The specification that settles this before power source does

The cordless-or-pneumatic question gets asked first and rarely eliminates anything. Fastener range does. Five of these seven publish a 3-1/2 in maximum nail length: the Milwaukee 2744-20, DeWalt DCN692B (published as 50–90 mm, about 2 in to 3-1/2 in), Metabo HPT NR90AES1, Bostitch F21PL and Ridgid R350RHF. Paslode’s Cordless XP stops at 3-1/4 in. That single line removes it from any fastening schedule written for 3-1/2 in nails, regardless of how good the rest of its spec sheet is — and it has a good spec sheet. NuMax publishes no fastener range at all in the manual located for the SFR2190, which leaves the most limiting number in this category unverifiable before you buy.

Shank diameter is the other half, and fewer manufacturers publish it. Metabo HPT lists 0.113–0.148 in, Paslode 0.113–0.131 in, and DeWalt 2.8–3.3 mm (about 0.110–0.130 in). Retailer listings for the Bostitch report 0.113–0.162 in. Milwaukee and Ridgid publish a length range but no diameter. If your plans call out a nail diameter, those two tools leave you checking the nail box rather than the tool’s specifications, which is workable but not the same as confirmed.

Nail strips, not the gun, are what you are committing to

21°, 30° and 33° nailers take differently collated strips, and those strips do not cross over. Buy a tool and you have bought its collation for the life of the tool, including every resupply trip. Five of these seven are 21°: Milwaukee, Metabo HPT, Bostitch, Ridgid and NuMax. Paslode is 30° paper tape with a RounDrive offset full head. DeWalt is 33°.

That matters more for cordless buyers than pneumatic ones, because the cordless field here is split across all three angles. If you want cordless and you want to stay on 21° strips, the Milwaukee 2744-20 is the tool in this set that does it. Head type and collation material are not published for every tool here — Metabo HPT publishes plastic collation but no head type, Milwaukee publishes full round head but no collation material — so strip-for-strip interchangeability cannot be confirmed from published data. Choosing the DeWalt or the Paslode means committing to a collation no other tool in this set takes.

Working out which side of the decision you are actually on

The honest version of this question is not “which is better” but “where does the nailing happen.” Pneumatic tools here publish their air requirements, so you can size a compressor against a real number: Metabo HPT states 70–120 PSI with 0.09 SCFM at 100 PSI, Bostitch 80–120 PSI through a 1/4 in NPT inlet at roughly 0.075 CFM per shot, NuMax 70–115 PSI with a manual warning never to exceed 120 PSI, and Ridgid a 70 PSI minimum with 0.194 SCFM at 90 PSI. These are not stated on the same basis — two are SCFM at a stated pressure, and different pressures at that, one is CFM per shot, and NuMax publishes no consumption figure at all. You cannot line the four up as a league table; you can only size a compressor against whichever tool you buy.

Bostitch’s 80 PSI minimum is the highest in this group, and Ridgid publishes no maximum operating pressure, only the 70 PSI minimum, so there is no manufacturer ceiling to set a regulator against.

Cordless removes all of it. The Milwaukee runs an M18 pack against a sealed nitrogen spring; the DeWalt runs a 20V MAX pack and a brushless motor; the Paslode runs a 7V pack plus a disposable fuel cell. Only the Paslode adds a consumable you have to keep in stock — up to 1,200 nails per cell, 27-month shelf life — which is a running errand the other two cordless tools do not create.

The weight assumption worth checking

Cordless framing nailers have a reputation for being heavy, and the published figures in this set do not confirm it either way. Paslode publishes 7.2 lb — the lowest manufacturer figure of any tool here, cordless or pneumatic. Metabo HPT publishes 7.5 lb, with Pro Tool Reviews independently measuring 7.28 lb. Ridgid publishes 7.5 lb. DeWalt’s manual publishes 7.80 lb (3.538 kg), and NuMax publishes 8.6 lb, the heaviest stated weight in the comparison.

The two remaining tools — Milwaukee and Bostitch — publish no weight at all in any document located. So if the weight you will be holding at arm’s length is part of your decision, five of these seven let you check it before you buy and two do not. That is a reason to score the gap, not to assume a number.

Reload frequency separates the one-job buyer from the volume buyer

Published magazine capacities run 65 nails for Ridgid, 64 for Metabo HPT (at 0.131 in nails), 60 for Bostitch, and 55 each for NuMax and the DeWalt, whose service data gives 55 as a maximum. Ridgid and Metabo HPT are within a single nail of each other, so treat them as the same load. Milwaukee publishes no capacity, and Paslode states only “1 strip” rather than a count.

For a weekend of wall framing, the difference between 55 and 65 is a handful of extra stops. For a crew sheathing all day it compounds, which is why the two unpublished figures matter more to a contractor than to a homeowner building one set of walls. It is also the clearest example of a pattern worth noticing: Milwaukee leaves both magazine capacity and weight unstated while publishing a precise firing rate, and the pneumatic tools mostly do the reverse.

Firing rate is published by three tools and no more

Ridgid states 8 nails per second, Milwaukee 3 nails per second with zero ramp-up, and Paslode 2 to 3 nails per second. Metabo HPT, NuMax, Bostitch and DeWalt publish no rate. Where a rate is absent you have nothing to compare, and guessing from motor type or power source is not analysis.

Mode availability is the more practical half of the factor anyway. Paslode is sequential only, so bump-fire production work is off the table with it. Milwaukee, Ridgid, Metabo HPT and NuMax all publish both modes; NuMax does it with separate black and orange triggers rather than a switch, which is the least ambiguous arrangement documented in this set, and Metabo HPT uses a flip switch. DeWalt does not confirm the mode in any source located, which is the one gap most likely to disappoint a buyer who assumed bump fire came standard.

Two things nobody asks about until it is too late

First, dry-fire behavior. Milwaukee lists a dry fire lockout and NuMax lists an anti-dry-firing design. Metabo HPT’s own feature list indicates no dry-fire lockout, corroborated by an independent review, so that tool can be fired without a nail loaded. Paslode lists a nail lockout among its features. For the Ridgid, Bostitch and DeWalt tools, no document located settles the question either way.

Second, the ownership backstop. Ridgid publishes a Lifetime Service Agreement covering free parts and free service for life with registration. Metabo HPT publishes a 5-year professional tool warranty. Paslode publishes a 1-year full warranty with a 5-year extended limited warranty. No warranty term was located for the other four. For a tool with a driver blade and seals in it, that is a genuine differentiator, and it is the kind of thing buyers only look up after something fails.

If you are shopping one tool for framing and trim

None of these seven is a trim nailer. Every tool here that publishes a minimum nail length publishes 2 in, and every published shank diameter starts at 0.110 in or larger. Those are framing fasteners. A framing nailer and a finish or brad nailer are separate purchases, and the one specification that would tell you otherwise — a fastener range reaching down into finish-nail territory — does not appear on any of these spec sheets. Plan the trim tool separately rather than expecting a 21° or 33° framing gun to cover it.