The Best Reciprocating Saws of 2026

At 24 volts, the Kobalt KRS 1824B-03 was the most powerful battery-operated saw we tested, at least on paper. It held its own against the Milwaukee Fuel through most of the tests, and it even outperformed on a few. Overall, this saw was a beast. It performed near the top in all of our tasks, cutting easily and cleanly through everything we put in front of it.

As a heavier-duty, more expensive saw, the Kobalt also has some nice bells and whistles: a built-in work light, an extendable shoe, a battery charge indicator, and even two different cutting modes (straight and orbital). Though, frankly, I didn’t notice a significant difference in performance between the two cutting modes. This is a workhorse that gets the job done.

That said, there were a few issues with the Kobalt KRS 1824B-03 that were enough to put it behind the Milwaukee. While it turned easily enough while cutting, it did have a much larger turning radius than some of the other saws, which could be limiting in some more precision cutting applications.

It also vibrated a great deal, even for a reciprocating saw, enough to be uncomfortable to use after a while. The second hand grip, while it fit my hand well enough, seemed to be covered in loose, flimsy rubber that I could anticipate coming off relatively quickly. And, perhaps most detrimentally, it ruined several blades during our metal-cutting test.

If you’re committed to the Kobalt line already, this is a quality product, but it just didn’t perform quite as well as the Milwaukee.

While we weren’t disappointed by the saw's overall performance, we weren’t terribly impressed either.

The cool thing about this saw is that it has a straight mode (the blade moves in and out) and an orbital mode (the blade moves in a circular motion)—though I confess I didn’t notice much of a difference between the two. The integrated light is nice, because it makes cutting in low light a breeze.

It also has the nicest blade changing mechanism of the bunch of saws we tested. When you open the level to remove the blade, it locks open until you close it. The batteries are easy to change, too.

The grip didn’t have enough of a dip up near the trigger, so during long cutting sessions, my hand slipped off the top of the saw. It also can’t turn to save its life. I was able to turn the saw in our obstacle test, but it ran off the course in doing so. It's a nice saw, for sure, but its longevity and grip make it harder to use than I'd like.

The younger brother of our ultimate winner, the regular Milwaukee M18 Sawzall is an impressive tool in and of itself. Though it was slower than our top performers, it still breezed through all of our tests without a stutter. Like the Fuel, the Milwaukee M18 made it through our plywood obstacle course in half the time of the next fastest saw. This is another saw that would make a fine addition to anyone’s toolbox.

That said, given that it’s not that much cheaper than the Fuel once the battery, charger, and case are factored in, the lack of additional features like a light, extendable shoe, hanging hook, and the fact that it doesn’t have a brushless motor are a real detriment to this saw.

This saw also seemed to have several noticeable drops in power as the battery began to diminish. Add this and the lack of features to the somewhat reduced performance, and it doesn’t seem like a great buy. It’ll do the job, but others will do it better.

The Skil Pwrcore RS582902 is another of the saws that was good, but not great. It completed all of our tests in reasonable, though not stellar, times. It didn’t hiccup or complain about any of them, and it was easy enough to use.

The Skil had arguably its best performance on our plywood obstacle course, where it had the tightest turning radius of any of the saws that I tested, and a respectable time. It was light in the hand, easy to control, and comfortable to use over a longer period of time.

That said, this is another saw without a ton of extra features to make up for lesser performance. And, while it does have the ability to change the blade depth, doing so requires the use of a hex key.

Skil does provide that hex key, but the storage slot they built into the saw so you don’t lose it isn’t tight enough. The key kept vibrating out of place and falling, which just means you’re probably going to lose it. To whit, at some point I didn’t notice it fall out, and I lost it.

Another decent performer, but the Porter Cable is simply a better machine at a comparable size.

The best feature of the Bosch CRS180-B 18V is the blade changing mechanism. When it snaps shut, the blade is locked in tight, which is good.

However, you have to push the blade down to get it to snap shut. It also performed well during cutting and endurance testing, falling short only to our top performers.

It falls a little short of its brother’s rank largely due to the poor turning radius in the plywood test, and the lack of bells and whistles. There's no light at the end of the saw, and the depth gauge isn't adjustable. There's not much grip on the saw, and it doesn’t absorb vibration well.

At the end of the day, it's a good saw, as it cut wood and other materials very well. But, similar to the Ryobi, there just isn't much to brag about.

This Dewalt is a good middle-of-the-pack option. The grip on the saw is decent, but there's hardly any shock absorption when cutting. The saw had a middling turning radius during our plywood test, and it consistently performed near the bottom of the rankings during our timed tests. It definitely cuts, but it just doesn’t cut particularly well.

There's some weirdness going on with the depth guard. It's not adjustable, but there's more to the story here. It's actually a steel piece attached to the end of the rubberized grip on the saw. It looks like Dewalt designed a reciprocating saw, but forgot to include a depth guard, so it cobbled one together from extra parts.

The front grip is comfortable, but it narrows considerably near the nose of the saw—if you don’t count that extra depth guard. The blade changing lever is made of plastic, so I question its long-term durability. It's an OK saw. If anything, it's pretty inexpensive.

If you’re committed to buying a one-handed reciprocating saw, this is probably the one that you should get. It didn’t perform that much worse than some of the middle-tier two-handed saws, and dramatically outperformed the other one-handed saws that we tested. If you are cutting lighter-weight material like PVC, this will do the job. There is something to be said for the ease of using a saw with one hand.

However, most of the tasks that we put the saws through required me to use two hands to complete, which was not comfortable at all using the Kobalt 24V. The struggle was most challenging on the metal cutting and nail-embedded wood tests.

The two-handed saws each cut through the nails without much sign that the material had changed. The Kobalt had a noticeable drop in performance through every single nail. It’s simply not a saw meant for heavy-duty cutting.

Which is fine—use the tool that’s right for the job. If you’re planning to cut a lot of PCV, then this one-handed Kobalt might be right for you. If not, pick a two-handed saw.

Not only is the Black & Decker BDCR20B one of the lightest saws of the bunch, but it's also one of the most maneuverable. It performed well during the plywood obstacle course, as it had a tight turning radius.

However, it made some of the fewest cuts during our endurance testing. It also vibrated pretty heavily throughout the testing, making it uncomfortable to wield for an extended period of time. That said, it's not a bad saw.

If you’re looking for a lightweight saw, then this is a decent option. Unlike the other battery-powered saws, which all had a base unit that the battery slid into to charge, the Black & Decker charger is a small plastic piece that slides into the battery to charge it. It's one of the least expensive saws we tested, too.

My table saw is a Dewalt. My favorite clamps are Dewalt. Most of the tools I used as a conveyor mechanic were Dewalt. I’ve been a fan of Dewalt tools for a long time, and I was excited to get my hands on the brand’s one-handed reciprocating saw.

Unfortunately, I was immediately disappointed.

This saw simply didn’t have the power to make it through our tests. It took forever to cut through anything even remotely strenuous, to the point that I almost gave up on the testing a few times. It took twice as long as the next slowest saw to make it through our nail-embedded wood and metal tests, and that was with me using my second hand. The only positive comment that I have is that it didn’t vibrate that much.

As I’ve said already, don’t buy a one-handed reciprocating saw unless you know you need one. And if you do need one, then get the Kobalt.

Hart is the new brand of power tools launched in late 2019 by Walmart, and I was curious to see how the reciprocating saw would stand up to the competition. This was one of the least expensive saws that we tested, but unfortunately it seems to be a case of getting what you pay for.

The Hart HPRS01 failed a few tests. It couldn’t make it through the metal cutting without recharging, and had the lowest number of cuts per AH of capacity of any saw that we tested. When it came time for the nail embedded wood test with the 10-pound weight, the Hart never finished a full cut.

I tried three times with a full charge, and the battery died every time. This is an underpowered, slow saw. The only positives about it were that it didn’t vibrate too much, and it cut smoothly and cleanly—when it actually finished the task.

Even the pivoting shoe extension feature was marked by cheapness. The shoe extends with a hex key, much like the Skil, but Hart doesn’t even provide the key to do it.

There were several other saws at a similar price point in this test, all of which performed better. Pick one of them up instead.

Unfortunately, this saw failed all of our tests. It didn't cut well and then it ended up shorting out.

Like the Black & Decker saw, this compact reciprocating saw is incredibly small and lightweight. It also has an orbital mode (this allows the blade to move in a circular motion), which helps the saw cut through different materials. But, the unique thing about this saw is that you can use it with one hand.

It's light and the trigger is large and easy to squeeze, which is all well and good. But if you’re doing demolition work, this saw probably won't give you the leverage you need, as there’s no other place to put your free hand. It's also a straight saw with no pistol grip. That means you have to bend your wrist at an awkward angle to cut anything above waist level.

This saw seems to have been intentionally designed for the carpenter on-the-go. We like that idea in theory, but the execution is a little off, as it's kind of awkward to use in most circumstances. The fact that it doesn't cut very well simply exacerbated the experience.