Power. Chain Speed. Weight. Balance. Etc. These are all important factors to consider. But the ‘battery’ is half of a ‘battery chainsaw’.
Not just the Voltage or Amp-hour (Ah) rating. But the quality. Not all lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are made the same, and if one cell in a battery pack dies, the whole thing is done.
Li-ion battery cells generally put out 3.6V, so a ’36 Volt battery’ will have 10 cells inside (sometimes there is rounding to call these 4V cells, and a ’40 Volt’ battery). ‘Batteries Plus’ will not rebuild them.
So, choosing a battery-powered chainsaw should include not just a short test done for a magazine article, but consideration how the batteries hold up over the long run, manufacturer support for batteries, etc.
Consideration should also be given to the “battery platform“, or the “family of tools“ that the batteries support. If you use the same batteries for a wide variety of tools, then you will get more useful life out of them, than for a saw which is only run occasionally.
These batteries might be the same for 18 or 20 Volt ‘contractor type’ tools that you already have, or a different set for outdoor power equipment, such as string trimmers, lawnmowers, pole saws, hedge trimmers, etc. As with contractor tools, once you have a few batteries, you can buy “bare tools“ for much less money (half?) and share the batteries among them.
Philbert