So I need a cordless combi drill. Will be drilling masonary where I won’t have a power source. Nothing overly onerous. Will also be used about the house and garden over the next few years.

Is there much difference between the makita, dewalt, blue Bosch at the £100-130 price point?

Any reccomendations or deals? Thanks

You probably want to look at the 18v ones for masonry.

After that I’d imagine you’d look at the number/capacity of batteries.
Do you want a few smaller ones that charge quickly, or two larger ones – if you’re going to be far away from mains/charger?

Makita combi here. 3 yrs old and gets regular use. We also have a Makita vacuum so the battery gets shared and subsequently charged about twice a week.

Bosch SDS for masonry work and a bit of light breaking avec chisel bits.

The 18v makita is great. Loads of power. The 3ah battery gives plenty of run time and charges in 20 mins. Dewalt and Bosch blue are also good but I think the makita is a better system to buy into.

Price may reflect battery size, battery type, power and brushed Vs brushless.

If you are doing much masonry especially anything hard sds will be worth it. Even if it means a long extension lead.

Swaying towards makita then. Cheers all

A little over budget, but you get an extra tool Screwfix

very little difference per price point, the cost comes with batteries and the speed of charger. i run makita myself in a trade environment, other guys run dewalt and bosch, hitachi, and hilti . though i gotta say aeg look really good with 6 years warranty. my tip would be get a brushless 3.0 ah combi kit as you will get an impact or sds body depending on the combination for not much extra, and going by your description 3.0ah sounds ideal for your use. if a 4.0ah isn’t much more take it. i like a metal chuck and get metal gearing if you can. brush motors are still great if brushless is too spendy.

https://www.its.co.uk/search.aspx?rs=makita&directSearch=true

Be careful with makita from b&q – the 18 volt ones in b&q aren’t compatible with the wide range of makita 18v lxt kit.

I bought an let 18v combi a few yrs ago and now have a wide range of lxt stuff – they even do led light kits, USB charge dock and even a coffee maker!

Check out its or the other online retailers. They do next day delivery and good selections of combination kits. I have a few batteries now and buying a new tool like a hedgecutter is relatively cheap as you just use the same battery and bug a bare machine.

Makita LXT here. Best thing I ever did when we bought our first house was to spend out on a combi drill, a couple of batteries and circular saw. Still going strong after 9 odd years of abuse.

Makita DHP 481
Best tool I’ve ever bought.
Even used it for mixing cement and tile adhesive with a paint paddle.
Trying to hold on to it with a 28mm wood auger going through joists if fun! Even with the side handle it wants to rip your arms off!
I’ve got the 4Amp/Hr batteries (x2) as they also fit my multi tool and hoover. Only 20 minutes charging from empty to full charge.
You won’t be disappointed.

The 18v makita is great. Loads of power. The 3ah battery gives plenty of run time and charges in 20 mins.

Check that the makita stuff is LXT though – there are very similar looking drills by Makita with lower capacity, slower charging batteries, and they’re incompatible with the rest of makita’s 18v range of tools , batteries and chargers.

Do you want a few smaller ones that charge quickly, or two larger ones

With makita stuff 3ah batteries seem to be the sweet spot between charge time and run time, charge very quickly and give a decent work time for drilling and driving. Larger capacity ones take quite a bit longer to charge but are a better choice if you’re going to be away from the mains all day. The bigger capacity batteries also pay dividends more if you also use them for sawing or angle grinding.

For reasons I don’t understand (quarks or something) anything smaller than 3amp hr gets you a physically smaller, lighter battery, but anything larger capacity (4 and 5amp hr) is the same size and same weight.