BOSCH GEX18V-5N 18V Brushless 5 Inch Cordless Random Orbit Sander (Bare Tool)

I'm mostly invested in Milwaukee but have several 18V Bosch tools and so far they have all been excellent - and the battery packs are a better value with fantastic performance and longevity for me so far. I do not like the ergonomics and poor weight distribution of pretty much all the palm and RO sanders on the market but this Bosch stood out for its design differences. I thought about it for a year and finally bought it. Wow, it really is fantastic. Enough that I would say it's worth someone buying and investing in the packs/charger even if it's the only Bosch they will use.The dust chute is cast zinc, well made, and helps to dissipate any heat generated during long operation. It's configured best for right handers but the fantstic ergonomics and balance of this tool make it easy and comfortable (and controllable) to use in any rotational position with either hand. I'm a lefty and had no problem holding it "backwards" to put the chute opposite of my body in use, and also no problem keeping control and finesse in my right hand. The simple push button is wonderful, too...easy to operate and also completely out of the way if you're shifting around. Dust collection works really well but I don't often use the dust bags on tools (indoors on occasion, or a vac hose). Speed control works great - higher settings do of course eat up a little more juice but the difference isn't huge, surprisingly.I was a little skeptical whether the 4Ah packs would be sufficient for work but man they really do last a long time!! And they are wonderfully balanced and out of the way despite sticking out to the rear so far from the pad. The 6Ah packs do put some weight to the rear but they're still doable and don't affect control much in use unless you get sloppy while moving the tool on/off the work. As an example, with a fully charged 4Ah pack I was able to sand both sides of a pretty rough 4x8 sheet of sheathing plywood with 40g paper, including edges and some corner rounding, and still had one bar left on the battery. I didn't time it but it was a good long uninterrupted haul on speed 5 - probably 30 minutes or so. For most jobs and if you can turn it off intermittently to let the cell voltage rebound, I'm pretty sure the run time will be longer than that (or if you can use a lower speed setting, but again it's not a huge difference there).I really can't think of anything to complain about with this tool. It's true, you won't be able to check battery charge with the pack on the tool...no big deal.The pad is very good quality, too. Take note: the red foam is sold as medium firmness and is marked with an "M" on the edge of the pad. If you want other pads then it gets confusing and apparently Bosch knows but isn't going to fix. Their "soft" accessory pad with white foam and a black plastic backing is actually pretty much exactly the same is the stock red medium pad. Undetectable difference. You can buy both as replacements but the red pad is usually more expensive for some reason (part vs. accessory maybe). The "extra soft" pad is actually nice and soft with a good amount of squish. It's worth buying (marked with an "S" on the pad and a grey plastic backing). It's good for larger profiles and pretty decent on sharper angles and corners (with care of course). If you're after super soft then you'll want to buy the open cell foam interface pads from some company and probably will want film-backed discs there instead of thicker paper-backed.Material removal rate is of course governed by the grit you choose, and this is not a tool where you want to press harder or dwell longer to try to make a finer grit do "better" where a coarser grit is smarter. Comparatively speaking the material removal with this sander is very good but maybe not as much as comparable electric sanders - and of course a 6" pad does more/faster work still. This sander is a winner, though, no regrets and highly recommended.Also, it's not stated anywhere, but if you change pads and want to help the rubber shield last the longest, you'll want to smear a very thin layer of light viscosity silicone grease on the pad backing when you swap. I'd suggest real silicone over SuperLube standard grease (that company makes both). Those rubber shields are cheap enough but a pain to replace - if your pad is spinning up and not dampening the rotation with no load, then it's probably time for a replacement of the shield.

I build custom speaker cabinets and my go to sander for years has been a Bosch ROS65VC with a 6” hard pad as it has super low vibration and excellent dust collection when connected to my dust extractor. I also use a Porter Cable 5” corded ROS sander for quick sanding of some smaller parts before assembly and decided to get a cordless sander for those quick tasks.I originally purchased the Dewalt cordless ROS but immediately returned it as the vibration was unbearable for me (maybe because I’m spoiled by the super low vibration of the ROS65VC).My impressions out of the box are as usual with all of my Bosch tools the fit and finish are excellent. I was extremely surprised at how small it is and how comfortable it felt in my hand right away. At first I was disappointed it didn’t have a lock on button for the switch but upon first firing it up I found the button is an on/off switch which I like.As you can see in the pics it is much lighter than the ROS65VC with a 1.5ah battery (I also purchased a 4.0ah battery but it isn’t much heavier than the 1.5ah)My first use impressions are very positive as well. This sander is MUCH quieter than the ROS65VC and although not nearly vibration free as the ROS65VC it it is FAR smoother than the Dewalt or Porter Cable. This sander being much shorter thus bring your hand closer to the workpiece also makes it extremely easy to control especially when sanding vertically while still aggressively removing material (I exclusively use 80 grit 3M Xtract Cubitron at full speed for the quick sanding I do so I cannot comment on fine finish but I will update once I try it with finer grits).Dust collection is very good with the included dust bag (leaves a little fine residue on workpiece) and superior when connected to my extractor leaving nearly zero residue.Battery life is not that important to me as it will only be used in shop for quick tasks however I watched a video on YouTube showing a 4.0ah battery will in fact last a good hour at full speed so I’m sure it will work fine for my application.I don’t think this could replace my ROS65VC for large surface sanding however for my application I think it will be perfect (I’m going to hang it on the side of my bench with the bag so I can just grab it and use it real quick as needed without having to plug it in and connect a hose).

I put the palm sander to work the day after I received it. Works great. I’m using it to restore an old oak chair and have no complaints about it’s performance.

I have many corded tools languishing on the shelf now...and my corded orbital sanders have lost all hope of strutting their stuff ever again since my Bosch 18 volt cordless sander fired up and dominated the scene. It is easy to use, smooth running, works tirelessly and is now 1st string when I need to sand. I am an ardent M18 tool user...with many M18 tools, but my M18 sander is a.....well ....lets just say.... the dust collector on it has destroyed my devotion to the entire tool. The dust bin pops open ever few minutes and spews sanding dust all over me.I am 100% pleased with my Bosch GEX18V-5N cordless sander. Well designed... well built....and well on the way to shaking up my commitment to a single battery platform.

Great tool. Comfortable to use

Amazing suction, great form factor, true orbital action without divets. batteries are so good, they hold charge after sanding panels of a 2ft x 4ft x 3ft cabinet. Beats Milwaukee and dewalt in my experience.

Low profile , quiet, smooth, and the dust collection with the bag is very good . My only con is i'm not a fan of the connection for a vacuum. Will be keeping this for small sanding jobs , which it is great for. If your sanding needs require a vacuum i would recomend the new Milwaukee 2837-20 that is quiet, smooth and has a great hookup for a vacuum.

I've been using a mouse-style sander which is hard to grip. This sander is easy to hold, my hand doesn't tire, and it has very smooth power. I had a battery from a Bosch power drill which fits this sander, so success all around.