I have a few tasks around my place and am looking for a decent cordless drill and impact driver kit. I don’t do a ton of stuff, so I don’t needs something that’s capable of drilling thousands of holes or will last for hours. I’m open to either a drill/driver combo tool or a kit containing both. I’m thinking an 18V or 20V system. Some sort of case or bag to keep it in is required.
The Wirecutter recommends this Bosch combo tool, but that review hasn’t been updated in a year. Consumer reports recommends the same Bosch drill/driver. I searched for drill reviews on reddit and it seems like most of the discussion is about combo kits. The best value sets are either from Makita or Rigid.
So here’s the drills/drivers I’m looking at buying:
Drill/Driver Combo Tool
- Bosch Power Tools Drill Kit - PS31-2A
- Makita 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 1/2 in. Driver-Drill
Drill and Driver Sets
The sets may be better for home owners, but I live in a condo. Storage space is a concern, at it seems like the smaller 12V combo tools may be better.
If you’re interested, I’ve aggregated some of the comments I found below. I don’t know if this if overkill, but some might find it helpful.
r/Tools: Makita vs DeWalt drills
u/loaded-shaman:
I work as a cabinet builder/ installer. I have the newest Makita 18v Brushless impact / Drill combo, and the newest Dewalt XR brushless Impact / Combo. They both have pros and cons. I have 4.0-5.0 batteries for both. The makitas feel a bit cheaper as they are made with more plastic parts, the dewalts are built with higher quality materials. However, the Makitas are built with higher tolerances. The impact and drill have absolutely no wobble at all, while the dewalts have noticeable wobble. This alone makes me favor the Makitas. The dewalt just feel so sloppy, when they die I will only be buying makitas
r/Tools thread: I don’t know what drill/impact driver to get!
u/Ordinate1:
For a homeowner, I wouldn’t worry about brand; I would probably go with Ridgid, for price and the service warranty.
Brushless units don’t wear out the brushes (that’s a 20-year problem for a homeowner) and use less power so the batteries last longer.
4ah vs 3ah, etc; This is literally just how much power they store; I prefer smaller batteries because for a lot of tools, the battery can be the heaviest part.
You probably don’t NEED an impact driver (we used drills for years before they came out), but they are handy for things like deck/doghouse building and putting sockets on to run down nuts and bolts.
I would suggest this combo:
r/HomeImprovement thread: Best bang for your buck cordless drill right now.
u/the-yankee:
I’ve been a carpenter for 30 years I’ve always used Makita and I’ve never had a problem with them
r/HomeImprovment thread: Best cordless drill for home use?
u/league_of_fail
May seem weird to have two tools that seemingly overlap, but trust me on this one - picking up an impact driver is one of the best decisions I have made in this life.
Ryobi’s line is looked down upon because the electric motors aren’t as nice as the better-quality brands (less efficient for torque and battery life), but they’re pretty newbie friendly/fine for homeowner duty, affordable, and the tool line is expansive. If you like what they offer, they’re not bad tools. edit I just checked the price of the Ryobi drill/driver combo to the one that I linked (on sale) and with the $10 difference, I would definitely buy the Rigid line.
That said, Makita, Bosch, Dewalt, and Milwaukee will come up a lot based on personal preference, but torque specs (for driving long or wide fasteners) come pretty close and I bet most users wouldn’t notice a difference using them in a blind test. People get real tribal about their tool brands. The big thing is if you buy one brand of cordless tool, you’re probably going to stick with that brand because of the batteries.
I’ve been using a Bosch 18v set of cordless drill & impact driver for about 7-8 years on the same 1.3Ah battery packs and they are still going strong. I’ve built chicken coops, runs, fences, and made deck repairs in addition to all the light-duty stuff inside homes with these.
r/electricians thread: I know it’s been asked but… Best cordless drill?
u/ shadesofgray029
Best? Hilti hands down.
Best value for money? Makita/dewalt/milwaukee (of the 3 makita is my favourite) you cant go wrong with any of them. All 3 have a good lineup of tools, are fairly priced (shop around for sales that are on though) and (probably) wont shit themselves after a year.
If you want to go bosch theyd probably be alright (ive heard nothing negitave from them) but probably wont hold up to the other 3. Metabo is great but a bit pricier. Workmate has Hitachi, says its junk thats all i can say about that. Lots of Americans rave about Ridgid but its not available where I live so…
Avoid Ryobi, Ozito AEG, or pretty much anything else, its not gonna be worksite level stuff and is aimed at people who use it once a month.
