EN 62841-2-17 is the European standard for handheld routers and trimmers, and Bosch and Makita cite it for the routers here. A few Festool and Makita documents cite the older EN 60745-2-17 instead.
Each declaration carries two numbers. LpA is the sound pressure where someone guiding the router along an edge would stand. LWA is sound power, the router's total output rather than what any one listener hears, and it says more about how far the noise spreads through the shop. The K value, the uncertainty, is 3 dB for most of these makers and 1.5 dB for Festool's corded routers.
Makita's DRT50 shows the split. Its 81 at the ear is a pressure and its 89 a power, a pair from one test that never belongs in a single ranking, as our guide to the two kinds of router noise figure explains.
What is the quietest trim router?
One of the smallest. Bosch declares 74 dB(A) at the ear for the GKF 12V-8, twin of the US GKF12V-25N, a 12 V palm edge router with one fixed speed and no sound power figure.
The 18 V compact routers follow some way behind. Milwaukee's EU page gives the M18 FTR, which matches the US 2723-20, 80.02 dB(A) at the ear and 91.02 sound power, though it names no standard. Makita's DRT50, the twin of the XTR01Z, declares 81 and 89, the lowest sound power here. Its manual is also the only one to give figures both at no load and while cutting grooves in MDF, and they do not move: 81 and 89 in each. Bosch's 18 V Colt, the GKF18V-25N, lands at 87 and 95 through its European twin.
What is the quietest plunge router?
Bosch's MRP23EVS, at 86 dB(A) and 97 sound power, is lowest among plunge and full size routers with current-standard figures. Those come through the GOF 1600 CE, which shares its part number family and speed range. That manual leaves the words "sound pressure level" out in front of the 86, and we take it as the pressure figure because it comes first, where Bosch prints pressure in its other manuals.
The Metabo HPT M3612DA, the only cordless plunge router here, and the corded Bosch GOF13-25 both declare 89 and 97.
Festool's three corded routers sit well above them, each with a K of 1.5.
| Festool router | At the ear (LpA) | Sound power (LwA) |
|---|
| OF 1010 REBQ-Plus | 95 dB(A) | 103 dB(A) |
| OF 2200 EB-F-Plus | 96 dB(A) | 104 dB(A) |
| OF 1400 EQ-F-Plus | 98 dB(A) | 106 dB(A) |
Festool is also the one router maker here with prices in its own US store, through compare at prices on its reconditioned tool shop, from $599.00 for the OF 1010 to $1,219.00 for the OF 2200. Bosch, Milwaukee, Makita and Metabo HPT show no maker price on their US router pages.
These five are declared under EN 60745-2-17, the older router standard, and are ranked only against one another.
| Router | Type | At the ear (LpA) | Sound power (LwA) |
|---|
| Festool MFKC 700 | Cordless edge router | 82 dB(A) | 90 dB(A) |
| Makita RT0701C | Corded compact router | 82 dB(A) | 93 dB(A) |
| Festool MFK 700 | Corded edge router | 84 dB(A) | 92 dB(A) |
| Makita RP1800 | Corded plunge router | 86 dB(A) | 97 dB(A) |
| Makita RP2301FC | Corded plunge router | 87 dB(A) | 98 dB(A) |
Makita has moved its European range on to newer models declared under EN 62841, and some of their figures are higher. The RP2303FC, the current European relative of the RP2301FC, declares 91 dB(A) at the ear. It also runs to 23,000 RPM where the US tool stops at 22,000, which rules it out as the RP2301FC's European match and keeps these five in a group of their own.
The GTR01Z stays out of the ranking
Makita's European manual for the RT001G, the twin of the 40V max GTR01Z, gives the router 84 dB(A) at its handles and 92 dB(A) of total power, but only in the work mode "rotation without load". Most routers here state no mode. Ranking the GTR01Z beside them would set one kind of test against another. The one fair comparison is with the XTR01Z's twin, which declares 81 in that same no-load mode.
DEWALT's DCW600, Bosch's GKF125CE Colt and Milwaukee's 2838-20 have no noise figure we could use. The US manual for the DCW600 cordless compact router has none, Bosch's US manual for its corded GKF125CE Colt palm router has none, and neither turned up a European twin to quote. Milwaukee's EU page for the M18 FR12, the European version of its 1/2 inch cordless router, lists speed, collet and plunge capacity but no noise values, which leaves the US 2838-20 unranked.
Any of the three may be quiet or loud. Nothing their makers publish puts a number on them.
Twenty-four decibels from top to bottom
At the ear, the loudest router here declares twenty-four decibels more than the quietest, far more than the spread among jigsaws or circular saws. Tool size explains much of that gap. Small edge and trim routers declare the least, big plunge routers the most.
At the bench, bit choice, speed and depth of pass change the noise at your ears roughly as much as swapping one router for another. Several light passes at a sensible speed are easier on your ears than one heavy one, whichever router you own.
Among the other shaping tools, our hand planer guide finds a far narrower spread across twelve 3-1/4 inch planers, and our jigsaw guide covers the saw for cutting curved parts.
