Aight, first and foremost, how come everyone else can post decent pictures but I have to downsize mine to thumbnails?
[attachimg=1]
I tore some machinery into pieces on Friday and ran through about six or eight zip wheels. I didn't grind or polish or do any work with concrete (but I will, oh I will).
My only remaining cordless grinder that ain't dead is the Makita XAG16. I received the AGC 18 in exchange and some change for the TID 18 (it was a piece of junk). Both ran off of their respective 6ah batteries. If you buy the AGC 18 kit with the 5.2 ah batteries and inferior non air cooled SCA 6 = you are a sucker.
They're equal in power and speed. The Fein/Festool may be somewhat quicker however (and I am not sure if this is a computer controlled safety feature or the motor stalling) it slows way down if you lean on it while the Makita absolutely spins at the same rate. So, don't lean on it since you're not supposed to anyway. The Festool is smoother and while not that important, sounds much nicer.
I love the centered spindle lock button on the Fein grinders. Love it. It noticeably speeds up disc changes. The finish on the Festool gear head is considerably nicer than any of the other cordless grinders on the market and the overal fit and finish feels 'premium' over the other brands.
The Makita is insanely skinny. The body is thinner than most rat tail handles. The jetski/transfomers looking overmolding lends to a positive grip. It's petite and light. The Festool has a fatter body, more in line with traditional corded grinders but it's shaped and contoured and tapers off to a thinner section toward the end. I have read some complaints about the body being "too big" and the overmold grip being "slippery". I haven't found this to be true at all. It feels just right. Because of the ultra maximum thinness of Makita's body, you'd likely presume that I think the Makita has better ergonomics and feel, but that is not the case. I actually really like the AGC 18 in my hands over the Makita. I previously criticised Festool for moving the gearbox sidewise, but I want to say that it is time to eat my feet. I moved the gearbox so that the switch is centered in the middle and quickly re-positioned it to how it was as sold to me. I have to commend Festool; I like it way better the way Festool has modified it.
Makita's blade guards are notoriously annoying. They work, but they also work themselves loose. Most of their dust attachments and specialty guards require a phillips screwdriver while their cam lock guards..erm..will also require a phillips screw driver. On the positive side, their cordless products use the same accessories as the corded and allow for third party attachments. I have everything you can think of in my "makpac". Fein/Festool use a system that is almost identical to Metabo's. It's a closed system, but it is also not an annoying one. There's a locking lever built into the tool. On the Festool, it's cheap stamped steel while Metabo uses some sort of die-cast metal. In practice, because of the different spring designs, the Festool lever is much easier to remove and reattach for cleaning while the Metabo requires patience.
Something whack about the Festool guard (and I presume Fein): There's a lip on it. Sure, it's meant to better protect you, but it also means I can't put any of my Walter Spin-On consumables on it. They went out of their way to put an American thread on it, but you can't thread anything on it but wire cup brushes and 4" discs. The fudge? Pretty much my entire inventory of flap wheels, cut off wheels and grinding discs is threaded. If this is coming from Fein, I'm especially confused. I mean...c'mon. No big deal though; I'll just be ordering regular old cheaper Pferd and Walter stuff.
In America, the AGC 18 is sold as 115mm. This is the most popular style here. That's nice and all, but I'm not lame and 4-1/2" is totally lame. Hopefully, the Fein guards are exactly the same, as I'll be ordering a 5" guard from their supplier.
Battery life on the Makita is mega impressive in 2020. Battery life on the Festool is very unimpressive for 2020. This was quite interesting to me because I have the other FesFein, the Vecturo (Supercut), and the battery life on that is obnoxiously excellent.
The SCA 8 charges 6ah batteries wicked fast, however, and my job basically consists of non-stop random punchlist like tasks and so, it matters very little to me. If you are a full-time metal fabricator, well, consider having four batteries if you go the Festool/Fein route. The popular cordless Metabo lasts about two or three times as long on 5.5 ah batteries. The cordless Metabo also happens to be a piece of junk like the majority of their cordless tools.
The Festool ships with a tool-free quick nut. 98% of Festool USA's customers will have their minds blown by the concept. Meanwhile, if you don't buy your grinders at Harbor Freight and Lowes, you'll know that this device ain't anything new. Regardless, I am happy that they included it as standard. Fein took the same approach as the generic hand tigtened nuts instead of being all weird like the Metabo version.
Makita's nut. Oh, Makita's nuts. So, Makita uses a proprietary pin layout. It's annoying. I throw their nuts away and put a standard one on.
Overal fit and finish (did I already cover this, I forgot). The Makita's fit and finish is very much that of a mainstream Home Depot carried name brand tool (although they don't carry this model, they only carry the crappy makita stuff). It's not bad. It's not uber premium. It's totally fine. The fit and finish of the Festool is very nice. It's premium. It's totally Fein.
Now, take into account that I don't know if Fein assembles this with some Festool parts or if Festool assembles this with Fein's parts. It is worth noting that mine was made in May of 2019. It is also worth noting that I've examined Festool stuff made in 2020 and it is...oh god it's a bad scene. You can't hide it when there's a pallet of drills that look like cut-rate junk compared to what I have used daily for YEARS. So, ymmv. [big grin]
To summarise, desert island, which one do I marry? Ok, I'm steadily replacing my cordless stuff to all Makita where I can get away with it. Also, I already have all of the Makita dust shrouds and whatnot. That said, I never use cordless grinders in that way when it comes to concrete. If I pull out the cordless on concrete, the shrouds definitely are not going to fit in the crevice I'm headed towards. Or, I'm using a crack chaser and...I just put the mask on and call it a day. Granted that I can obtain the 5" guard I’d actually take the Festool over the Makita. That said, the Makita is very impressive and I do think that they're pretty equal when all is said and done. The Festool is just nicer.
EDIT: I forgot the most important part. The Makita and Festool/Fein grinders are the only cordless variable speed grinders on the market (that I know of). If you know of an other, please correct me.