After almost three years of carrying the SOG PowerPint as my everyday carry, I finally made the switch — and the reason comes down to a single number: 38.4 grams. That might sound trivial, but when you’re hauling a multi-tool through long hours, days, weeks, and months, every gram adds up. The NexTool Mini Flagship F12 caught my attention because it packs all the tools I actually use into a noticeably lighter and more compact package. It’s a keychain multitool but it punches way above its class. So let’s break down how these two stack up head to head, tool by tool.
Background: How I Got Here
My multi-tool journey started with the Leatherman Wave — probably the most well-known multi-tool out there and still arguably the most popular. My only issue with it is that it’s just a bit too heavy and too bulky for daily carry. I looked at the Leatherman Skeletool next, which is genuinely nice, but it’s not significantly smaller than the Wave — in fact, it’s a little taller. That’s what led me to the SOG PowerPint. It offers an impressive number of tools in a surprisingly small package — powerful in a pint-sized body. But then the NexTool Mini Flagship F12 came along, offering everything I actually need, nothing I don’t, and in an even smaller, lighter form factor.
Pliers
The reason most of us carry a multi-tool in the first place is the pliers, so this is where the comparison starts. The SOG PowerPint has a nice long-nose design with a bolt gripper, wire cutters (soft wire, for sure), and even a crimper. The F12 also sports a reasonably long nose, a bolt gripper, and soft wire cutters — but no crimper. Honestly, I almost never use a crimper, so that’s not a dealbreaker for me. Comparing them side by side, the PowerPint pliers are noticeably longer and thicker. On this one, the PowerPint wins.
Knife
The knife is arguably the most important tool on any multi-tool — it’s the one you reach for in an emergency or survival situation. The PowerPint features a Wharncliffe blade and the F12 feature a sheep’s foot blade style. Where they differ is in steel quality: the F12 uses 14C28N (HCR14 MOV) steel, which is a definite step up from the unnamed steel on the PowerPint. That said, the PowerPint blade is slightly longer. I’d give the PowerPint a marginal edge here — purely because of the extra blade length — but the F12’s superior steel quality is nothing to overlook.
The PowerPint also has a second, serrated, knife blade, and the F12 has no direct equivalent. But when I think about how often I’ve actually reached for the serrated knife on the PowerPint, the answer is almost never. The F12’s plain edge knife handles most tasks that a serrated blade would, so I won’t be missing this one.
Scissors
This is where the comparison gets interesting. The PowerPint has what I’d describe as nippers rather than true scissors. They’re small and fine for trimming thread or a stray hair, but they fall short on anything requiring real cutting performance. The F12, on the other hand, features NexTool’s NEX Scissors 2.0 — and these things are genuinely impressive. The serrations along the blade make them work exceptionally well, and having tested them previously, I can say without hesitation that they perform at a completely different level. The winner here is the F12, and it’s not even close.
File
The PowerPint offers a single-cut and cross-cut file with a metal saw. The F12 has a similar file — cross-cut, single-cut, metal saw — plus a flathead screwdriver along the same tool that can double as a small pry bar. The PowerPint’s file is slightly longer, but not by much, and in terms of aggressiveness they’re roughly comparable. I’d call this one a draw.
Screwdrivers
Flathead Screwdriver
The PowerPint includes a precision flathead screwdriver with a nice long reach — handy for tight spots. The F12 doesn’t have a dedicated precision screwdriver, but it does have a flathead built into the file tool that’s bigger and arguably more useful for everyday tasks.
Phillips Screwdriver
The PowerPint has a Phillips head, but it’s small — roughly a #0 size with limited reach. The F12’s Phillips is a #1 (2.5D) with noticeably more reach and a bigger tip. For most real-world screwdriving tasks, the F12’s Phillips is more practical. The F12 wins this one.
Bit Driver
The PowerPint has a clever bit driver on the plier head that can hold standard bits and adds some versatility. But honestly, I rarely carry extra bits around, so I don’t get much use out of this feature in practice.
Can Opener
The PowerPint includes a can opener. In my experience it’s barely useful — good to have, but not particularly efficient. The F12 skips the dedicated can opener, but in a pinch, the knife does the job well enough. It would be nice to have a dedicated can opener, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
Bottle Opener
Both tools include a bottle opener, and both are perfectly usable. I’d call this a tie.
Awl
The PowerPint has a pointy, sharp awl with a sewing hole — a handy little tool for leather work, stitching, or piercing materials. The F12 doesn’t have an awl, so you’d fall back on the knife for similar tasks. Once again, the F12’s knife is doing a lot of heavy lifting to cover the missing tools.
Rope/Belt Cutter
The PowerPint includes a rope and belt cutter tucked inside — a useful specialty tool. The F12 has no equivalent. That said, the knife on the F12 is always there when you need it, and a sharp plain-edge blade handles most cutting tasks just fine.
Ruler
The F12 has a clearly marked ruler along its body in both centimeters and inches — legible and genuinely useful. The PowerPint has some ruler markings too, but the F12’s are more readable and practical in everyday use.
Carry Options and Extra Features
Both tools come with a pocket clip and a lanyard hole, which covers the standard carrying options well. The F12 adds a keyring to the mix, which is a handy touch.
Glow-in-the-Dark Nub
The F12 also features a glow-in-the-dark nub designed to help you locate it in the dark — a clever idea, though my concern is that it’s plastic and could deteriorate or break off over time.
The Weight Factor — The Primary Reason
Here’s where the decision gets made. The SOG PowerPint weighs in at 117.9g (4.16 oz). The NexTool Mini Flagship F12 comes in at 79.3g (2.79 oz). That’s a difference of 38.4g (1.35 oz). It might not sound like much when you hold both in your hand, but over hours, days, and weeks of daily carry, that difference becomes very real. Weight is the single biggest factor in my decision, and the F12 wins decisively.
Final Thoughts
Both of these are small, pocketable multi-tools that fit comfortably in the fifth pocket of a pair of jeans and carry easily even in summer shorts. The SOG PowerPint has more tools overall and bigger, more capable pliers. But the NexTool Mini Flagship F12 covers everything I actually reach for — reasonably useful pliers, a solid knife blade in quality steel, and those genuinely impressive NEX 2.0 scissors. Strip away the tools I never use, shed nearly 40 grams, and the choice becomes obvious. The F12 is my new EDC.
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