Great little router and a great value with one nit

I looked around and didn’t see a review for this router so I figured I would post one since I have had it for about a year. When I got it, it was on sale for $89 so it was even a better deal. I bought this because I was looking for a nice trim router that I could use instead of my beloved but HUGELY HEAVY Hitachi M12V for small projects. It came in really handy for routing door hinge mortises recently as I just finished installing 8 interior door slabs into their existing frames. I have also used it for minor trim work on other projects.

This is a really nice compact router that fits well in the hand. The shape of the router comfortable and easy to control while in use. It also seems well balanced without being unwieldy when moving it around. it has a nice long cord that stays nicely out of the way and because it is nice and long, it doesn’t always need a extension cord, another bonus. The one thing I don’t like is that when you hold the router body in what would be a natural position, the base openings for the router bit are to the sides so you end up holding the router in an more unnatural position with the cord and rubberized grip facing away from you.

The router itself runs really smoothly and carries little or no vibration into the housing so there is no fatigue. The on off switch is a sliding one where upon turning on the router, the switch top raises above the router housing so that when you need to turn it off in a hurry (or normally), it is easy to hit the top of the router and it will turn it off. The speed adjustment works well and seems very linear in adjusting the speed of the router and it has a fine ratcheting type instead of a friction type resistance to prevent errant speed changes. It works just fine to me. Although the scale of adjustment is numbered 1-7 and not RPMs, I found that I normally adjust the speed by the sound anyway so it is no biggie.
The base of the router comes with a LED light that lights up the router bit area when turned on. I like this feature as it helps to see where you are positioning the router when using it free hand.
The height adjustment is easy to use and well marked with a fine threaded adjustment and a spring loaded coarse adjustment. just unlock the body clamp and make your depth adjustment and re lock it and you are ready to go. The fine adjustment has a embedded wheel of sorts that is marked with index marks and 1/64” indications which helps for fine depth adjustments. It is easy to use as all you need to do is slide your finger across the wheel and it turns. By being embedded somewhat into the body, it does prevent errand adjustments if the body is not locked. The body also has a veneer type scale for reference too.
The router also comes with 2 collet wrenches but the router also has a spring loaded lock so you really only need one wrench to change bits. The base comes with a round and square clear base plates. I have yet to need the square one but it is a nice option when you need to run the router on a flat surface.
It also comes with a fence system where you screw 2 threaded rods into the base and slide on the fence. when not in use all this stuff fits nicely into the soft carrying case.
As for the case, it is a nice small 8h x 9l x 4d thick cordura type case with opposing zippers and a nice handle. It is small, and everything fits in there with no problems.

Overall, I give it a 5 (really a 4 1/4) star rating for performance, adjustability, accessories and the lifetime warranty but cannot give it a 5 star rating for my one nit of hand position versus base openings so I give that a 4 star rating.

Other than that, I highly recommend that if you are looking at trim routers, take a look at this one too.

-- With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. Just watch out for the exhaust. - Mike -