DeWalt Review: Is It a Good Tool Brand?

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Are you looking for a good brand of tools to upgrade your arsenal with? If so, you are probably focusing on some of the most popular and well-known brands out there.

One of these super popular brands, particularly in North America, is DeWalt. However, just because it is popular doesn’t necessarily mean that it is good. Today, we are here to do an in depth DeWalt review to figure out just how good this tool brand really is and whether you should commit yourself to it.

Long Story Short…

DeWalt

An American brand that’s part of the Stanley Black & Decker group. Offers a wide selection corded and cordless tools and accessories of decent quality.

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DeWalt is a tool company that was originally founded back in 1923 by none other than Raymond E. DeWalt. The company started out quite small, but quickly grew larger, and this was thanks to the fact that Raymond DeWalt was the man who invented the first radial arm saw, and indeed, this became one of the early flagship products of the DeWalt brand. Keep in mind that the company was not incorporated as DeWalt until 1947.

What is interesting to note is that American Machine & Foundry Co. purchased the DeWalt name in 1949, but did not hang on to it for long. Instead, in 1960, the brand was sold to Black & Decker. Later on, Black & Decker merged with Stanley works to become Stanley Black & Decker, and yes, this company still owns the DeWalt brand to this day. On a side note, Stanley Black & Decker markets DeWalt as its professional and relatively high-end line of tools.

DeWalt is a truly huge company, one that focuses on the making of power tools, and lots of them. This company produces literally thousands of products. DeWalt produces a wide range of corded power tools, cordless power tools, mechanic’s tools, as well as outdoor lawn and garden equipment too.

At this time, DeWalt has around 13,000 employees, quite a substantial number, with estimated annual revenues exceeding 4 billion dollars. A cool fact about DeWalt is that in the past few decades, it has sponsored various NASCAR drivers, something that has helped increase its popularity and presence, particularly in the United States.

DeWalt Tool Quality Overview

The number one thing that can be said about DeWalt products across the board is that they are likely some of the best out there. The general consensus about DeWalt tools is that they are fairly high end, maybe not the very best in the world, but certainly up there with the best of them. What most people say, what we agree with, is that DeWalt produces tools and all sorts of products that are ideal for professional and heavy-duty use.

In general, these are the kinds of tools that a tradesman would use on a daily basis for big jobs, and not have to worry about them breaking down. Indeed, DeWalt tools are well known for being durable and long-lasting, often using top of the line materials and components in the construction of their power tools and other products.

Now, this is not to say that non-professional people, such as hobbyists, DIYers, and people looking to do home repairs cannot use them. They are of course more than good enough for occasional and lightweight use.

That being said, DeWalt tools are not exactly cheap, which is why hobbyists and people who just need them for occasional use may not buy them. The flipside of that is that you do get what you pay for with DeWalt, and here you do get a whole lot of quality. Overall, DeWalt tools are recognized for their durability, longevity, comfort, functionality, and ability to deal with big jobs.

Manufacturing

In case you are wondering where DeWalt manufactures its tools, the facility locations include Mexico, Brazil, China, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and the United States. As you can see, a good amount of these factories are located in Global North countries with high manufacturing standards.

When it comes to factories located in the USA, there are seven locations spread out across various states including Connecticut, Maryland, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

A cool statistic to note here is that in 2014, DeWalt produced well over 60 million tools in its USA locations. Just some of the tools made in these USA locations include drills, impact drivers, reciprocating saws, and grinders. Generally speaking, a higher level of quality is associated with the specific DeWalt tools made in the USA.

Warranty

In terms of DeWalt’s warranties on their tools and other products, this brand offers 30-day money back guarantees on all tools.

It also offers three-, seven-, or lifetime limited warranties depending on the exact tool you purchase.

DeWalt Product Portfolio Overview

Something that definitely stands out about DeWalt is that this brand produces a very wide variety of power tools, outdoor lawn and garden equipment, accessories, gear, and much more. Let’s take a closer look.

Cordless Power Tools

One of DeWalt’s strongest areas is its vast assortment of cordless power tools. This brand has two specific battery systems that it uses. This includes the 20V MAX System and the FLEXVOLT system. The 20V Max System features well over 200 different tools, all 20V tools that can operate with the same battery.

This is also true of the FLEXVOLT system, which is actually even more flexible, as these batteries can be used for 20V, 60V, and 120V tools, and hundreds of them too. The fact that you can use the same batteries for a wide assortment of power tools and outdoor equipment is pretty cool, and this goes for drills, saws, blowers, and much more.

Corded Power Tools

DeWalt does also offer a wide variety of corded power tools, although not nearly as many as cordless power tools.

here are a variety of corded drills, impact wrenches, fans, wet/dry vacs, compressors and inflators, workplace lights, screw-guns, and many stationary woodworking tools that are corded. Most of the larger saws are all corded.

Outdoor Equipment

Something that DeWalt is quite well known for, although less so than for power tools, is outdoor equipment.

DeWalt offers a variety of blowers, chainsaws, hedge trimmers, string trimmers, and lawnmowers too. Keep in mind that the vast majority of DeWalt outdoor equipment is battery-powered, specifically by the two battery systems that we covered above.

Hand Tools

If you need a good selection of hand tools, DeWalt is definitely a brand to keep in mind.

Just some of the hand tools that DeWalt produces and sells include axes, hammers, pry bars, clamps, hand saws, impact sockets, knives and blades, manual fastening tools, measuring tools, mechanic’s sets, pliers and snips, and ratchets.

That said, the brand manufactures more or less any other kind of hand tool that you can think of.

Gear, Storage & More

DeWalt produces many other things too including jobsite cleanup solutions, jobsite lighting, workplace clothing, gear, and apparel, ladders, various tools storage solutions, sawhorses, work benches, jobsite radios, and more.

Is DeWalt a Good Brand?

The only thing left for us to say here is that DeWalt is indeed a great brand, one of the best ones out there in fact. Sure, it may not be a super cheap brand in terms of pricing, but once again, you get what you pay for.

With the somewhat high prices that DeWalt tools come in at, you get a massive selection of tools, gear, and equipment, you get great warranties, and best of all, you get really long-lasting tools that can handle any job.

How Does DeWalt Compare with Other Brands?

If you are not convinced DeWalt is the right brand for you, make sure to also read my detailed comparison putting it side by side with other popular brands:

DeWalt Product Reviews

Finally, if you are looking for specific tools, go through the product reviews below:

Summary

At the end of the day, while there are of course some people who are not satisfied with DeWalt tools, we would say that well over 95% of people have nothing but good things to say about it.

This tool behemoth is not only one of the biggest in the world at this time, but also one of the best.