After drills, circular saws are the most common power tool in a home workshop. Battery-powered saws offer go-anywhere convenience, but there’s a reason you aren’t likely to see professional carpenters using them: Plug-in saws are far more capable.

Our tests of corded and cordless saws found that corded models still outperform cordless models by a wide margin. Corded saws have up to seven times the speed and power of cordless saws.

Corded saws offer more value than cordless, too. Saws we tested ranged from $40 to $175 for corded and from $60 to $420 for cordless. (Pro-style, corded high-torque hybrid models cost $140 to $180 and offer little to justify their increased weight.) Test highlights include the following:

Blades are better. Most saws come with a carbide-tipped blade. These cut faster and last longer than plain steel blades. Some models have a notch on the upper blade guard so you can keep an eye on the blade and the cutting line without leaning over the saw.

Many models include a laser guide. Some of the corded and cordless saws we tested project a laser line where you want to cut. But the feature is of limited use. You still have to draw a line and use a steady hand. And a laser is useless when you saw outdoors in bright sunlight.

Some saws had problems. Bosch recently recalled the CS20, which we tested, and the similar CS10 because the lower blade guard can malfunction. We didn’t have this problem. The Skil 5750 has also been the subject of a recall; more details are here.

We like some new features. On the Bosch CS20, you can plug an extension cord directly into the handle, where it locks in place. That avoids the hassle of a plug/extension-cord connection getting caught on the edge of your workbench. It also minimizes the cost of replacing an accidentally cut cord.