Best Cordless One-Handed Reciprocating Saw - Head-To-Head 

Cordless One-Handed Reciprocating Saws - Features:
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Ergonomics Evaluation Winner - DEWALT DCS369B
DEWALT clearly beat out the competition scoring first place in every category except the blade change ranking. Second place was the Milwaukee. Finishing just ahead of the others was Bosch in third place.
Performance Evaluation - Winner - Tie Between Kobalt and Milwaukee
Four tests were developed and utilized for the performance evaluation including:
Cutting 3/4" cast iron gas pipe - Blade: Milwaukee Torch with Carbide 7 TPI
Cutting 12 Gauge P1000 Unistrut (1-5/8"x 1-5/8") - Blade: Milwaukee Torch Metal Blast 18 TPI
Cutting 2" copper pipe - Makita 14 TPI Bi-Metal
Cutting nail embedded wood (2x12 SPF with 4-16D nails) - Diablo Demo Demon 6" Carbide 5/7 TPI
3/4" Cast Iron Pipe Test results
The Kobalt came in first place for this test with an average cut time of 10.77 seconds followed by Milwaukee in second at 11.42 seconds and Ridgid in third with 14.05 seconds. Both DEWALT and Metabo struggled to keep up with the field with time ranging from over 2 to 4 times longer than the top 4 tools.
Unistrut Test Results
Above in Figure 5 are the results of the Unistrut cutting test. Again the results vary greatly between the first 3 tools and the last 3. For this test Kobalt came in first with the fastest average time of 17.91 seconds followed closely in second by Ridgid with a time of 19.64 seconds and Milwaukee in third place with an average time of 22.43 seconds. Again the results seem to correlate well with Figure 3 where the total cut length per minute was calculated based on no load speeds.
Copper Pipe Test Results
Finishing in first place with the fastest time was Ridgid with an average cut time of 9.19 seconds followed by Milwaukee in second place with an average time of 9.47 seconds and Bosch in third place with an average time of 10.08 seconds.
Nail Embedded Wood Test Results
The top 4 finished much faster than DEWALT and Metabo. Milwaukee finished in first place with the fastest average time of 18.0 seconds followed closely by Kobalt with an average time of 18.2 seconds and Ridgid in third place with an average time of 22.5 seconds.
Final Performance Test Results
The table below summarizes all four of the performance tests to produce a final ranking. Each of the test rankings is added together to come up with a total score, the lower the score the better the final ranking. Finishing with a tie for first place was Kobalt and Milwaukee with a total rank score of 8. Coming in a very close second place was Ridgid with a total rank score of 9. Coming in third place was Bosch with a total rank score of 15.
Pricing Evaluation - Winner Kobalt
After much feedback from our readers over the years about how we determine our final rankings for head-to-head evaluations we're going to try something new for this one. We can all agree that price is an important factor when purchasing tools. This is especially true for small contractors and those just starting in the trades. In the past we've always weighted the price equally with other categories like ergonomics and performance. For this head-to-head the Price Rankings will count for 20% in the final rankings while ergonomics and performance will each count for 40%.
Best Cordless One-Handed Reciprocating Saw - Winner Milwaukee
The winner of our Best Cordless One-Handed Reciprocating Saw head-to-head evaluation is the Milwaukee 2719-20 M18 FUEL™ Hackzall®. Milwaukee finished tied for first place in the performance evaluation and second for ergonomics. While it was the most expensive saw in the field it's still a very affordable price at $159. Milwaukee has been the leader in reciprocating saws for many years so it would be a huge surprise if they didn't lead this newer compact category.
Coming in a very close second place and a bit of a surprise to the team was the Kobalt KRS 124B-03 Compact One-handed 24-Volt Max Variable Speed Brushless Cordless Reciprocating Saw. This saw tied for first place in the performance evaluation and finished first in pricing at just $99. This one-handed reciprocating saw has an impressive 1" stroke length matched with 3,000 strokes per minute resulting in really fast cut times.
Finishing in third place was the DEWALT CS369B ATOMIC 20V MAX* Cordless One-Handed Reciprocating Saw. This saw blew away the competition in the ergonomics evaluation and is significantly more compact than the rest of the field. While it didn't do as well in the performance category it's a solid choice for someone looking for a really compact option.