DeWalt’s New Oscillating Tool Is Better in Almost Every Way

Hey YouTube, DeWalt's finally put out a new XR oscillating multi-tool, so let's go ahead and find out if it's going to be worth it today on Tinker With Tools. Now pretty much every company out there has an oscillating multi-tool at this point, and some companies even have different levels of them, and that's certainly the case with DeWalt. They had one down on the Atomic lineup for example, but then they also had the 3-speed XR model which we're going to be talking about in comparison to the new tool today, and this is really going to be a tool that has some things that a lot of people like about it, has a couple of things that they didn't like. The things they like typically are going to be the blade change mechanism where you just get that lever to be able to pop in and out the blade, really nice system there, and then you have a trigger activation for the tool instead of a slide switch. I do think that's a really nice feature of this tool, and I think the grip is one of the better grips on an oscillating multi-tool. Now the two main things that people didn't love about the tool, definitely the performance and then just the overall noise. When it comes to oscillating multi-tools, there have been tools that have come out that have really taken the performance to a new level, but then also reduced the noise and vibration quite a bit from where this tool is, and so I want to go ahead and see how they've addressed that in the new tool. Now the new tool we're going to be talking about is the new 4-mode XR version. This is going to be model DCS359. It is their XR multi-tool. They do have an Atomic version of the new tool coming out as well that is going to come out this first of next year. Now with this, they've kept a lot the same and really kind of highlighted some of the good things that it had with the last tool. Blade change mechanism, largely the same. The trigger mechanism also going to be largely the same, and then while the grip did get a little bit fatter, it is still one of the better grips in my opinion with the oscillating multi-tool. When we talk about what they've improved with this tool or maybe the areas they've focused on the most, first and foremost is going to be the vibration control. They've effectively kind of made the head a little bit separated from the body to where it is allowed to kind of move and vibrate without transferring a lot of that vibration through to the tool, really trying to reduce the vibration here while still being able to increase the performance without having it result in additional vibration. The next area that they really focused on is obviously going to be the performance of the tool. The big way to do that with an oscillating multi-tool is going to be to increase the oscillation angle. This one is at 4.2 degrees oscillation. This one is all the way down at 3.2 degrees, and so really you're getting a much more aggressive cut. So they were able to increase the performance, but by decoupling the head here, they were really able to focus on not being able to transfer that vibration through. Now they've also changed where the speed modes are located. They're going to be kind of in a slightly more digital button panel than the side selector switch. It's going to be up on the back of the tool. I have heard a complaint from one viewer already that basically the corners of that kind of dig into his hand when he's using it. I will say that after he's pointed out, I have noticed it. It hasn't bothered me to the point where I don't want to use the tool, but it certainly is something to kind of keep in mind when you're looking at it. Just make sure that grip is going to be comfortable for you. Now the last difference with the tool that I'll mention is definitely going to be the light. They really still just have a single LED here, but it just is much brighter and has kind of a little bit of a bigger diffuser. With the old tool, you're just kind of getting a single not very bright LED. So with kind of the introduction and the spec differences out of the way, when we talk about just kind of out of the box ergonomic impressions, I do think that you're going to notice that the grip is a little bit larger. So if you're someone that just absolutely loved how small this grip was, maybe try and get hands on in store. It is roughly about five millimeters wider and about two millimeters deeper than the old grip. One of the other changes they made ergonomically is the back of the battery where you have the fuel gauge is going to be facing down versus the other way in this tool. And that is going to basically create almost like a flat plane with the bottom of the tool. I do think that makes it so you can get in close to like a baseboard cut or something like that without the battery getting away. Next up, we're going to be talking about size and weight. This is one of the few areas where I feel like maybe they didn't necessarily improve upon the tool because it is going to be about a half inch longer when talking about just the bare tool. And then the other thing is going to be the weight of the tool. The old one is coming in bare tool at 2.28 pounds. The new one is going to be up at 2.91. As long as the performance upgrades are worth it, I definitely think you're going to forget about the length and weight increase. So then let's talk about sound testing. First off, under no load, both tools actually measured at 90.2 decibels. I do think there's a slightly different pitch to the new tool. It's a little bit higher pitch. When we start talking about load though, the old tool measured 100.4 decibels under load. The new one was 104.2 and it really does sound and appear louder in person when in use. Now the one thing I will say is if the performance shows that you're able to get cuts done more quickly, then you're listening to a slightly louder tool less. So if they've been able to improve the performance at the sacrifice of a little bit of noise, I think that can be a fair trade-off. Probably still a tool that you want to wear hearing protection with though. It is going to be loud, especially if you're cutting in a confined space. Now a new test I was looking to do with these tools is to be able to try and understand or articulate the vibration that you're going to be feeling in your hand when the tool is in use. To do this we were able to get a vibration meter that is going to measure the acceleration of the vibration and it's going to be measured in meters per second squared and really the lower the number the better. But realistically you are getting significantly less vibration in the hand out of the new tool. So the decoupling of the head that they did is working and you do feel it. There are certainly other tools on the market today that have really good vibration dampening or reduction. This is now just up there with some of the better ones. So it's not necessarily going to be revolutionary ahead of every other multi-tool but it takes a weak point of the old tool and makes it more of a strength in my opinion. So now I'm going to show you the performance testing. I did a couple of different tests. We cut just some standard three-quarter inch select pine just to be able to see how it goes through that material. I then also did a plunge cut or kind of a full cut and a two by three of construction lumber. We then cut off two different nails. Kind of took the average time. We'll show that to you. And then the last one was a plunge cut into nail embedded wood to see how it could do that. So let's go ahead and see what those testing results show. So now with the performance testing a couple of things I want to point out. Obviously there's a lot of user influence on the test. How hard I push on something. How much I'm doing. Even just my overall technique. Which I'll admit I'm not the most expert person when it comes to using an oscillating multi-tool. But you have to remember that I'm the one using both of these tools. So while the performance test numbers may not be as faster as how you would use it. Kind of look at the relative difference between them to see how different the tools are in performance. And that's one where the performance difference of the new XR model is just night and day different. It is faster in every single cut. And it is even more capable doing cuts that ultimately this one failed to do. So obviously there is a big performance difference between the tools. That's mostly what I want to articulate. Now the last thing that I want to talk about before we get to price is going to be kind of just user impressions. This tool we did basically the same testing. But because of the performance deficit that this tool finds itself in. You're just going to be using this one for almost twice as long. So any of the gripes you have really start to compound and how they impact you when you're using it. Overall five to ten years ago I think this was a pretty great oscillating multi-tool. Just because it was small, lightweight, pretty ergonomic. But the performance deficit you just kind of really notice some of the things. And it definitely vibrates a lot more. It's more uncomfortable to use. And when we were trying to do that last test where it just would not go through the wood. This thing got really hot in the handle. Like uncomfortably warm to touch. And definitely something that I don't like to see in a tool was just how much it heated up. And so just not a great experience using that tool. User impressions though of the new tool. It is a little bit bigger. I think there are a couple of minor gripes. But I feel like overall the performance benefits just certainly outweigh that. So while yes the control panel back here for the mode selection does kind of dig into your hand. I don't love the lock-on switch that they have. It is bigger in the grip. Things like that. It is longer. It is a little bit heavier. Overall those fade away because just the performance is going to simply outweigh it. And I think it still is good enough ergonomically that it is going to be much nicer to use because of the vibration reduction and the performance improvement. So now we talk about price for the two different tools. You can get some absolutely screaming deals on this tool right now. In fact I bought this one last week. Paid $91 for it on Amazon. If you're going to kind of a standard store and expecting to pay more standard pricing $169 I think is what I saw this at Lowe's. But like I said you can get cheap pricing on Amazon. That is certainly going to be the case. So when we talk about the new tool that is where it did experience a price increase. Standard pricing on this is going to be $249 bare tool. They obviously do sell it in kit form. So you can go ahead and check that out. I'll be sure to have it linked down below. But one thing to note is already there have been sales on this through stores like Acme Tools. I saw this down at $224. It is going to be more money. That is something that I think people are not going to love. But I do think that the tool has proven its worth in terms of performance. So there you have it. Overall impressions of the new XR oscillating multi-tool. It is a winner. It is one of the best oscillating tools that I've used. I'm going to have a comparison coming up with stuff from Flex, Makita, Milwaukee. But I really think this is going to be one of the better performers just based on my limited use so far of it. It is definitely one I'm excited to use more and excited to see how it stacks up against the competition. Go ahead and let me know in the comments down below. If you have any questions we'll try and get them answered here. If you like this sort of video go ahead and hit that like button. And if you haven't already please consider subscribing. Make sure to turn on notifications. And until next time I will catch you on Tinker With Tools.