2025 test16 productsPower Tools
Which Power Cutter Brand Wins?
We compared 16 power cutter options head to head. Skil came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Winner
Skil
Price shown in test: $80
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Runner-up
Warrior
Price shown in test: $40
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Budget pick
Workpro
Price shown in test: $30
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Cardboard cutting speed | Plexiglas cutting speed | MDF cutting speed (fastest of 3 attempts) | Aluminum flashing cutting speed | Overall average finish | No-load RPM | MDF cutting speed | Carpet cutting test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Skil$80 | the Skil is very smooth and has by far the fastest cut speed yet at 1.38 seconds | the high RPM skill makes more than enough blade speed for fast cuts... 0.95 seconds is the fastest time yet | the Skill came in on top once again at 0.5 seconds | once again, the Skill came in on top at 0.3 seconds | the Skill with the 12-V battery ran circles around the competition with an average finish of second place | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Warrior$40 | the Warrior moves into second place behind the Workpro with an average speed of 1.58 seconds | the blade guard only hit a snag just once with a very fast average cutting speed of 1.41 seconds | not tested | the Z and the Warrior tied for second place at 0.5 seconds | the Harbor Freight Warrior also performed well with an average finish of 3.6 | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 3Makita$139 | the Makita is definitely the ultimate cardboard cutter with an average speed of 1.19 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | the Makita makes the most no-load RPM at 560 | unfortunately, the Makita doesn't produce enough torque for heavy materials like MDF... finally finished in 22 seconds | not tested |
| 4Zeite$40 | not tested | a much better blade guard design with the Z and it's not getting hung up on the plexiglass. And 1.2 seconds is only 3/10 of a second slower than the Workpro | not tested | not tested | not tested | the Z is by far the fastest yet at 509 RPM | the third cut is the fastest of the three at 2.98 seconds | not tested |
| 5Workpro$30 | the Workpro makes a lot more RPM than the Gar Tola... and the 1.53 average cut speed will be very hard to beat | the very affordable Workpro finished in second place at 1.17 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | the MDF is a little too dense for the Workpro. And the Workpro has an average cutting speed of 4.69 seconds | not tested |
| 6Worx ZipSnip$44 | the Zip Snip is the smoothest and the fastest yet at only 1.41 seconds. Very impressive | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | the Zip Snip stalled several times throughout the cut, but it's finally finished in 10.22 seconds | the Worx so is not well designed for cutting carpet and became plugged with carpet fibers |
| 7Ryobi$70 | 1.88 seconds is faster than most of the other brands | the Ryobi is a little slower than average at 1.86 seconds | Ryobi finished in second place at 0.7 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 8Fanttik$56 | the Fanttik is slower than average at 2.39 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | the Fanttik produces a lot of torque, but not much blade speed... the Fanttik is the fastest in the lineup with an average cutting speed of 1.53 seconds | not tested |
| 9Saker$36 | the Saker feels even smoother than the Snapfresh and it's also cutting faster than the Snapfresh at 1.74 seconds on average to move into second place behind the Workpro | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 10Gartol$26 | 2.77 seconds on the first cut is so much better than a utility knife... finished with the next two cuts with an average speed of 2.44 seconds | the Gar Tola did a much better job of cutting through the Plexiglas compared to the utility knife with an average speed of 1.67 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | the Gator tool lost a lot of blade speed and it never stalled, which is pretty impressive. And 2.37 seconds on average is a pretty good cutting speed | not tested |
| 11Black+Decker$35 | the average cut speed of 2.31 seconds is good enough to move into second place | unfortunately, Black & Decker really needs to revisit the blade guard design. It's snagging the plexiglass quite a bit and causing a pretty rough cut | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | the Black & Decker really struggled with an average cutting speed of 15.52 seconds | not tested |
| 12SnapFresh$36 | the Snapfresh feels smoother than the Gar Tola and the Black & Decker, but not as smooth as the Workpro. And 1.96 seconds on average is pretty good | the blade guard on the Snapfresh is catching on the plexiglass far worse than the previous three brands. And 2.86 seconds on average is over a second slower than the competition | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | the Snapfresh doesn't make a lot of blade speed, but it does make pretty decent torque... for an average cutting speed of 3.75 | not tested |
| 13EVCITN$40 | EV makes plenty of blade speed, but unfortunately, the blade guard is catching and dragging on the cardboard pretty badly. And 1.91 seconds is good enough to move into third place | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | EV's blade guard seems to be causing pretty significant blade pinch... EV is finally finished in 22.7 seconds | not tested |
| 14Vloxo$46 | the Vloxo isn't nearly as fast as the Workpro and the Worx, but is still performing well. And the Vloxo is slower than most of the other brands at 2.5 seconds on average | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 15S&F$44 | the S and F is pretty slow at only 262 RPM... has an average speed of 2.03 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | I pushed the S&F a little too hard on the first cut and it stalled the cutting wheel... that's 6.32 seconds on average | not tested |
| 16Onevan$72 | the Onevan is by far the slowest in the lineup with a three-cut average time of 5.17 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
How it was tested
- cardboard cutting speed test
- Plexiglas cutting speed and blade guard interference test
- MDF cutting speed/torque test across three attempts
- carpet cutting test
- rubber mat cutting test
- aluminum flashing cutting speed test
- no-load RPM measurement
- noise level (dB) measurement
- overall average-finish ranking across all graded categories
“This is by far the best tool in the lineup and would definitely be my choice.”