SOG PowerLitre Review: Good Pliers, Great Screwdrivers, Terrible Scissors

I bought the SOG PowerLitre back in June for my best budget multitool roundup, with a road trip coming up and every intention of putting it to work. I’ll be honest about my expectations going in: low.

SOG makes some gear I like and some gear that feels like it was designed by a committee that never had to carry it. Their little multitools have a reputation for clever ideas with an annoying catch attached, and I figured this would be another one of those.

It isn’t, mostly. For the money, it’s a very solid multitool, and the size is the reason it earned a spot in the roundup instead of a drawer. It also has one tool on it that is flat-out bad, and I’m going to tell you which one.

I paid $47 for mine on Amazon, and it’s the real thing, not a factory second. More on that in a minute.

What the PowerLitre Is

The PowerLitre is the middle child in SOG’s small multitool family. Bigger than the PowerPint, smaller than the PowerLock, built around the same compound leverage pliers SOG has used for years. SOG lists it at $74.95, which is a joke, because it sells everywhere for forty-five to sixty dollars, and that’s the number you should judge it at.

It comes in stonewash or black. Seventeen tools by SOG’s count.

Specs in Plain English

• Closed length: about 3.25 inches
• Open length: 5 inches
• Weight: 4.6 ounces
• Steel: 5Cr15MoV stainless
• Pliers: compound leverage needle nose with wire cutter, crimper, and gripper
• Drivers: quarter-inch magnetic hex bit holder with a bit lock, #1 Phillips, jeweler’s flathead
• Cutting: small plain edge blade, scissors, line cutter, awl
• Kitchen: can opener, bottle opener, corkscrew
• Extras: inch and metric rules, bevel gauge

What it doesn’t have: a file, a serrated blade, or a full-size flathead. The PowerPint has the file and the serrated blade. The PowerLitre trades those for the corkscrew and the bit lock.

The Size Is the Whole Point

Closed, this thing is right around the footprint of a Victorinox Alox Pioneer. I carry an Alox Cadet every day, so I know exactly what that means in a pocket. It means you forget it’s there. It’s thicker than the Pioneer because of the plier head, and at 4.6 ounces it’s heavier than it looks, but it’s still a multitool that rides in a front pocket without a sheath and without a bulge. That’s rare. Most pliers-based multitools live on your belt or in a bag, and a multitool in a bag is a multitool you don’t have.

The Pliers

This is what I like most about the PowerLitre. Compound leverage means the handles travel farther than the jaws, so you get more squeeze for the same hand strength. SOG claims roughly double the gripping power of a normal multitool. I’m not going to put a number on it, but for a tool this size the pliers are legitimately good. Needle nose, soft wire cutters, a crimper in the throat. On most mini multitools the pliers are the tool you tolerate. On this one they’re the tool you buy it for.

The Screwdrivers Are the Real Gem

Here’s the surprise, and it’s the thing that puts this ahead of everything else its size: the two onboard screwdrivers are actually useful.

Most small multitools give you a stubby Phillips that strips screws and a flathead that’s really a bottle opener wearing a costume. The PowerLitre gives you a real #1 Phillips and a jeweler’s flathead, both built into the tool, no bits to carry, no bits to lose. The Phillips handles the stuff you actually run into: cabinet hinges, license plate screws, battery covers. The jeweler’s flathead covers eyeglasses, electronics, the tiny screws on a watch clasp, and the stuff a normal multitool can’t touch. Between the two of them, most of the screws in your life are covered.

There’s also a quarter inch magnetic bit holder, and SOG added a bit lock so the handles lock together and the whole tool becomes a rigid driver. That fixes the PowerPint’s famous problem where the bit falls out and you end up picking it up off the floor. It’s a good feature if you carry a bit. I usually don’t, which is why the two built in drivers are the ones that matter to me. They’re the reason I’d carry this over most tools its size.

The Scissors Are Terrible

There’s no soft way to say it. The scissors on this tool are bad. They’re tiny, they don’t cut anything with any body to it, and on top of that they’re a pain to get out of the handle. So you fight to deploy a tool that then doesn’t do its job. That’s two strikes on one tool.

Every mini multitool has a weak spot and this is the PowerLitre’s. If scissors matter to you at all, the ones on a Victorinox Cadet or Pioneer X are in a different league, and that’s a fifty dollar knife with no pliers. On the PowerLitre, pretend the scissors aren’t there.

The Corkscrew

I drink wine once in a while, so I’ve used it. It works, with the same caveat as every pocket knife corkscrew ever made: success depends on your skill and experience. It’s a short screw, so you need to seat it well and pull straight, and it will not save you on a broken cork. Nothing this size will. It’s a nice bonus for a camp tool, and SOG’s compound leverage does give it a little extra pull, but don’t buy the PowerLitre because of it.

The Rest

The knife is very small. It’ll open a box, cut tape, and slice an apple, and that’s about the ceiling. If the blade is your main tool, carry a knife and let this handle the rest.

Can opener, bottle opener, awl: standard, fine, only OK. The tools lock, and you unlock them either by pressing the release or by pulling out a neighboring tool, which pops the first one free. Sounds odd, works fine once you’re used to it.

A Warning About Cheap Ones

You’ll see the PowerLitre on AliExpress and similar sites for thirty to forty dollars in packaging that looks exactly like SOG’s. Those appear to be factory seconds. People who’ve bought them show gaps in the plier jaws and handles that don’t close flush. Mine came from Amazon for $47, closes flush, and the plier tips meet cleanly. Ten dollars is not enough savings to gamble on the part of the tool you actually care about.

Where It Sits at This Price

• Leatherman Squirt PS4, around fifty dollars. Smaller, lighter, keychain-sized. Better scissors, weaker pliers, no bit driver.
• Gerber Dime, around twenty-five dollars. Half the price, and it feels like it. Fine for a keychain, not a real working tool.
• Leatherman Wingman, around seventy dollars. Bigger, heavier, spring-loaded pliers, scissors that cut. Belt sheath territory. Different size class.
• Victorinox Alox Pioneer X, around fifty-five dollars. No pliers, but great scissors, a better blade, and the best fit and finish at this price. If you never use pliers, buy this instead.

At $47, the PowerLitre is priced right. It’s not a steal, but it’s the only tool at this size and price with pliers that grip and built-in screwdrivers you will actually use.

Verdict: Should You Buy the SOG PowerLitre?

Yes, if you want real pliers and real screwdrivers in a tool the size of a Swiss Army knife, and you can live with a small knife and scissors you’ll never use.

That’s the whole tool in one sentence. Decent pliers, two genuinely useful drivers, and a supporting cast that’s only OK. For $47, that’s a good deal, because the two things it does well are the two things most people actually pull a multitool out for.

Who it’s for: guys who want a pliers tool in a front pocket. Campers and road trippers. Anyone building a glovebox kit. Anyone who is tired of multitool screwdrivers that strip everything they touch.

Who should skip it: if you want scissors, look at Victorinox. If you need a bigger blade, carry a knife. If you want a tool for daily jobsite abuse, this is too small, and you know it.

I bought this expecting to write a paragraph about another cute SOG idea with a catch. It’s got a catch, and the catch is the scissors. Everything else made the roundup. SOG can surprise you sometimes.