Parkside COBOLT vs Knipex Test Review

In today's video we are going to compare two compact bolt cutters, one from Parkside and the original from Nepex, which I bought specifically for this test. The Parkside is called Compact Bolt Cutter, not Cobolt, and it has 210mm in length. On the back we find no useful information, either than the manufacturer, which is Meister, and it was made in China. Unlike the basic Nepex model, the Parkside has a spring and a clever latch system. It appears Nepex has registered the Cobolt name, that's why Parkside hasn't used it. I got myself the 200mm version, to match the Parkside, but this one was made in Germany. On the back we have a table of cutting capacity for different materials, 5.2mm nails, 4mm steel wire and 3.6mm spring steel. I like the shape of the Nepex handles better than the straight ones on the Parkside. The spring is a nice feature to have if you do a lot of repetitive cutting. It also has this smart latch design that opens automatically and can be closed with your hip, like some pruning shears have. Now let's compare them side by side. The jaws are a perfect match with the Nepex and are made of really hard steel. A file skates on them and they suffered no damage during the tests. They are also of similar thickness up to the pivot, after that the Nepex is a bit thinner. Also the head of the Parkside is a bit larger, despite it having the same opening. The frame itself is a 1 to 1 match, with the Nepex hiding perfectly behind the Parkside. Now it's time for some testing. As you can see I've prepared a variety of nails, bolts, threaded rod, steel wire, padlocks and chain for a thorough testing. Starting with this 3mm nail. The Nepex cuts it like it was made of copper, absolutely no effort at all. You might notice that I become a little more hesitant now. That's because it is the first time I'm using the Parkside, and I can feel that something is off. They need way too much force to cut such a small nail. Something is definitely wrong with them, and I can see what the problem is. I don't know how visible it is on camera, but the jaws are sharpened to a flat, not to a point. They have a flat edge that's at least half of a millimetre wide. Unlike the Nepex, which is sharpened to a perfect cutting edge. At this point I don't even know if it's worth continuing with the test. But it's also my first Nepex cobalt, so I might as well just see what it is capable of. Now this 5mm nail is where the Nepex failed me, despite putting all my body weight on it. And according to the table, it is still within the 5.2mm maximum capacity for nails. I'm just not strong enough. Now for a proper test, this Yale padlock with a 5mm hardened shackle. Now that was a huge surprise. It managed to cut it despite failing on a similar diameter nail. A high protection name brand padlock with a hardened shackle.