Two standards, and makers caught between them
A band saw sold in Europe is declared under a harmonised standard. The current one is EN IEC 62841-2-20, the part of EN 62841 for band saws; before it came EN 60745-2-20. Both ask for two quantities. Sound pressure at the operator's position, LpA, is the figure for the person feeding the saw through the metal, while sound power, LWA, is the band saw's output taken as a whole and bears more on anyone else nearby. K, the uncertainty printed with each, is 3 dB for every saw here.
The order below runs on LpA, with LwA quoted beside it. Makita's XBP03Z, at 80 at the ear and 88 sound power, carries two quantities that measure different things. Neither is ever ranked against the other, and the page on sound power vs sound pressure explains the gap between them.
The trouble is that the makers are mid-switch between the two standards, and they label the switch differently:
| Maker and document | Standard named |
|---|
| Bosch, GCB 18V-63 manual, 2026 | EN IEC 62841-2-20 |
| Makita, cordless saw manuals | "determined according to EN60745/EN62841", with no part number |
| Makita, corded 2107F manual | EN60745 |
| DEWALT, DCS377 manual | EN60745-2-20 |
| Hilti, SB 4-22 manual | EN 60745 |
| Bosch, GCB 18V-127 manual | EN 60745-2-20 |
| Milwaukee, European pages | None |
| HiKOKI, European page | None, with figures in "dB" and no A-weighting |
A new edition of a test can move a figure a long way. Bosch's own GCB 18V-63 is the clearest case: declared at 79 dB(A) under EN 60745-2-20 in its 2022 manual, and at 71 under EN IEC 62841-2-20 in its 2026 manual.
Eight decibels, same saw. Grouping by the standard each maker names is the only fair way to rank them.
The quietest saw in each group
| Group | Saw | At the ear (LpA) | Sound power (LwA) |
|---|
| EN IEC 62841-2-20 | Bosch GCB18V-2N | 71 dB(A) | Not declared |
| Makita, EN60745/EN62841 | XBP03Z | 80 | 88 |
| XBP04Z | 81 | 89 |
| GBP01Z | 81 | 89 |
| XBP05ZB | 82 | 90 |
| XBP02Z | 84 | 92 |
| EN 60745 | Hilti SB 4-22 | 77 | 88 |
| DEWALT DCS377 | 77 | 88 |
| Bosch GCB18V-5N | 79 | Not declared |
| Makita 2107FZK | 86 | 98 |
| Milwaukee, no standard named | 2429-20 | 74 | 85 |
| 2529-20 | 76 | 87 |
| 2829-20 | 82.63 | 93.63 |
| 6232-20 | 90,2 | 101,2 |
| Unranked, no A-weighting | Metabo HPT CB18DBLQ4 | 78 dB | 89 dB |
The Bosch GCB18V-2N is the only saw in its group, so it wins nothing beyond that.
Inside each group, smaller saws tend to declare less. Milwaukee's two M12 saws sit below its M18 and corded saws, and in the EN 60745 group the compact Hilti and DEWALT come in under the deep cut Bosch and Makita. Makita's own range shows where the rule stops. Its smallest saw, the 2 in. XBP05ZB, declares 82, two above the 2-1/2 in. XBP03Z.
Do US band saw makers publish decibel ratings?
No. Each listing above takes its figure from the European twin, and this is how every pair was matched.
| US saw | European twin | Matched on |
|---|
| Bosch GCB18V-2N, item 06012A0415 | GCB 18V-63, 0 601 2A0 400 | Item number stem, blade length, speed range |
| Bosch GCB18V-5N, item 06012B7010 | GCB 18V-127, 0 601 2B7 000 | Item number stem, blade length, speed range |
| Makita XBP03 | DPB182 | Capacity, blade speed, blade length, dimensions |
| Makita XBP04 | DPB183 | Capacity, blade speed, blade length, dimensions |
| Makita XBP05 | DPB184 | Capacity, blade speed, blade length, dimensions |
| Makita XBP02 | DPB180 | Capacity, blade speed, blade length, dimensions |
| Makita GBP01, 40V max XGT | PB002G | Capacity, blade speed, blade length, dimensions |
| Makita 2107FZK | 2107F, via the 2107FZ manual | Capacity, speed, blade and weight; dimensions differ |
| Milwaukee 2429-20 | M12 BS | Platform, blade length, speed, capacity |
| Milwaukee 2529-20 | M12 FBS64 | Platform, blade length, speed, capacity |
| Milwaukee 2829-20 | M18 FBS85 | Blade and speed; 85 mm capacity in Europe, 3-1/4 in. in the US manual |
| Milwaukee 6232-20 | BS 125 | Speed range and a 5 in. class capacity |
| Hilti SB 4-22 | SB 4-22 | Every listed dimension |
| DEWALT DCS377 | DCS377 | Speed and blade |
Hilti and DEWALT keep one name in both markets. Makita renames every cordless saw, but its manuals line up exactly pair by pair. Milwaukee's corded match is the loosest: the European figure for the BS 125 is for the mains version sold there.
Only Hilti puts a price on its own site. Bosch, Makita and DEWALT show none.
Bosch's web pages and its manuals disagree
Bosch's web pages for both the GCB 18V-63 and the GCB 18V-127 list "Sound pressure level 79 dB(A) Sound power level 90 dB(A)", with no standard. The 2026 manual for the GCB 18V-63 replaces that with 71 dB(A) under EN IEC 62841-2-20 and gives no sound power at all. This guide follows the current manual.
The GCB 18V-127 is murkier. The manual Bosch links still gives 79 dB(A) under EN 60745-2-20, yet its 2026 declaration of conformity already names EN IEC 62841-2-20:2025. A newer figure may exist, but no document we found prints it, and the GCB18V-5N stays in the EN 60745 group at 79.
How loud are Makita's cordless band saws?
From 80 to 84 dB(A) at the ear and 88 to 92 sound power, the tightest cluster on this page. On every one of the five, sound power sits eight decibels above the ear figure, which makes Makita the most consistent maker here. The "EN60745/EN62841" label is Makita's alone, though, and it does not say which test produced the numbers. Rather than guess, this guide gives Makita a group of its own. Within it the XBP03Z leads at 80, with the XBP04Z and the 5 in. GBP01Z one behind.
Milwaukee's European pages give figures to two decimals for the M18 FBS85, 82.63 and 93.63, and with decimal commas for the BS 125, 90,2 and 101,2. They appear here as printed. With no standard named, they form a group of their own.
HiKOKI, which sells in the US as Metabo HPT, lists "Emission sound pressure 78 dB" and "Emission sound power 89 dB" for the CB18DBL. The figures may well be A-weighted like everyone else's, but the page leaves the A off, and this guide does not add a label the maker left out. An unweighted or unlabelled figure cannot sit beside A-weighted ones, so the CB18DBLQ4 is listed and left unranked.
Will you hear a 1 or 2 dB difference between band saws?
Probably not. Every figure here carries a K of 3, and a one or two decibel lead may vanish once the blade is in metal.
Makita's 80, 81 and 82 are a group, not a podium, and so are the matching 77s from Hilti and DEWALT. The larger gaps are real. Inside the EN 60745 group, Makita's corded 2107FZK declares nine decibels more than the Hilti and DEWALT. Milwaukee's cordless saws alone span more than eight decibels, from 74 to 82.63, and its figures run more than sixteen decibels from the M12 sub-compact to the corded deep cut saw.
A declaration describes one standardised cut, and a real job is not that cut: blade pitch, feed pressure, the material and whether it rings all change what you hear, and thin-wall tube and strut can ring loudly under any saw. Use the figures to compare saws within a group, not to predict your exposure on a given day.
If the metal work calls for a disc instead, our angle grinder guide ranks 4-1/2 and 5 inch grinders. Demolition cuts through nailed studs or cast iron drain pipe belong to reciprocating saws.
Three saws turned up no noise figure in either US or European documents.
DEWALT's US manual for its 5 in. DCS374 deep cut saw prints none, and DEWALT's UK band saw range lists the DCS371, DCS377 and DCS378 but no DCS374, so there is no European declaration to borrow. Milwaukee's European page for the M18 CBS125, the twin of the US 2729-20 deep cut saw, no longer shows the product, and its page for the second-generation M18 FBS127 lists no noise values. HiKOKI's European and UK pages for the CB3612DA, sold in the US as the Metabo HPT CB3612DA, list none either. Metabo's US site lists circular saws, multi-tools and reciprocating saws in its cordless sawing range but no band saw.
Whether the DCS374, the 2729-20 or the CB3612DA is quiet or loud, nothing published can say.
