Victorinox SwissTool Spirit X Review

The SwissTool Spirit X is solidly built, well-appointed, and polished to shine. It's clearly the top of the Victorinox line and does compare decently well with the larger multi-tool market from a utility standpoint. In this price range, though, to consider the Spirit X over other great options, you're going to need to justify the purchase from another point of view - namely aesthetics. It is a piece of art that happens to be a multi-tool, and if that piques your interest, read on.

Performance Comparison

Functions

According to the manufacturer's count, this Victorinox leads the field, by far, in terms of numbers of features and functions. However, when you boil it down and look more closely, the feature set isn't all that much different than your typical multi tool. First, Victorinox claims 24 functions in bold print alongside the tool's name on their website. This number is pretty liberal, including separate entries for needle-nosed pliers, soft wire cutter, hard wire cutter, wire bender, wire stripper and scraper, cable cover longitudinal cutter, cable cover crossways cutter, crate opener and 7mm chisel. These nine listed tools, best we can tell, are contained entirely in the jaws of the pliers and on a single piece of metal in the folded tools. Another manufacturer might list these ten as three or four, total. Examples of this “feature inflation” exist elsewhere in the Victorinox literature.

When one looks past the potential catalog exaggeration, one sees a pretty standard set of tools for a modern full-size multi-tool.

Construction Quality

The durability and strength of all our tested tools is a testament to both our initial selection criteria and the practical design criteria these companies use. Across the board, we had no problems with the strength and construction quality of any of our recently tested tools. (in the past we have had tools fail in testing. We have since omitted those products from our review roster). The SwissTool is no exception to the quality of our tested tools. In going head to head with a category super-power like Leatherman, Victorinox is wise to have built a solid product. They also surely have that Swiss pride that results in precise, smooth mechanical and electronic products.

Ergonomics

On one level, the SwissTool is a basic, rough-sided pliers based multi-tool. Of the four “corners” of each plier handle, only two are rounded for comfort. However, for some reason, the tool is comfortable in one's hand, and the squared corners hardly affect the function. The good news is that the rounded corners guard the user's hands when using the pliers, and the fold-away tools themselves sort of round out the external profile of the closed device. The plier handles, when deployed, are slightly curved inwards. It's as if the handles have been bent by incredible hand strength when grabbing a nut or bolt with the plier's head. This pre-curve makes for a small-fist-full with the pliers fully closed, while leaving a generous space between the handles to minimize pinching. We like this.

Finally, every single fold-away feature is accessed from the outside of the stowed pliers. In our review, only select tools were built this way. We like this attribute. In the end, regarding ergonomics, the SwissTool has pros and cons, generally tilting to slightly above average performance and score.

Portability

The portability of a tool is a function of its size, weight, external “roughness” (rougher tools tear up pockets), and carry options. The Spirit X is average in size, a little heavy, and has a few squared edges on the outside that aren't that sharp. It's ok in terms of portability.

Should You Buy the Victorinox SwissTool Spirit X?

Bottom line, this is a solid product, and we feel comfortable recommending it. There's nothing overtly wrong here; it'll get the job done just fine, but you'll need to justify the price tag in your own way. It is a great-looking tool, and maybe the Victorinox nostalgia is hitting just right.

What Other Multi-tool Should You Consider?