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Best Metabo air compressor

Updated: 21.10.2026

There is no single best Metabo air compressor in this set. One machine would have to inflate a tyre, feed a nailer and stay quiet in a terrace garage, and none of the four listings does all of that. The highest star line is 4.9 from 14 reviews, every one marked Germany, on a £481.29 compressor. The largest count is 4.2 from 138, on a 24 litre listing whose oil wording conflicts. The [Metabo air compressor comparison](/hub/compressors/metabo-air-compressor) is the table. This page says who each row is for, and who should leave it. Prices are amazon.co.uk figures scraped on 19 October 2026. These machines were not lab-tested.

There is no single best Metabo air compressor in this set. One machine would have to inflate a tyre, feed a nailer and stay quiet in a terrace garage, and none of the four listings does all of that.

Our top picks

Metabo Metabo Basic 270-50 OF Silent

Best overall

Metabo Metabo Basic 270-50 OF Silent
6.5/10about £481.29
View offer
Metabo Metabo AK 18 Multi

Best value

Metabo Metabo AK 18 Multi
7.3/10about £89.99
View offer
Metabo Metabo Power 160-5 18 LTX BL OF

Rank 3

Metabo Metabo Power 160-5 18 LTX BL OF
8.2/10about £170.03
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Best depends on the job
  2. 2.Tyres and a small tank
  3. 3.A garage receiver and a quiet 50 litre
  4. 4.What the stars do not prove

Best depends on the job

Fair criteria are the job, whether the airflow figure is effective delivery, whether the listing tells one story about oil, and whether a battery or a UK plug is in reach. Stars come after that. A 4.9 from 14 ratings is a thin sample. A 4.4 from 79 is larger, and the scraped text is still not marked United Kingdom. Ranking by stars would hand the page to the dearest machine and hide the inflator that does the tyre job for £89.99. A Power 180-5 and a Basic 160-6 also show in Amazon's search and sit outside this set. If the job is still open, the buying guide is the decision order.

Tyres and a small tank

For tyres, open the AK 18 Multi (600794850) at £89.99: 2.6 kg, 11 bar, 16 litres per minute, a 12 V cable in the box, and no battery. One returned unit ran about 3 to 4 units past the preset, so check the first tyre with another gauge. Skip it for air tools. The table's 10 litre tank is not in the bullets. For an outlet away from a socket, the Power 160-5 (601521850) at £170.03 matches if you accept a 5 litre, 8 bar tank and you already own the pack. The bullets state 60 litres per minute effective delivery. The Amazon table also says 18 litres. Reviewers who are not marked as UK buyers say a blow gun empties it at once. Skip it for spraying. The cordless comparison stays on these two.
Metabo Metabo Basic 270-50 OF Silent

Testsieger

Metabo Metabo Basic 270-50 OF Silent
6.5/10about £481.29
View offer

A garage receiver and a quiet 50 litre

The Basic 250-24 W at £176.95 is the 24 litre mains row, and it waits until the oil words agree. The title includes OF, a bullet says oil-lubricated, and model 601533000 is neither Metabo order 601533180 nor 601532000. The 4.2 from 138 is the largest count, with two short UK-located notes. The oil page follows the order numbers. The Basic 270-50 OF Silent (601594000) at £481.29 is the clear oil-free 50 litre machine: 10 bar, 61 dB(A) on the bullets, plug unstated. Metabo's datasheet also states 120 litres per minute effective delivery. Fourteen ratings, all marked Germany, do not make it the best Metabo on the UK site.

What the stars do not prove

A listed 61 dB(A) is an emission figure. It does not show compliance with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations, and those regulations bind employers rather than a householder. Leave the 250-24 until the listing or the plate uses one lubrication description. If you need to spray for hours, none of these four is the machine the reviews support.

Common questions

Which Metabo is the best overall?
There is no single best among these four, because they are different tools. With an 18 V battery already owned, the Power 160-5 at £170.03 is the portable tank with a tool outlet. For tyres on a budget, the AK 18 Multi at £89.99 is the match. The 270-50 is the quieter 50 litre oil-free receiver, at £481.29. Name the job in the same sentence as the pick.
Is the 4.9 silent compressor the top pick?
It leads the star column and it is a weak top pick. The listing shows 4.9 from 14 ratings, and every scraped review is marked Germany. That sample is too small for a failure rate and it says nothing about the plug. It can still be the right machine if you want the 50 litre oil-free spec and you accept £481.29.
Is the AK 18 a compressor you can run tools from?
The bullets describe a tyre inflator at 16 litres per minute and 11 bar. That flow will top up a car tyre. It will not keep a nailer, a blow gun or a spray gun fed. The table's 10 litre tank is not repeated in the bullets, so this page does not treat the AK 18 as a receiver.
Should I trust reviews that say Reviewed in Germany?
You can trust them as reports from the country printed on the review. You should not relabel them as British experience. The Power 160-5 and AK 18 scrapes have no United Kingdom line. The 250-24 is the only row with UK-marked text, and it is thin beside 138 ratings.
What should I buy if I only inflate tyres?
The AK 18 Multi is the match, at the scraped £89.99, if you have an 18 V pack or you use the 12 V cable in the box. Set the pressure and check the tyre with a separate gauge, because one returned unit overshot. Pay for the Power 160-5 only if you also want a tank and a coupling.
What should I skip if I want to spray?
Skip all four for long spray sessions. Power 160-5 reviewers say the 5 litre tank empties at once on a blow gun. Germany-marked reviews of the 270-50 say it is not a continuous-duty spray machine. The AK 18 has no usable receiver in the bullets, and oil in the 250-24 line would spoil a finish coat.

Related pages

How to use a Metabo compressor

Metabo air compressor

Metabo air compressor: which listing matches the job

Metabo cordless compressor: inflator or 5 litre tank

Metabo oil free or oil compressor: the 24 litre row

Sources

Sources from the research digest, checked against the four amazon.co.uk listings. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the 19 October 2026 lines. A listing decibel is a sound-emission figure, not a noise-regulation result.

  1. Metabo UK, Power 160-5 18 LTX BL OF (601521850) (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Metabo UK, AK 18 Multi (600794850) (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. Metabo, Basic 250-24 W oil-lubricated (601533180) (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Metabo UK, Basic 250-24 W OF (601532000) (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Metabo, Basic 270-50 OF Silent (601594000) (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. PSSR 2000, Schedule 1 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. HSE INDG178, written schemes of examination (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 4 (retrieved 19 October 2026)