Last year Makita got us all excited over a cordless version of their excellent plunge saw. We first wrote about it in August when we had a short time with it. We concluded that it had a lot of power, and was easily as accurate as our jobsite saw.
Recently Home Depot asked us to take a longer look at the saw, and we quickly agreed. We’ve now used it on several projects, and we’ve caught ourselves grabbing it far more often than setting up a jobsite saw.
The power still stands out. We never found ourselves wishing for a cord, which is really saying something. We used the 55″ track more often than not and were always happy with the accuracy.
Our only issue was with dust. The saw was so convenient, we would consistently grab it for a quick cut, and the thought of dragging over a vac, plugging it in (somewhere), hooking it up to the saw then turning it on… it was all too much. The utter convenience of the saw literally made a vac feel like real work. We’re hoping the next version of the XPS01 will be compatible with Makita’s awesome new Bluetooth controlled wireless vacs.
Our laziness aside, it’s still a great saw. Powerful, accurate and nearly convenient to a fault. We love this saw and plan to keep it on call in our shop for the foreseeable future.
