Power in a small form
This is by far the best trim router I have used, the soft start and brake give you confidence in the quality of the very quiet router. Adjustment is, although fiddley until you get the hang of it, is simple and accurate. Swapping router bits is simple and the spindle lock, a very good addition, works well removing the need forthat third hand that you normally need when trying to hold the router bit, the spindle lock push button and a spanner to tighten the collet!!For a hand held router this is powerful and makes short work of most things that you would expect a trim router to be able to handle, to the point where you may be reaching for this one over your larger, and on paper, more powerful routers.The dust collection adapters work well whilst also not obscuring to much of the view of the cutting area. The provided parallel guide, although basic, is adequate and does its job – there is no micro adjustment so if you want this you are going to need to buy something like the BOSCH RA1054 Deluxe Router Edge Guide and the BOSCH PR011 Colt Router Plunge Base to be able to have that function.All in all a great trim router that punches way above its weight. I highly recommend it.

Price is a big barrier for us novices
So I’m late to the party, but I’m desperately trying to learn how to use tools correctly that aren’t just about drilling holes (which I seem to never get right all the time anyway!). I’ve not used a router since my long-forgotten school days, making a cut-out for a clock mechanism, so I thought I’d give it another go.First up: the realisation that this didn’t come with a battery. I should’ve checked beforehand. A day or two later, the battery (and charger) arrived, and it was time to get back to it.I switched it on, and instantly felt like I should switch it straight back off again. Surely this is the domain of real enthusiasts and professionals, not someone like me. But I kept going. It was a bit louder than I expected, but manageable.I used some basic scrap wood and managed a few very simple, very wobbly cuts. Nothing impressive, but also nothing dangerous or disastrous. I have to admit, I felt a small amount of pride in this accomplishment, which may sound daft to anyone remotely competent with this type of tool, or woodworking in general. But, I didn’t lose control of it, so I will absolutely take the small W there.Maybe with a lot of patience and even more scrap wood, I can start to get the hang of this. Maybe.So, can absolute novices use this? Yes! Is that the target audience? Probably not! I have absolutely no idea how this compares to other similar tools from competing brands in terms of functionality, performance and value for money so I won’t dare even try. However, I will comment from the viewpoint of a novice looking to build on their available toolset; it is incredibly expensive, especially as you then have to also get a battery on top (Bosch brand batteries are expensive, there are third party offerings that are cheaper).

Dew it
Brilliant bit of kit. I like it

Well made high quality router
I have a few routers including a table top one and two other trim routers similar to this Bosch professional. I had decided to go down the Ryobi route for my tools when I took up the woodworking hobby because these new flagship Bosch tools were not available at the time. I have the Ryobi trim router which is very similar to this router. However when using the ryobi for surfacing etc it really lacks power, where as this Bosch Professional Router has much more power and works really well on any job, especially on useful on hard wood. Then dust collection system also works really well and the outlet fits my dust extraction tube perfectly. The chip Guard is very good. All in all this feels powerful but also safe especially with the drop/stop system which means the router will turn off immediately it senses that it has been dropped. It also has soft-start, motor brake and restart protection for increased safety which I really like. Although I have been using router for a while I am still wary of the dangers but this router makes me fell more comfortable when using it because of the way the safety features are implemented. It also comes with the following equipment Parallel guide, Surface routing vac adaptor, Edge routing vac adaptor, Chip shield, ¼” (6.35mm) collet, Wrench, which all comes in a very nice hard plastic carry box which is sturdy enough to take all the knock it will get if you take it on site. The small issue I have with this router by Bosch is not the price (around £280) but the fact that for the price you only get a 1/4inch collet most of the bigger names are now boxing tier routers with a both a 1/4inch and 1/3 inch collet. It is rather stingy of Bosch to not do the same as the other. Bit apart form that I really really like this router and would highly recommend it.