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Top 9 Best Circular Saws of 2022

Elina Blom

We have tested circular saws and name Festool HK 55 EBQ+ as best circular saw of 2021. This circular saw is versatile and can also act as a shadow gap saw, which gives you great flexiblity. The best battery powered saw is Ryobi R18CS, thanks to its power and ergonomics.

Top 10 Best Circular Saws of 2022

How we did the test

Our tests are independently conducted and reflect the test editor's honest and objective opinions. Selection of products and test results are in no way influenced by manufacturers, retailers or other internal or external parties.

We carry out all of our tests ourselves and test all products as they are intended to be used in reality. Because we tested both mains and battery-operated circular saws, the tests are slightly different, although with several basic similarities. For example, we tested the saws on several different types of material of different thicknesses over a long period. We also have set performance tests where all circular saws go through the same test and are compared. Materials used for testing include fir studs, OSB sheets and façade panel. The most important factors we assessed are:

  • Performance: What can the circular saw cope with splitting? How much can it cut? What happens when it cuts out? How long is the battery life on a battery-operated circular saw without a load? How is the battery life affected by the load?

  • Ergonomics and build quality: Is the grip good? Are there any unpleasant vibrations? What materials is the machine made of?

  • Ease of use: Where are the controls and buttons? How easy is it to access them? How easy is it to change the blade? How easy is the circular saw to use?

Other factors taken into account were the accessories included, the accessories you can buy for the machine, the other functions the circular saw has and how much noise it causes in your working environment. The results from all tests were examined in relation to the price of a circular saw to determine its value for money. This is what the score reflects.

1. Festool HK 55 EBQ+ - BEST CHOICE CIRCULAR SAW 2022

Versatile, highly accurate circular saw

Type: Mains powered Power: 1200 watt Noise level: 91.4 dB (measured) Saw blade: 160 mm wide, 1.8 mm thick, 20 teeth Saw blade hole: 20 Cable length: 3.9 m (measured) Cutting depth interval at 90°: 0-55 mm Cutting depth interval at 45°: 0-42 mm Weight: 4.4 kg Lighting: No Miscellaneous: Replaceable cable, plunge cut saw functionality User manual: ZIP

Festool HK 55 EBQ-Plus

The Festool HK 55 EBQ+ is the best mains powered circular saw thanks to high accuracy and great finesse. This makes it very suitable as an all-round saw in the workshop. It works just as well at cutting and splitting boards for building your decking as for carrying out more polished work such as building a kitchen or sawing door leaves. Thanks to the plunge cut saw functionality, you can also plunge it in the middle of a board, but you do have to buy the correct rails for this. Despite the fact that this is Festool's weakest mains powered model, it can cope with a wide range of tasks – although not the very toughest ones we faced it with. For example, when we asked it to split damp 45 mm studs it cut out and switched to low revs if we pushed it too hard. We then had to let it rest for a while before it could finish off the task. This is the result of a motor stop that's intended to protect the motor. However, splitting 22 mm façade panel is no problem. Nor is cutting boards and studs.

The group is rubber-clad and sturdy, and feels stable and good quality. The entire machine is well balanced. Unfortunately no parallel guide is included, although it does have a mitre saw rail that you can clip onto the machine. This makes it easy to cut a stud without a set square or pen. You set the angle, turn a knob and then cut on the stated angle. The price may be high for a mains powered 1200 W machine, but given that you also get plunge cut saw functionality and that a wide range of accessories is available for the machine, it's truly versatile. As a straight circular saw, the score would be slightly lower, but given that it will be such a versatile addition to your toolbox, it gets extra points. However, if you don't need versatility but simply a circular saw with a lot of power, this isn't necessarily the right machine for you.

Many functionshigh accuracygood ergonomicsgood build qualitywell-balanced
Not very powerful

Price Comparison

Compare all prices

Festool Handkreissäge HK 55 EBQ-Plus – 576121

£349.43

Festool Handkreissäge HK 55 EBQ-Plus - 576121

£376.44

2. Bosch Professional GKS 55+ GCE

Powerful circular saw with good saw depth

Type: Mains powered Power: 1350 watt Noise level: 93.3 dB (measured) Saw blade: 165 mm wide, 1.7 mm thick, 24 teeth Cable length: 3.8 m (measured) Cutting depth interval at 90°: 0-63 mm Cutting depth interval at 45°: 0-48 mm Weight: 3.9 kg Lighting: No Miscellaneous: Speed adjustment, includes saw blade User manual: PDF

Bosch GKS 55+ GCE Professional

The Bosch Professional GKS 55+ GCE is a circular saw that's simultaneously versatile enough to suit both those only wanting to cut sheet materials and those who want to build kitchen cabinets and do finer work in the workshop. You simply get a lot of machine for your money. The build quality is high. The circular saw is stable and easy to operate, and doesn't feel either heavy or ungainly. The parallel guide is quite a long way forward, which means that it's easy to hit the right point of the material to be split or cut. The actual guide can be a bit fiddly to access as it's not well located and it feels a bit plasticky when we turn it. But all of the other controls are easily accessible. The saw also includes a guide rail so that you can make perfectly straight cuts. If we were to complain about anything it's that the cable could be a bit softer and more flexible.

The actual handle on the GKS 55+ gives a good grip, is rubber clad and a good size. There's also an extra handle if you want to hold it with both hands. Given the price class we'd have liked there to be a laser or lighting. But we appreciate the fact that there's an option to adjust the motor strength by means of six-step speed adjustment. We also like the generous saw depth. The GKS 55+ performs well – it goes through all of our tests without complaining. Overall this is a solid professional circular saw, although one that's a little expensive given what you get for your money.

Powerful, good saw depth, good precision, speed adjustment
Stiff cable, no lighting

3. Ryobi R18CS7

Good but not brilliant

Type: Battery Voltage: 18 volt Battery capacity: 4.0 Ah Battery life: 35 min unloaded with 4.0 Ah, 8.75 min/Ah Noise level: 77.5 dB (measured) Saw blade: 184 mm Saw blade hole: 16 mm Cutting depth interval at 90°: 0-60 mm Cutting depth interval at 45°: 0-44 mm **Battery indicator: ** Yes Weight: X kg Lighting: Yes Miscellaneous: Parallel guides User manual: PDF

Ryobi R18CS7-0 Solo

The Ryobi R18CS7 is a relatively strong circular saw with a good lamp so that you can see what you’re sawing even in poor lighting. Both the cutting depth and angle are generous so it’s quite a versatile saw. In other words, cutting studs or thicker sheet materials poses no problem.

Unfortunately, the circular saw shuts down far too easily, even when there’s still life left in the battery. Immediately we start off at normal speed in the test piece, the motor switches off and we have to press to start it again. Over time this becomes a rather irritating function. It’s possible that this is a safety feature to minimise the risk of motor damage, but we can’t even hear the motor starting to struggle before it switches off. This also becomes more and more of a problem the less battery life there is left.

Not the best in class, but good

In general, this is a good circular saw. The machine’s centre of gravity means that it sits well on the item you’re sawing, while giving you a stable grip on the saw when you lift it up. The handle is rubberised and the saw is well balanced so we don’t experience any major problem with vibrations.

The parallel guide is easy to get into place. This also has a lock button that you can easily reach with both your right and left hand. You change the blade easily with the supplied hex key, which also has a dedicated slot on the machine.

However, the adjustment scale for cutting depth could be more visible. The grey scale merges into the background somewhat, particularly when you’ve run the R18CS7 for a while and it’s got covered in dust. The arrow also gets hidden between the blade and the machine when the scale’s at the lower end, so it’s hard to see what it’s pointing to.

The setting for angle is also hard to read when the saw gets dusty. However, one good function is that the screws move too when you set the angle, so you can even move the screws to see the scale better.

As long as you aren’t in a hurry and move forwards at a reasonable tempo, the Ryobi R18CS7 delivers a good result.

Quite powerfulWell balancedUser-friendly design
Rather unclear adjustment scalesOver-sensitive overload protection

4. Bosch UniversalCirc 12

Light and neat for a limited target group

Type: Battery Voltage: 12 volt Battery capacity: 2.5 Ah Battery life: 26 min unloaded with 2.5 Ah, 10.4 min/Ah Noise level: 63.5 dB (measured) Saw blade: 85 mm Saw blade hole: X mm Cutting depth interval at 90°: 0-26 mm Cutting depth interval at 45°: 0-17 mm Battery indicator: No Weight: 1.5 kg (measured) Lighting: Yes Miscellaneous: Parallel guides User manual: PDF

Bosch UniversalCirc 12 (1x2.5Ah)

The Bosch UniversalCirc 12 is a very small and neat circular saw. If you can apply the word cute to a circular saw, that’s what this is. For its size, it offers pretty good performance. As the name indicates, it’s a 12 V machine. That’s enough if you're going to cut a notch out of a board or cut thinner sheet materials such as veneer – in other words, small jobs.

And if you stick to the circular saw’s limitations in terms of performance, the battery life is really good. For example, it copes well with cutting 22 mm planks. But if you try to cut a 45 mm stud, for example, the battery will go from full to flat after just 2.6 m.

The neat size makes it both easy to place on what you’re cutting and easy to store between hobby projects.

Unfortunately the UniversalCirc 12 isn’t particularly well balanced. The vibrations it produces are also quite intensive, which gets tiring in the long run. Another disadvantage is that it doesn’t have a battery indicator.

Doesn't produce much dust The Bosch UniversalCirc 12 is very quiet. Given that it’s a circular saw, and how much noise these usually make, we’d even classify it as extremely quiet. This is yet another plus for anyone who primarily works on hobby projects.

The circular saw also has good lighting so that you can see what you’re sawing even in darker environments. The handle is rubberised.

The UniversalCirc 12 has no vacuum cleaner socket. But it doesn’t produce too much dust when you run it. It cuts so “slowly” and neatly that most of the dust ends up on the item you’re cutting.

You adjust the cutting depth with a standard plastic wing nut, and the same applies to setting the angle. This works very well. However, to attach the parallel guide you need a hex key. This is included, but it’s a little annoying that there are no wing nuts for this function too. It would have been easier if it was an entirely toolless design.

The Bosch UniversalCirc 12 is ideal for anyone undertaking fine hobby-level carpentry. The target group is relatively limited because it can’t cope with any larger renovation projects. But to cut small sheets or similar objects to build smaller items of furniture, it works very well.

Very neat sizeQuietGood performance given the sizeProduces fine cutsLots of functions
Irritating vibrationsParallel guide requires toolsNo battery indicator

5. Ryobi R18CS

Battery-operated all round saw with power and good ergonomic design

Type: Battery Voltage: 18 volt Battery capacity: 5 Ah Noise level: 84.8 dB (measured) Saw blade: 165 mm Saw blade hole: 16 Cutting depth interval at 90°: 52 mm Cutting depth interval at 45°: 36 mm Weight: 2.4 kg Battery indicator: Yes Miscellaneous: Adjustable dust extraction User manual: PDF

Ryobi R18CS-0 ONE+ Solo

The Ryobi R18CS distinguishes itself by how well it combines power and ergonomic design. It has what we expect from an 18 V circular saw in the budget price class. It's comfortable to hold, easy to adjust and to use for everything from simple cutting to splitting relatively thick timber. For the home DIYer, this means that it's a good all-round machine. You can cut studs and split planks on angles to build your decking.

Probably because of the performance, the battery life is slightly worse unloaded than it is for several of its competitors. Despite a large battery capacity, battery life is only 45 minutes unloaded. This isn't terrible, but it's clearly below average. On the other hand the operating time comes out as even better during tough tasks because it copes with these really well. For example, it can split a full 7.5 metres of slightly damp 45 mm stud before the battery runs out. Several of its competitors can only get half a metre into this kind of timber before the battery is completely drained. The battery indicator on the machine gives you complete insight into the battery status. The parallel guide is stable and the height setting is easy to access and adjust. We would have liked there to be a light, but the circular saw feels powerful and stable when you hold it and it delivers well given the price class. If you're looking for a battery-operated circular saw that can cope with a wide range of tasks, this is the model for you. But it's a good idea to buy an extra battery to swap with.

Powerful for a battery modelcomfortable gripbalanced
Relatively short operating time under light loadno light

6. Dewalt DWE550

Powerful circular saw for rougher tasks

Type: Mains powered Power: 1200 watt Noise level: 93.3 dB (measured) Saw blade: 165 mm wide, 1.65 mm thick, 24 teeth Saw blade hole: 20 Cable length: 4 m (measured) Cutting depth interval at 90°: 55 mm Cutting depth interval at 45°: 35 mm Weight: 3.6 kg Lighting: No Miscellaneous: Dust extraction, open blade protection, blowing function to clear sight line User manual: PDF

Dewalt DWE550-QS

The Dewalt DWE550 is a powerful circular saw that does its job without complaining. It chews through everything we present it with, from splitting thick studs and façade panel to cutting planks and sheets. Other than its power, however, it doesn't feel particularly good quality in relation to its price. It lacks extra functions such as lighting. The grip is hard plastic without rubber cladding, which means that it feels slippery and cheap. The buttons and adjustment controls are a little bit cramped. The DWE550 feels more like a simple workhorse than a machine for finer work.

Unlike several of its competitors, it requires a socket spanner rather than a hex key to change the blade, and there's nowhere to store the spanner on the machine between changes. However, the motor guard is well located. This is made from metal and is easy to adjust. The parallel guide is also stable, although it's rather cramped. The circular saw also feels well-balanced. However, it's clear that this is a dedicated circular saw with a lot of power but not much range in terms of tasks it can do. We would have liked the manufacturer to have invested a little more in the machine's build quality and functions to make it more in line with the price. The DWE550 is most suitable for tougher tasks such as cutting sheet materials, but not so good for tasks that require precision, such as building kitchens.

Lots of power, stable parallel guide
Slippery grip, not much space between buttons

7. Bosch GKS 18V-57 Professional

Uninspiring, with a high price tag

Type: Battery Voltage: 18 volt Battery capacity: 5.0 Ah Battery life: 30 min unloaded, 6 min/Ah Noise level: 84.7 dB (measured) Saw blade: 165 mm (blade hole 20 mm) Cutting depth interval at 90°: 0-57 mm Cutting depth interval at 45°: 0-39 mm Battery indicator: Yes Weight: 4.0 kg (measured) Lighting: Yes Miscellaneous: Mitre guide included

Bosch GKS 18V-57 Professional Solo

The Bosch GKS 18V-57 Professional is a relatively standard circular saw in the Bosch blue series. It comes with a nicely rubberised handle and an Allen key so you can quickly replace the blade. The Allen key is attached to the handle and doesn't come out when we load the machine, but nor is it too stiff to remove when required. There’s even a red button that locks the blade in place when you're replacing it, which is really convenient.

The height setting is a button you lift up, allowing you can move the table up and down. This too runs very easily and smoothly.

The knobs for adjusting the saw for sawing horizontally are easy to access and lock well.

Rather uninspiring

The GKS 18V-57 Professional’s performance is rather mediocre compared with other similarly priced battery models. This saw doesn’t feed the material very well when it’s in use, and the battery life of 15-20 minutes is below expectations for a machine in Bosch’s blue series. When we do the performance test, we get 8.7 metres into a 45 mm stud, which is barely acceptable given the competitors in this price class.

You attach the battery from above. This means you can’t see the battery indicator when you're sawing, so you have to turn the saw upside down to check whether it's time to recharge it.

The GKS 18V-57 has LED lighting, but it’s very weak compared to the competitors’ models, including several other models from Bosch, so it’s really not very useful.

The Bosch GKS 18V-57 Professional is most suited to someone who already has electrical tools in the Bosch blue 18V series and who consequently has replacement batteries to hand. It’s easy to use and ergonomic, but the equipment level is far too uninspiring given the price tag.

Quite well balancedcomfortable gripeasy to set
Poor LED lampcould have performed betterrather short battery life

8. Greenworks G24CS

Good grip, suitable for people with other tools from Greenworks

Type: Battery Voltage: 24 volt Battery capacity: 5.0 Ah Battery life: 41 min unloaded with 5.0 Ah, 8.2 min/Ah Noise level: 92.2 dB (measured) Saw blade: 165 mm Cutting depth interval at 90°: 0-54 mm Battery indicator: Yes Weight: 3276 g (measured) Lighting: Yes

The Greenworks G24CS is a 24-volt circular saw with a rubberised grip, which makes it comfortable to hold. The build quality feels very reasonable in terms of price. All buttons have good response and both plastic and metal parts are solid.

However, the performance leaves something to be desired. This isn’t the battery-powered circular saw to buy if you’re going to split and cut large boards and studs, because it’s not powerful enough. When we face it with tough tests such as splitting 45 mm studs, it starts to give up after 2.5 metres. And dies completely around 4.8 metres in. However, it’s plenty strong enough if you need to quickly trim smaller studs, and have other tools from the same manufacturer with batteries that fit this saw.

The circular saw runs for 40 minutes unloaded but starts to slow down after about half that time. When it’s time to charge the battery, you have to wait if the battery’s hot – i.e. if you’ve just been using it, you can’t start charging immediately, but instead have to let it cool down for a while. If you’re outdoors and it’s around freezing, it won’t charge either. But under normal conditions, it charges the battery in around an hour.

The battery is a bit fiddly to get out. The catch doesn’t go all the way down to the bottom – it ends up with a few millimetres left, which means you have to be quite tough to get it out.

A complement to your toolbox

The G24CS doesn’t produce a lot of sawdust from the back, i.e. not as much as it should. So most dust settles where you’re sawing. But we appreciate that it has a light on the front.

The weight distribution in the saw creates a certain imbalance towards the blade side. If you’re cutting with one hand, you’ll have to steer it because otherwise the saw will pull to the right.

The saw comes with an Allen key to release the blade, and also a button that allows you to remove the blade when you need to change it. But it doesn’t include a parallel guide.

This circular saw works well if you’re going to trim some studs and other things sporadically. But it’s not the saw for larger construction projects.

Good build qualityeasy to adjustcomfortable grip
Weak performancestiff batteryunbalanced

9. Bosch PKS 18 Li

Compact and light but doesn't really deliver

Type: Battery Voltage: 18 volt Battery capacity: 2.5 Ah Noise level: 85.1 dB (measured) Saw blade: 150 mm Saw blade hole: 26 Cutting depth interval at 90°: 0-45 mm Cutting depth interval at 45°: 0-36 mm Weight: 2.6 kg Battery indicator: No Lighting: No Miscellaneous: Guide plate, quick stop, parallel guide User manual: PDF

Bosch PKS 18 LI Solo

The Bosch PKS 18 Li is a compact, light and thus easy to use circular saw with two really good functions. The first is the quick stop, which means that the blade stops immediately you release the button, something that's very useful from a safety viewpoint. The other is the guide plate at the front, which means that you can quickly and easily see where you should start sawing. This is very handy and gets a lot of use. However, we don't like the fact that the construction of the machine feels so thin. The circular saw also becomes a bit wobbly when we adjust the blade depth so that it only saws a little – you get a gap between the table and the saw. Setting the height is easy, though, because the screw for this is accessible. It's also easy to set the parallel guide and handle the blade guard. Changing the blades is also straightforward, although we'd have preferred the button for locking the blade to be bigger and better positioned.

Bosch describe the PKS 18 Li as a powerful circular saw, but we have another view. It's fine if you only intend to cut the odd stud and thin sheet of material now and then, but if you regularly need to split studs or build decking you need more power. For example, when we try splitting a slightly damp 45 mm stud lengthways, the machine comes completely to a stop after only half a metre – the machine goes from full to flat on this one task. Nor can it cope with splitting a 22 mm panel. Unloaded, however, the PKS 18 Li has a reasonable battery life, as it lasts for 45 minutes. This tells us that this battery-operated circular saw is OK for simple tasks, but unfortunately not much use for the home DIYer. That's a shame because it's got a nice rubber clad grip and is a handy size.

User-friendly design, high safety levels, good grip
Weak, thin construction, wobbly on low depth settings

Circular saw

A circular saw is a powerful electric tool. You can use one to quickly cut and split sheets and studs both lengthwise and crosswise. A circular saw is one of the basic electrical tools often found in a homeowner's collection. Together with a screwdriver, electric jigsaw and sander, this provides an arsenal of electric tools that can cope with basic renovation tasks.

Choosing the right type of circular saw

The circular saw you should choose depends on what you intend to use it for. Will you only be cutting studs now and then or do you also want to split thicker materials lengthways? This sets different demands in terms of how powerful the circular saw must be, and therefore how it must be constructed.

Circular saws are now available in two variants: battery-operated and mains powered. The former means that you don't have to deal with extensions and cables that limit your range and get in the way. This can be a major advantage. But the latter means that you don't have to keep track of whether batteries are charged, which in itself needn't be a problem if you have a number of electric tools from the same manufacturer. This is because the majority of manufacturers today have battery systems where different products from the same manufacturer can use the same battery, so you can share batteries between a number of machines. Battery-operated circular saws are a segment that's growing quickly as the cost of powerful batteries has plummeted in recent years – and is continuing to do so. This positive development means that battery-operated circular saws are becoming increasingly affordable and powerful as time passes. However, if you want to split thick studs, our tests show that operating times still leave a lot to be desired in the majority of the battery-operated models. So you need to think carefully about your needs before deciding what to buy.

When you choose a circular saw, you also need to consider the saw depth, both on 90 degree angles and lower. The larger the saw depth, the thicker the material it can saw through. In addition, you can reduce the saw depth if you don't want the circular saw to saw right through something, but instead to simply create an incision. It's useful if the circular saw has a riving knife, because this means that the blade doesn't risk getting stuck when you cut sheet materials and studs. When the blade gets stuck, this is called pinching, and it constitutes a safety risk, but can also damage the material you're working with.

It's also useful if the circular saw has a dust extraction system, because you can connect a workshop vacuum cleaner to it. This avoids a lot of the dust that otherwise arises when you're sawing. If you're sawing indoors, this is particularly important as it provides a better work environment. Construction dust is also very difficult to remove after a renovation project – it easily gets into nooks and crannies where it's difficult to access with a vacuum cleaner.

As mentioned above, circular saws are used for cutting and splitting timber. But if you also want to be able to start sawing in the centre of a sheet, for example to make a hole for a sink, you instead need a plunge cut saw or jigsaw. Some circular saws have plunge cut saw functionality. To achieve this, you purchase a kit for the circular saw to add the function. However, as a result of the design of the circular saw, you won't be able to get as close to obstacles such as walls as if you purchased a dedicated plunge cut saw. But you will still be able to start sawing in the middle of a sheet. You can only buy this type of rail for some models, so remember to check this when you buy your circular saw.

Other practical functions are a motor brake, which protects the motor from being damaged if the circular saw is working on very heavy tasks – this will then reduce the speed of the motor or switch it off as a safety measure. The guide rails help you to keep the circular saw perfectly straight as it cuts through the material. A laser can also be helpful. A well-placed laser beam means that you can easily follow the line you've drawn on the timber. And of course you should also check the guarantee before buying.

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