A compact miter saw is a model that falls under a 10″ blade diameter. They’re fantastic tools for jobs that require smaller workpieces and the sliding models can still get you 12 inches of cross-cut on 2x material. You can forget 4x material here, though—at least on a single cut. The 7-1/4″ to 8-1/2″ blades won’t make that without rotating the workpiece. The best compact miter saw still functions as a compact, capable power tool for Pros.
Interestingly, better runtimes are making battery-powered saws more and more desirable over their corded counterparts. You may see that reflected in some of our choices.
Editor’s Note: Check out our best miter saw article for our top overall recommendations.
Our Top Picks
- Best Overall: Bosch CM8S – Buy on Amazon
Jump to this Saw ↓ - Best for Woodworking: Metabo HPT C3607DRAQ4 MultiVolt 7-1/4 in. – Buy on Amazon
Jump to this Saw ↓ - Best Cordless: Milwaukee 2733 M18 Fuel 7-1/4 in. – Buy at Acme Tools
Jump to this Saw ↓ - Best for the Money: Metabo HPT C8FSHESM 8-1/2 in – Buy on Amazon
Jump to this Saw ↓ - Best for Homeowners: Ryobi TSS702 – Buy at Home Depot
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Also in this Article
- Best Miter Saw Blade
- Best Selling Compact Miter Saws
- More Compact Miter Saw Recommendations
- Miter Saw Buying Guide
- Why You Can Trust Pro Tool Reviews
Best Compact Miter Saw Overall
Bosch CM8S 8-1/2 inch Sliding Miter Saw
There are two basic components when it comes to the cut: the blade and the motor that turns it. There’s room to play with speed and torque in any motor, so we can’t just give away an award for the biggest motor or fastest no-load speed. The Bosch CM8S 8-1/2 inch sliding miter saw gave us excellent cutting performance, letting us power through both thick and detailed cuts with ease.
The Bosch also gave us some of the best cutting capacity. It cut 12-1/4″ at 90 degrees and 8-5/8″ at 45 degrees. We also loved the Bosch’s miter detent override. This thumb-actuated feature lets you smoothly bypass the miter stops when needing to cut a non-standard angle.
At 37 pounds, the Bosch CM8S may not seem like a lightweight, but its top handle makes it extremely portable. This became one of the easiest saws to move around the jobsite by hand. When connected to a dust extractor, it also noticeably picked up more sawdust than other models tested. Lastly, you can get an 18V battery-powered “clone” of this saw with the Bosch GCM18V-08N.
You will find it hard to beat this saw at $489.
Best Compact Miter Saw for Woodworking
Metabo HPT C3607DRAQ4
We enjoyed testing the Metabo HPT C3607DRAQ4 MultiVolt 7-1/4″ sliding miter saw. This saw has some of the best build quality and exhibited the most accuracy of most miter saws we’d tested. While that all comes with a premium price, we know several woodworking Pros and carpenters who would pay for that level of performance.
One other reason we voted this the best compact miter saw for woodworkers has to do with clearance. The Metabo HPT MultiVolt 7-1/4″ miter saw uses a zero clearance rail system. You can set the saw right up against a wall and get your maximum crosscut capacity. Considering this is a 7-1/4″ miter saw, Metabo HPT gives you a pretty solid cut capacity. You’re looking at a maximum depth of 2-9/32″ and slide cut of 12-13/64″.
Combining power, precision, capacity, and features, this premium-quality hybrid corded/cordless sliding miter saw works if you can afford it. It matches those with a skill level and reputation for high-end work. Plenty of other options exist for those who may not need this level of accuracy.
This saw comes at a hefty $1,049 before you add batteries or the AC adapter.
Best Cordless Compact Miter Saw
Milwaukee 2733-20 M18 Fuel 7-1/4 in
A keen eye instantly notices that this isn’t merely a shrunken-down Milwaukee 10-inch cordless miter saw. Rather, some key design differences exist between the two saws. Most notably, the top-rail design finally brings the dust port closer to the blade. Dust collection is much improved.
The Milwaukee 2733-20 miter saw offers dual bevel functionality with stops at 45° and 48°. It miters 48° in both directions with cam locking detents. There’s a 3-1/2″ vertical cutting capacity with the base against the fence and a 2-5/8″ nested crown capacity. Remember, this saw has a 7-1/4″ blade! It can also cross-cut a 2×8 at 90 degrees.
Beyond that, the tool weighs an incredibly light 28 pounds—with a battery! That makes it, by far, the lightest compact miter saw we’ve ever tested. It also uses an LED cut line indicator that works in broad daylight. With its overall excellent performance in cutting trim, this best cordless compact miter saw impressed our team.
As a bare tool, the saw runs $449, or get the kit for $549.
Best Compact Miter Saw for the Money
Metabo HPT 8-1/2 in Sliding Compound Miter Saw C8FSHESM
Having been using a version of this saw since 2009 (under the Hitachi name), we love its price, portability, and power. It weighs just 36.8 pounds and features a smooth slide and bevel system that makes all manner of cuts simple to make. Having used it for trim work, decking, and more, the Metabo HPT C8FSHESM provides an all-around solution that crosses trade boundaries.
It also features both a laser and an LED light that illuminates the entire cutting area. Having done plenty of jobs that extend into dusk, these features both come in handy. For the price, this saw delivers a tool that holds up well under jobsite abuse (ours kept going for more than a decade).
You can grab this compact miter saw for $389.
Best Compact Miter Saw for Homeowners
Ryobi TSS702 7-1/4 in. Sliding Miter Saw
This saw doesn’t have tons of features—but you really can’t beat the value. For around $219 you get a super-compact 7-1/4 inch sliding miter saw. It can cross-cut a 2×10 and bevels to the left from 0– 45° left. It also improves the partial sliding fence and table size from the older TSS701.
You also get one of the lightest miter saws on the market. The Ryobi TSS702 sliding miter saw weighs just 25 pounds! Collapse it in the mitered position and the top handle makes it one of the easiest-to-carry saws we’ve ever picked up.
For DIYers and entry-level Pros who simply want to make cuts on smaller speed base and crown molding, the Ryobi TSS702 should work well. Advanced users may want to opt for something with a bit more power and a brushless motor to keep up speed under load.
This saw runs just $219 at The Home Depot.
Best Miter Saw Blade
Before you make any cuts with a miter saw, you have to choose and install a blade. The blade you use determines the quality of the cut, and in some cases, the amount of cuts you can make with a cordless saw. While numerous miter saw blade choices exist, we want to highlight the Italian-made CMT ITK Xtreme Fine Finish 80T Blade. For a 12-inch saw using a 1-inch arbor, this 80-tooth blade strikes an excellent balance of cut quality and value. We love the chrome plating that resists rust and the integrated noise and vibration reduction to keep the blade cutting smoothly and as quietly as possible.
Best-Selling Compact Miter Saws
Checking the best-selling router lists at trusted retailers is a great idea when you’re shopping. They’re often the best value, so models that are less expensive or on sale often show up at the top of the list. We dropped links to what was at the front at the time we were writing, but they change often, so be sure to click the buttons to see what’s hot right now.
Amazon
- DeWalt DCS361B 20V MAX 7-1/4-Inch Miter Saw – $299
- Bosch CM10GD 15A Compact Dual Bevel Glide Miter Saw – $589
- Evolution R185SMS+ 7-1/4″ Multi-Material Compound Sliding Miter Saw – $189
Acme Tools
- DeWalt DCS361M1 7-1/4 Single Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw Kit – $449
- Milwaukee 2733 M18 FUEL 7-1/4 in. Dual Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw (bare tool) – 449
- Makita 40V XGT Dual Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw 8-1/2 in Kit – $1049
Lowe’s
- Kobalt 7-1/4 in. 10A Single Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw – $139
- Craftsman 7-1/4 in. 9A Single Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw – $179
- Bosch Profactor 7-1/4 in. 18V Sliding Compound Miter Saw (bare tool) – $299
Home Depot
- Ryobi 18V ONE+ 7-1/4 in. Compound Miter Saw Kit – $149
- Milwaukee M18 FUEL 7-1/4 in. Dual-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw (bare tool) – $449
- Ridgid 18V Brushless 7-1/4 in. Dual Bevel Sliding Miter Saw (bare tool) – $299
More Miter Saw Recommendations from Brands We Trust
Best Craftsman Compact Miter Saw
Craftsman CMCS714 Cordless V20 7-1/4″
Ultra-portable homeowner solution for making up to 8-inch crosscut with battery-powered freedom.
Price: $249 (bare tool)
Best DeWalt Compact Miter Saw
DeWalt DCS361 20V7-1/4 in. Sliding Miter Saw
This compact Pro-level tool delivers up to 183 cuts in 2×4 pine on a single 4.0 Ah battery.
Price: $449
Best Festool Compact Miter Saw
Festool KSC 60 EB KAPEX
The Festool KAPEX miter saw provides serious woodworkers with a cordless compact saw that includes unusual features like variable speed for truly dialing in your application cuts.
Price: $1298
Best Makita Compact Miter Saw
Makita LS0815F
An 8-1/2 in. sliding miter that almost perfectly combines portability with capability for the jobsite user needing a smaller tool with the cut capacity of a larger saw.
Price: $549
Best Cordless Bosch Compact Miter Saw
Bosch GCM18V-08N 18V Cordless 8-1/2 Miter Saw
A wonderfully portable saw built on the capable CM8S platform that lets Pros cut over 350 2x4s on a single 8.0Ah battery.
Price: $619 (kit)
What We Look for in the Best Compact Miter Saw
Accuracy and Power
In order to put these compact miter saws through their paces, we needed to test them on a variety of materials. We used both base and crown molding, untreated 2×2, untreated pine 2×4, and pressure-treated 2×8. This gave us an idea of how each saw would cut in common materials where they would have to make cross cuts, mitered cuts, and beveled cuts.
We looked at how smoothly the saws made each cut. Sometimes, a tool can set itself apart by being ahead of the competition in the ergonomics camp by reducing the amount of vibration that the user feels. That’s part of what we noticed.
Using fine finish blades, we checked how clean it left the cuts. We also gauged how accurately the compact miter saws performed tasks like beveling, mitering, and cutting at 90 degrees to the fence. Of course, we calibrated the miter saws before performing all accuracy tests.
Portability
What you lose in cutting capacity with a compact miter saw, you gain in portability. Portability is a function of the weight of the saw and the ergonomics of carrying it.
The heaviest of the compact miter saws we tested weighed 37 pounds. We still found that saw easily loaded on and off our sample truck bed. A couple of saws felt like lightweights with one of them hitting the scale at a mere 25 pounds.
For any miter saw, the easiest way to carry it is to swing it to the right-most miter position and lock it down. At that point, the saw packages up nicely for the back of your work truck, van, or trailer.
Cut Capacity
Though these saws drop the pounds, you don’t have to give up on the features you love. The Pro level saws here still carry much of the miter and bevel capacity of their larger counterparts. They’re basically just smaller and lighter—which is exactly what our Pro users want.
So where do compact miter saws shine? In the hands of finish carpenters, flooring installers, cabinet, and furniture makers. They excel when cutting case, base, and crown molding. Plus, great compact sliding miter saws deliver a full cross-cut on up to 2×12 material or a 45-degree miter on 2×8.
One area that set the saws apart concerned narrow dado cuts. These are common cuts for carpenters that result in a perfectly cut trench in the workpiece, usually used for joinery. They may be common, but most miter saws struggle with them because the curvature of the blade leaves a raised back end. The fix is to either flip the piece and go back over your cut or (more commonly) use a small piece of 2x material to push the piece away from the fence to give the blade more runout. None of the saws could complete a perfect dado cut on one pass, but some could do it with a sacrificial 1x.
Mitering and Beveling
All of the saws tested have the traditional miter capacity and (at least) single-bevel capability. We expect that from a Pro-level saw as well as positive stops at common positions for crown molding. More than that, we also looked at the controls. Saws with easier-to-use controls scored higher and left our Pros working more quickly and easily when changing cut settings.
Lasers and LED Cut Line Indicators
Lasers have been touted as no more than “a feature to raise the price of miter saws” according to some users. We say that it’s all about the laser placement. Lasers mounted above or to the side of the blade can lead to some accuracy issues. That is unless you’re cutting in the dark, which not even David C. Smith recommends. However, some manufacturers are realizing the benefit of a laser mounted underneath the blade and that has made a world of difference. Combined with the ability to adjust it for left-side, right-side, or center blade cuts, these lasers make a difference.
Even better, LED cut line indicators, or “shadow line” systems, place LEDs above the blade which cast a shadow from the left and right sides. As the blade lowers, the cut line shadow solidifies into an exact representation of where the blade contacts the workpiece. Since the LED system works in broad daylight, our Pros highly prefer it to a laser.
Dust Collection
Dust collection is a challenge for most compact miter saws in particular. We’ve all used models that make us wonder why they even bother. However, improvements in shroud design have helped to direct more sawdust into the bag than just a few years ago. While each of these saws can connect to a dust extractor for maximum containment, we also looked at how they performed with only their respective collection bags.
Value
All of us want the most bang for our buck. We look at performance, features, and weight, and compare all of that to the price point. Value isn’t the price of the tool. Rather, it’s what you get for your hard-earned money. In this way, our value leader may not be the least-expensive saw. A huge performance lead will allow a more expensive product to look like an excellent value in the end.
To Stand or Not to Stand
With traditional full-size miter saws, we love keeping them on stands. Since we often tend to use pickup trucks, trailers, and work vans, the additional size doesn’t matter. With compact miter saws, however, we typically forego the miter saw stand. It seems counterintuitive when trying to save weight and emphasizing portability.
Remember, you can easily make cuts on a tailgate, porch, or home-made pair of sawhorses. Examine your workflow and see what works for you. We just know that adding a 50-pound miter saw stand to a 32-pound compact miter saw makes little sense!
Disagree With Our Choices?
That’s okay! We know personal preferences take a front seat in determining the best circular saw for you, and every Pro is different. Do Pro Tool Nation a favor and tell us what your top pick is and why you love it. Feel free to put it in the comments below or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
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