12 Of Milwaukee's Top Rated Tools Available In 2024

Milwaukee's range of tools is among the most all-encompassing of any tool brand, with tools for all kinds of users from weekend DIY enthusiasts to the most demanding professionals. While, in general, buying a Milwaukee tool is a pretty safe bet, it's always good to get confirmation from other owners that the tool is actually as capable as its marketing claims it to be. User reviews are the most reliable way of doing just that, with Milwaukee's best tools racking up thousands of reviews online from satisfied owners across multiple platforms.

This list of the brand's top-rated picks was compiled by aggregating user reviews from Ace Hardware, Home Depot, and other popular retail outlets. To give a snapshot of what users are saying about each tool, we've included its current average rating alongside a link to its listing at Ace Hardware. These tools get consistently strong reviews across the board, making them a safe investment for professionals and amateurs alike.

It might not be Milwaukee's most powerful electric leaf blower, but the M18 FUEL Handheld Leaf Blower takes the crown for user reviews. It's available for $179.00 from Ace Hardware and boasts over 4,100 reviews on the popular chain's website, with an exceptional average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. When asked whether they'd be happy to recommend the product to a friend, 97% of reviewers agreed.

Running on Milwaukee's interchangeable 18V battery system, the M18 FUEL Handheld Leaf Blower offers a lot of capability for the cash. With an XC8.0 battery, it's capable of reaching a peak air speed of 120 mph and a peak airflow of 450 cubic feet per minute. Two speed settings are available to prioritize either blowing power or runtime, and a lock-on feature keeps the blower easy to operate for extended periods. It's comfortable to use too, with its five-pound weight making it one of the lightest leaf blowers of its kind.

The Milwaukee M18 FUEL 16 inch Chainsaw Kit offers a great entry point into Milwaukee M18 tool ownership for anyone who isn't already in the brand's ecosystem. The kit includes the 16-inch chainsaw alongside a battery and charger, with the battery compatible with all other tools in the M18 range. The chainsaw can make as many as 150 cuts per charge on a full battery, with the equivalent cutting power of a 40cc gas-powered chainsaw.

It can reach its maximum speed even faster than a gas chainsaw, taking less than a second to reach full throttle. Like many other M18 tools, the chainsaw features RedLink Plus, a built-in power management system that ensures the tool maintains continuously high levels of power over prolonged use. An automatic oiler also keeps the chain running smoothly while making maintenance less of a headache.

The kit can be bought from Ace Hardware for $499.00, and is backed up by consistently strong user reviews. It boasts an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars across more than 2,300 reviews, with 94% of customers happy to recommend the product.

Sold alongside the M18 18V battery system, Milwaukee's M12 12V system offers cordless convenience and interchangeable batteries for smaller, lighter tools. The Milwaukee M12 FUEL 3/8 inch Brushless Cordless Ratchet is one of the top-rated tools in the M12 range, with an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars from over 1,200 reviews on Ace Hardware's website. It can be picked up for $199.00, with 95% of reviewers saying that the price was right to recommend the tool to a friend.

The ratchet delivers up to 200 rpm and 55 ft-lb of torque, making it comparable to many professional-grade pneumatic ratchets. It was designed to be compact, lightweight, and durable, with a reinforced mechanism for added peace of mind. Users of the tool will notice two lights upon startup, one LED worklight for added visibility in cramped spaces and the other acting as a charge meter to display how much charge the battery has remaining. It should be noted that the retail price of the ratchet does not include a battery, and so anyone who doesn't already have a suitable M12 battery will have to purchase one separately.

Retailing for $149.00 at Ace Hardware, the Milwaukee M12 FUEL 3 inch Cordless Brushless Compact Cut-Off Tool is one of the cheapest tools here, but it's no less capable than the rest. It can reach a peak of 20,000 rpm and thanks to the three included accessories, it can cut a large range of materials. A carbide blade, metal cut-off wheel, and a diamond tile blade all ship with the tool, although it does not ship with a battery or charger, which will need to be bought separately.

Milwaukee's tools are renowned for their usability whether you're a professional or a weekend DIY enthusiast, and the cut-off tool packs several ease-of-use features. The accessory guard can be adjusted without the need for tools and there's a vacuum adapter to reduce mess levels during the dustiest jobs. The cut-off tool is backed by highly positive user reviews on Ace Hardware, with customers giving it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars from over 1,500 reviews. 94% of those asked were happy to recommend the tool to others.

The Milwaukee M12 FUEL Brushless Cordless 1/4 inch Right Angle Die Grinder is another top-rated product in Milwaukee's M12 tool range. The $199.00 tool boasts an average of 4.4 out of 5 stars from user reviews on Ace Hardware's website, with 89% of reviewers stating that the product was worth recommending to a friend. According to Milwaukee, the tool not only matches up to professional grade pneumatic die grinders but actually outshines them, delivering a reported 20% more power than its traditional competition.

There are four rpm settings, with the slowest setting limited to 10,000 rpm and the top setting reaching 24,500 rpm. The tool is both lightweight and compact, with a weight of just 1.2 pounds and length of 4.4 inches. It's sold as a standalone tool, and so in order to function it will require a separate suitable M12 battery.

Virtually every major hardware brand offers a jig saw, with value-oriented brands like Ryobi offering cordless saws that undercut Milwaukee in price by a significant margin. However, few of those cheaper saws boast customer reviews as consistently strong as the Milwaukee M18 FUEL Cordless D-Handle Jig Saw. Retailing for $199.00 from Ace Hardware as a standalone tool, it's a premium product, but one that's arguably worth investing in.

The jig saw can reach a maximum of 3,500 strokes per minute and features a variable-speed trigger for when that maximum power isn't needed. A cut line blower ensures it's always easy to see where you need to be cutting, but it can be turned off if necessary. The bevel angle can be adjusted without the need for tools, reaching up to 45 degrees.

Anyone who's unsure about paying a premium for the saw only has to look at the customer reviews on Ace Hardware's website to confirm its value for money, with the tool recording an exceptional 4.9 out of 5 star average from over 1,300 reviews. When asked, 98% of customers were happy to recommend the tool.

Another top pick for both professionals and amateurs, the Milwaukee M18 FUEL Surge 1/4 inch Cordless Brushless Hydraulic Impact Driver retails for $169.00 at Ace Hardware. It's sold as a standalone tool, and is compatible with any Milwaukee M18 battery. It's capable of delivering up to 4,000 impacts per minute and 450 in-lb of torque, while the Redlink Plus power management system guards against overloads or excess heating during prolonged use.

Milwaukee claims its cordless impact driver is an upgrade over a regular impact driver in several key ways, generating significantly lower noise levels, far less vibration, and superior performance. Customers are also consistently impressed with its capabilities, with the tool receiving an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars from more than 1,100 reviews. When asked, 91% of customers were happy to recommend the tool to friends or colleagues.

Milwaukee's most powerful electric hedge trimmer is also among its top-rated tools, with its 24-inch blade delivering a maximum of 3,400 strokes per minute. Running on the brand's popular M18 interchangeable battery, the hedge trimmer delivers a runtime in the region of two hours on a full charge. Thanks to its 3/4 inch maximum branch cutting diameter, the tool can deal with all kinds of hedges from modest shrubbery to demanding evergreens.

The M18 FUEL 24 inch Hedge Trimmer retails for $199.00 as a standalone tool at Ace Hardware, with the retail outlet's users delivering consistently high praise for the tool. It sports an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars from more than 1,100 reviews, with a whopping 98% of users reporting that they'd endorse the product to others. Those figures are both exceptionally high even by Milwaukee's standards, with SlashGear's data showing similarly glowing reviews at other popular outlets.

In SlashGear's head-to-head comparison of the best reciprocating saw brands, Milwaukee ranked a respectable second place, only behind Makita. Anyone looking for an example of why the brand scored so highly should look no further than the Milwaukee M18 FUEL Super Sawzall Cordless Brushless Reciprocating Saw Kit.

The saw's brushless motor is capable of reaching a maximum of 3,000 strokes per minute and can be used all day, with up to 150 cuts available from a fully charged M18 battery. A battery and a charger are both included with the saw kit, which retails for $449.00 from Ace Hardware. It's another tool with almost unanimously positive reviews, achieving an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars from over 400 reviews on the outlet's store page. An almost perfect 99% of customers said that they'd be happy to recommend the product.

The Milwaukee M18 FUEL 1.25 HP Cordless Compact Router is a durable, capable tool that rivals corded routers, delivering up to 31,000 rpm. When that maximum power isn't needed, the variable speed dial lets users adjust the tool to as little as 10,000 rpm. Runtime will vary depending on which compatible M18 battery is used, but the tool's peak 1.25 horsepower will remain unchanged. Like many of Milwaukee's other tools, ease of use is accounted for in the tool's design as much as pure power, with features like the tool-free spindle lock and macro-adjust button for on the fly adjustments.

The router receives plenty of positive feedback from customers who have coughed up its $199.00 retail price, with 97% of those reviewed claiming that it was worth recommending. Its average review score at Ace Hardware is 4.8 out of 5 stars from over 1,200 reviews as of this writing.

Several of Milwaukee's top-rated tools are designed to replace pneumatic tools, offering a simpler and more compact alternative at a reasonable price. The Milwaukee M18 FUEL Brushless 30 Degree Framing Nailer is one such tool, with the power to fire up to three nails per second and a 51-nail magazine capacity to reduce reloads on longer jobs. Rather than relying on traditional gas cartridges, the tool uses a sealed compressed nitrogen system to pack just as much punch as a pneumatic nailer.

Proof of its usefulness can be found when browsing user reviews, with the vast majority of reviews extremely positive. Ace Hardware customers gave the tool an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars from over 1,200 reviews, with 96% of customers recommending the tool. It retails for $389.99, making it no small investment, but nearly every buyer who left a review found it worth the money.

Having a full set of tools isn't much use if you have nowhere to put them. A good portable tool box is worth shelling out for. SlashGear's comparison of the best portable tool box brands saw Milwaukee take the top spot, beating esteemed rivals like Husky and DeWalt. A prime example of why the brand ranked best is the Milwaukee Packout 22 inch Rolling Modular Tool Box, which retails for $139.00 at Ace Hardware.

The box's nine-inch wheels are suitable for rough terrain and with 250 pounds of carrying capacity, the tool box is an all in one solution for home workshops and demanding worksites alike. It's IP65 rated against water and dust ingress, and its ratings from customers are just as impressive. The box sports an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars from over 500 user reviews, with 83% of users saying that they'd recommend the box to others.