Professional Tool Reviews for Pros
Any time a new brand hits the market, our first tests are always to figure where it fits from a design and performance standpoint. Flex 24V cordless tools are hitting the market with the intention of challenging the traditional Pro favorites. In our experience so far, Flex clearly hit their target.
As we jump into our roundup of Flex 24V cordless tools, keep in mind this is just an overview and introduction to the line. We’ll have much deeper reviews coming out here and on our YouTube channel, so keep your eyes open for those!
Out of the gate, there are four 1/2-inch, 2-speed drill options to choose from. The compact drill boasts an impressive 2200 RPM and 750 in-lbs of torque. If you need to drill in concrete, there’s a hammer drill version of it as well.
The other drill and hammer drill offering has even higher performance. While not compact by name, they’re pretty compact and have a unique Turbo Mode selection. It boosts your top speed to 2500 RPM and your top torque to 1400 in-lbs. The torque rating is the highest we’ve seen on a pistol grip drill. With that kind of power, we’re happy to see that Flex includes anti-kickback control on these models.
Flex is starting with two pretty compact impact drivers to choose from. The standard model can take care of most fastening needs with its 1800 in-lbs of torque.
The premium model takes things up a notch. With 2500 in-lbs of torque, it has the muscle to take on the biggest fasteners you can handle with a 1/4-inch collet. Speaking of the collet, Flex introduces their Quick Eject feature on this model. Rather than fumbling awkwardly to insert and remove bits, just push the button of the trigger to release it. It’s one of those “why didn’t anyone think of this before?” kind of innovations.
There’s also control to go with the design. Three standard and two self-tapping screw models help you dial in the performance where you need without snapping bits and stripping screws.
Flex takes a turn away from the pack with their 6 1/2-inch brushless circular saw. Featuring an inline design, we’re really interested to hear how those of you that pull the trigger like it.
The Flex 24V 7 1/4-inch brushless circular saw is a powerful beast of a tool that fits in the advanced category. Aside from its excellent performance, it has an interesting bevel stop design and puts a set of angle notches right next to the blade where you can track it more easily. This one can cut up to 2 5/8 inches deep, giving you the capacity to cut 3x in one pass.
The Flex 24V Cordless Brushless Reciprocating Saw is the only one in the line at the moment. It’s a great place to start, though. With 3,000 strokes per minute and a long 1 1/4-inch stroke length, it cuts through material quickly and has a selectable orbital action for cutting wood.
It also showcases the brand’s Shockshield Vibration Suppression—a designation they give to several tools with active vibration control. In our tests, we could feel the difference compared to other high-performance cordless models.
With their oscillating multi-tool, it’s like Flex took everything we’ve ever said about this class and put together our dream tool. A comfortable grip area, Shockshield Vibration Suppression (an isolated head design for this tool), fast cutting, and Starlock accessory interface are sure to make this one a quick favorite among Flex 24V cordless tools.
Flex has two options to meet your jigsaw needs, a barrel grip and a d-handle model. Both feature four speeds and a slow start function to let you ramp up the power as you go.
They have a double roller blade guide to deliver better accuracy and four electronic speeds along with an automatic mode to help with control. A lever on the front of the tool makes blade changes much easier than shaft-mounted blade clamps.
Flex has two 5-inch variable speed angle grinder models available, one with a paddle switch and one with a side switch. They feature a variable speed dial to match your speed to the application at hand. ShockShield Vibration Suppression and an ergonomic design keep the grinders comfortable and controllable.
These are strong grinders, especially for the 5-inch class. Fortunately, anti-kickback technology protects you from injury if the grinder binds up.
For whatever reason, we seem to get pretty excited about lighting around here. You should see how Kenny’s repurposed some of our LED work lights for bowfishing at night!
The Flex 24V flood light blasts 2000 lumens of LED lighting with a wide field of view. In an unusual move, Flex put a diffuser on this light, and it really helps soften it when it’s in your field of view and gives your workspace an even illumination. It’s not something we see a lot of on this style of work light and we really like it.
It also features 360º rotation so that you can light up whatever you need to on the job without too much hassle. You can set it on the floor, hang it from a nail, or mount it onto a tripod. It will run for up to 5 hours with its kitted 5.0Ah battery.
That brings us to the end of the Flex 24V cordless tools we’ve actually used. There are a ton of others, though, and the lineup will continue to quickly expand. Here’s a sampling of other products you can look for at Lowe’s:
Flex 24V batteries use a 6-cell system instead of 5 the way 18V and 20V Max products do. That extra cell gets them to 24V Max, or 21.6V nominal. It’s not without precedent. Kobalt successfully raised the bar with a switch to 24V Max and Hilti has been using the extra cell as well.
The extra cell gives the tools an easily quantifiable advantage. It’s a higher voltage with more overall capacity. On lower draw tools, you would see 20% more runtime compared to a 5-cell system needing the same output. Flipping the conversation to performance, the system has 20% more voltage available to translate into power.
The cells themselves vary from pack to pack. The smaller ones use 18650 cells while the larger ones are 21700.
Inside each pack is what Flex calls “Therma Tech” to keep the battery cooler. This opens the door to higher current output and faster charging.
Flex takes the whole LED charge indicator idea seriously. Push the button on the front and a large, bright-green bank of 4 LEDs lets you know where you stand.
Finally, let’s take a quick look at your charging options. The standard charger is a 160-watt Fast Charger. There’s also an upgrade that takes you to the 280-watt Rapid Charger. Most of the kits come with the Fast Charger, but we noticed that the 7 1/4-inch brushless circular kit has the Rapid Charger.
Flex jumps out with a 5-year warranty on their tools and their batteries. If you’re still not sure you want to jump right in, they’re sweetening the deal out of the gate. If you purchase and register your Flex tools by the end of 2022, they’ll give you a lifetime warranty. How ’bout them apples?
So what do you think? Are you excited about the launch of Flex at Lowe’s? Let us know in the comments below and keep your eyes open for our in-depth reviews as we get to use these tools and compare them to the best in the business!
Discover more at the Flex Power Tools website.
On the clock, Kenny dives deep to discover the practical limits and comparative differences for all kinds of tools. Off the clock, his faith and love for his family are his top priorities, and you'll typically find him in the kitchen, on his bike (he's an Ironman), or taking folks out for a day of fishing on Tampa Bay.
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For some time, Lowe’s was deep into a single source retailing of Metabo HPT (combined Metabo & Hitachi) cordless power tool lineup. But Lowe’s never stocked the Hitachi Li-Ion batteries in any quantity so the tools were almost impossible to run stateside w/o a reasonable battery source. Flex (Stuttgart, Germany) has been a big presence in the stone cutting, grinding and polishing trades with really high cost, high quality water feed GFIC stone grinders, drills and saws for the stone and granite trade. Now they have jumped to cordless power tools as that’s where the numbers are. Flex has great… Read more »
So exactly who manufactures Flex Power Tools? Do they come from a division of one of the bigger brands? A private label sort of like Kobalt for Lowes or Ridgid for HD?
Another YouTube channel opened up the 2.5ah battery and found Flex is only using the 18650 – not 21700, and he NO microchip. Kind of surprised for such a premium price. I’d like to see you all open up their 12ah and see what’s a in there. Thanks
I’m not sure about this flex stuff. Not sure why the newest brand that only is sold at Lowes is the greatest. I browsed their website and all their “pro” reviews sound faker than fake. Only product that has a review says it sucks. Why spend money on this stuff when there numerous tool brands with a proven track record.
Saw a video of a guy taking the 7 1/4 saw and running it and cutting lumber in an aquarium. Yet I can not find and info on whether these tools have an IP rating. Help. Got metabp due to ip rating but batteries apparently aren’t ip rated so I was gonna switch to New makita 40v max which has ip ratings. But if the new flex really is the new industry standard leader with most power and if it has ip ratings. I will switch. Please help with needed info. Thankyou
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Professional Tool Reviews for Pros