18V Tools, Ryobi or Bosh or….

Got a few jobs where corded tools are becoming a PITA so looking to invest in some good cordless alternatives.

The range of tools that Ryobi offer seems really good

But I’ve got a 14.4V Cordless Bosch Drill that has never let me down

Anyone have any positives or negative about any of the 18V “systems”. What ever I go for needs to span gardening and DIY.

Strimmer, Hedge Cutter for the garden. Probably Drill/ Driver, Some kind of saw and a sander for DIY

I’ve got a bit of Ryobi 18v stuff. Combi drill, impact driver, inflator, lawnmower. Not a heavy user but they’ve all done the job and the Combi drill has coped fine with big drill bits into masonry etc.

I think the batteries tend to be a bit expensive compared to other brands. I’ve used Milwaukee and Makita stuff and it undoubtedly feels more premium but in use there’s not that much difference IMO.

Makita does everything you ask.

Since buying my drill, I’ve also got a makita hedge trimmer, strimmer and leaf blower. They all use the same batteries, and the bare tools aren’t as expensive as you might think.

Having had two Ryobi batteries melt down and a drill last only a couple of years, blue Bosch all the way.

The Bosch stuff I have is all blue/professional line and noticeably lighter, better materials and just easier to get on with. And hasn’t tried to burn my house down.

Bosch have a few different 18v battery systems so if you go blue, you can’t get the cheaper bare tools for occasional use

We use Bosch and Makita at work, but I use Ryobi at home. For heavy use I’d go for Makita, but I’ve had no issues with Ryobi hedge cutter/ drill/ mini vac for 8 years at home.

ps Makita & Bosch batteries are generally cheaper than Ryobi, but you can get a converter to run Ryobi on Makita batteries. I think you can do this with a dewalt convertor too.

I’ve used Makita and DeWalt. Not much between them IME but probably someone who uses the kit all the time might pick up on minor annoyances. I see both used by tradesmen but not so much other makes. Annoyingly for me, my brother has DeWalt tools and my brother-in-law has Makita so I can’t pick one system then borrow from both – grr!

The batteries & charging station are somewhat eyewateringly priced, basically the cost of a tool in themselves. But of course once you have that then the tools themselves aren’t that bad.

I have Makita and Ryobi stuff. I tend to buy Ryobi for the tools that are going to get an easier life, but am pretty happy with it – it’s arguably better VFM vs Makita

Check out ProjectFarm on Youtube for incredibly detailed side by side reviews of every power tool imaginable. The condensed version is Milwaukee / Dewalt / Makita / Bosch are all good but the “best” varies for each tool. Makita & Milwaukee stuff seems to be consistently up there as the best.

Ryobi stuff is fine, it’s owned by the same company as Milwaukee tools it’s just their consumer brand. The equivalent Dewalt / Makita / Mailwaukee will almost always be better but basically double the price so not really a fair comparison. It’s like comparing XT to Deore, both absolutely fine just need to decide if the extra is needed / worth it for you.

I’ve got some Dewalt 18v tools and garden things (chainswaw, pole saw, trimmer, strimmer etc). Tbh they’re all good, but not Makita good and I think in general Makita just has a bigger, better range. If you can afford it definitely the way to go.

I have Bosch blue for my frequent use stuff, some Worx and random stuff filling the gaps. Some Bosch stuff has gone to “new standard” blades like the starlock for multitool and click on grinder wheels. Lidl/Aldi stuff is fantastic for the money.

I really like the Worx stuff, but for the huge range, and ease of finding consumables I’d probably go Makita if starting from scratch

Bosch have a quite a limited range of tools in their Blue pro variant (compared to say Makita).

Anyone have any positives or negative about any of the 18V “systems”. What ever I go for needs to span gardening and DIY.

Bosch do a load of Gardening / outddor stuff but they all use a different battery type (Power4All), which is quite irritating…

I like the Makita stuff, that’s all I’ve ever used though so can’t compare really. Loads of deals about though, just sign up for an alert on HUKD, means that the bare tools aren’t really much more than 240V once you’ve got batteries (also often available on deals!)

Makita seem to have the best overall range, although they’ve just brought out a new battery standard (40V), so I do wonder how long their 18V will be supported…

If it’s for part time use I don’t think you can fault ryobi.

I was working with a mate building industrial steel buildings he was on dewalt I was on ryobi.

Both did the job with no real difference

His kit was 5yrs old and still good. I’m not sure if my ryobi will do 5yrs full time but as I’m not doing that I went with ryobi at a huge cost saving.

Makita seem to have the best overall range, although they’ve just brought out a new battery standard (40V), so I do wonder how long their 18V will be supported…

my guess (hope!) is a very long time, otherwise they will **** off 99.9% off their customer base who then have no compelling reason not to move to a competitor!

Besides there are already twin 18v tools for when you need more ooomphf.

I’ve got a 15 year old Makita SDS drill that have been used and abused but works as well today as when I got it. If you can afford Makita, that is your answer.

Very impressed with the lithium DeWalt drill/driver I got last year. It’s very well made and the batteries last ages. Screwfix often have decent deals too.

After that we have used Milwaukee and Bosch at work over the years and it’s always seemed decent enough although I’d personally always spend the little bit extra for Makita or DeWalt.

Hello,

Persistent Bosch owner through their 24v old batteries and into the new 18v system. Got drill going strong from 2007 and have variously picked up jigsaw, sander, angle grinder, mitre saw at points when prices have been good in deals. then subbed in batteries when good offers as well so i’ve got a kit that covers everything i will ever need. Limits my experience on other makes thou as i will never be able to justify making the switch to another make and battery system

As per footflaps above, note that the bosch blue professional batteries do not work with their gardening tools, which is an area of frustration for me as well.

What are your saw and sanding requirements? i have a bosch 18v cordless sander but i would classify it for detail, convenience and being up a ladder for a last minture ceiling sand in a awkward spot rather than anything long term or aggressive. For that i would recommend corded.

Check out the Bosch proferssional website and they have both a refurbished and a warehouse seconds tab. My drill driver was from the refurbished and has been one of my most used purchases and the warehouse seconds often are just bard tools without a box. Good savings if they have what you are interested in.

I have had a Bosch Power4All (18v) hammer drill for about 10 years and it is still going strong. It came with two batteries and I recently got a cordless strimmer that works with the same system (and, as above, got an extra battery as I can’t believe the originals have much life left in them even though they do still hold their charge and have good run times).

I am more than happy with it – but I am just a keen amateur and want stuff for household duties and gardening. I am going to buy the cordless hedge trimmer too as I am so impressed with the strimmer.

if you’re doing heavy stuff regularly, go with blue(!) Bosch, Makita, or DeWalt. Dont mess about with Ryobi – there’s a reason you only see trades using the aforementioned. Batteries are interchangeable, which brings the costs down.

If it’s only occasional use though, and you’re not feeling spendy then Ryobi or even MacAlastair will be fine. Avoid green Bosch (…and Black and Decker, obvs).

I only really opted for Ryobi as I managed to score a decent condition 2nd hand drill with 2 batteries, a charger, drill bit case, etc for a bargain price.

I’ve since Bought a couple of extra garden, and I’m still keeping half an eye out for new/used hedge trimmer, strimmer and inflator bodies as and when they turn up, Compatible batteries are available too if you don’t want to pay top whack.

Years ago I actually worked for Bosch, but in their lawn and garden power tools development team (placement student) having seen the R&D side I really rate their kit. They tended to aim to exceed German consumer group testing (and CE testing). The thing is my Dad still has the few tools I saved from the scrap bin and my own use case is more DIY enthusiast, than professional tradesman so the extra spend on a new bosh drill and other cordless kit would be a waste. Plus I would like to rid myself of cables and plugs now and the Bosch option there is quite expensive and I wouldn’t really benefit TBH…

So yep Ryobi, people seem to chop the tool bodies in whenever someone ‘in the know’ tells the Bosch or Makita are what the Pro’s use… But most people aren’t Pro’s. And once you’re Bought into a battery system you might as well stick with it…

Makita or Blue Bosch.

The Green Bosch stuff is generally underpowered and a bit crap, although the 18v Green Bosch drill I bought for £50 in an Amazon sale is pretty nifty as a screwdriver because it’s really small. Useless as a drill on anything except balsawood though.

Another Ryobi user, batteries are better than they used to be. You get what you pay for. Generally my goto tools. If I started again I might go Makita but don’t regret buying into the Ryobi system.

Makita. They do everything pretty much.

I’ve got a silly amount of their tools which I use day in, day out as a furniture maker.

I also have the 18v chainsaw and strimmer which are great.

An edge that Makita has that I didn’t expect (and maybe some others) is that they’re a standard enough battery that 3rd parties use it. I don’t just mean cheap crap clone batteries, IME they’re a false economy.

I mean, I have my main makita tools but I’ve also got a cheap leafblower (bike dryer/fire encourager), a very cheap reciprocal saw (for cutting out roots quickly while trailbuilding), and a couple of angle grinders and a spare impact gun that can live wherever the good one isn’t. I wouldn’t have bought all those at Makita prices and wouldn’t use them the same way either if they were genuine, and they can’t do the same job that the real tools do, but it’s super useful and has made the battery ecosystem way more useful for me.

What Northwind and Kayak said. Also you’d think Kayaks pic showed all of Makitas range but no they do a few other tools include lawnmowers.

Bosch make great stuff, but theres a downside and that is they dont make that many bare tools in the 18v range.
So whatever you buy has 2 batteries theres not that much choice to get a bare tool to utilize that 2nd battery on.

It kind of reminds me of Raleigh bikes opinion on mountain bikes being a flash in the pan and they shouldnt make any sort of a range. Bosch seem similar to that idea. Stuck stoically to a few tools and ignoring the massive market ryobi,makita and all are capitalizing on.
If i had the choice again id have opted for makita over bosch.

I have been having the same dilemma all week to be honest.

It seems to come down to:

Milwaukee – DeWalt – Makita pick one and be happy with it. I currently can’t decide which one to pick.

The Milwaukee Fuel Combi Drill and Impact set which is allegedly the dogs danglies can be had for 326 at SGS Engineering and I just don’t know if I want to spend that

TBH I’m pretty sure the Milwaukee tools are better than my more used Makita stuff. But there’s a heck of a cost difference.

I’ve used Milwaukee and Makita stuff helping out with some projects and the Milwaukee definitely feels/looks better IMO. I didn’t think there was that much difference in price though.

I would say this because I have Ryobi obvs but I think unless you are a pro or money is no object Ryobi is totally fine. Maybe if I was doing a complete house refurb or something I’d get fancier stuff. Ryobi do higher end stuff also though.

Makita here – I bought an 18V drill/driver about 5 years ago and it’s the first I haven’t managed to break. Just got myself a Makita lawnmower and it’s a really solid piece of kit in comparison to the flimsy plastic stuff down the garden centre. Also just got a 18V circular saw which is light enough to use single-handed and not too powerful that it needs to be clamped down. I’ll be getting a strimmer soon – if not just to keep the path across the wild meadow outside a bit tamer.

Makita for me, drills and radio. Most joiners I work with love DeWalt though.

I’m on Bosch Blue but also inherited a DeWalt. I do like my Bosch, feels a lot more robust.

Thanks for all the responses.

I went for the Ryobi stuff in the end. I couldn’t really justify nearly double the price for Makita.

Bought an orbital sander and a cordless strimmer. Will probably add a hedge cutter next and a screw smasher impact driver at some point.

Well impressed with the cordless strimmer, its really no less powerful than the corded Flymo one i’d been using and is more compact so can get into smaller places. Did the garden on less than half a battery. I even went out this morning and strimmed an overgrown lane that leads to my girls Primary School.

I reckon you can’t go wrong with any of those brands. My DeWalt impact driver is hands down the best tool I have ever owned, cold dead hands stuff.

I went for the Ryobi stuff in the end. I couldn’t really justify nearly double the price for Makita.

Nice one. Sounds like you’re enjoying them already. 👍

Hmm very tempted by a strimmer, think I’ll just lleave the Amazon page open.

Ryobi also make AEG, and Milwakee power tools, so probably same bits inside and different colours for different brands.

AEG where good powerfull drils

AFAIK it’s the same parent company but they don’t share IP/parts etc – that seems a bit mental though.

You get what you pay for.

Even within the same premium brand there will be some tools that are quality and some not.

Take DeWalt.

The screwfix/toolstation offer packs look like great value but they are made in china and slightly detuned compared to the more powerful bare tools made in Czech Republic or USA which most tradesmen are using. Ive got a chinese dewalt impact driver with 170nm torque from Screwfix but the czech equiverlent my builder owns has 250. Looks almost identical but cost twice as much. Probably last 5 times as long.

The same goes for Milwaukee.

However I dont make my living from my power tools so 200 quid for an impact driver doesnt make sense. Just dont be fooled by the name.

Most tradesmen I know reckon Worx are the best value v quality v power for Diy if you dont want to spend big bucks.

“Ryobi also make AEG, and Milwakee power tools, so probably same bits inside and different colours for different brands.”

My first cordless drill, some 30+ years ago was a 14.4V AEG, and my god was it a step up from the Makita then available! I needed to double up a few years later so bought the same drill in 18V guise branded as Milwaukee. That lasted me 25 years of constant daily abuse, outliving 3 sets of batteries, until it finally went tits up a couple of years ago.
So I bought another, half the price, half the weight, but twice the power! Though I don’t use power tools that often anymore…
If Ryobi make them (though I doubt they do) I won’t expect it to last long. Ryobi were shit, probably still are, and very likely charging the batteries will burn down your shed. It happened to a friend…