DeWALT Tools DIRTY Marketing Tactics (FLEXVOLT Advantage AND Power Detect Hammer Drills) 

Is it just me or is this more confusing than it needs to be?

I wish someone would hook all 3 up to some kind of test rig that could measure torque to see if they are any different, too many videos with speculation or some guy drilling holes and no data. paging Project Farm or AvE

Vince's suspicions are wrong. I had the same questions and eventually worked my way up through DeWalt Customer Service and ended up getting a call from Nate with Dewalt (as seen on the Sparky Channel video on this same subject). Here is the summary... The 996 & 998 have the same motor, but the electronics have been upgraded to allow the 998 to use more power from the battery. So the 998 is more powerful than the 996, but since the motor is the same there is a limit to how much more powerful it can be. The 999 also has new electronics AND has an upgraded motor. As such, the 999 is more powerful than the 996 & 998 using the same battery. Nate told me that the 999's power advantage over the 998 & 996 is small when all 3 are using the 5AH 20-volt battery, but that power advantage over the 996 & 998 increases as you move to bigger batteries. In other words, if all 3 are using the 8AH 20-volt, the 999's power advantage over the 998 & 996 gets larger. Even more so when all three are using the 6AH Flexvolt. And even though they don't use the 9AH or 12AH Flexvolt batteries in their marketing claims, Nate said that the power advantage of the 999 over the 998 & 996 is even greater when using those two batteries. Interestingly, he said that the 999 with the 9AH compared to the 999 with the 12AH Flexvolt battery were practically identical in their power ratings so I guess by the time you get to the 9AH you have reached the limits of the new motor and electronics as far as its power increase and there is no more to be gained with the 12AH Flexvolt. It's up to you whom you believe, but what Nate says makes sense and seems believable to me.

I'm fairly certain that the 996 does not have programming/chipset to detect the higher capacity 8ah battery or the 60 volts of the flexvolt so it runs the same power regardless of which battery is connected, only gaining advantage of the extra ah of run time. 998 will detect an 8+ah battery and increase it's power because the battery has more and/or better cells so it can handle the extra output. I suspect it cannot differentiate btw 20v and flexvolt bats though. The 999 is designed to detect and use the extra output available in a flexvolt battery. Throw a 5ah battery on them and they are probably all exactly the same. Give them the battery they are specialized in and the 998 and 999 will increase their power.

Love DeWalt but they need to get their crap together.

I came looking for answers and now I am more confused now than I was before.

Getting rid of my Dewalt tools here soon. It’s pretty ridiculous that a company has 3 different “premium” lines now. These features should all be included in one tool for the extra price paid for them. This is only going to confuse new customers trying to decide which of these three to buy when they can’t figure out what battery is going to work best with their new tool.

Thanks for calling this out. I think this is what happens when a company is desperate to sustain growth and then someone pitches an idea at a board meeting how to maximize sales by 18.6% while only spending 5% on a razzle dazzle naming scheme. Basically marketing mumbo jumbo. Dewalt needs to get its soul back from corporate.

here's my thoughts on the matter, the 8ah will be a 2p 5s battery, that being two rows of (5) 21700 cells rated at 4ah per cell, the 6ah flexvolt is 3p 5s but are the smaller 18650 cells (in 20v mode) now as a general rule of thumb the larger the capcity the cells the lower the current can safely be discharged from them, the fact that the 8ah battery uses physically larger cells than the flexvolt kind of muddies the water (as you can increase the capacity and still have a comparable discharge capability) Its more than likely that the flexvolt 18650 cells will have a discharge capability higher than the 8ah (lower capacity thus higher discharge) BUT for this discuassion lets assume that they are even, in this scenario the flexvolt wins on current (and therefore power) delivery simply becuase in 3p you have the current of 3 rows of cells discharging vs the 2 in the 8ah the other advantage is the lower voltage drop due to cell resistance, all cells have an internal resistance and the higher the current draw the greater the voltage drop, thus the flexvolt being 3p should see a much lower voltage drop due to both an overall lower resistance (kirchhoff's law) and lower current draw from each cell the lowe current draw per cell will also mean a longer overall battery life. as a Caveat I would need to investigate exactly which cells are used in each battery for a proper and fair comparison

I went with the Powerdetect from Lowe's and got an extra 8ah as part of the Black Friday sale. I use the extra on my tower light 👍 As you noted, I didn't see any Flexvolt advantage tools in my future, so I stuck with the standard 20v XRs.

I have the 996 and it hasn't failed me yet. Love it. No reason for me to upgrade.

Dewalt makes some very nice tools. Unfortunately the marketing wank is way way to much. My daily drives are the German Metabo, Fein, Bosch, some Makita. The marking for these is nothing like Dewalt or Milwaukee and I do use 12V Milwaukee tools. The point is by creating a marketing shell game it confuses and makes the customer angry.

I have the 999 w/the 6a.h. flexvolt. Don't really see the power. The new flexvolt Sawzall is amazing

Send all three tools to ave for a tear down and an examination of the guts and construction.

I’m using the 12v tools 😂 but they are perfect for me because I don’t use them every day. Just diy home projects and working on cars

Seems like they been starting do that a lot between the two big box store’s lately wit Dewalt tools!! I’m getting little ticked off bout it honestly 😡

Semantics.... Milwaukee has played the same game with some tools over promising and under deliver (surge?). All manufacturers play word games. But what the big difference is I see 996vs999 is the power under load/torque I have yet to bog down the 999. Now the power detect I can't speak of personally but I think Dewalt tried pleasing to many Masters with the 998.

I had to stop watching, Vince. First Dewalt confused me enough with the line up of tools with the 20max, XR and Flex whatever. And here you are.... Dizzy....

This is so convoluted that I’m not buying ANY of it lol

Nope, all slightly different motors. These 3 were tested against each other by another reviewer. The 996 actually died surprisingly... and the UWO get higher from 996 to 998 to 999... they are all excellent, but that 999 is a hell of a beast... came out on top of all drills at pro tool reviews.

Make a drill for the battery class and call it a day. To much bs having so many models.

Nothing more than marketing wank. Bunnings in Australia do the same thing with their suppliers.

Still prefer Milwaukee

Thanks for putting a spotlight on the marketing hype man... I have the 999 and I love it... All 3 of those are great I think... But sometimes I hesitate when I see consumers start a chorus for more innovation on a great product line that already matches or exceeds the competition... Sometimes you force "innovation for innovations sake"... And sometimes that innovation is half baked and hurts durability (a huge part of the tool objective)... Sometimes a tool plarform just gets more refined and stable over time and durability is just the best thing you can give a blue collar worker imo... But hey... Just my 2 cents... I agree with the points ya made man.

Good video vince I commented on this video on instagram @Vcgconstruction

Dewalt so far has never let me down their tools are Awsome ,

Sorry to rain on your hate train, but I actually tested them and there is more power with the "power detect" version and the "flexvolt advantage" version. Yes, each drill does have more power with a bigger battery, but the best gains can only be seen with the 8ah on the power detect and a flexvolt on the flexvolt advantage. So yes, the biggest improvement is the batteries, but the newer drills are also improved.

I have got to put my two cents in here. ALL of the battery operated shit is for quick use and a way to suck the money out of the user. the user of these tools including me are suckers. these tools do not compare to corded tools as well the life of the tool and battery is not even equivalent of the corded market. these tools are money grabs. financially corded tools wins

*I tested the "power detect" with 2ah and 8ah batteries and didn't notice any difference in torque and performance.*

So 999 with xr battery it's like 996, it's only 999 if we're using flexvolt battery right?

I could see this guy at the dewalt aisle reading every tool box while you wait to look at something,excuse me get the hell out of the way i have work to do!

That dcd999 is the real deal I’ve owned the 996 and now own the 999 and the 999 is more powerful it completes task easier much easier task the 996 would struggle with

Glad I'm not the only one confused by Dewalt's nomenclature.

I use the 9amp hour flex Volt battery on all my tools,best battery 🔋 😤

Large retail stores often have price beat etc, so they get their own special part number / version which ships as a slightly different package, looks almost identical and can't be easily compared to other stores.

996 is “Made in USA…”. The 998 & 999 not so much. China.

Basicly there is a lowes 10 miles from me while the nearest home depot is over 100 miles away...so power detect will be the on I pick up next time I'm in lowes....it's a pretty simple decision for me

Just upgraded from 18v NI-CA to 998, it's an upgrade for me regardless!

I have a ton of DW tools. I use them everyday as a GC/Carpenter. That being said, just the fact that nowhere is there a straight answer as to what exactly "FlexVolt Advantage" really is, means it's likely more of a marketing ploy than anything else. It's not a 60v tool, but somehow, it's more powerful than 20v when you put a 60v battery on it?? Lol. But I'll still be buying Yellow & Black over Red... thanks for the video.

I have the 996 and the 999. If I use a standard 20v battery they perform the same. But using the flex battery the 999 definitely has more grunt to it. Not sure how it does that but it definitely has more jam when I need it.

Can we get a tool test raw for all three. To see which is truly the best

I’ve used DeWalt for years. Their new lines are so confusing, I don’t know what to do or buy. Just doesn’t make sense to me. It makes me hesitant to acquire more tools to my collection. Maybe it’s time to switch to Milwaukee. Dad was a fan of Milwaukee back before cords disappeared from power tools... back when Made In the USA 🇺🇸 was the only way.

I’m glad dewalt tools employs some people here in the USA to “build” (like legos) the tools, but they should be honest about the tool parts being made in foreign countries

So what are you saying Todd? That we have been fooled! I love my 996 and I love that I got another on clearance at Lowe’s for $113 for the kit a while back. Thanks for giving us the honest truth Vince.

is it just me or are Dewalt just doing an Apple? i imagine if you used any of these drills on different days doing similar jobs you wouldn't notice a difference, used by side by side you may see a negligible difference.

I'm a big dewalt guy. I've had flexvolt from day one and I think all the tools Take "advantage" of any larger compacity battery. Its obvious on all the tools. This is just smoke and mirrors I believe. Still my fav tool is my flexvolt circular saw it's a BEAST!!!!!

As far as tool itself, the ability increase came from movin from brushed to brushless motors. As far as different models of brushless, i think dewalt is just tryin different angles of marketing. The flex volt batteries are just awesome, although heavy. If just runnin screws, i'm more likely to run xr batteries, but if doin a lot of drillin, probably gonna run flex volt. The small differences in styling are really what's gonna be the decidin factor for which model ya get.

So still confused. Would like to see all possible combinations of tools and batteries for a true conclusion. Run the 996 with a 5ah, 6ah FV, 8ah, and 9ah FV. Run the 998 with a 5ah, 6ah FV, 8ah, and 9ah FV. Run the 999 with a 5ah, 6ah FV, 8ah, and 9ah FV. If its a capacity issue, would all models perform higher with an 8ah or 9ah FV battery?

Vince claims that he loves DeWalt tools. Has a standalone Dewalt video roughly every four months. His uploads have more red than a slasher movie, and then wonders why he’s called a shill?!? As someone who remembers years back when Vince used to like tools which this channel almost become unwatchable... It’s not the big orange box store that Vince has done a video on has made Bosch sell their products under the Diablo label so that they don’t have the same products on the shelf that Blue box store has on its shelves, but this is somehow a nefarious attempt by Stanley Black and Decker to confuse their customers. 🤥💩 nothing to see here everything is normal Vince is just spreading FUD!

I really appreciate VCG for the honest reviews. I had DeWalt tools for 20 years. After seeing Milwaukee Pack-out and tool lineup, I went all in with Milwaukee! Thanks Again Vince and the super cool gang

Dewalt, Milwaukee, makita and ridgid are on the experts Festool: not that great (longevity snd power) Hilti: as you said, for masonry, they’re at the top, but super expensive. And i had a lot of issues with their batteries Otherwise i never used any of the other brands so i can’t tell Now i’m with Ridgid and DeWalt’s tools, and I’m pretty happy with the performances

I had to watch this 3 times to grasp everything. Instead, now I'm gay.

Looking at specs from dewalt looks like the UWO are different for all three. So considering that all three have the same RPMs I figure that equates to differences in torque?

DeWalt has been doing deceptive marketing ever since the start of the 20v and multiples fallacy. Can't market them that way in the EU. They're 18v and multiples. Granted ALL 18v tools have a nominal 20v when fully charged. The moment you activate discharge, it's 18v. Dishonesty apparently is the theme. I still have DeWalt tools...

So for this situation a prefer milwaukee tools at least on hammer drills driver topic.

They all seem identical It seems to be about the battery they come with

I have been wondering myself I'm sure along with everybody else I think it's all in the battery ...battery technology goes a long ways and it's evolving daily getting better and better.. I think if you were to put that eight amp battery on the dcd996 it would have just as much power as either one of the other two new ones.. Have you thought about doing that and seeing what the difference would be put five amp battery on the new one .. and the 8 amp power battery on the DCd 996

Kobalt xtr is highly underrated, their tools are beasts.

The flexvolt has more max watts output at 1219. And also has more Rpms on hammer drill mode at 2250. This is why it's better and I love it. The others have less max watts and hammer drill RPMs💣💥👊🤘

amen..was i market for a hammer drill about a year ago was going to get 996 but saw the 998 so went with that..then saw the 999 few months ago what like what the ?? same tool different battery like vince said.. but have to say was die hard dewalt like nick but slowly turning to team RED bought my first Milwaukee power tool the other day gen3 impact in pack out with 2 3ah batteries..feel like i'm cheating on my wife lol

Vince you also need to buy the 997 which includes tool connect

I’m willing to pay more specially in tough times when we need more American jobs but if Dewalt don’t play with honesty and integrity China will continue selling low quality tools Thank you for the explanation

I like Dewalt but they gotta get there act together... Milwaukee will be my first choice

Ok since me and the lads have setup 5-6 years ago, we have had 2 dewalts 996 and 1 Chuck broke after 2 years of hard use the other is 18 months and going strong, we have had 3 Makitas Dhp 481z and 2 broke with in a year and the 3rd is making terrible noises (nearly gone) so we orders the dcd999 with a flexvolt and the makita xgt hp001gz, the makita is smaller lighter but the dewalt is leagues ahead for pure power, in hammer mode it leaves the new xgt for dust but it’s still early doors, all I can say is the dewalt 999 is the most powerful drill our lads have ever seen

As a contractor Ive Come across alot of brands over 20 years, found out pretty quickly Dewalt is crap

Bro you're absolutely right. Same motors, different batteries. The XR Power Detect is the strongest because it uses the 21700 batteries. But...you can put that battery pack into the other drills and get almost the same power output.

Higher AH only Allows Longer Run Time. I am curious How they have the 60/20 Flex Volt Batteries wired?? Series gets you Higher Volts. Parallel gets you Higher Amps.

🤣 Alright! You fell for it... the marketing gig. I guess you also like Penn and Teller? There’s more DeWalt BS in the US than there is in the UK for sure! 👍🇬🇧

All the retailers play rhe pricing game with model numbers.

I have used DeWalt for decades and never had the slightest problem. If fact l gave a friend a Combi drill that is about 20 years old and still going strong. I just don't understand your continued criticism of DeWalt ...it's an enigma to me

The collaboration between the machine structure and the powerful bateries need a bridge that's called electronic panel, it works as a brain. When we pull the trigger, the electronic panel asks the batery modul to deliver the amount of power to brushless motor. So, I think the performance of the motor depends of the power of the batery, but the motor has itself limit of the torque. It's just my humble opinion 👌🏼😊

Milwaukee Dewalt Ryobi

I was a fan of Dewalt but now the bean counter's have taken over. Take the DW 735 thickness planner. They are not even including the infeed and outfeed tables. Only a bean counter idiot would sell a thickness planner without the feed tables. Corporate greed to the max.

I'm trying to buy my first DeWalt Drill and Driver set. DeWalts confusing marketing always makes me feel like I'm being played ! As a new customer, all these different models are very confusing and disheartening, it has always put me off from making a purchase. *EVERY* drill I have purchased has had wobble, which has also put me off making such an expensive DeWalt purchase.

Although DW drills perform well, nobody ever addresses the way the chuck is designed so it cannot be removed in the “conventional” way. I have a DW995 that is now useless, even after taking it to service. Are these new models the same? If so, not likely to buy one…. beware!

I am a very old dewalt fan. That is what I have found over the years. I bought the very first dewalt 18v combo drill. It's only competition was at the time makita . Makita was a better tool. Just every time they introduced a new model the batteries would not work with the older tools. Dewalt has always designed a way for there older tools to work on the new battery line. That is the main reason I have always stayed with them. It is nice that they are finally producing tools that now compete with others. What would be really nice is if you could find a way to get them to make better blades for there lawnmower. I really do like the dewalt cordless lawnmower. It is the blade is crap. As I have the dewalt battery line. And have focused on there 60v line since they introduced it. And yes I have found a different in the power. Much more power with the 60v batteries. You are always going on about the dills impact drivers and saws building tools. As the big 3 are also focusing on gardening tools. I would like to see you putting them to the test . And make dewalt step up.

It is quite convenient that the tools from Lowes (That don't carry flexvolt) get the advantage from their 20V max larger batteries. BUT The Home Depot variant has a "Flexvolt" advantage because the stock and sell flexvolt batteries. My guess is like a LOT of other things they are in both big box stores yet are tweaked ever so slightly by the manufacturers for several reasons to suit each store (One thing you can't do is use it for price matching, as they are NOT the same product in name (Even if they are for real) Alot of appliances are the same way as well, just to prevent easy comparisons among the big box stores.

All seems the same to me 🤷 So quick question, my DCD996 stopped working after 4.5 yrs, only the led light works. Do I get it repaired, look for a 996 on marketplace for around 100CAD or do I get the DCD999 for 300CAD with free flex volt battery? 🤔 Any suggestions and why are welcome, thanks!

I need to replace my ancient cordless tools, and I've been putting it off because I am so DISGUSTED by all of the deceptive marketing; sales that are really no sales; combo kits with bottom of the barrel tools or stuff that you can't use, that I'm going to get a deep cycle battery and an inverter and just use corded tools! REALLY sick of all this crap! With cordless, if you want a few GOOD usable tools and a few batteries, you're looking at spending a few grand. Not worth it!

We need a TTR with 998 vs 999!!!

Dewalt is costing themselves money and customers with this changing batteries all the time BS. I bought the Delta miter saw instead of the Dewalt and plan to buy the Grizzly thickness planner instead of the Dewalt. Once the batteries on my cdurrent Dewalt tools die, I am done with the Dewalt brand. What a shame they treat their customers like we are stupid.

.. like a paddler in a yelling market. The main difference in that the 999 is not produced in the USA but China. 996 still manufactured in USA. 999 is more valuable for DEWALT but not for the consumer, it deserved only DeWALT BS. I bought the 18V150c with a kickback control a torque up to 150 Nm.

🤔Now what year did the DCD991 Dewalt XR 20V drill come out ?And will it work with the new big 8 battery?

We need more videos like this! I "needed" (my wife says "wanted" HAHA) an impact driver and I like DeWalt ... so after browsing the stores and internet, I made a SWAG and chose the 887. I would have preferred at least a 3/8", but with the confusing and overwhelming choices (not even mentioning the different "versions"), I got such a headache I just threw up my hands and chose the 887 because my wife was ready to say no way HAHA. Of course, a couple days later, I saw a combo deal with 2 tools for just $50 more to make me even madder ...

Open them up. Plug a battery in and test the voltage at the ECU's. That will show you if the electronics in Flexvolt are actually using 60v or 20 like the rest.

I got that package and that 6ah battery was the only DeWalt battery that crapped out in a few months. 2 years ago and the rest of the batteries are still going strong including the 9ah flex volt battery. Only difference is I use the 115 charger for all of them and used the rapid charge charger for the 6ah battery that failed.

I don't understand DeWalt's logic behind the FLEXVOLT Advantage. Why not just make a 60V drill? It just sounds like a way to sell more FLEXVOLT batteries, all the while making folks think they're getting a more powerful drill.

I just bought the compact stud and joist drill at Home Depot today. And the sales guy asked if I had any of the flex batteries, I told him No I have the regular XRs, and he told me, & I quote," that drill won’t work with anything but the flex batteries". Lol. I wanted too say, son I’ve got tools older than you But I didn’t. I just informed him that the batteries are interchangeable. It’s sad the depot pro does this. I guess either he didn’t know or it’s a marketing ploy for the unsuspecting buyer.

Like the circ saw, flexvolt has more rpm's you can't make the advantage increase rpm's when it max's at 5500 (i think it is) it can however drop down a gear and give more torque. I think its bullshit honestly. Why waste money on a flexvolt advantage? Just buy a flexvolt

After 00:21 I paused and went to the comments because I wanted to know if it smelled funny to you too. "Iam a big fan... Has 3 brand new drill and all new etc" who is this guy? An other word for "fan" is marketing. But he got his hands waving like a fan 😆

The dewalt drills have a very bad triggers. I think? I have a problem with rpm ramping up and down at full squeeze of the trigger. Does anyone have a remedy? I have a bucket of basically new drills.

Bottom line: Marketing advantage = money! All you have to do as a manufacturer is provide some tiny upgrade and wait for the new round of purchases to make good in your quarterly margin for the board of directors. If trades folk fall for the annual upgrade ploy…like an iPhone, then bigger fools them. Do you NEED more from your tools, or do you just like spending your hard earned?

I would call the 60 volt battery introduction an innovation. A 60 volt power source has the potental to kick the 20 volts ass. Amp hours is a measure of available energy, not power. The more AH, the longer the run time.

I still don't understand how 18V tools available in Europe become under 20V branding in America

Can't they just absorb DeWalt and call themselves: "Stanley-Black&Decker-Dewalt-Craftsman.Co" Or SB&DDCCo for short.

The 996 cannot handle the 8 amp battery it overheats but it won't stall out to protect itself nor can it handle the flex battery it breaks and the 998 detect loses quite a bit of power when it's not using an XR battery but works fine with the 4 amp hour 5 amp hour or 8 Amp Hour but can't handle the flex battery it will overheat and the 999 flexvolt can handle the 5 the 8 and the flexvolt I don't have any reason to use a flexvolt so I'm running the XR series and I purchased the 998 my question is can my 998 handle a power stack because I can't take advantage of my atomics without the power stack and yes I do think it was a dirty trick because they put it out on the market but they did not tell you what they were doing Would you please test both ha against each other using a power stack so that I can finally get the answer

im looking at both of those as you speak. one looks like a bigger battery being its 8volts. and the 5 is smaller(not by much 1"? maybe.) whats the weight? because weight sells for hiker gear.

Guy loves blurting out specs for each but, I`m sorry, he rambles on and on and on .....and on and on. Just get to the damn point (ie. Dirty marketing tactics).

Home Depot just dropped the price of the 999 by $80 here in Canada, now $219cdn bare tool. Maybe something new coming out?

Dewalt is seriously all marketing BS...they make good tools but I just don’t really trust a company that aims to deceive consumers...also I heard their warranty is BS