4 Power Tool Brands Owned By Chervon

One of the more important companies for power tools in recent years is Chervon. No, not Chevron, the oil company. Chervon is actually a company that was founded in back in 1994 in Nanjing, China. What began as a manufacturer has grown into a large-scale brand over the last 32 years for power tools of all kinds, especially cordless ones powered by batteries. For a lot of people, the Chervon name may be totally new, but in actuality, you might know them better than you expect.

Part of the reason Chervon has been able to grow so much is because of the companies it's acquired. This expansion started back in 2007 in a joint venture with Bosch called Bovon Power Tools. Later, Chervon started buying other brands outright. With these acquisitions, it's been able to gain a foothold in many different markets, especially in North America. Chervon has created its own brands too, and they've been successful as well. Here, we're going to look at four of the brands that Chervon owns. Some of them it created and others it acquired, but in all cases, they're able to deliver power tools to a variety of different customers around the world.

Ego is one of the brands founded by Chervon, and it has developed a name for itself in cordless power tools. Chervon launched the brand back in 2012 in the United States, but it wasn't until 2014 that things started really taking off. That's due in no small part to the creation of Ego's patented Power+ battery system.

This is a 56V ARC Lithium battery, and it works on every battery-powered tool that brand produces. This includes everything from chainsaws to lawn mowers to string trimmers. Within this system, there are numerous tools that any household would find incredibly useful in their regular work. Ego exclusively produces tools for outdoor use, so if you were hoping for an Ego-branded drill/driver or circular saw, you'd be out of luck. Ego outdoor tools are sold at Lowe's, Ace Hardware, and any number of specialty retailers.

Regular Ego products are great for home use, but if professional equipment is what you're after, it can provide that as well with Ego Commercial. These tools still use the Power+ battery system, but they are designed for batteries with a lot of amp hours or even multiple batteries. Ego Commercial also has a commercial grade battery charging system called PGX that allows up to 70 different Power+ batteries to be charged overnight on one 15A circuit. So, even if one or two Power+ batteries can't get all of your commercial work done for the day, you can have plenty of backups fully charged at your disposal. For outdoor power tools, Chervon's Ego has got you covered.

Flex has its roots in a company established over 100 years ago. The German company Ackermann + Schmitt was founded in 1922, and was primarily known for its angle grinder, also known as a flexible shaft. In 1954, the company created the very first ever high-speed angle grinder, and although that's its signature tool, it's gone on to produce many other tools, including sanders, drills, saws, and more. In 1996, Ackermann + Schmitt was renamed Flex, and in 2013, the brand became one of the subsidiaries of Chervon.

Looking at Flex tools online can be a little confusing, because what is offered in North America and the rest of the world are two very different things. Yes, it's all power tools, but the look and what powers them are quite distinct. The international website offers a variety of both cordless and corded power tools, all with a red coloring.

This isn't so with the North American website. Here, the primary focus is on cordless power tools, and these are all given a black and gray color scheme. There are still corded tools too, and these are the ones given the red look. What really separates the two in cordless tools is the batteries. The international site offers tools that use either a 4V, 10.8V, 12V, or 18V battery. In North America, all the cordless tools run on a 24V battery system. 

Another tool brand that has been around for over 100 years is Skil. This brand was born out of the work of a man named Edmond Michel in Louisiana in the early 1920s who invented the very first electric circular hand saw, though numerous brands have surpassed it in quality since. In 1924, Michel and farmland developer Joseph W. Sullivan created The Michel Electric Handsaw company with its signature product, the Skilsaw. Two years later, the company was renamed to Skilsaw Incorporated, and by the time 1954 rolled around, the company had developed enough different products that the name was simplified to just be Skil. Flash forward to 1996, and Skil was acquired by Bosch.

Bosch and Chervon first started working together in 2007 with a joint venture project, so the Chinese company was seemingly well positioned a decade later when it opted to acquire Skil, with 2017 making it the most recent brand acquisition by Chervon. Although it's an American company from its foundation, Skil also has a presence in Europe and Australia as well.

Skil makes all kinds of power tools, including cordless handheld tools, corded benchtop tools, and outdoor power equipment. The company produces four different battery systems that its various tools can use, all of which bear the PWRCORE name along with a number to signify battery voltage. Primarily, there are tools for 12V, 20V, and 40V batteries, but there's also a system called PWRCORE GO, which are a few small tools that use an internal 4V battery that are recharged with a USB-C cable. Skil tools are available at Lowe's, Ace Hardware, local hardware stores, and big box stores like Walmart.

Most of the brands the Chervon owns have a heavy presence in North America. However, this is ultimately a Chinese company, and it also needs a brand that's able to primarily serve the Asian marketplace. That's where a brand like Devon comes into play. Chervon created the Devon brand in 2007, and rather than be a tool brand for your average household user, this was a brand specifically designed with professionals and manufacturing industries in mind. Devon tools are used in industries as wide-ranging as furniture building to shipbuilding to stone processing.

Despite the emphasis on professional usage, many of the specs you see for these tools are things you'd see in many other tool brands, including others owned by Chervon. The cordless tools run on a variety of battery systems, including 4V, 12V, 20V, and 40V options, and there are corded power tools as well. It's simply that the power quality of these tools are of a higher end than something like Skil, a more DIY-focused brand, will give you.

Another interesting thing about Devon tools is that they currently cannot be purchased on the Devon website, despite the product pages featuring a button for that option. Instead, they need to be purchased from local retailers, meaning getting these tools if you aren't in an Asian market is going to be a bit more difficult for you. Luckily, other Chervon tool brands are more widely available in other parts of the world for you to use.