There seems to be lots of confusion between Makita’s teal blue and white/black cordless power tools here in the USA. Namely the 18V LXT drills and impact drivers. Many people seem to think the white and black 18V LXT drills and impact drivers are their homeowner DIY versions as I’ve heard many people say they are the “budget” and “less powered” versions.
EDIT & Disclosure: This article is discussing the differences in color of Makita 18V Power Tools here in the USA. What is discussed here is specific to the North American variants of these Makita power tools. I understand that in other parts of the world Makita offers an assortment of colors for their power tools.
Before we come to a conclusion let’s inspect the facts while focusing on the “different” white and black versions. The obvious difference is the color scheme with a bold white as the main color and black as the accent . This is boldly different here in the USA as the theme of Makita power tools is teal blue (fact: different color scheme).
A closer look at the white and black 18V Makita power tools reveals a smaller compact battery with a capacity of 1.5 ah. This is in contrast to the standard 3.0 ah batteries (many kits are being replaced with larger 4.0 and even 5.0 ah batteries) included on the vast majority of their cordless lineup.
These larger capacity batteries are roughly twice the physical size and are also offer twice the runtime than compact 1.5 ah batteries (longer runtime if they are 4.0 and 5.0 ah) (fact: different battery form factor and capacity).
The next difference is the price, the price for either the white and black drill (XFD01CW) or impact driver (XDT04CW) in kit form is $169 each and $199 for the drill and impact driver combo kit (CT200RW). Similar Makita drill and impact driver kits are priced at $226+ and drill and impact driver combo kit at $229 (XT260) (fact: price difference).
Another closer look at the description for each tool reveals that the white & black 18v drill and impact driver are designated as the “compact” versions.
Differences between Teal and White & Black Makita 18V cordless power tools:
- Color scheme
- Price
- Battery form factor
- Battery capacity
Now lets take a look at the similarities- other than the color scheme they look the same. If you look at the model numbers listed above you will see that the models listed for the white & black and teal counterparts share the same model number except for the “CW” designation.
This means that they are in essence the same model or variant of the same model. They even spec out the same, regardless of color scheme, the XFD01 drill has the same torque, rpm numbers, and even the same features. The same goes with the XDT04 impact driver.
I spoke with Wayne H. the communications manager for Makita and asked him what the differences were between the white and teal 18v models. His response was that Makita makes only heavy duty tools and the white models were their “compact” models with compactness and lightweight in mind.
This backs up the fact that the white 18V LXT models are essentially the same model as the teal blue variant and the small compact battery keeps the tool lighter and compact.
Compact depending on how you look at it as the size and capacity of the battery does nothing to shorten the length.
Length is usually the determining factor for compact tools but the compact battery does shorten the tools overall height when used with the compact battery.
So the fact is that the white versions are deemed their “compact” versions with a “compact” form factor in mind and have a slightly lower weight which is due to the lighter battery pack when attached. I would even go as far as to say that the white versions are repackaged teal blue models as the XFD01CW drill (white version) is identical to the XFD01 (teal version) and the XDT04CW (white version) is identical to the XDT04 (teal version) in all aspects (features, specs, appearance, build quality) except for the color and included batteries.
So back to peoples assumptions, are the white versions Makita’s homeowner DIY power tools? No. Are they Makita’s budget versions? This answer can be argued as yes and no. Yes because they are priced a bit lower than similar models with larger higher capacity batteries, but no because the pricing is similar to competing pro brand offerings.
Are the white versions less powered? No. While the white versions are not their most featured and it is true that Makita offers 18V drill and impact driver models with more power and features, the white versions are essentially repackaged teal versions of their most basic drill and impact driver models.
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in fact this is not a true, in europe you can by all the teal version with small battery!
The white color tools are made for makita’s anniversary!
If you don’t belive, can you tell me why model df330 you can buy it in teal version and with white version even in pink versio and always the batteries are 1.3Ah in the kit!
And there has also corded tools that comes in white color like hammerdrill HR2470 alsol made for makita’s anniversary even has white anglegrinder!
Hello Nasko,
This article has to do with 18V Makita cordless tools here in the USA.
You say:
“If you don’t belive, can you tell me why model df330 you can buy it in teal version and with white version even in pink versio and always the batteries are 1.3Ah in the kit!”
The DF330 is 10.8/12V cordless tool. This article is talking about 18V Makita tools here in the USA.
You say:
“And there has also corded tools that comes in white color like hammerdrill HR2470 alsol made for makita’s anniversary even has white anglegrinder!”
Once again, this article has to do with the difference between white and teal Makita 18V cordless tools here in the USA.
This article has nothing to do with Makita corded tools or 10.8V / 12V tools. I fully understand that in other countries, especially in Japan, power tool manufacturers make their tools in all sorts of colors. That isn’t the case here in the USA. Here in the USA Makita is known for only making teal blue tools, with the exception of a few white 18V tools, which are discontinued now by the way and also their pod style 12V max tools are white, but now the new slide pack 12V tools are all blue now.
In Europe, you can buy makita white, makita teal and makita red. All of these tools in red and white exist in teal color scheme and it makes no sense at all.
thankyou, good article
can you use a larger capacity battery with the white and black ones?
Yes. In the article I mentioned that the white models are identical to the blue models except for color. As a rule of thumb, cordless systems of the same brand and battery type are interchangeable. There are only a few rare instances where a compact battery may not fit on a high powered tool such as a saw.
So what about the Orange Makita’s?
https://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-m8101k-710w-percussion-drill-240v/3043r
Makita has a small lineup of 12V Lithium-ion cordless power tools and these are what I would imagine are considered to bethe closest thing to a home owner or diy product. These tools are also teal in color. Here is a link to the drill/driver and impact combo kit available from home depot homedepot.sjv.io/P30rj
That is incorrect. Makita’s 12V CXT cordless power tools are professional tools and are not in the same class as a homeowner/diy product. It is true they are smaller and less powerful than 18 volt tools but they are still built for pro use just like the 18 volt counterparts. Expect them to take the same abuse on the jobsite as their 18V counterparts. The same is true of any other pro brands 12V power tools such as Bosch, Dewalt and Milwaukee.
Homeowner/DIY power tools can be found from brands such as Black and Decker, Ryobi, Hart, Worx, Craftsman, Warrior, Drillmaster, Chicago Electric, Bauer, Porter Cable and others like them.
Mmm ho comprato 2 avvitatori e 2 batterie avviatatori linea classica, le batterie bianche…. Ora le 4 batterie che ho nere me le do in faccia dato che non sono compatibili anche se tutto 18v
Male male makita come caxxo si fa ad avere stesso voltaggio 18v e attacchi differenti
La follia