Power Tool Deals Worth a Look: Four Cordless Picks for the New Year

Introduction

A new year is a natural time to re-evaluate your tool setup, and the current round of promotions makes that easier than usual. Two battery-heavy deals from Makita and DeWalt stand out, along with a couple of individual tools that earn a spot on their own merits. Here are four picks that offer solid value right now, plus a few things to avoid if you are shopping the same sales.

Makita XGT Drill and Impact Driver Kit

The Makita XGT drill and impact driver kit is one of the clearest value plays in the current promotions. It ships with two free batteries, and while you get a pair of 2.1Ah packs rather than the larger 4Ah option, the bundle still represents a genuinely good deal for anyone starting out on or expanding the XGT platform.

One consideration before buying: newer second-generation XGT products are starting to appear, and those do not currently carry the two-free-battery promotion. If having the latest generation matters to you, it may be worth waiting. If raw value matters more, this kit is the deal to grab.

Makita 10-1/4 Inch Cordless Rear Handle Saw

For framing carpenters and anyone who prefers a larger rear-handle circular saw, this is arguably the standout pick of the bunch. The Makita 10-1/4 inch cordless rear handle saw appears to be the only 10-1/4 inch cordless saw on the market at the moment, which is a rare position for any tool. As far as we know, no other manufacturer, from Festool and Hilti to Milwaukee, currently offers a cordless saw at this size.

If you have been waiting for a genuinely large-capacity cordless framing saw, there is simply no alternative to compare against. It also qualifies for the two free batteries promotion, which softens the cost of stepping into the higher-capacity battery ecosystem this saw demands.

DeWalt 20V Compact Half-Inch Impact Wrench

DeWalt’s current promotion bundles two 5Ah battery packs with a free tool for around 200 dollars, and the compact 20V half-inch impact wrench is one of the better free tool choices on that list. It sits in a useful middle ground: compact enough for fast work in tight spaces, but still a genuine half-inch impact wrench for automotive and heavy fastening tasks.

The free tool lineup in this promotion is mostly strong. The reciprocating saw is a tested favorite with impressive speed and power, the brushless circular saw and brushless orbital sander are solid picks, and the router is a welcome inclusion. A few options are worth skipping: the impact driver, and the grinder in particular. The jigsaw is currently sold out. It is also worth checking whether the advertised 15 dollar coupon stacks with the bundle; the only way to find out is to add everything to your cart and try.

DeWalt Cordless Edger

DeWalt has finally released a standalone cordless edger, rather than forcing buyers into a multi-attachment platform, and that alone makes it notable for anyone maintaining a tidy lawn edge. A dedicated edger was a long-requested addition to the DeWalt cordless outdoor lineup.

One honest caveat: an earlier unit developed a smoking issue and had to be returned, so early reliability has not been flawless. That said, the convenience of a standalone battery-powered edger is exactly what many homeowners have been waiting for, and it can currently be picked up at a slight discount thanks to DeWalt’s tiered savings code.

That savings code is worth knowing about regardless of what you buy: 15 dollars off purchases of 150 dollars, 30 dollars off at 250, and 50 dollars off at 400. It can even be mixed across brands, which opens the door to combining a DeWalt edger with other accessories in the same order, such as the high-capacity 12Ah Milwaukee battery that appears in the same sale.

Overall Buying Advice

If you are starting or deepening a Makita XGT collection, the drill and impact kit with two free batteries is the safest value, with the 10-1/4 inch rear handle saw as the more specialized pick for framing work. On the DeWalt side, the two 5Ah batteries plus free tool bundle for around 200 dollars is hard to beat, just avoid the grinder and impact driver from the free tool list. The cordless edger is the niche pick, best for homeowners who have wanted a dedicated DeWalt edger and are happy to accept a slight early-adopter risk. Stacking the tiered savings code across brands is the easiest way to squeeze extra value out of any of these purchases.

Conclusion

This round of promotions rewards a bit of planning. The Makita XGT kits and the DeWalt battery-plus-free-tool bundle offer the clearest immediate value, the 10-1/4 inch rear handle saw fills a gap no other brand currently does, and the new standalone cordless edger finally gives DeWalt users a dedicated lawn edge tool. Check the stacking rules on the coupons before checkout, and these deals are hard to argue with.