8 Best Circular Saws for Today’s Building Boom

BEST REAR-HANDLE

Makita GSR01M1

Volts: 40 | Weight: 12.4 lb

The GSR01M1 combines light weight, great cutting power, and outstanding industrial design. Everything about this saw is comfortable and easy to handle, from the well-shaped trigger switch to the shape and location of every lever to the push lever of the spindle lock. Those are small details, but they add up to make a more pleasant workday, and that matters even more when the weather is hot, humid, or cold. The last thing you need to do is fight your tools. Final detail: Makita puts a great blade on this saw. Don’t spend money replacing the blade when you buy the GSR01M1. Take the saw out of the box, charge the battery, mount the blade, and get to work.

BEST REAR-HANDLE CUTTING POWER

DeWalt DCS577X1

Volts: 60 | 14 lb

The DCS577X1 is a massive slab of a saw and the heaviest of the five rear-handle saws we tested, even heavier than the 13.4-pound Milwaukee below. Its chief attribute is cutting power. If you need that, particularly for making long beveled cuts in rafters or cutting wet pressure-treated lumber for decking framing or landscape work, this saw will serve nicely for those purposes. The caveat is that it’s not particularly nimble. We don’t see it as a house framing tool where you need a better combination of lightness and power. Could you frame a house with the saw? Of course, probably doing most of your day’s work on a single charge of its whopping 9-Ah battery. The saw is is well designed, with a comfortable and well-shaped handle and a magnesium shoe with about as much friction as a melting ice cube; for such an unwieldy saw, it slides pretty nicely.