Been meaning to start a cordless collection and as it’s prime day thoughtI’d take a look .
Mainly a drill, impact driver perhaps, reciprocating saw, angle grinder etc.

I have limited funds and like value but also decent performance. It’s not for pro use either . Could anyone advise re makes/ranges , models that might cover my requirements and not cost the earth? Obviously I want to be able to use the same batteries on different tools .
Any really good deals on prime you’ve seen or elsewhere ?
Thanks in advance
Bill

I am very happy with my Bosch Power4All stuff and have managed to pick a few bits up relatively cheaply on Ebay to expand my collection (including a barely used hedge trimmer with battery delivered for £40. Bargain.

I’m a big Makita fan. They have a huge range using the same battery including garden tools. Very good quality and bare tools are often quite reasonably priced. Ryobi is also worth a look. Not quite as good quality IMO, but still pretty decent and a good range. If you do go for Makita then the LXT 18v range is the one to go for.

this will all get a bit Spectrum vs Commodore as people just recommend what they’ve got (and have invested their own money into!)
All the big brands are decent (I’ve got Makita LXT personally, the stuff appears on offer quite often so can pick up additional tools & there’s a massive range)
I was just going to say though, whatever you do stay away from green Bosch – it’s garbage. (Apologies to the above poster 🤣)

I went Makita 18v, a couple of big sellers are often in the ebay 15% or 20% off and can buy bare tools. Screwfix have some good deals on starter sets of drill/impact plus a couple of batteries and charger. They do pricey pro brushless stuff but the more basic cheaper lines work fine too.

The range spans all the typical building stuff but plenty of home/garden things, I have their hedgetrimmer and strimmer as well as saws, drills etc. When my mower eventually dies I’ll probably get a Makita 2x18v one.

Ryobi are OK too, again a good range that spans most DIY/home needs. I bought a Badaptor that lets me use Makita batteries in Ryobi tools so I can use a few of theirs that Makita don’t have. Dewalt seem OK too, and again have expanded into covering a lot of the home/garden stuff now too.

I’m a carpenter. Well, a carpenter who’s trying to retire, as soon as past customers stop asking me to do more jobs.
I’ve got a range of brands in my workshop. At the top is Festool. Their tracksaw (when I bought it) was a game-changer. Their Domino is unique and both of those tools enabled me to make furniture of a quality that would have been difficult to achieve otherwise. They also saved a lot of time. The Festool 10V drill, well, it’s just a thing of beauty and is lovely in your hands if you use it all day long.

At the other end of the scale is B&Q own brand. If I need a tool for a job that probably won’t be used much afterwards, I get the cheapest possible. After all, very few tools self-destruct on day 1 these days. And Aldi do some fine tools for occasional use. When I needed to drill 120 holes in a brick bathroom to fit cement board I used a £20 corded hammer drill from B&Q thinking I’d burn it out. (I didn’t).

But down towards the bottom is Erbauer. And I’ve probably got more Erbauer than other brands. Sander, Impact driver, SDS, multitool etc. Never had a problem with them, which is a bit of a bummer because my most used tool is my impact driver. I’ve had it for years, it’s never missed a beat and has done everything I’ve thrown at it from chunky 120mm screws to tiny 12mm 3.5s. I wish it would conk out so I could justify a more fancy one! Oh, and being Erbauer from Screwfix if it had blown up within 2 years through abuse, they’d have replaced it without quibble.

I have just ordered a black and Decker hedge trimmer. They have a deal one where if you spend more than £70 and register with them you get a free spare battery.

B&D used to be a DIY brand and I can’t comment on the longevity etc, but the spare battery swayed me and we now have a matching stimer with a collection of three batteries which is working well as you can charge two batteries while using either tool

I really like Worx stuff. In reality if money was no object it wouldnt be my first choice, but I have one of their strimmers and a hedge trimmer and think they are brilliant. I know someone else who has drills etc too and rates them.

https://www.worx-uk.com/all-categories/

I have just ordered a black and Decker hedge trimmer. They have a deal one where if you spend more than £70 and register with them you get a free spare battery.

yes, I mean – this is how they sucker you in, and now you’re locked into their system 😃
(the alternative being, to take the financial hit initially on batteries for a better system, after which you can probably pick up bare tools for around the same price if you shop around)

Good shout on Erbauer stuff. Assuming the batteries are interchangeable amongst tools.

Silly question but do you really need battery operated stuff? If you are doing DIY or have a workshop mains powered stuff is much cheaper. Also allows you to mix and match brands.

The only tool I have that is battery operated is my Makita drill/driver set. Been going years. Of all my mains powered tools the only one that would be handy to have battery operated is the jigsaw so the cable doesn’t try and get in the way.

Having debate this myself, concluded it was between Dewalt and Makita, and stumped for dewalt based on the colour….. Makita.

The Dewalt stuff is all very good, excellent, but the range of tools isnt as good, and some of the tools are way over priced.

The dewalt air compressor is 130 quid bare, the makita one if 50 ish.
The Dewalt strimmer is 200 quid, 130,
same for the mower, and there are more options too.

the DW jigsaw i have has this annoying QR fitting, which holds the blade on the wonk, so makes its much harder to use.
The circular saw uses an odd size blade Arbor
just irrating little things here and there.

I bought the erbauer mower in the end, so ive bought into a cheaper system for more “occasional” tools,

I have mostly makita lxt, it’s very good, only tool I have killed is the vac hoovering up brick dust. I do have a few ryobi tools I use with a badapter, nail guns and glue gun. And I also have a few dewalt tools, nail gun and inflator. I tried to stick with one system but there are a few gaps in the makita line up.

For corded power tools I have been getting festool when on offer (which is rare). I have a dust extractor, sander and track saw. Great bits of kit. I can sand lead paint in the house with next to no dust escaping. Recently picked up a cyclone which is fantastic too.

The jobs I can do myself now have probably just hit the tipping point of the initial outlay on tools.

Ryobi batteries seem very pricey compared to others, been hoping to pick up a set on offer for some time.

Oh I aLeo have a few makita cxt tools, don’t rule them out, my most used tools are the cxt drill and impact driver, they can cope with most diy stuff

Good question…
If I were a pro, I’d probably go all in with one brand – probably drop £800+ on a kit with everything in..

BUt i’m not…!
My Drill and impact driver are both Bosch professional – each with a 4aH battery… I use these toold the most, so dropped the most £££ on tehm..

Then I’ve got a whole bunch of Worx stuff as I intermittently use them:
Jigsaw/recipricating saw – great tool..used today to install a cat flap!
Small drill – got it free
Hedge trimmer
Cordless mower
Small cordless circular saw thing..again, really useful

My mains track saw is, I think, Erbauer…. I’d have loved a festool…but…££

DrP

I have ryobi but as above batteries are expensive. The tools are good tho for a diyer

I had exactly the same thought as you OP, bought a De Walt drill & impact on offer as it came with two big batteries and I’ve had an incredibly reliable drill from them for years.

Can’t find any bare tools cheap! Loads of offers on other makes but De Walt seems to always be RRP or near on anything other than drills. Wish I’d looked into it a bit further tbh. Even second hand De Walt stuff isn’t cheap.

Must be the colour…

(although the bare multi tool is now £82 on amazon prime day…)

I’m not up to date on any deals but my thoughts are:

I have a Bosch drill driver with power 4all battery. When I’ve subsequently tried to find bare tools for the same battery they’ve been limited availability / not very good value. The drill itself has been faultless though – always been happy with Bosch corded stuff.

Worx – I have their jet wash on battery and mini plunge saw corded. Both are great – but when I was looking at bare tools (air inflator for car / impact wrench / impact driver) the selection was lacking.

I bought a wickes own brand impact driver with battery in the end as it was cheaper than a bare tool in either of the 2 above makes.

My most recent purchase is a Makita air inflator for the car with a big chunky 5ah 18v battery. I fancy an impact gun for working on the car and they have some good bare tool option in the range for this. My plan going forward is to buy makita tools as I have the huge battery now that’ll power most stuff.

So my vote is makita.

My brother in law has done similar with ryobi and swears by them – so also worth a look depending on who has the best offer on.

I decided on the potential tools I’d want in the future, over and above the regular drills and saws:

A big 18v impact gun for my van that’s built like a truck.
A decent strimmer to replace the knackered Flymo battery thing.
A portable vacuum cleaner for camper and fireplace.
A 36v mower for when the petrol one dies (largish lawn)
A 18 or 36v small chainsaw.

Makita seemed to be the one that ticked the boxes so that’s what I went for

Ffx have 7% off at the moment, they are generally decent for pricing

Last year I started in on the Ryobi range and I’ve bought a brushless circular saw, router, jigsaw and an orbital sander and so far I’m happy with them as a casual DIYer. To power them I’ve a 2Ah & 5Ah batteries and I’d like at least one more but as mentioned by others, their batteries aren’t cheap. You can of course buy cheap knock off batteries for the Ryobi range but I’ve no experience with these.

I have Bosch blue and the answer is Makita LXT. Worx have some very nice stuff that works well, but not the range of kit.

Mikita here, started with a drill/driver and 2 batteries about 10 years ago. I’ve since bought a circular saw, lawn mower and strimmer. The 36v mower is awesome – my neighbours had left their grass for 3 months and asked us to cut it, it was knee-high in places. FWIW DeWalt and B&D are same company – Screwfix doing a DeWalt drill/driver with 2x 4.0Ah batteries for £149.95 whereas the Makita package is 2x 3.0Ah batteries for a tenner less. Bosch and Ryobi feel lightweight and less robust in comparison

Makita. They have a blooming 18v coffee maker !!! Nobody else has anything as cool as that.

Seriously though, Makita have a broad range of kit, that other companies – bosch, dewalt struggle to match. Makita do a good quality 18/36v chainsaw thats pretty good by all accounts, as well as other gardening kit.

I’ve an 18v 4ah bosch drill. and its fine and ok, but Bosch dont make many items that would entice me to buy other bare tools to add to the collection. Im workshop based, so dont really have a need for a great number of cordless tools but that said there are a few things i would use outside, in the garden etc or family’s house/garden for jobs there.

If interested Bosch are doing a twin pack drills in B&Q clearance for £125. That is a really good price, im struggling to justify not buying it.

https://www.diy.com/departments/bosch-professional-18v-2-0ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill-impact-driver/3165140943161_BQ.prd

I was just going to say though, whatever you do stay away from green Bosch – it’s garbage

It really isn’t.  I’ve got a few tools on Bosch green and they are fine.  I’ve got Bosch blue as well and it’s lovely.  If I was starting again I though I would be tempted by the Makita LXT as I think some of the bigger 36V tools will let you use 2x 18V batteries in them.  It’s a pain buying 36V batteries for just one tool

Makita 18V here

[drills x 4, router, multitool/nibbler, blower, strimmer, hedge cutter, tyre compressor]

I also have the Bosch 12V for a two dinky drill/screwdriver, and a ‘dremel’-type tool.

*Great build quality,
*not crazy prices, especially ‘bare’ tools,
*huge range.
Pick 3

Makita. They have a blooming 18v coffee maker !!! Nobody else has anything as cool as that.

They also have an 18v coolbox coming soon I believe.

But down towards the bottom is Erbauer. And I’ve probably got more Erbauer than other brands. Sander, Impact driver, SDS, multitool etc. Never had a problem with them, which is a bit of a bummer because my most used tool is my impact driver. I’ve had it for years, it’s never missed a beat and has done everything I’ve thrown at it from chunky 120mm screws to tiny 12mm 3.5s. I wish it would conk out so I could justify a more fancy one! Oh, and being Erbauer from Screwfix if it had blown up within 2 years through abuse, they’d have replaced it without quibble.

Another shout for Erbauer. Most of my tools are now this brand. However, I still use a ten year old Makita drill driver which has taken some serious abuse over the years and keeps on going, the chuck is now starting to go, but I can’t complain.

I’ve had a 12v Bosch Pro drill and impact driver for a few years, and got the Dremel type tool 2 years ago. They’re big enough for the jobs I’ve done so far.

I bought into Makita LXT at the start of last year, with a 36v mower and a hedge trimmer. I got a vacuum cleaner and a tyre inflator earlier this year. I’ll probably get some more stuff, as and when I need them.

Had this question myself last year. Makita and Ryobi have the biggest range of tools, I went with Ryobi as I don’t think I use them enough to justify Makita

Bosch doing a deal with a free battery if you spend £160 just now. There is a combi and impact wrench at that price point at sceewfix.
I sell makita, de walt, bosch, milwakee, erbauer tools
Some festool and some Trend.
They are much of a muchness tbh.
For home use, erbauer would probably be fine.
Whatever brand ypu choose look at the battery prices.. Milwakee and erbauer are ok, de walt and makita genuine are alot of dollar.

Whatever brand ypu choose look at the battery prices

One of the benefits of a popular brand like makita is that there are decent copies out there and you can sometimes pick up used ones in good condition. I’ve had a couple of good used ones and even pulled one out of the recycling bin at my local electrical wholesale place. That one hade a dodgy connector, easily fixed and I’ve been using it for about 3 years now.

I’d also say, who’s ever paid full RRP for a Makita battery? Set up an alert on HUKD, the first thing most people will buy is a drill/driver set with 2x batteries (at a discount of course!) and I’ve picked up a few more batteries with tools I’d wanted over the years as offers have come up.

Bosch doing a deal with a free battery if you spend £160 just now.

Festool were doing a similar deal, get a free battery.

But it seems that demand outstripped supply, so you may buy a new festool cordless, it might even say it comes with a free battery, but you arent going to get that battery cos they’ve got none left.

So any deals from whomever concerning free things, check to see first if they actually have those free bits.

I’d also say, who’s ever paid full RRP for a Makita battery? Set up an alert on HUKD, the first thing most people will buy is a drill/driver set with 2x batteries (at a discount of course!) and I’ve picked up a few more batteries with tools I’d wanted over the years as offers have come up.

Thats kind of how im judging the Bosch twin pack in my earlier post with drill/driver and impact. I need an impact drill, but the bare tool alone is 80 quid. I could do with smaller batteries because wafting a 4a/h is a pain on the wrist for small or overhead drilling duties, so a 2a/h would be better suited. A single Bosch blue 2a/h battery costs about £25-30 each.

So the above deal is worth it as it gives a 2nd drill, and anyone who has done a job where you use drills a lot knows that 2 are way better than 1. Actually 4 are better, but not working in industry any more, so around my own workshop 2 drills are good enough.

Great selection of answers …much appreciated

fwiw another vote for Makita LXT…had a few tools but only one battery (3.0ah from 2014…still going strong) but recently moved house so got all the garden tools too: pole hedge trimmer, standard hedge trimmer, mower & pole strimmer: some decent prices to be had if you shop about and I bought from buyaparcel (waited until ebay had 10% off) and http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/ (if you bought a bare tool you got a 5.0ah battery for £55…gone up to £65 now)

I was bought a Makita 18v drill as a moving in present 17 years ago. Lxt?

The batteries are now starting to drain a bit quickly, but it came with two and a one hour fast charger so not an issue.

It’s either been abused or ignored for a year, no bother to it. I also bought a £20 b&d power drill for lintels and the like where the gears are starting to die.

Makita for me- agree with most of the comments above, they sit well in “good enough for most purposes and much cheaper than anything that’s significantly better” imo.

For me they have a killer edge which I didn’t know about when I bought them- 3rd party/knockoff tools. I’ve never bought one in any situation where I’d have bought makita, but, I have a couple of extra grinders (dead useful for not swapping tools over), a nicer light, a spare imopact (which can’t bust nuts loose like the real thing but again, saves swapping tools) a “leafblower” for drying bikes and starting fires, a reciprocating saw, and a dirt-cheap strimmer. Maybe some others I’ve forgotten. None of them are brilliant but they all benefit from the makita battery- if you buy cheap cordless you never know if the cells are any good or if you’ll be able to buy another. You can get this for some other brands too but makita lxt seems the best “supported” of all.

(the strimmer is pretty crap but also awesome- no more petrol for me, way stealthier)

Ironic really that the market’s flooded with knockoff batteries and chargers but you’re almost always better getting genuine for those, while knockoff tools can fill the cheapo hole that quality tools don’t.

I have some Ryobi one+ stuff, it seems to work pretty well. Got a big knock-off battery cheap which helped on the VFM front. It works fine.

Electrician here, giving tools a hard life mostly outdoors, sometimes in crappy conditions – invested in Makita LXT 11.5 years ago and it’s been decent kit – burned one drill out in that time

Einhell

Seems to be a tool for every job to fit my battery!

Makita or Erbauer depending on budget.