Nextool's new F20 multitool has three handles, which is exactly as weird and promising as it sounds. We think it might actually pull off the Goldilocks trick, not too big, not too small, but only if you're willing to rethink what a multitool is supposed to do. The whole premise hinges on a problem that anyone who carries a Leatherman in their backpack and a Swiss Army Knife in their pocket knows intimately: the big one stays home, the little one bends when you need it. Nextool says it built the F20 to sit in that middle place, and the triple-handle design isn't a gimmick, it's the mechanism for getting there. Ditching redundant tools is the easy part; making the remaining ones work in a palm-sized frame is the hard part, and that's where the third handle becomes interesting. It's a bit like the Arrowmax S1 picks the bit and torque so you don't have to in that both products are betting that smarter architecture beats more parts. The Arrowmax S1 removes the guesswork from driving screws; the F20 removes the bulk from carrying pliers. Same instinct, different tools.
The practical question for anyone who actually carries a multitool daily, and we mean daily, not "I threw it in the glovebox three years ago", is whether the F20's trade-offs land on the right side of useful. A mini-multitool can open a package and tighten a loose screw on a glasses hinge, but it can't cut through a zip tie that's been baked in the sun or grip a stripped nut. A full-size multitool can do all that, but it weighs down your belt and announces itself every time you sit down. Nextool is betting there's a third category: something that lives in your pocket without a bulge, deploys the pliers without a wrestling match, and still has a blade that doesn't flex. That's a bet we want to see paid out. It's also a bet that runs counter to the current wave of dirt-cheap entry points, like the Home Depot Has a Gerber Multi-Tool That Costs Less Than a Good Lunch, that Gerber Suspension NXT is approachable and deeply discounted, but it's also a known quantity. The F20 is asking you to trust a new shape, not a familiar price.
The specific detail we're watching is the handle count. Three handles means the pliers aren't folding into the same frame as the other tools, which changes how the whole thing collapses and how stable it feels under torque. If Nextool got the geometry right, the F20 could genuinely replace both the drawer queen and the keychain fidget toy. If it didn't, you're stuck with a weird bulge that doesn't do anything better than a standard two-handle design. The specs will tell the story, but the real test is how it feels after a week in pocket, not thirty seconds on a review table.