Skil Power Core 20 XP Rear Handle Circular Saw Review: Pro Feel Without the Pro Price

Introduction

The Skil Power Core 20 XP rear handle circular saw occupies an interesting spot in the cordless saw market. It runs on two of Skil’s Power Core 20 batteries, and while the design language clearly borrows from the pro side of the aisle, it’s priced like a serious DIY upgrade. The big question with any saw like this is whether it’s a DIY tool, a prosumer tool, or a genuine pro-grade performer. After working through the details, the answer is refreshingly clear.

Design and Handling

The rear handle design puts a tether point right on the handle, which matters if you work at height where a tether is required. You also get a nicely contoured grip, a typical ambidextrous safety switch before the trigger, and a rafter hook positioned right in front of it.

Build quality is where this saw starts justifying the XP badge. Everything is metal: the shoe, the blade guard, the blade cover. That’s the kind of construction detail that separates a durable tool from one that rattles apart on the job site.

Adjustments and Dust Extraction

Adjustments are conventional and smooth. Flip up the clamp for height adjustment, and you’ll find high-contrast marks for common two-by lumber and plywood settings. The bevel control unlocks the same way, with a positive 45-degree stop and a small override tab at the rear that unlocks the full bevel range when you need it.

The dust extraction runs through the handle with a swiveling dust port that rotates 360 degrees, so you can aim it with or against the wind, or attach a vacuum. If you’d rather not have it at all, it pops off and debris shoots straight out through the handle. The trade-off is a minor one: without the flat motor housing some saws offer for blade changes, you’ll want to pop that dust port off and set the saw up on it for blade swaps.

There’s also onboard tool storage built into the bottom of the shoe, a practical touch that keeps the hex wrench exactly where you need it.

Cutting Performance

Under the hood, this is a brushless unit, which is no surprise given the XP designation. It takes two four amp hour batteries in our testing, and the kit ships with two five amp hour batteries plus a dual port charger. There’s also a satisfyingly fast blade brake once the batteries are in.

We ran cross cuts, miter cuts, bevel cuts, and compound cuts in two-by lumber to find the flaws and get a feel for performance. The verdict: this saw sits comfortably in prosumer territory. It’s not quite up to what Milwaukee and DeWalt’s FlexVolt rear handle saws can do, but it lands right alongside Makita’s rear handle saw on the 18V X2 platform. It handled a full plunge cut and ripped down a four-by-four, outperforming 15 amp corded saws in the process.

That’s genuinely strong performance for a saw at this price point.

Who Should Buy It

If you’re a DIYer stepping up or a professional who doesn’t want to pay flagship prices, this saw hits a sweet spot. The $249 price at retailers like Lowe’s and Acme Tools makes it one of the more compelling dual-battery rear handle saws on the market right now, and the kit inclusion of two 5Ah batteries and a dual port charger means you’re not scrambling for power out of the box.

If your daily work demands the absolute top tier of rear handle cutting performance, the Milwaukee and DeWalt FlexVolt options still have the edge. But for everyone else, this Skil delivers more capability than the price suggests.

Conclusion

The Skil Power Core 20 XP rear handle circular saw is a prosumer saw with pro-grade design cues, all-metal construction, strong cutting performance, and a very reasonable price. It’s not the most powerful rear handle saw on the market, but at $249 with two batteries and a dual port charger included, it’s arguably one of the best values in the category.