Note that the 5.0Ah 18V battery and 2.5Ah 40V Max battery have the same 90Wh capacity. The Bottom Line

For example, the 18V LXT XDT19Z is an offering in the 18V LXT lineup. All model numbers in this lineup begin with the same three letters, XDT.

The LXT compact lineup offers outstanding battery run time and solid driving performance, all while retaining a smaller footprint than competing models. There are several sub-compact offerings in the 18V LXT lineup, though the footprints aren’t drastically different than the more powerful compact models. 12V CXT The Makita 18V LXT XDT13Z is the best Makita budget impact driver. When moving down the price spectrum, it’s essential to understand the sacrifices made to reach a lower price point. The last letter in the impact driver’s model number corresponds to whether you’re buying a specific tool and battery kit or the bare tool. Here are the standardized letters and their meaning in the LXT impact driver lineup:

Consider the Makita 18V LXT XDT14Z if you do not need the array of drive modes and additional work light features included with the flagship XDT19Z. Otherwise, the XDT14Z is the same impact driver when it comes to performance, all for a lower price. The XDT14Z even outperforms with a longer battery run time in our tests. Unsurprisingly, the GDT01Z isn’t the fastest Makita impact driver when driving long structural screws and beefy lag bolts. The torque is high and the RPM output is low, highlighting the choices Makita made under the hood to focus the GDT01Z on torque over speed.XGT® Batteries feature rigid rails with impact-resistant construction to secure the battery to the tool during high-demand applications XGT and LXT will co-exist to provide users with an unmatched line-up of cordless tools for the professional trade In one benchmark test, we tested 8-inch GRK RSS screws to see how long it takes both impact drivers to deal with a long fastener. The 18V LXT XDT16 finished with an average of 8.53 seconds. Its fastest time was 7.68 seconds and its longest was 9.59. The XDT19Z shined most in our battery run time and driving speed tests. The XDT19Z has an outstanding 48 minutes of no-load run time, surpassing many competing impact drivers running the same Ah battery setup. Kitting it out with a Makita 18V LXT 5Ah battery extends the run time and continues outperforming comparable high-end models running 5Ah batteries.

The higher the following two numbers, the higher up in the lineup for each model. The higher numbers also generally correspond to the more recent versions, though the number doesn’t represent the release year. Accordingly, we know instantly that the XDT19Z is a higher-end impact driver than the XDT14Z, which is also older. Kits and bare tools The XGT® Rapid Charger’s built-in chip thoroughly communicates during the charging process to control current, voltage, and temperature for more efficient chargingNotably, the XDT14Z offers outstanding driving speed, sufficient torque, and the same lightweight and compact footprint the LXT lineup is known for. If you were hoping to see 2500 in-lbs of torque as something that was really more of an impact wrench with a 1/4-inch hex collet, that’s not what Makita is doing with XGT. The power does move up, though. You now get 1950 in-lbs of torque to go with 3700 RPM and 4400 IPM on the top end. Up to 50% faster speed with 4 speed settings (0-1,100/ 0-2,100/ 0-3,200/ 0-3,700 RPM & 0-1,100/ 0-2,600/ 0-3,600/ 0-4,400 IPM)*