-notch machinery in order to earn consumer’s trust across the world, resulting in many high-quality brands. Hitachi, Festool, Hilti, Bosch, Portable-Cable, Ryobi, Ridgid are just some among many others.
However, their centenary experience, wide portfolio, long-lasting durability, high precision, constant innovation, and market positioning stood apart DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Makita.