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Bosch green or blue 18V SDS

Updated: 22 October 2026

The expensive mistake on this shelf is ordering the rotary hammer in the other colour from the batteries you already charge. A Bosch green or blue 18V SDS decision is a battery decision. POWER FOR ALL packs do not run a blue GBH. Professional and AMPShare packs do not run a green UniversalHammer. Same voltage is not the same slide rail. Which model inside a colour is the better body belongs on the [Bosch cordless rotary hammer comparison](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/bosch-cordless-rotary-hammer). There was no lab test. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The expensive mistake on this shelf is ordering the rotary hammer in the other colour from the batteries you already charge. A Bosch green or blue 18V SDS decision is a battery decision.

Our top picks

Bosch UniversalHammer 18V body

Best overall

Bosch UniversalHammer 18V body
8.3/10about £97.92
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Bosch GBH 18V-22 with L-BOXX

Rank 2

Bosch GBH 18V-22 with L-BOXX
8.5/10about £180.99
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Bosch UniversalHammer 18V with 2.5 Ah

Alternative

Bosch UniversalHammer 18V with 2.5 Ah
7.7/10about £132.60
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On this page
  1. 1.Green is POWER FOR ALL
  2. 2.Blue is Professional 18V and AMPShare
  3. 3.The two chargers are not a pair you mix
  4. 4.What to buy if you own nothing yet

Green is POWER FOR ALL

Green in this set is the UniversalHammer 18V on PBA 18V POWER FOR ALL packs, with DIY compatibility promised back to 2007. The charger in the one green kit is the AL 18V-20. Instructions for products sold in Great Britain specify a BS 1363 plug and tell you to charge PBA packs, not GBA or ProCORE packs. Three ASINs are the green side. The body at about £97.92 is a depth stop, an auxiliary handle and a carton, 4.7 from 332 reviews, with no battery. The body at about £126.79 adds a round-shank adapter and still no battery. The kit at about £132.60 is one 2.5 Ah PBA pack, the AL 18V-20 and a case. If your batteries are green, those three are the shelf. Bosch’s AMPShare page says professional batteries do not work with POWER FOR ALL, and that the systems will not be unified.

Blue is Professional 18V and AMPShare

Blue in this set is the GBH 18V-18, 18 X, 22 and 22 X. They run on GBA 18V, ProCORE18V and AMPShare packs, with professional compatibility back to 2008. The GBH 18V-22 listing names Bosch Professional 18V and AMPShare. It does not name green packs. Buying the green body at about £97.92 while the van is full of blue batteries means buying a second system. Six ASINs are blue. The 18 body is about £122.95, the 18 X about £116.95, the 22 X carton about £176.95, the 22 L-BOXX about £180.99, the 22 X L-BOXX about £232.73, and the 22 X kit about £319.20. Only that kit includes a charger, the GAL 18V-40, with two GBA 5.0 Ah packs. If you already charge those packs, the kit price is paying for batteries you may already own.
Bosch UniversalHammer 18V body

Testsieger

Bosch UniversalHammer 18V body
8.3/10about £97.92
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The two chargers are not a pair you mix

The GAL 18V-40 and the AL 18V-20 are not a pair you mix. One sits with professional packs. The other charges PBA packs and uses a UK plug. The wrong pack on the wrong charger is a fire warning in the manuals. A Makita or DeWalt pack runs a GBH only if it is an AMPShare 18 V pack from a brand in that alliance, and even then it will not run a UniversalHammer. A standard pack from those brands is a third system. 18 V on a charger base is a voltage, not a membership.

What to buy if you own nothing yet

If the shelf is empty, buy one kit and stay on it. The green kit at about £132.60 starts a POWER FOR ALL household. The blue kit at about £319.20 starts a Professional or AMPShare van. Those are different futures. This page does not rank the GBH 18V-18 against the 18V-22. Which body fits the holes is on the best Bosch cordless rotary hammer page. Do not buy one green body and one blue body to cover both. You would own two chargers and two hammers that cannot share a pack. Bosch’s published line is that the rails will not be unified. A third-party adapter is not a Bosch solution, and this comparison does not treat it as safe.

Common questions

Will a green 18 V battery click into a blue GBH?
No. Green PBA packs are POWER FOR ALL. A GBH is a Professional 18 V tool. Bosch’s AMPShare page says the professional batteries do not work with POWER FOR ALL. If your packs are green, stay with the three UniversalHammer listings.
Will a ProCORE pack run a UniversalHammer?
No. ProCORE and GBA packs run the GBH models. The UniversalHammer is listed for PBA 18V packs. A blue pack on a green hammer is the same mismatch as a green pack on a GBH.
Is the charger in the green kit the same as the blue kit charger?
No. The green kit includes an AL 18V-20 with a 2.5 Ah PBA pack. The blue kit includes a GAL 18V-40 with two 5.0 Ah GBA packs. The AL 18V-20 instructions for GB products specify a BS 1363 plug and PBA packs. The other seven listings include neither charger.
What if I only own Makita or DeWalt packs?
They do not, unless the pack is an AMPShare 18 V pack from a brand in that alliance. That pack can run a GBH and still cannot run a UniversalHammer. Otherwise buy Bosch packs of one colour, or buy the hammer from the brand you already charge.
Does 18 V on the title mean one Bosch system?
No. POWER FOR ALL, back to 2007, is the green UniversalHammer. Professional 18 V and AMPShare, back to 2008, are the blue GBH listings. The two systems will not be unified. Read PBA, GBA or ProCORE, not the voltage alone.
Is a third-party adapter a Bosch solution?
No. Bosch’s position is that the systems stay separate. This comparison does not recommend an adapter that joins a PBA pack to a GBH, or a ProCORE pack to a UniversalHammer.

Related pages

Bosch cordless SDS buying guide

How to use an SDS rotary hammer

Bosch cordless rotary hammer

Best Bosch cordless rotary hammer for packs you own

SDS drill vs combi drill for hard brick and concrete

Sources

Maker pages, UK regulations and the amazon.co.uk listings stored for this comparison, read on 19 October 2026. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are those saved listings. A live view of one ASIN the same day had already moved.

  1. Bosch Professional GB, GBH 18V-22 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Bosch Professional GB, GBH 18V-18 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. Bosch Professional GB, GBH 18V-18 X (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Bosch Professional GB, GBH 18V-22 X (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Bosch DIY GB, UniversalHammer 18V (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 4 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. HSE, Construction dust: silica (CN3) (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Bosch Professional GB, AMPShare (retrieved 19 October 2026)