I use brad nails a lot and this is my 4th brad nailer having gone through 2 Porter Cables and 1 Hitachi. So I use them a lot and have good experience to compare. I did some rapid fire aggressive testing on this nailer and its a keeper. Read on for my impressions.
-- NO JAMS and CONSISTENT DEPTH: I did a rapid fire test sing 1.5" brad nails into a 2" thick fir. See the video. The gun never jammed and the nails drove in consistently.
-- ALL METAL NAIL SLIDE: Why is this important you ask? Doing the same test as in the video on a Hitachi brad nailer, I blew out the bottom of the slide when a nail jammed. See the attached photo showing the section of the slide blown out during a jam. I mention this because the Hitachi had a plastic nail slide and the Wen is an all metal nail slide. I feel much better with the WEN just removing a jam vs destroying the nailer.
-- 360 ROTATABLE EXHAUST: Its important to direct the air away from you and the work piece. See the attached picture. Both for comfort and to keep excess exhaust oil (yes some of us put a few too many drop in now and again) from getting on a work piece. A few day ago with another nailer without adjustable exhaust I had to cover the head with a rag to keep oily air off the work piece. So this feature is important and I happy the WEN built it in.
-- NAILS LOADED WINDOW: I love this feature. I quick glance allows me to see the nails remaining.
-- SOFT RUBBER HANDLE: The handle is very soft and make for a comfortable hold and protects your hand from the occasional jarring impact when nailing.
-- TIP LEAKED AIR: Not all is perfect. When I attached my WEN to the air hose it leaked air profusely out the connection. The WEN comes with a steel inlet. I swapped it out for a brass inlet with a subtly different shape (see the attached picture comparing the WEN to the replacement) and the connection was then tight with no air leaks.
Conclusion: Great nail gun and a great value. The only minor issue was an air leak at the tip and thats not one that would prevent be from providing a 5 star review. The only think I cant review is longevity and Ill report back after some use. Buy it, you cant go wrong!