BoschGEX12V-5N 12V Max Brushless 5" Random Orbit Sander - Ergonomic Palm Grip, Dust Collection System, Speed Selector, Soft-Start Technology (Bare Tool)

This is a bit of a niche tool, but that is the beauty of it. It's not powerful enough to do heavy work, and with vacuum dust collection connected you kill the ergonomic benefits of it– you may as well just be using a bigger, more powerful sander that is not limited by these expensive and small 12v batteries. But this tool is amazing for is the small stuff. Sanding down where you filled, getting pocket hole plugs smooth, quick touch-ups, trim work– this is just perfect. It is super light and super ergonomic, the hand feel is really superb. It is reasonably quiet. The dust collection is perfectly adequate for what it is. The battery life is perfectly adequate for what it is. The power is perfectly adequate for what it is. None of these qualities are especially good, but again, perfectly adequate for what this tool is.Would you be happy with this as your one and only sander? No, I don't think you would– I still use my DeWalt 5" orbital all the time, and my big Bosch 6" orbital even more. If I had to pick just one, it would certainly be one of the other two. That said, I use this all the time. This is really a niche tool, much like the excellent Bosch 12v planer. I love that. In a world where everyone is trying to make tools that are bigger and crazier, I really appreciate that Bosch is making these innovative and well-thought-out smaller tools that really work for working carpenters.

I just plowed thru most of a 2,000sq ft building that needed quite a bit of drywall patching - walls and ceiling ...with hand pads. This little rocket blasts thru that c'hit like a gas torch on plastic bags. 60grit seemed fine, and I did not use the bagger. Walls were easy both ways, pad or tool, but this sander made short work of 9 foot overheads. I got Bosch years ago so it was easy to stick to the brand. 12v may not be the most 'industrial or longest lasting, but the compact size makes it a good choice, especially working overhead. 150% happy. Jim - Eastern Shore Md

I am not a handy person, bought this to fix some of my worn-out wood windowsills. This sander works like a charm and so easy to use. I had to do a bit of work to find the right battery & charger since it does not come with the tool.

I bought one of these simply for sanding on decks, railings, and ramps when working outside, so I don't care about dust collection. I really needed cordless for these jobs as sometimes we have no power at the actual site of the job. I won't ever use this indoors, as I have my Festool sanders and DC for that.I originally bought a used one to save $20. It arrived defective, I never even put a piece of sandpaper on it. I tried at least 5 batteries on it, but it would only run for about 10 seconds then slow down and stop, flashing the lights as if the battery was dead (even though they were all freshly charged). Sent it back, decided to just get a new one.New one arrived today, works great with all my batteries. Yes, there is a separate slip of paper in the instructions of approved batteries & chargers. See the attached photo for the list. All of my smaller batteries (6 of them) are BAT414, and I have 3 of the 6Ah GBA12V-30, they all work fine. So, if any of your batteries are not on this list, you may have trouble with them in this sander.

It is OK and good for small jobs where you can't use a corded one.However, it is picky on batteries. Very interesting thing -- I've just received a pair of Chinese 3Amp ones, these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3MS1CMB. The sander won't start with those. At all. It shows random number of LEDs every time I pressed the button, from barely alive to fully charged, but motor won't start at all.I thought the batteries are dead and even going to return them but saw an older Bosch screwdriver, that with brushed motor and tried those batteries in that screwdriver. To my surprise those batteries worked perfectly fine there. That made me curious and I tried those batteries in all my Bosch 12V tools, with brushed and brushless motors (I have something like 10 different tools). Surprisingly those batteries worked perfectly fine in ALL tools but this sander.That got me even more curious so I pulled all my 12Vmax (10.8V) batteries, both genuine Bosch and several different Chinese ones (something like 15-20 of them). Surprisingly. ALL those batteries worked OK in this sander. Both genuine Bosch and all those Chinese ones.So ALL other tools worked with ALL batteries, including those particular Chinese ones I've just received without problems. This sander worked OK with all batteries EXCEPT these particular ones. They worked OK in ALL other tools, brushless or not. This batteries came in pack of two and BOTH batteries behave exactly the same so it is not like one of them was bad or whatever.So 4 starts only because of this. Dunno what's wrong with that tool/battery combination but it is the only tool of about 10 different Bosch tools that refused to work with those particular batteries.

Solid build.Plenty of power (I feel) for the size and voltage.Battery life pretty good.I'm using the same set of 12V Bosch branded Lithium batteries for this sander and a compact Bosch impact drive.These batteries can be tricky to pull out of the device when it's time to recharge, and they have flexible polymer latches unlike the mechanical hinge and spring (aka 'real') latches on most 18/20V cordless tools.

Love this one and my 18v for polishing my car with a nice red jeweling pad

This is the little sander that can! It plows through everything you throw at it. I've been looking for a great sander that would not get my hands numb from vibration. This is the one! Buy it without regret!