A New Kid In Town: Maglithion Power Tools
By Benjamen Johnson
Richpower Industries recently introduced their Maglithion PowerSmith cordless tool system which sells in second-tier big box stores like Bi-Mart, Northern, Fleet Farm, Rural King, and Zellers. The system uses a single universal lithium-ion 12V battery for the entire platform — somewhat like Ryobi’s One+ or Black & Decker’s VPX. Richpower claims their lithium-ion batteries last twice as long as NiCads and hold their charge for a year.
Right now they sell a drill/driver, impact driver, handsaw, portable fan, circular saw, rotary tool, screwdriver, flashlight, and vacuum. They claim to be coming out with a sander, ratchet, inflator, jigsaw, grinder, and nailer next.
Pricing is about $40 for a battery and charger, $25 to $30 for the workhorse tools, and $10 to $17 for vacuums and other accessories. They also offer value-priced combo kits.
Has anybody tried these new cordless tools? Let us know what you think of them in the comments.
Maglithion [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
February 10th, 2009 at 11:07 am
looks suspiciously like the Bosch lithium battery series.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
looks cool, but I can’t justify ANOTHER proprietary tool format after loading up on both dewalt and ryobi cordless tools.
It would be nice to have a standardized battery between manufacturers, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
February 10th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
@ aasfdsadf: Unfortunately, it probably never will happen. That’s the way they get us hooked. Once we’ve bought a tool, the appeal of interchangeable batteries and chargers is very strong, unless another brand shows a big performance difference, which is rare.
At least in some cases you can buy new tools sans battery and charger.
February 10th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
destined to fail like Black & Decker’s VPX
February 14th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Shaun,
…suspiciously like Bosch OR Milwaukee, Makita, Craftsman, Masterforce…etc.
Somebody please make a universal!
February 15th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
I wonder if these guys also used the A123 batteries sicne they also claim about the long-charge-holding life?
Too bad the VPX units failed. At least I got a bag of new VPX batteries at Walmart for 3 bucks each. Even at such a good price, they are still a let down when you realize that the VPX charger takes so many hours to charge the little batteries.
F.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
What killed VPX for me was the lack of an impact driver. And yes, I was double-disappointed when I found out they have A123 inside, but slow-charge them anyway. What’s the point?
These might not be around in a few years but they look pretty sweet while they last.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Yeah a universal battery system that works with every manufacturer would be awesome and think about how much waste that would save in our landfills as well.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:53 am
These tools do not have the A123 battery. The impact driver that is offered has more power and BPM than dewalt. With a two year warranty and prices this is an awesome offer. I also have heard they are coming out with 12 additional tools later this year. This company might be the one that finally gets the 12v lithium ion tools to what everyone has been waiting for.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
This is a good system for the typical home owner. These batteries hold a charge a long time. I got 2 drills at $15 ea, a driver, a vac and a dremil like tool. Something low prive to start on.