An oscillating multi-tool does not look loud. The blade only swings a couple of degrees each way. But it swings up to 20,000 times a minute, and the whole tool buzzes in your hand a foot or so from your ear. Cut into a hollow wall, a tiled floor or a door casing, and the work itself starts to ring.
Fourteen multi-tools sold in the US carry maker noise declarations we could read and tie to the US model. They do not all describe the same job, so they do not go in one ranking. Nine give a single figure with no job named, from 73.7 to 84.6 dB at the ear. Four Makitas give sanding figures from 72 to 83 dB(A). One Festool gives only a sawing figure, 84.
The test behind the numbers
Makers selling in Europe declare power tool noise under EN 62841. For multi-tools, Makita splits it by job. Sanding is declared under EN62841-2-4, the part for sanders, and plunge cutting, segment sawing and scraping under EN62841-1, the general part. Its tools differ by up to 7 dB between those jobs: the XMT04Z's twin declares 72 dB(A) for sanding and 79 for sawing with a segment blade.
Others give less detail. Fein declares one set of figures and says they were "determined in accordance with the corresponding product standard" without naming the job. Hilti names EN 62841 and no job. Milwaukee and Metabo name neither. Festool names EN 62841 and gives only "Sawing".
Each figure comes as LpA, sound pressure at the operator's position, and usually LwA, sound power, the tool's total output, each with a K value for uncertainty. Every maker here declares a K of 3. We rank on LpA and show LwA beside it, and we rank only within a group that shares the same kind of declaration. The sound power vs sound pressure explainer covers why the two never mix.
Fein is the simplest case. Its US product pages print a table of "Vibration and sound emission values", and the English, French and Spanish manuals linked from those pages print the same figures. The one mismatch is the AMM 300 Plus, whose page says 70 dB and whose 2023 manual says 73.7; we rank on the higher manual figure. Hilti's US page prints 79 dB(A) and 87 for the SMT 6-22, and its EU manual agrees.
Makita, Milwaukee and Festool print nothing for US buyers that we can use. For those we matched each US tool to its European twin. Makita's US and EU manuals give side by side specification tables: the US XMT04 and EU DTM52 both list 10,000 to 20,000 oscillations per minute, 1.8° each way, 305 mm with a small battery and 1.7 to 2.0 kg. The GMT01 and TM001G, and the XMT03 and DTM51, match the same way, and the TM3010C is sold under one name in both markets. Milwaukee's US 2836-20 and EU M18 FMT share the M18 FUEL name, a brushless motor, 10,000 to 20,000 OPM and a 2.1° swing each way. Festool's US and international OSC 18 E-Basic share a name, speed, angle, mount and weight. Metabo's US category page links order no. 613088850, and Metabo's international page for that order number carries the figures. Each catalog entry states the match and the evidence.
Nine tools declare one figure and do not say which job it came from. The 12 V Fein AMM 300 Plus is lowest at 73.7 dB at the ear and 84.7 sound power by its manual. The corded Fein MM 500 Plus follows at 75.6 and 83.6.
Then comes a cluster within K of each other: Hilti's SMT 6-22 at 79 and 87, Milwaukee's 2836-20 at 79.41 and 90.41, and Fein's 18 V AMM 700 Max and AMM 500 Plus at 80.4 and 80.7, with sound power of 88.4 and 88.7. Metabo's MT 18 LTX BL QSL declares 84 and 92, and Fein's corded MM 700 Max and MM 300 Plus 84.1 and 92.1, and 84.6 and 92.6.
Fein's range is a useful reminder that the corded tool is not always the loud one. Its quietest corded tool, the MM 500 Plus, declares about five decibels less at the ear than either of its 18 V StarlockPlus and StarlockMax cordless tools.
Makita, declared job by job
Makita is the only maker here that declares each job separately, and we rank its tools on sanding, the job its EN62841-2-4 figure covers. The brushless XMT04Z and 40V max GMT01Z tie at 72 dB(A) at the ear; Makita gives no sound power figure for either and warns that working noise may exceed 80. The brushed XMT03Z declares 80 and 88, and the corded TM3010CX1 83 and 91.
Their other jobs are not ranked against anything, but they are worth knowing. The XMT04Z and GMT01Z declare 75 for plunge cutting, 79 for segment sawing and 74 for scraping. The XMT03Z rises to 84 for plunge cutting, and the TM3010CX1 to 85 for scraping.
Makita's US pages do print numbers, just not ones we can use. The GMT01Z page lists "Noise Level" 69 dB. The TM3010CX1 page says "low noise 90dB(A)" in one place and "lower noise (74dB)" in another, and its US flyer says 80dB(A). None names a standard or a job.
Festool's international page for the Vecturo OSC 18 E-Basic lists only "Sawing" rows: 84 dB(A) at the ear and 92 sound power under EN 62841, K 3. With no sanding or unnamed figure to set beside the others, it stands on its own. The price is from Festool USA's own reconditioned tool store, which shows a $399.00 compare at price for item 576589; festoolusa.com shows none.
The silent aisle
Bosch's US page for the GOP18V-28N and its US operating instructions print no noise figure. DEWALT's US manual for the DCS354 and DCS356 prints none either. Neither brand is ranked.
Three tools were left out for other reasons. Milwaukee's EU page for the M12 FMT declares 77.78 dB(A) at the ear, but it lists a 1.8° swing each way while the US M12 FUEL 2526-20 page says 3.9 degrees, so we could not call them the same tool. The same goes for the M18 BMT at 79.8, which the EU page gives 12,000 to 18,000 per minute against 11,000 to 18,000 for the US 2626-20. Makita's 12 V MT01Z is marked discontinued on its US page, and Festool's US page for the corded Vecturo OS 400 no longer loads.
What the spread means
At the ear, the single-figure group spans about eleven decibels, a clear gap on paper. But the blade and the material move real noise as much as the tool. A sharp blade, a lower speed setting, and a workpiece clamped so it cannot drum all help, whichever tool you own. Makita's job by job figures show how much the job matters: the same tool can differ by 7 dB between sanding and sawing.
We did not measure any of these multi-tools. Every figure is the maker's own, quoted as published, with the standard, K value, job and document identified wherever the maker identified them.
