Roxon M2 and M3 Multi-tools
The Roxon M2 and M3 are the smaller pliers and scissor multi-tools respectively in the Roxon lineup. They come in a some nice packaging, as shown below, and they would make interesting gifts for someone who needs a small multi-tool pliers or scissor. Some of the other Chinese multi-tools come in plain boxes, so this is a cut above. When I was in Japan a month ago, I actually saw the larger NexTool multi-tool in clam shell packaging in a store, which was kind of interesting, as I have never seen them or the Roxon at retail here in Canada.
Both the M2 (14 tools) and M3 (13 tools) are interesting and original designs. Chinese multi-tools can clone many features from Leatherman and Gerber, especially if the patents have expired, but I've found there are often interesting innovations at work too. The quality of these tools is actually pretty good, especially at their price points, but they are not going to be as heavily built or finished as Gerbers or Leatherman tools in general. My M2 and M3 were well finished, with the parts well machined and no rough edges. The M2 was better finished than the M3 as I did have to put my M3 into a vice and squeeze the end of the small arm a bit (remove the scale tools first) to make the metal flush with the inner plastic body. The reason I had to do this was because the little screwdrivers and the toothpick were not as tightly held in by friction otherwise. I'm still using the M3 now and have given the M2 away as a gift. In Canada, these tools cost around $30 for the scissor M3, and $45 Canadian for the pliers M2 on Amazon.
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Packaging for the Roxon M2 and M3. Nice little descriptions of the tools on the back.
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Both of these multi-tools come with identical nylon sheaths. These are tiny tools that are around 2 3/4 inches long, around an inch high, and less than 1/2 inch wide. The M3 is slightly smaller and boxier in shape than the M2. They are larger than the key chain multi-tools I'm going to compare them with, but not by much, and they are noticeably heavier too, although not in an extreme way. They are a mini-pocket / belt tool and would look small clipped to a belt. I think their closest cousin in size / feature (not counting pliers) would be a three layer 91 mm Swiss Army Knife as they even have similar features.
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The nylon sheaths are thin, but adequate for these relatively lightweight tools. The lower picture shows the size of the tools compared to the sheath and the included bit kit for each tool. The bit kit is identical for the M2 and then M3.
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M2 on the top with its bit kit and the M3 on the bottom with its bit kit.
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The main tools for the M2 and M3 deployed. These tools are similar in size, but are very different in design. The pliers are quite nice on the M2, and it is easy to flip open the scissor on the M3.
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The scissors for the M2 and M3. It takes a couple of extra steps to deploy the scissor on the M2, but you can see the scissor designs are very similar.
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Many of the Chinese multi-tools feature really nice scissors and these
multi-tools don't disappoint, but the scissors on the pliers-based M2 cut 550 paracord
in a single snip and actually did better than the M3 scissor-based tool
strangely enough. Scissors are one of the more handy tools to have as they can cut paper, packaging, rope, string, nip off rough edges on plastic, etc. Both of the scissors are spring loaded, which is really nice, and they have plenty of purchase in their handles to squeeze.
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Major tools on the M3. You have the scissors, scale tools, and then a bunch of locking tools. These are a Phillips, a knife blade, an awl, and a combo bottle opener and can opener. The design of this tool is quite boxy without curves. All tools other than the scale tool tools are inside opening.
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The M3's smaller arm has an interesting implementation that has a toothpick, a tweezer, and a micro flathead / Phillips driver that fit into the end of the arm. These tools are held in by friction and you need to use a slide lever to push the micro driver out. There is a nail file patch built-in on the side of the larger arm.
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The M2 is more of a conventional multi-tool pliers design with a few curves and more rounded edges.
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The M2 scissors fold out of the thicker arm which also holds a Phillips, a
nail file, and a micro-driver. The other arm holds some more regular
tools like a bottle opener / package opener, knife, an awl, and a can
opener. None of the tools are locking except for the knife which has a liner lock. This tool has a nice little toolset. All the tools other than the pliers and scissors are outside opening. The one tool that would have been good to have would have been a larger flat head screwdriver / pry tool. I would have preferred that over the awl on the M3 and over the nail file or the can opener in the M2.
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| Both the M2 and the M3 have locking knife blades. The blade lengths are similar, with the M2 having a slightly longer blade at 1 3/4 inches. The position of the nail nick on the M3 is much further to the front of the blade than on the M2, making it a little easier to open. |
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Both of the Roxon tools with bit drivers attached to the Phillips. Magnets help hold the bit drivers and the bits in place. The 4 mm drivers and bits are quite a useful addition. Note the M2 Phillips doesn't lock, but the M3 does (an oddity).
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Comparison With Other Key Chain Multi-tools
I previously compared a number of key chain multi-tools before in this post. These other tools are smaller than the M2 and M3 which to me are like mini multi-tools and not key chain sized. The M2 and M3 are longer, thicker and higher than the smaller tools and you can see from the picture below they are 3/4 the size of a 91 mm Swiss Army Knife. Both of the Roxons could easily be carried in a pocket, and there really isn't a ring to attach them to a key chain for either tool anyhow. The M3 looks like you could insert a thin cord through a small hole on the end of the smaller arm if you wanted to put a loop on it.
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The multi-tools compared on their sides with the knife blades out. From top to bottom - Swiss Army Knife, M3, M2, NexTool Mini-Pro, Leatherman Squirt, Gerber Dime. The blades on the Roxons are slightly larger than the Leatherman and the Gerber.
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Comparison of the pliers heads of the four multi-tools with pliers. The heads of the pliers and their capabilities are pretty similar with the M2 being slightly beefier.
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Comparison between the larger scissors multi-tools. All of these are Chinese tools with an emphasis on bigger scissors that are spring loaded to make cutting jobs easier. These are more capable scissors than the smaller scissors on the Leatherman and Gerber.
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A length and height comparison between the multi-tools. The Squirt is the smallest and lightest of the tools.
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A width comparison between the multi-tools. You can see the M2 and M3 are thicker. The Squirt is the thinnest.
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Wrap Up
The Roxon M2 and M3 are mini multi-tools. They are in between a key chain multi-tool and a more regular sized multi-tool. I find the designs quite attractive overall and they are well built for the price point. I had never considered having a multi-tool in this size range as I'm usually carrying a regular sized multi-tool like a Leatherman Skeletool or Curl, and my pocket EDC pouch contains a couple of smaller key chain tools. The M2 is a small multi-tool pliers with all the features, but the M3 is a bit of an odd duck that is a multi-tool scissor that wants to be much more.
These tools fit a niche that is similar to carrying a regular sized 91 mm Swiss Army Knife (SAK) in your pocket as your main tool. If you find that is what you carry, then these tools could be a good fit for your style of carry.
Compared to the other key chain multi-tools, the feature sets are similar, but the bit drivers really distinguish the M2 and M3 from the smaller tools such as the NexTool Mini Pro, Leatherman Squirt, and the Gerber Dime. The big scissors on the Roxon's can only be equaled by the NexTool Scissors, and the knife blades are comparable. In terms of quality, the Squirt is still the best in terms of materials along with fit and finish. The Roxon M2 is the only pliers-based tool that can be compared with the smaller key chain pliers multi-tools, but it really shouldn't be compared as it is a larger tool as I have said earlier. I think if you can carry the M2 in a belt pouch or like an SAK then it could be a contender for you that provides more functionality, otherwise stick with the smaller key chain multi-tools due to the size difference.
There are some interesting design choices for the M2 and M3 if they are compared to a SAK. A typical three layer SAK has a large blade, a small blade, a can opener / small screwdriver, a bottle opener / larger flat head, and a really good scissor. Then there are the toothpick and tweezers as scale tools, an awl, and a corkscrew. The M2 has pliers, a small blade, a can opener, a bottle opener / package opener, a Phillips screwdriver / bit driver, a big scissor, nail file, micro-driver, and awl. These are fairly similar tool sets overall. The M3 has the scale tools of a SAK and a smaller tool set as it is primarily a folding scissor. The M2 is basically just missing a large knife and flathead along with the corkscrew. Like I said, interesting design choices, but you do gain pliers and the Phillips / bit driver in the M2.
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