2020 test4 productsPower Tool Batteries
Which Power Tool Batteries Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 4 power tool batteries options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Ranked first
DeWalt 5 amp hour 20V max lithium ion battery
Price shown in test: $59
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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 | Weight | Claimed capacity | Cell/pack origin | High-load wind test (air blower, initial 79.5 mph) | 5-amp discharge test (down to 10V) | Cold temperature test (~7F freezer) | Impact test | Internal cell | Manufacturer claims | High-load wind test | 5-amp discharge test | Cold temperature test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1DeWalt 5 amp hour 20V max lithium ion battery$59 | 629 g | claims it delivers 100 Wh; maximum initial voltage 20V, nominal voltage 18V | cells made in Malaysia, pack assembled in Mexico | held the lead for most of the test, finished at 12 minutes 46 seconds (outlasted Waitley by almost 3 minutes), discharged to 12.93 V; came out on top overall in this test, Milwaukee close second, Makita third, Waitley distant fourth | produced 4.74 amp hours and 82.1 Wh over 57 minutes 37 seconds, the best of all four brands | lasted 52 minutes 53 seconds (4.36 amp hours, about 73 Wh), the best of all four brands though about 5 minutes shorter than its own ambient-temperature run | handled the 10 ft side impact and 12 ft bottom impact with no visible damage, but was the only brand damaged by the 12 ft corner impact (casing began to bulge); disassembly showed the casing had just popped loose, no internal damage, and it was reassembled and still worked | Samsung 25R, rated 2,500 mAh and 20 amps of current (same cell also used in the Makita, different model number) | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Milwaukee M18 Red Lithium XC 5.0 extended capacity$65.49 (about $6.50 more than the DeWalt) | 736 g, 107 g heavier than the DeWalt | not tested | cells made in Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore, with further processing in China | not tested | not tested | not tested | handled the 10 ft side impact, 12 ft corner impact, and 12 ft bottom impact all with no visible damage; described as 'a tank' and the best of all four brands at taking a hit | LG HE2, rated 2,500 mAh and 20 amps of current (same specs as the Samsung 25R used in DeWalt/Makita) | 2.5 times more runtime than their standard lithium, up to 20% more power/torque, up to 2 times more life | close second to DeWalt for most of the test, finished at 12 minutes 26 seconds (only 20 seconds less than DeWalt), discharged to 13.06 V | produced 4.49 amp hours and 77.6 Wh over 54 minutes 41 seconds, about 3 minutes less than DeWalt; this was the lowest of the three major brands (behind DeWalt 4.74 and Makita 4.52) on this specific test | lasted 48 minutes 48 seconds (4.02 amp hours, 66 Wh), around 3 minutes less than DeWalt |
| 3Makita 5 amp hour 18V battery$87.50, about $20 more than the competition | ambiguous in transcript: 'The Makita weighs the DeWalt, but over 100 g less than the Milwaukee' appears to be missing a word/number (likely a dropped comparison such as 'about the same as' or a specific gram figure); kept verbatim, not guessed | up to 150% more capacity, 45-minute charge time claimed; only claims 90 Wh (vs DeWalt's claimed 100 Wh); no Wh figure given for Milwaukee | packaging indicates made in Japan, but the battery itself indicates made in Korea with further processing in Vietnam | not tested | not tested | not tested | handled the 10 ft and 12 ft impacts with no damage, though described as 'not as robust as Milwaukee' | Samsung 25R, same specs as DeWalt's cell (2,500 mAh, 20 amps) but a slightly different model number | not tested | third place, finished at 12 minutes 14 seconds; internally protected and stopped producing power at the connectors around 12.6 V rather than draining further like the other brands | produced 4.52 amp hours, ahead of Milwaukee's 4.49 (though behind DeWalt's 4.74) on this specific test; cut off at 55 minutes 15 seconds via the same internal protection at around 12.6 V | lasted 49 minutes 54 seconds (49.9 minutes), longer than Milwaukee and Waitley but more than 2 minutes short of DeWalt |
| 4Waitley lithium ion 5 amp hour 20V battery (DeWalt-compatible, off-brand baseline)$27, less than half the price of the DeWalt | 593 g, the lightest of the four | not tested | made in China; designed to fit DeWalt tools directly (no adapter needed) | not tested | not tested | not tested | handled the 10 ft side impact with no damage; not mentioned specifically in the 12 ft corner or 12 ft bottom impact segments, which name only DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Makita | not tested | not tested | distant fourth place, finished at 10 minutes 1 second, discharged to 16.16 V | produced 3.64 amp hours and 62.6 Wh over 44 minutes 32 seconds, the worst of all four brands | lasted 42 minutes 11 seconds (3.51 amp hours, 55.6 Wh), the worst of all four brands and over 2 minutes shorter than its own ambient-temperature run |
How it was tested
- high-load wind speed test until cutoff (DeWalt air blower + power meter, initial wind speed and decay tracked over time)
- 5-amp constant load discharge down to 10V at ambient temperature (real-world amp-hour and watt-hour capacity)
- 5-amp constant load discharge test after 24+ hours in a ~7F freezer (cold-weather performance)
- drop/impact durability test from 10 ft (side) and 12 ft (corner and bottom) using a PVC pipe guide
- battery pack teardown to identify and compare the internal 18650 cell brand/model used by each manufacturer
Data notes and caveats
No single overall winner is crowned; the video closes with per-attribute verdicts instead: 'It seemed like DeWalt did the best as far as amp hour production... Milwaukee definitely did the best [taking a hit]... Makita definitely seems like the best engineered [self-protection].' Per the per-use-case-favorites rule, winner/runnerUp/budgetPick are left null and each brand's specific edge is captured in its own notes; data quality itself is clean (consistent brand names, no phonetic garbling, dense verifiable numeric readings throughout), so confidence is high despite winner being null. Waitley is a non-major/off-brand battery used as a cheap baseline comparison, not one of the three headline brands (Milwaukee vs DeWalt vs Makita) named in the title, but is included as a fourth product since it received full test data throughout.