I’ve found they excel in different areas. For wood working, dewalt is the clear winner. They have some of the best most cost effective major woodworking tool like planers and table saws. Milwaukee has an edge on impact drivers and little else. If you mostly work with wood, Dewalt is better. If you need impacts for auto work, Milwaukee edges out dewalt. It’s rarely worth investing in both platforms because the batteries are the most expensive component.
I use Dewalt for my woodworking stuff and Milwaukee M12 for this very reason. M12 for automotive for their high speed ratchet, 3/8” stubby impact, right angle die grinder, etc. Milwaukee seems to have an edge there although Dewalt isn’t far behind.
AVE had tear downs years ago and I think there were a few places where dewalt edged out Milwaukee. There was also some black magic going on with dewalt impacts and a rebound effect. See Torque test channel[1].
For automotive Milwaukee is the clear winner.
[1]https://youtu.be/tPP6exJyILA?si=G1aKZL9yjYwkJ2aH
> Milwaukee has an edge on impact drivers and little else.
DeWalt's lighting options are terrible, compared to Milwaukee. Low run time and bad ergonomics.
In contrast, Milwaukee lights run much longer and have some neat solutions for disaster scenarios (lamp + USB charger).
Milwaukee makes the best versions of lots of tools, mostly related to the electrical trade. The M12 portaband (one handed!) and M12 SDS plus hammer drills are amazing tools, and so are the M18 versions. Milwaukee has great lighting options too. My electricians can choose between Milwaukee and Makita, they all choose Milwaukee.