Cordless Drill Recommendations

After about 17 years my old Black and Decker corded drill has finally given up the ghost so it’s time to treat myself to a new one. It will only get relatively light use but I need it to be able to handle outdoor masonry occasionally, i.e. brick, manmade stuff not granite.

As it won’t be used that often I don’t want to spend a lot, circa £50 – £75 would be sweet.

Any suggestions?

Whatever ToolStation / Screwfix/ Homebase etc have on offer, they’ll all be absolutely fine.

As it won’t be used that often I don’t want to spend a lot, circa £50 – £75 would be sweet.

I think if a corded drill has served a purpose so far get another one. Batteries often suffer from lack of use rather than too much – id doubt they’d  last for 17 years

Ryobi.
Currently its just a drill you want, but in the future you might need another tool and royobi have a good range for home and garden.
Of the pro tools only Makita make as many bare tools in their inventory than either bosch or dewalt.

If you want hammer on a cordless you’ll really want metal gears and a bit of grunt with an 18V battery. The Einhell one on Toolstation look good value if you can’t stretch to a branded one like a Makita.

If you are spending less than £100 and you want to use it for anything more than light duties you should seriously consider corded.

Cheap cordless drills are a false economy, lacking in power, mediocre batteries and unreliable in my experience.

My £250 18v De Walt hammer has done 3x the life and dozens of times the work of any of its many budget own brand predecessors and shows no signs of quitting yet.

I’ve just got a little 12v Bosch blue with two batteries for lighter work that has a hammer function and was about £80 on Amazon. Alright for the odd wall plug and brilliant for wood and other light materials. Wouldn’t use it for heavier stuff.

Edit…I think one of the Screwfix budget brands has a better than average reputation and others may be more knowledgeable on that.

If you are spending less than £100 and you want to use it for anything more than light duties you should seriously consider corded.

Why do people spout this nonsense.

My green bosch was sub 100 and it spends its life getting abused. Occasionally i need my corded also green bosch for 8mm plus masonry bits but christ its a ballache.

If its just for drilling fairenough but for “home use” its just as likely going to be driving screws etc.

I would get a cordless 18v UNTIL i needed something meaty then i’d go out and buy the cheapest monster corded i could find.

My green Bosch cordless is utter shite. So I’d believe them if that’s the measure of good.

If you are buying budget, buy Screwfix own brand. I have a Titan. One failed at 23 & 1/2 months and they just replaced it over the counter without even a blink. I received an upgrade too.

Bosch Blue 12v. Very light, batteries last ages and charging time is good.

At that budget I’d look at Parkside from Aldi. It’s no Makita but it’s pretty good for the money and a good warranty

and a good warranty

AKA You’re stuck with it when you find its pish poor.

Tbh he won’t find the quality nor the warranty any worse than Ryobi.

My experience of the park side kit is when it works out the box it works well for a long time . it’s just a 50:50 on will it won’t it.

I’ve always been a bit underwhelmed with Ryobi. It’s seems to be DIY quality but not that much cheaper than the pro brands. That said, a quick Google and the drills don’t look too badly priced.

My green Bosch cordless is utter shite. So I’d believe them if that’s the measure of good.

Mines been totally grand drilling multiple holes in masonry for years now maybe you just need to improve your technique… My point still stands though a budgetish cordless trumps a corded for actual usefulness. You can get something perfectly usable for less than a hundred if its not going to have a hard life.

Well it makes holes . But it’s dog slow at doing it when compared to something that is actually good at doing it.

And the hammer actions pathetic.

I picked up my dad’s 18v hilti and realised I’d made a terrible purchase with the green Bosch. But if you don’t know any better you just think drillings a pain in the arse.

Get a budget cordless and a basic corded hammer. I expect a powerful do it all cordless will cost loads more.

The answer is what ever decent brand Toolstation/Screwfix have on offer. Don’t think my DeWalt, which is ace, cost much more? Something like this:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd776d2t-gb-18v-2-0ah-li-ion-xr-cordless-combi-drill/899cf

I also have a corded Makita SDS drill that’s been going nearly 15 years and still runs like new so they are in my good books too.

The DeWalt replaced a green Bosch that the batteries had died on. That was okay and lasted a fair while but it couldn’t lay a glove on the DeWalt.

But if you don’t know any better you just think drillings a pain in the arse.

I’m just pulling your leg. I’d definitely get something more powerful now but we’re talking about the occasional user which is a whole different set of requirements than. “I’m mid way through amy second renovation” requirements. Would you honestly recommend a corded drill nowadays if you have 100notes to spend?

If Ig was stipulated it was going to be doing masonary.

Absolutely ..

100notss gets you a stonker of a corded drill that will not only handle masonary but will do it with gusto.

You can just about eak a Bosch gbh-2 in there. That drilled a 30mm hole through 2 skins of engineering brick and a cavity with a 150mm long drill bit couple weeks back without blinking. I’d probably have still been there now with my green Bosch 🙂

But for general use without the masonary requirement.what evers on special at Screwfix /hovetools/poeertoolworld.

I’ve got a Ryobi, just used for normal household stuff, I’m certainly no professional and I’ve found it to be a good compromise of cost and function. So much so I just bought a second one to use as well.

I did the whole buy whatever is cheap at Screwfix / B and Screw for a while but it was so random I went branded and haven’t regretted it yet.

As a bonus they have interchangeable batteries which you can move between bits of Ryobi kit and hence replace easily too.

James

Im sure we do this question about every 3 days.

Im sure we do this question about every 3 days.

yeah there was another thread very recently with quite a lot of info! Hence can’t be bothered to repeat on this one 🙂 

I’m going left field and going to recommend this

I have a Stanley 10v brushless job and it’s my go to tool for anything that doesn’t need a hammer. If the 18v model is anything like the quality then it’s got to be worth a punt.

Dealt @ screwfix but spend a little more and get the Brushless version

I’ve always been a bit underwhelmed with Ryobi. It’s seems to be DIY quality but not that much cheaper than the pro brands. That said, a quick Google and the drills don’t look too badly priced.

In the workshop you end up using 3 or 4 of them on your bench, which is a lot easier than swopping over bits. Quality wise they do the job and are in use daily and all day usually. I agree the quality isnt the best, but you do need to have at least 3 and 3 dewalt costs a packet.

I have a lidl Parkside one. It is awful.
Weighs a tonne. Even the large battery runs out too quick. Won’t go through masonary without repeatedly stopping.

And I’m comparing it to a 40 quid worx one, not a 100 quid deWalt.

Well it makes holes . But it’s dog slow at doing it when compared to something that is actually good at doing it.

And the hammer actions pathetic.

I picked up my dad’s 18v hilti and realised I’d made a terrible purchase with the green Bosch. But if you don’t know any better you just think drillings a pain in the arse.

This was exactly my experience. I put off spending decent money on a good cordless for 15 years or more then a mate lent me his DeWalt for a couple of jobs and it just blew me away quite how many bad cordless drills I’d used and just how marked the difference was.

Good drills and bits make better, cleaner holes especially in masonry. If you don’t do it regularly then bad and inefficient tools are much more likely to turn an easy job into a messy and long one.

My little £80 Bosch blue cordlesssi isgreat but I’d not stick much more than a 7mm or 8mm masonry bit in it for more than a couple of plugs.

I have a newish de Walt 18v combo and an older makita 18v combi. The makita is always my go to and just seems to perform better, but they changed the shape of the batteries a few years ago and I can no longer get a replacement to fit so eventually I will lose it. But would have no hesitation getting another makita.

Im sure we do this question about every 3 days.

And yet here you are…

Thanks for the recommendations. That Stanley one looks very appealing if a bit over budget.

Another 12v Bosch user here. As above, if you’re only going to be putting a few 7 or 8mm holes in masonry, it’ll be just the job. It’s also light and really easy to handle.

I’d just buy whatever Toolstation/Screwfix are knocking out as a special –

Screwfix have an 18V DeWalt with 2 x 2AH batteries for £109 at the moment.

The answer here *really* is, increase your budget a little bit and get a DeWalt / Makita, For what it’s worth I’ve never seen trades using anything else.

Why? Because you don’t want to discover when you’re halfway through putting holes in something that your drill’s not up to the job. This DeWalt set with two batteries looks like a pretty good deal and is where I’d be putting my money. If weight’s a concern you can also get a version with lower capacity batteries which will weigh a fair bit less. Or get carried away and buy the brushless version.

Buy cheap buy twice applies to tools more than anything else in my experience.

Hello does anyone have any experience of the Metabo 18volt cordless drill that is for sale in costco?

https://www.costco.co.uk/Home-Improvement/Power-Tools/Corded-Cordless-Tools/Metabo-18V-Cordless-Hammer-Drill-with-Two-20Ah-Batteries-and-Accessory-Kit/p/313437

I wouldn’t. Not because there’s anything wrong with it necessarily, but for that money you can get into a better ecosystem- makita etc- and you’ll never regret that. Metabo (previously hitachi) do some decent tools but they don’t have that range. You can get the same drill for £95 without the toolkit btw.

It’s an oversimplification but it’s rarely a good sign when tools come with toolkits like that, 1 you’re paying for stuff other than the core important thing, and 2 they tend to be targetted at, well, people like my brother, people who own no tools and have no expectations.

This might not be the best price so don’t just go and buy it, but, I don’t think you’d regret this:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-dhp453sfe-18v-2-x-3-0ah-li-ion-lxt-cordless-combi-drill/6428R?tc=KA2&ds_kid=92700055256569560&ds_rl=1244066&gclid=Cj0KCQjw48OaBhDWARIsAMd966AaC7UTxds-IHM0q9Vxb9T5ugIglg29QNubF34emmQr-l8HDZyuifoaAmLZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

(at this price be careful of the shitty makita bundles with the non-lxt batteries, they look great til you discover they don’t work with anything else! But this is the real thing)

Makita. I did exactly the same and bought a 18v Makita and now have a range of excellent tools. Dont look back

I’ve said this before, but, one of the great things about makita is the knockoffs and 3rd party stuff. My everyday tools, the drill and impact and such, and all the charging and batteries are genuine, but I’ve also got a few really handy chinese copies- couple of grinders, a reciprocating saw, garden blower and power washer thing, plus a wee light that’s actually better than the genuine makita. And an incredibly cheap shitty strimmer that’s been super useful since I use it so rarely. I’d have never bought the genuine tools- one grinder instead of 3, and the rest are all just nice-to-haves. Being able to get both quality longlived genuine tools and cheap good-enough chinesium is seiously useful

Also sometimes you fall in love a bit with the cheap tools and get an expensive one, don’t blame me 🙂

Hello does anyone have any experience of the Metabo 18volt cordless drill that is for sale in costco?

Yes me. And it burnt out last week. TBF it has done a lot of work in dirty conditions too. I have about 8 different Metabo tools so only bought that drill as it was cheap and had a couple of, albeit small, batteries included and another (slow) charger. When I started down the Metabo road they were still all made in Germany and the quality was high, my oldest tools are still in top condition. And they also made a promise that all batteries would always fit all tools, which so far has proven to be the case and is a big plus in my eyes.

I am now in the market for another combi drill to replace my cheap Metabo. I will be buying an expensive Metabo to do so!

is the knockoffs and 3rd party stuff.

Also, https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Battery-Adaptor-Converter-in-Power-Tool-Batteries-Chargers/260204/bn_7022560386.

One battery is pretty much like another – the tool doesn’t care so long as it’s got a + and – connection. I got a converter so I could use my makita batteries on my Worx Hydroshot.