A while back I reviewed the DeWalt 20V Max cordless wet dry vacuum and a couple of people asked me if it was better than the very similar 18 volt Milwaukee M18 vacuum 0880-20. At the time I had only tried out the DeWalt vac so I couldn’t really say. Fast forward to today, where I now have both on hand with some good hands on experience with both, I can now give you a better answer. Now we can have a fair head to head comparision between the 2 brands. Cordless vacuums such as these are designed with compactness and portability in mind, so you don’t have to plug into an outlet and thus save time as they are both cordless and powered by 18V batteries (20V batteries are actually 18V batteries). They wont replace larger plug in vacs for large messes and extended runtime but are perfect for small quick jobs.
Similarities: They both have very similar features with the ability to pick up both dry and wet messes, 2 gallon tanks, blower ports, near identical 1-1/4″ extending premium hoses, and even have the same identical accessories (utility nozzle and crevice nozzle) with built in storage for both the accessories and hose. It’s not uncommon for manufacturers to copy one another but whoever copied the other didn’t try to improve on the overall design or feature set. One thing I forgot to expand upon in the video although it is noted in the specifications section at the start of the video, is that both are backwards compatible with each manufacturers previous generation battery system. The M18 vacuum can be powered by current M18 batteries or the older V18 style batteries- ni-cad or lithium ion. Considering Milwaukee abandoned the old V18 system long ago, there can’t be too many V18 users nowadays although if you are one of the few V18 users this is great news for you as this vacuum can be powered by your ancient battery system. On the other hand DeWalt’s previous gen battery system labeled simply as their 18V system (while their newer current 18 volt platform is labeled 20V Max), is still currently supported by DeWalt and there is still a huge user base using the aging platform.
While both brands batteries offer fuel gauges, neither vacuum gives you quick instant access to the batteries fuel gauge. You have to remove the battery on the DeWalt to access the fuel gauge, and over on the Milwaukee, things aren’t much easier as you have to open the vacuum to access the battery to check the fuel gauge. Fuel gauges may not seem like an essential feature to some but since vacuums are known for short runtimes, it’s nice to check the battery charge to quickly assess if you have enough juice to start working or charge the battery pack and swap it out with a fresh one.
Both models include cylinder shaped pleated HEPA filters and do a great job at filtering fine dust particles. Even while vacuuming fine dust created while sanding drywall mud with both vacs, no dust made it out of the exhaust end of the vacuum. Both models are even priced the same at $99 for the DeWalt DCV580 and Milwaukee 0880-20.
One common feature or lack of was that both vacuums lacked an extension wand, and because of this you have to bend if you want to to pick up messes off the ground. This is something I would have liked to have seen on both to make it more convenient while picking items off the floor so you could do so standing up.
Differences: The differences are few and minor, while both are around the same size overall, the DeWalt maintains a compact roundish shape while the Milwaukee vac is a bit taller and wider with a box shape. In fact it even looks like a small Milwaukee tool box, it even has a hinged lid. The body on the Milwaukee is taller although the carrying handle on the DeWalt adds to it’s height making it taller overall than the Milwaukee. While both have built in storage for the nozzles and hose, everything is self contained on the exterior of the Dewalt while the Milwaukee vac hides both nozzles underneath its upper lid compartment and has a side basket to hold its hose. While both do the job, I prefer the simplistic design of the DeWalt as everything is neatly stored on the exterior of the vacuum and ready to be accessed. DeWalt did a better job of having the hose wrapped around the vacuum neatly while the Milwaukee lets the hose sit in a basket. Nothing really wrong with Milwaukee’s design but the hose and basket placement does add to the overall width of the design and I’m not too crazy of how the hose dangles and flops around during transport.
The battery is exposed on the DeWalt while the Milwaukee keeps it’s battery protected from the elements underneath an upper lid. Milwaukee even went a step further by designing channels inside the upper lid compartment to channel liquid away from the battery to keep the battery safe and dry. Props for Milwaukee for doing so although I will mention that the batteries from both brands are built like tanks and are designed to withstand abuse such as occasional encounters with liquid so I don’t find it too big a deal whether one battery is exposed while the other is covered, unless you’re a bit OCD when it comes to getting your batteries dirty.
Huge difference: One huge difference between the two is that DeWalt not only has a similar cordless model (DCV580) to that of the Milwaukee cordless vac but went a step further and created a second similar model (DCV581H) that runs on both battery power (cordless) and can be plugged into an outlet (corded) for virtually unlimited runtime. This is a huge difference and can be a huge deciding factor as to which to get if you are on the fence as the DCV581H cordless corded vac can be powered without a battery meaning anyone can use it, even if you aren’t invested in either battery platform. The DeWalt cordless corded model DCV581H does come at a higher price since it includes the plug in corded ability at $120, so although you pay more, you get more in terms of features. Although there are 3 similar models between the 2 brands, we will focus this comparison on the cordless features between the DeWalt 20V Max DCV580 and Milwaukee M18 0880-20.
Runtime Endurance: If you have previously viewed my reviews for either vacuum, this should be of no surprise to you who came out on top. For those that are tuning in for the first time, I conducted runtime tests for each vacuum to see how long they would run on a battery. Both were tested out with 4.0 amp hour battery packs, XR 4.0 ah on the DeWalt and XC 4.0 ah on the Milwaukee. I ran both in a variety of tasks ranging from sucking up saw dust and wood chips, vacuuming up my car and around the house and the results are miles apart from the two vacuums. The DeWalt vac was able to achieve 28 minutes of runtime while the Milwaukee vac ran up to a little over 14 minutes- half the time of the DeWalt.
Power- Wet Dry Suction, Blower performance: As we could see from the runtime results these are 2 different vacs when it comes to performance as the runtime results are night and day, things aren’t any different when it comes to their power output of the motor. There is a very noticeable difference in power from each motor. The DeWalt gets the job done just fine and I would compare it’s performance to be similar to that of a 1-1.5 horsepower vacuums while the Milwaukee on the other hand is geared towards high performance. My opinion is that it’s around the performance of that of 2-3 horsepower vacuums. Suction was definitely stronger on all respects, one thing that stood out on the Milwaukee vac was that it was better suited for vacuuming upholstery in vehicles. The DeWalt needed too many passes over carpet and fabric seating to be effective for use in cars but the Milwaukee had enough power to get it done with few passes as the suction was much stronger.
Although not intended for automotive use, they do a great job at light duty messes such as found on the jobsite. Here the Milwaukee’s added suction does an excellent job but doesn’t really take away from DeWalt’s capable performance. If you’re interested in faster stronger suction then Milwaukee is the choice for you although like I said earlier the DeWalt vacuum gets the job just fine. Picking up dry messes and wet messes, Milwaukee has the edge in pickup speed although the DeWalt is not far behind. But when it comes to each vacuum’s included blower port, its a different story as Milwaukee’s vac leads the way in air volume output and is more effective in this regard. I took both out on my driveway to blow away debris such as leaves, saw dust and wood chips and clearly the Milwaukee vac had a much stronger blower. While I did have to bend while using both as they aren’t anywhere near as powerful as leaf blowers, I had to bend much further while operating the DeWalt so its exhaust air was effective at blowing away debris. Make sure to see the side by side clips in the video comparison to get a better look. It also took much longer for the DeWalt vacuum to clear away the same sized mess with its blower port.
Final Verdict: So while similarly featured and priced, these 2 vacs are 2 different animals. DeWalt took the lead with twice the runtime with an excellent runtime for a cordless vacuum while Milwaukee’s runtime was a bit dissappointing at only 14 minutes. On the other hand Milwaukee’s performance was about twice as powerful, with better suction performance and exceptional blower performance between the two. Even though Milwaukee’s vac has short runtime even with larger capacity batteries, the 14 minute runtime should still be more than enough for quick pick ups. It’s hard to choose an overall winner as this decision is based upon user preference, whether they value runtime over performance or performance over runtime. One might argue that the DeWalt could be the overall winner as it has excellent runtime and can get the job done sucking liquid and most light duty dry pick up messes although it does not make a great choice for use in the car while the Milwaukee vac can be effective for cleaning upholstery as was proven in testing. Let’s not forget the curve ball DeWalt throws with the addition of the second cordless corded DCV581H model that adds plug in power to the already excellent runtime, but apples to apples it’s not a fair comparison to the cordless only Milwaukee M18 0880-20 vacuum as Milwaukee doesn’t have a cordless corded vac at the moment.
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Thank you for your great post about DeWalt VS Milwaukee. I think Milwaukee Power Tools are of a high standard and of innovative technology for the trade and industry.