DEWALT 20V MAX VS XR – DECODING THE BRANDING

The reason DeWalt uses 20V Max for that line of lithium-ion cordless tools isn’t because they have a higher voltage than 18V tools. They both use sets of 5 battery cells. When you fully charge the battery, a voltmeter registers 20 volts. That’s the maximum voltage the battery attains, hence, 20V Max. As soon as you start to use the battery, it drops down to 18 volts, known as the nominal state. So, 18V and 20V Max batteries are the same in terms of voltage.

The XR branding comes into play when DeWalt started making cordless tools with brushless motors. XR stands for eXtended Runtime, which is one of the primary benefits of a brushless motor. They are also able to achieve higher performance than brushed motors.