How EN 62841-2-11 measures a recip saw
Each saw gets two noise figures, sound pressure at the ear and sound power, each with an uncertainty K. Makita, Bosch and DEWALT use this part of the standard, written for handheld reciprocating saws, for their current European models, and Hilti cites the same EN 62841 family.
LpA is the sound pressure that reaches the person bracing the shoe against the work, measured at the operator's position. LWA, sound power, sums up everything the saw puts out. K varies by maker: 3 dB for Makita and Milwaukee, 3 or 5 dB for Bosch and DEWALT, 5 dB for Hilti.
The standard's vibration test has two parts, cutting boards and cutting wooden beams, and the documents print vibration figures for each task. Noise is different. Every document gives one pair of figures per saw, with no work mode attached, so those pairs are compared directly and never assigned to boards or beams.
LpA decides the ranking, with LwA listed beside it. Makita's 80 and 88 for the DJR183 come from a single test, but one is pressure and one is power, so they never compete; our page on pressure versus power shows what separates a recip saw's pair of numbers. Figures under the older EN 60745 standard, and Milwaukee's figures with no standard, are ranked only inside their groups.
Compact saws declare the least
Makita's DJR183, the twin of the US XRJ01Z, has the lowest EN 62841 declaration: 80 dB(A) for the person holding it and 88 of sound power. Its 12 V sibling, the JR103D behind the US RJ03R1 kit, declares 81 and 89.
Both have a 1/2 inch stroke and cut up to 2 inches. They are pipe and trim saws.
Stretch the stroke and the numbers climb a little. Bosch's GSA 18 V-LI C, twin of the GSA18V-083B, declares 82 and 93 with a 0.83 inch stroke. DEWALT's one-handed DCS369 declares 84 and 95 in its 2019 European manual, and Bosch's newest compact, the GSA 18V-24 behind the US GSA18V-24N, declares 85 and 93.
Which full size reciprocating saw is quietest?
With a stroke of 1-1/8 inches or more, Hilti's SR 6-22 declares the least at the ear: 86 dB(A), with 94 sound power and an uncertainty of 5 dB(A). DEWALT's DCS382 follows at 86,5 and 94.5, the first printed with a decimal comma, then Makita's XRJ05Z twin, the DJR187, at 87 and 95.
Heavier saws declare more. Makita's 40V max GRJ01Z and Hilti's 36 V SR 30-A36 both come in at 88 and 96, and Bosch's orbital GSA18V-125N, through its European twin the GSA 18V-32, at 90 and 98. At the top sit Makita's two corded saws, the 12 amp JR3051T and the 15 amp orbital JR3070CT, at 91 and 99 each.
Only Hilti prices these saws on its US store: $329.00 discounted net for the SR 6-22 tool body, and from $569.00 for the SR 30-A36.
Milwaukee's SAWZALL and HACKZALL, ranked among themselves
Milwaukee's European pages give a sound pressure and a sound power level for each saw but name no standard or test condition. Its three saws are therefore ranked only against each other, running from 82.9 to 85.4 dB(A) at the ear with the tool-only SAWZALL highest.
| Milwaukee EU model | US model | At the ear | Sound power |
|---|
| M12 CHZ (M12 FUEL HACKZALL) | 2520-20 | 82.9 dB(A) | 93.9 |
| M18 FHZ (M18 FUEL HACKZALL) | 2719-20 | 84.7 dB(A) | 95.7 |
| M18 FSZ, tool only (SAWZALL) | 2821-20 | 85.4 dB(A) | 96.4 |
One kit version of the M18 FSZ on the same page lists 88.15 and 99.15. The tool-only figures are the ones quoted, with the difference noted.
DEWALT's UK manual for the compact DCS387, sold in the US as the DCS387B, rates it at 87 dB(A) of operator pressure and 98 of sound power under EN60745-2-11. That is the older standard, so the saw sits in a group of one rather than against the EN 62841 saws.
Three saws whose paperwork disagrees
These figures are shown as published and kept out of every ranking.
DEWALT's 60V MAX DCS389 has three versions of its numbers. The European manual lists 84 dB(A) at the operator and 95 of sound power with a K of 5. The UK Type 1 manual declares 87 dB(A) and 95 with a K of 3, and the 2026 Product Emission Data sheet gives 87 and 95 with a K of 3 in plain "dB". The 12 V DCS312 declares 84 dB(A) and 95 in a 2020 European manual, then 87 and 95 in plain "dB" in a 2025 UK manual.
Hilti's case is starker. Its US page for the corded SR 30 lists an "A-weighted emission sound pressure level" of 92 dB (A), while the operating instructions linked from Hilti's UK site, for the same 4.8 kg, 2,650 strokes per minute saw, give 78.1 dB(A) at the ear and 98.1 sound power under EN 62841. Hilti's US manual prints no figure.
How much quieter is a smaller reciprocating saw?
Short-stroke compacts declare the least, full size cordless saws sit in the middle, and the corded saws declare the most, which accounts for nearly all of the eleven decibels.
In use, the blade counts as much as the saw. A sharp blade with the right tooth count for the material cuts faster and rattles less than a dull one, and holding the shoe firmly against the work keeps the saw from hammering. Whatever the saw, a long demolition day calls for hearing protection, as every maker here says.
For curves and cutouts, the jigsaw is the smaller saw under the same standard, and our jigsaw guide ranks fifteen. For metal tube and strut, our guide to portable band saws covers a metal-cutting saw whose slow toothed band leaves no spinning disc and throws few sparks.
