astudio/Shutterstock

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Milwaukee is selling a massive 16-piece power tool kit and the reviews are still few and far between. Currently, the brand’s own website places the M18 16-Piece Combo Kit at 4.2 out of five stars, but the rank is based on just five votes, one of which is extremely negative. Four stars sound great, but what if you had a one-in-five chances of buying this kit and deeply regret it? Suddenly, the odds don’t look so good. There are few reviews, but also too many variables. How much did each user pay for the kit? Was it $995.99, what it’s currently sold for on Amazon, or did they buy it somewhere else?

Advertisement

Vitally, we don’t know what price you, the reader, can get for this set. The only way to help you decide if this is the set for you is to look at every tool it contains. Let’s start with something that describes all this gear. Those are not new tools — you won’t find the hottest Milwaukee tools of 2025 in this kit. Those are all part of the M18 tool system, but not M18 Fuel, the more powerful and expensive line that includes some of the best rated M18 tools. That said, most of the gear in this power tool kit is pretty good and quite expensive. If it’s a deal you were looking for, you found one. Let’s see if you can also get some use out of it.

The M18 2-Gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum is a portable, battery-powered vacuum in a box. It comes with a filter which can be easily replaced (even though the replacement filters aren’t exactly cheap at $24.99). This vacuum can run for over 30 minutes when powered by the (not included) Milwaukee M18 Red Lithium High Demand 9.0 Ah battery, and has 2 gallons capacity, to ensure it really can work uninterrupted for all that time. It can be used on liquids as well as solids.

Advertisement

Like all other products in this line, the Milwaukee Wet/Dry Vacuum is powered by an 18V battery. This translates to a suction speed of 45 CFM of air and 32″ of water lift, which is more or less what you’d expect from a similarly-priced handheld vacuum like the DeWalt 20V Cordless Vacuum. Like many of those handhelds, the Milwaukee can act as a blower as well.

The M18 Compact Blower is a variable speed portable air blower included with the Milwaukee Power Tool Kit. By portable, Milwaukee means 20.5″ long and 5.5″ high, measuring just 2.6 lbs, though that’s not counting the battery. The size is about the same as most other small air blowers, and the same is true for the performance. The Milwaukee Compact Blower has a lock-on switch with three speed levels, the highest of which moves as much as 100 CFM of air at 160 MPH.

Advertisement

Users overwhelmingly like this product, even if it’s not without faults. For one, it doesn’t come with an intake filter and the owner can’t easily install one. The intake seems to be the cause of many accidents involving clothes getting sucked in, too. That said, while there might be more powerful electric leaf blowers available, this tool does its part in this 16-piece kit perfectly well.

The M18 Jobsite Fan is quite powerful, and it can run for pretty much an entire day on one battery. Not just a workday, either — we’re talking about a whole 17 hours delivering air on a single charge. That would require equipping your M18 fan with an M18 5 Ah battery, which doesn’t come cheap. Thankfully, it can be powered by AC power as well through a regular socket. This fan has a maximum air flow capacity of 284 CFM, which most users find to be more than enough.

Advertisement

That 284 CFM might be a lot, but it’s not the absolute maximum that a fan can do. DeWalt’s 20V Max Jobsite Fan, for one, claims to reach up to 650 CFM. Milwaukee’s mid-sized work fan doesn’t have any hooks or other means of easily hanging the tool, but it does have four keyholes on the base that let it grab onto nails or screws.

The M18 1/2″ Hammer Drill/Driver promises to be “more powerful than the competition” in its class, and Milwaukee mostly delivers on this promise. The 1,800 RPM and 500 in-lb of torque this tool is capable of are slightly higher than those of the DeWalt Max 1/2″ 20V Cordless Compact Drill Driver, one of its direct competitors. Sure, the Milwaukee is more expensive, but that doesn’t mean much if you’re buying the whole 16-piece kit.

Advertisement

Every other feature in this drill/driver is pretty much what you’d expect. It’s capable of running at two speeds, the fastest of which reaches 1,800 RPM. It has a whole 24 clutch settings, which are used to avoid imposing too much torque on cheap screws or brittle materials. If you’ve ever fastened a screw far too deep in an Ikea table by accident, you know how easy that is to do when you’re using an impact driver instead of a drill.

The M18 Cordless 5/8″ SDS Plus Rotary Hammer is a lightweight drill for its class at 5 lbs without a battery that is designed for tight spaces and overhead work. It’s also quite versatile, as it supports a wide range of SDS-plus drill bits. While this is a powerful rotary hammer drill, it also has a rotation only mode that is useful for drilling through soft material like wood.

Advertisement

While it is not as powerful as most larger and heavier rotary hammers, the 1,300 RPM and 7,000 BPM capabilities of this tool make it a little faster than other cordless 5/8″ drills, like the DeWalt 20V MAX SDS Rotary Hammer Drill. Keep in mind, however, that the 5/8″ used in the name of this drill refers to the diameter of the holes that those tools can comfortably drill into concrete and other materials used in masonry.

The M18 Right Angle Drill is a simple, compact drill and driver tool that trades strength and speed for a head bent by 90 degrees. According to Milwaukee’s website, this is the most compact right angle drill driver on the market. That’s a difficult claim to test, but it sure seems compact enough to be usable in most tight spaces. In fact, it even comes equipped with an LED light built in for those circumstances.

Advertisement

While it’s obviously underpowered when compared to Milwaukee’s full-sized drill/driver, the Angle Drill’s 125 in-lbs of force don’t stop it from reaching a speed of 1,500 RPM. It might not be the most powerful tool on the market, but it won’t slow you down, either. All in all, this drill is a welcome addition to the kit — even if you could get away with an angled attachment tool from Milwaukee that’s just $26.47 at Home Depot.

The M18 Sawzall Reciprocating Saw promises “30% faster cutting and 50% more run-time” than its competitors, which is a pretty bold claim. Unfortunately, it’s hard to say if the Sawzall is really so much more efficient than other reciprocating saws. At the very least, it seems to be one of the cheapest among the major power tool brands to offer 3,000 SPM – with the notable exception of the Black+Decker Reciprocating Saw Kit, which also includes a battery pack.

Advertisement

That said, a faster speed isn’t always better. Some of Milwaukee’s users actually prefer the lower (but still plenty fast) 3,000 SPMs of the Sawzall. Unlike most other tools in the 16-piece kit, the M18 Sawzall Reciprocating Saw features a brushless motor, at least according to its Amazon store page. Only a select few Milwaukee M18 tools are brushless, so including one has to be worth something.

What can the M18 Cordless Multi-Tool do? A lot, depending on the attachment used, but it’s hard to say whether the product in the kit includes any of those accessories. According to the Cordless Multi-Tool store page on Amazon — but not the page on Milwaukee’s website — it comes with woodcutting blades, sanding sheets, and a sanding pad. As long as the job isn’t too demanding, the variable-speed 11,000 to 18,000 OPM motor will make short work of those tasks.

Advertisement

Whatever might be in there, with the right accessories, this multi-tool takes care of the odd jobs no other tool can deal with. Those include cutting through wood and other material of a similar hardness when no other tool would fit. The same goes for sanding, grinding, and scraping. You only need the space for the tool’s thin blade, perhaps accompanied by a section of the small 5″ body.

The M18 6 1/2″ Circular Saw is a brushless, cordless saw that promises strong performance and reliability That’s no surprise from one of our highest rated circular saw brands. This saw in particular is one of the very few brushless tools in this set and in the M18 line, lending credibility to those claims of increased durability. That said, the 3,500 RPM motor doesn’t quite compare to other 18V circular saws, like the significantly cheaper 4,700 RPM Ryobi One+.

Advertisement

What makes the M18 circular saw so popular with its users might be the construction quality, especially in the guard and shoe. The battery life isn’t so great, but of course that issue is common to every demanding power tool that goes cordless. In fact, this highlights a hidden benefit of the slower Milwaukee circular saw — if this tool burns through so many batteries in a work session, imagine what it would do if it ran 50% faster.

The M18 Random Orbit Sander is one of the most popular woodworking sanders from Milwaukee, with 3,280 user reviews on Amazon. It features variable speeds, from 7,000 to 12,000 orbits per minute and a lot of accessories, at least for the standards of this power tool kit. Those include a dust canister, as you might expect, but also an extension adapter and a universal hose adapter, which allow you to improve dust collection with a third-party tool.

Advertisement

What you won’t find in the tool is a battery, as usual, but Milwaukee’s website promises 35 minutes of runtime with the affordable and popular M18 Red Lithium XC 3.0 Ah batteries. As a random orbit sander, this tool helps you hide the scratches that are common on finished surfaces. It also tends to create less dust than other types of sanders, which means less of a mess to clean and a lower risk of inhaling fine substances. Wooden dust can have a significant effect on your health so reducing particles in the air should be a priority.

If Milwaukee’s website is to be believed, the M18 1/4″ Hex Impact Driver is the most powerful 1/4″ hex driver for its size and price range, and it’s supposed to be quite resilient as far as brushed tools go. At the low price of $56.00, it might very well be. This impact driver features a mighty 1,500 in-lb of maximum torque and a variable speed trigger that reaches 3,450 impacts per minute and 2,750 rotations per minute.

Advertisement

For context, Milwaukee’s 1/4″ Hex Impact Driver is nearly identical to the DeWalt Cordless 1/4″ Hex Driver, while being about $10 cheaper. Even with all this power, the Milwaukee is quite light, at just 2.3lb. To get a better size-to-power ratio you’d have to go with the much more expensive Milwaukee’s M18 Brushless or M18 Fuel Powerstate Brushless tools, but this simple driver is more than enough for occasional user.

The M18 1/2″ Impact Wrench with Pin Detent is the least powerful of the two impact wrenches in this 16-tools kit, but it still has a place in the collection. It’s relatively lightweight, at just 4.1lb, and can reach a speed of 2,450 RPM and 3,350 IPM, while delivering as much as 183 ft-lb of fastening torque. In addition, the pin detent anvil helps ensure reliable socket retention, while extras like a metal belt clip and an LED light make it easy to keep handy on the job site.

Advertisement

Perhaps because of the more powerful model, this Milwaukee impact wrench is not particularly popular. Still, the few users that took the time to leave a review on the brand’s website are really happy with it, describing it as lightweight and convenient. That said, there simply aren’t a lot of reviews available at this time — just five, to be exact.

The M18 1/2″ High-Torque Impact Wrench is a powerful variable speed impact wrench with a friction ring mechanism that makes it easier to change sockets. The M18 Fuel variant of this tool landed Milwaukee first place in our ranking of every major cordless impact wrench brand, and the standard M18 model is not far behind. As we wrote then, there’s a reason why these Milwaukee products enjoy such a good reputation among DIYers and professionals.

Advertisement

The 450 ft-lb of max torque when fastening are not quite on par with the alternatives by Ryobi or DeWalt — which come in at 700 ft-lb and 1030ft-lb, respectively — but the Milwaukee is quite a bit cheaper. Not that it matters, since it’s part of a bundle. However, if you need a tool to really exceed your expectations, the M18 Fuel High-Torque Impact Wrench would be the better choice.

The M18 Cordless 4-1/2″ Cut-off/Grinder is an angle grinder that boasts about being “the only cut-off/grinder in the market with a paddle switch.” However, this is a slightly bizarre claim that might have been true once — perhaps when the non-Fuel M18 line was brand new — but it sure isn’t now. That said, a paddle switch makes for a safer device overall, especially in the hands of beginners. It’s a great addition to the tool, even if it is outdated today.

Advertisement

Let’s talk about the tool itself. The M18 4-1/2″ Grinder comes with a side handle that can be moved into three positions, a feature that not every grinder at this price point has. The same goes with the variable speed that tops at 10,000 RPM, which is significantly better than what’s offered by alternatives such as the comparable DeWalt 20V MAX 4-1/2 Inch Cordless Angle Grinder.

Together with the Jobsite Radio, the handheld Milwaukee M18 Work Light has the lowest rating of all the products in the 16-piece kit. This is most likely because they’re both too expensive for what they do, but there are deeper problems as well. For instance, while the radio disappointed users with the lack of expected features, the Work Light simply fails at being a flashlight.

Advertisement

According to many user reviews, this flashlight is not bright enough to light a whole room, let alone a work site. The 100 lumens that the M18 Work Light comes with is just not very bright. This is an 18V tool that can equip large batteries, yet it makes less light than some cheap flashlights that you can find on Amazon. There are lots of flashlights in the same price range with brighter lights, including one of its direct competitors, the DeWalt 20V MAX Work Light.

The M18 Jobsite Radio isn’t especially popular with its users, but as long as you take it for what it is — a basic but reliable radio and speaker with two USB-A charging ports thrown in for good measure — it will likely work just fine. That said, some reviewers have reported that the antenna reception can occasionally be unreliable. Thankfully, extra features like a 3.5mm jack input allow wired connection to a playback device, functionally turning the radio into a stereo speaker.

Advertisement

However, one of the biggest complaints about this device is that it doesn’t support any type of Bluetooth connection, something that pretty much every speaker does nowadays. Other than those issues, this speaker should get the job done. Of course, it is just a portable speaker. If anything, one might wonder why you’d really want a Milwaukee branded speaker instead of a regular battery-powered Bluetooth speaker with radio reception.

The M18 Red Lithium XC Extended Capacity 3.0 Ah Battery is the only battery pack you’ll find in this kit, and you’ll need a lot more if you want to take advantage of all the tools at your disposal. The reason is simple – 3.0 amp-hours are not going to sustain many of the tools in this collection for long. There’s also the issue of using different devices without having to switch out and recharge the one battery.

Advertisement

There’s no reason to have 16 tools if you only get to use one every hour or so, right? If the single battery wasn’t enough, this charger with six separate outputs makes the message clear — you should buy more Milwaukee M18 batteries. About $300 worth of batteries, if you want a full six-member team made of the included 3.0Ah battery, four XC 5Ah ones, and an M18 XC 4.0Ah.