Makita's declaration for the DJV184, like every European jigsaw declaration here, is made under EN 62841-2-11, the standard for handheld reciprocating saws. It yields two numbers. LpA is the pressure at the operator's position, with the saw a foot or two from your head. LWA is sound power, the noise the jigsaw produces as a whole. Beside them sits K, the uncertainty, 3 dB for most makers here and 5 for Hilti.
LpA sets the order of the fifteen jigsaws, and LwA is shown beside each one. The XVJ04Z's 85 at the ear and 93 of sound power come out of one test but measure different things, and they never share a ranking. Our page on sound power vs sound pressure lays out the reason.
| Saw (US model) | Power | LpA at the ear | LwA | K |
|---|
| Makita XVJ04Z | 18V LXT | 85 dB(A) | 93 dB(A) | 3 |
| Makita 4329K | Corded | 86 | 94 | 3 |
| Makita XVJ05Z | 18V LXT | 87 | 95 | 3 |
| Makita 4350FCT | Corded | 87 | 95 | 3 |
| Makita 4351FCT | Corded | 88 | 96 | 3 |
| Makita JV0600K | Corded | 88 | 96 | 3 |
| Makita VJ05Z | 12 V | 88 | 96 | 3 |
| Makita GVJ02Z | 40V max XGT | 88 | 96 | 3 |
| Milwaukee 2737B-20 | M18 FUEL | 88.65 | 99.65 | 3 |
| Milwaukee 2737-20 | M18 FUEL | 88.68 | 99.68 | 3 |
| Makita XVJ01Z | 18 V | 89 | 97 | 3 |
| Makita XVJ02Z | 18 V | 89 | 97 | 3 |
| Makita GVJ01Z | 40V max XGT | 90 | 98 | 3 |
| Hilti SJD 6-22 | Nuron 22 V | 90 | 98 | 5 |
| Hilti SJT 6-22 | Nuron 22 V | 91 | 99 | 5 |
How loud is a Makita jigsaw?
Between 85 and 90 dB(A) at the ear, from the compact brushless XVJ04Z to the 40V max GVJ01Z. Makita publishes a full declaration for every jigsaw it sells in Europe, eleven current US Makitas have a clear European twin, and they take the first four places.
After the XVJ04Z's 85 and 93 come the small corded 4329K at 86 and 94, then the corded 4350FCT and the cordless barrel grip XVJ05Z at 87 and 95. Four saws share 88 and 96: the corded 4351FCT and JV0600K, the 12 V VJ05Z and the 40V max GVJ02Z. The 18 V XVJ01Z and XVJ02Z come in at 89 and 97, and the GVJ01Z at 90 and 98.
None of the four Makita picks shows a list price on Makita's US site.
Makita's current EU manuals for the DJV181 and DJV182, the twins of the XVJ01Z and XVJ02Z, give a second pair of figures: 81 and 80 dB(A) at the ear with a "soft no-load rotation function" enabled. That is a different condition from the standard test. The US manuals for those saws do not describe the function, and Makita's UK pages show only 89, so both saws are ranked on 89.
The JV0600K runs the other way. The manual linked from its US page is an older edition that declares 85 under EN60745, the standard EN 62841 replaced, and the current EU manual says 88.
We use 88.
Milwaukee sits at 88, Hilti at 90 and 91
Milwaukee's European pages print noise for its two M18 FUEL jigsaws: 88.68 dB(A) at the ear and 99.68 sound power for the top handle M18 FJS, and 88.65 and 99.65 for the body grip M18 FBJS, each with a K of 3. The pages name no standard. At the ear the pair sits with Makita's 88 dB(A) group, while their sound power is the highest here.
For the top handle SJD 6-22, Hilti's EU manuals list 90 dB(A) of operator pressure with 98 of sound power, and 91 and 99 for the barrel grip SJT 6-22, a K of 5 on each. These two are also the only saws here with a price on the maker's own US site, $339.00 each on hilti.com.
Not for a current US jigsaw, in any document we could find, and Metabo gave us nothing either. DEWALT's US manual for its DCS334 cordless jigsaw prints no noise figure, and Bosch prints none in the US manuals for its JS572 and JS470E corded saws.
Festool is the near miss. Its US pages for the Carvex PSC 420 and PSBC 420 list specifications but no noise table, and the international pages for the same article numbers now open the newer PSC 500 and PSBC 500. Festool rates those at 91 dB(A) for the user and 99 for sound power, but they are different saws, and with no Carvex 420 declaration to quote, the brand stays unranked. Metabo's US jigsaw pages did not load when we tried them.
Blade, clamp and shoe move the noise too
Six decibels separate the quietest jigsaw here from the loudest at the ear, and most of the field sits between 87 and 89, within each other's uncertainty. In real cuts, the blade and the material can shift what you hear as much as the choice of saw does. A fine tooth blade at a lower speed, a clamped workpiece that cannot rattle and a shoe that stays flat all help, whichever saw you own.
Jigsaws share EN 62841-2-11 with the reciprocating saw, which our reciprocating saw guide covers for demolition and rough cuts. For long straight cuts, our guide to circular and track saws ranks fourteen declared saws.
