Hitachi looks like they are one of the first to take a serious run at the Milwaukee M-12 series. Yes there are other manufacturers out there with their light weight tools, but by the looks of it, Hitachi is dumping a lot of money into their 12V line compared to others. They must think this will be a real winner for them.
Their 12V line is called the Micro Series. Currently they only have four tools for this series, but the word is they are planning on introducing a lot more. Now we have heard this before from other manufacturers, only to see them scrap their plans, so until we see more, we are not holding our breath.
Hitachi is offering a reciprocating saw, right angle drill, impact wrench, impact driver and a flash light. One thing we really like about the 18V Hitachi system is their batteries and lower profile, so we can only imagine how these batteries will be.
By the looks of it, the Hitachi batteries are pretty high tech. They have a current interruption detection system, thermal protector, plus a couple of other features. While Lithium requires most of this technology to protect the battery, it looks like Hitachi is going further. Not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing, potentially causing more problems with these batteries. They are not cheap to replace, so only time will tell. If you remember, Milwaukee was one of the first to come to market with their 28V Lithium Ion series and they had a lot of problems with their batteries at the beginning.
If anyone has any experience with the Hitachi 12V, let us know as we would welcome your feedback about this line.
i bought the 12 volt hitachi set with drill, sawzall, light and overal its ok the drill has so so power i am an hvac tech and use the drill every day to take screws in and out and some light drilling clutch seems to give to easily. the sawzall is only good to cut wood and drywall no metal but the whole set only cost me 100 bucks at costco so all in all i think it was worth it
I own many tools of the hitachi 12v peak li-ion they are amazing tools for the proper aplication . i drive self tappers all day long in the hvac industry and the battery life is great . the micro impact driver is powerful enough to take off lug nuts !!! i did not expect this much bare brass knuckle from tools this small and light. my little army of hitachi 12v tools does everything i need to do from cutting 4x4s to driving 4″ 1/4″ lags with the driver drill in low . i can install an attic split system all day long and the battery lasts about 2 days for me.i have owned milwaukee m series but they feel bulky and not very comfortable to hold all day and lack the power for my needs . the 18 v milwaukee drill has a very short battery life and my hitachi 18v will go all day with no issues bottom line is in my opinion hitachi cordless li-ion tools are more tool to get the job done and less of a name you pay for .strong reliable very well built and just an amazing line of cordless tools for us in the hvac industry that constantly find ourselves getting in very small areas where a full size drill or saw simply will not do .
Yeah my hitachi has been awesome. They have held up well even under heavy conditions