Walk onto any UK site and count the teal cases. Makita has won the battery platform war on sheer visibility – it is the default, the one your apprentice assumes you own, the one the hire shop stocks. HiKOKI, which most of us still think of as Hitachi, is the one in the corner that a handful of blokes swear by and everyone else has never seriously considered.
That is worth interrogating, because platform choice is the most expensive decision you make in tools. You are not buying a drill, you are buying every battery, charger and bare tool you will own for the next decade. This is a comparison for UK trades weighing that decision in 2026. Prices are approximate UK street prices and move with promotions.
Our quick verdict
HiKOKI MultiVolt is the more elegant engineering answer. One battery family runs both the 18V tools and the 36V tools, the pack works out for itself which voltage to deliver, and you never own two incompatible sets of batteries. If you are starting fresh, or you already have HiKOKI 18V gear, that is a genuinely strong argument.
Makita is the more practical answer for most people, and the reason is not the tools – it is the ecosystem. Range, availability, second-hand value, hire shop compatibility, and the fact that every site you walk onto has a Makita charger on it. Makita’s weakness is that LXT and XGT are separate platforms with separate batteries, and pretending otherwise is how people end up owning both.
The two platforms in brief
HiKOKI MultiVolt
MultiVolt is the clever bit and it deserves credit. The battery detects whether it is sitting in an 18V tool or a 36V tool and switches its output to match. Slot it into an 18V drill and it behaves like an 18V pack. Slot it into a 36V circular saw and it delivers 36V. One pack, one charger, two tool classes.
What that means in practice is that stepping up to heavier tools does not force a platform migration. You buy the bigger tool, your existing batteries run it, and your 18V kit keeps working. There is also an AC adaptor that lets some MultiVolt tools run off mains – useful in a workshop where a tool lives on the bench and you would rather not cycle a battery for it.
The tools themselves are good. HiKOKI has never had a reputation problem on quality – Hitachi built serious kit and that has carried over. The brand recognition problem is real, though, and it has consequences beyond ego.
Makita LXT and XGT
LXT is the 18V platform that made Makita the default. The range is enormous – well over 250 tools – and that matters more than any single tool’s performance. Whatever niche thing you need, LXT probably makes it.
XGT is the 40V platform Makita built for the heavy end, and it is a genuinely separate system. Different batteries, different chargers, no cross-compatibility with LXT. Makita’s argument is that a clean-sheet 40V platform performs better than bolting more voltage onto an 18V architecture, and on the heavy tools they have a point. Their answer to the compatibility gap is adaptors and the fact that most trades do not actually need XGT at all.
For a lot of UK trades the honest position is that LXT alone covers the work and XGT is a solution to a problem they do not have.
Head to head at a glance
Approximate positioning for 2026. Exact prices and availability vary by tool, retailer and promotion.
| Factor | HiKOKI MultiVolt | Makita LXT / XGT |
| Battery strategy | One family, 18V and 36V auto-switching | LXT and XGT separate, not cross-compatible |
| Tool range | Respectable but narrower | Huge – 250+ LXT tools |
| UK availability | Ordering more often than picking up | Stocked everywhere, same-day |
| Price (comparable tool) | Generally cheaper | Premium |
| Resale value | Weaker | Strong |
| Site currency | Rare – hard to borrow a pack | Universal |
| Mains adaptor option | Yes, on some tools | No equivalent |
| Best for | Fresh start, heavy tools in future | Broad 18V work, easy replacement |
Where HiKOKI wins
The battery strategy, and it is not close. MultiVolt means one battery family for your whole kit, including the heavy tools. Makita’s equivalent journey involves buying into LXT, then discovering you want an XGT tool, then owning two charger sets and two battery piles and a bag that weighs more than it should. HiKOKI simply does not have that problem, and if you are building a kit from zero in 2026 that is a serious point in its favour.
Price is the second. HiKOKI generally undercuts Makita on comparable tools, sometimes meaningfully, because it is fighting for shelf space rather than defending a throne. You get similar build quality for less money. The 36V circular saws and SDS drills in particular are often the value play against their Makita equivalents.
The mains adaptor is a niche win but a real one if you have a tool that lives in one place.
Where Makita wins
Range, and the compounding effect of range. When your platform makes 250-plus tools, the odds that it makes the weird thing you need in three years are very high. HiKOKI’s range is respectable but narrower, and the gap shows up exactly when you have already committed.
Availability is the underrated one. Every UK merchant stocks Makita. Screwfix, Toolstation, your local independent, Amazon UK – if a battery dies on Friday afternoon you can have a replacement in your hand within the hour. With HiKOKI you are more often ordering and waiting. That is not a specification, but it is exactly the sort of thing that ruins a Friday.
Resale is the third. Makita holds value on the second-hand market in a way HiKOKI does not, and if you have ever sold a kit on you will know that gap is not small. And on shared sites, Makita batteries are effectively a common currency – being able to borrow a pack from the sparks when yours dies has saved more jobs than any spec sheet.
The battery strategy is the real decision
Strip away the marketing and this comparison comes down to one question: do you want one battery family or are you willing to run two?
HiKOKI’s answer is one, permanently, by design. Makita’s answer is that LXT covers most people and XGT exists if you need it – which is true, but it means the person who eventually wants one heavy tool pays a platform tax to get it. Neither position is wrong. They are just different bets about what your kit looks like in five years.
If you know your work is 18V-class and always will be – second fix, electrical, plumbing, general maintenance – Makita LXT is hard to argue against and the MultiVolt advantage never materialises for you. If your work drags you toward heavy tools – big SDS, 9in grinders, large circular saws, breakers – MultiVolt’s single-battery promise starts looking like real money saved.
Price and value
HiKOKI is generally cheaper tool-for-tool, and that is a genuine saving up front. But value over a decade is not the same as price today. Makita’s better resale, wider availability and enormous accessory range claw some of that back, and if you factor in the cost of a Friday afternoon lost to a battery you cannot replace locally, the gap narrows again.
The clearest value case for HiKOKI is the trade who wants heavy tools and does not want to buy into two platforms to get them. The clearest value case for Makita is the trade who wants 18V tools, wants them from anywhere, and wants to sell the kit on eventually.
So which should you buy?
If you already own Makita, stay. The switching cost is real and MultiVolt is not enough of an upgrade to justify replacing a working platform – that is a sunk-cost argument you should actually listen to.
If you already own HiKOKI 18V, absolutely stay, and buy MultiVolt packs as your batteries age. You are sitting on the better upgrade path and most people in your position do not realise it.
If you are starting from nothing, it is a genuine coin toss weighted by your trade. Heavy tools in your future, or you value engineering over ubiquity: HiKOKI. Broad 18V work, you want the widest range and the easiest replacement: Makita. There is no wrong answer here, only an expensive one if you pick on habit rather than on what you actually cut.
Frequently asked questions
Is HiKOKI the same as Hitachi?
Effectively yes – HiKOKI is the rebranded Hitachi power tool business. The tools carry the same engineering heritage, which is why the quality reputation holds up despite the lower brand recognition on UK sites.
Do MultiVolt batteries work in 18V HiKOKI tools?
Yes, and that is the point of the platform. The pack detects the tool and outputs 18V or 36V accordingly, so one battery family runs both classes of tool. Check compatibility on older HiKOKI and Hitachi 18V tools before you assume.
Can I use Makita LXT batteries in XGT tools?
No. LXT and XGT are separate platforms with different batteries and chargers. Makita offers adaptors for some combinations, but they are a workaround rather than a solution – if you want both classes of tool you are largely buying into both systems.
Is HiKOKI cheaper than Makita?
Generally yes on comparable tools, and sometimes by a meaningful margin. Factor in resale value and availability before you treat the up-front saving as the whole picture.
Which platform has better UK availability?
Makita, comfortably. It is stocked by every major UK merchant and most independents. HiKOKI is available but you will more often be ordering rather than picking up the same day, which matters when a battery fails mid-job.
Is it worth switching from Makita to HiKOKI?
Rarely. If you have a working Makita kit with several batteries, the cost of replacing it outweighs the MultiVolt benefit. Switching only makes sense if you are starting fresh, or your kit is old enough that you are replacing batteries wholesale anyway.
