Choosing the Best Drill or Driver - A Toolstop Buying Guide

Posted by Mark Hunter - January 19, 2012

It can be confusing and frustrating choosing the best power tool to meet your jobsite needs. The power tool manufacturers love to bamboozle us with various brand new features and benefits, higher speed and torque ratings, bigger capacities and new cordless batteries.

You also need to factor in the type of power tool you'll need.

Will you be drilling into concrete or just wood? Will you need to drive small screws into soft woods, or large construction screws into hard woods? What's the best type of drill or driver for the job?

Our aim is always to make the process of choosing a power tool as easy as possible, so here is our guide to choosing the correct drill or driverfrom the following manufacturers:

Makita
Bosch
Metabo
DeWalt

The drills are split into typically 3 categories:

combi drill
drill driver
impact driver

Take a walk through our guide where we outline some of the tools available in each category, the basic spec you'll need to consider, and some of their best features.

Combi drills have 3 functions:

the ability to drill holes into wood and metal
the ability to drive screws
the ability to drill holes into concrete and masonry via hammer funtion

Normally a combi drill will offer at least two, but sometimes three, speeds. Low speeds for hi-torque applications such as screw driving. Higher speeds are for applications such as drilling metal or wood. Hammer functionality on a combi drill adds "blows" to your drilling which allows you to drill into masonary.

Keep eye on the construction of the combi drill. As you'll be using it for more robust applications, you'll want to choose a combi drill that's very well made, with a metal chuck or metal grear box.

To help guide you in your choice of combi drill, we've chosen 4 for you.

Makita BHP45118V Li-ion 3 Speed	Bosch GSB18VE-2-LI 18V Li-Ion RobustSeries	Metabo SB 18 LTX Cordless Power Extreme Impuls	Dewalt DCD785L2 18V XR li-ion 2-Speed
3 speeds Torque settings: 16+drill Max. torque (soft/hard): 40/80Nm	2 speeds Torque settings: 25+drill Max. torque (soft/hard): 38/85Nm	2 speeds Adjustable torque: 1.5 - 13Nm Max torque (soft/hard): 44/100Nm	2 speeds Max Torque: 35 Nm
Max. in steel: 13mm Max. in wood: 65mm Max in masonry: 16mm	Max. in steel: 13 mm Max. in wood: 45mm Max in masonry: 16mm	Max. in steel: 13 mm Max. in wood: 50mm Max in masonry: 16mm	Max. in steel: 13mm Max. in wood: 38mm Max. in masonry: 13mm
Keyless heavy duty metal chuck	Bosch Electronic Cell Protection	Unique impuls function boost pulse switch	Two speed all metal transmission for increased runtime and longer tool life

Drill drivers typically offer you two functions; the ability to drill holes into wood and metal and the ability to drive screws. Often they'll be equipped with two speeds and multiple torque settings, although the torque won't be as high as that found on either a combi drill or an impact driver.

When choosing a drill driver, take note of the capacity of holes it will allow you to drill and also the top torque setting as this will affect the sort of materials you can effectively drill screws into.

Pay attention, too, to the battery supplied with the machine; the higher rated the Ah of the battery the longer the drill driver will run between charges. And the less charges you subject your battery to, the longer it'll last.

Again, we've selected 4 drill drivers to help you make your choice.

Makita BDF452 Li-ion 18v Cordless	Bosch GSR18-2-LI 18V Cordless 2-Speed	Metabo PowerMaxx maX 12 10.8V Li PRO	Dewalt DCD980L2 18V XR li-ion Premium 3-Speed XRP
Max in steel: 13mm Max. in wood: 38mm Max. torque (soft/hard): 32/50	Max in steel: 10mm Max. in wood: 29mm Max. torque: 45	Max in steel: 10mm Max. in wood: 22mm Max. torque (soft/hard): 14/28	Max in steel: 13mm Max. in wood: 50mm Max. torque: 55
Variable speed trigger Electronic brake Job light	Electronic Cell Protection Shock absobent and water resistant 160 screws per battery charge	Quick Change Angle attachment as an optional extra Job light Electronic single cell protection system	Features 3 speeds 22 torque positions XR Lithium Ion Series Job light

An impact driver will be fitted with a hex chuck (or similar). This is a quick-release style mechanism that differs from the chucks found on combi and drill drivers. A hex chuck take hex screwdriver bits as an impact driver is essentially designed to drive screws into tough work pieces. However, with the correct bit fitted, you can also undertake some drilling applications.

Impact drivers are all about hi-torque, coupled with high levels of impact. A typical impact driver will output higher levels of torque than even the top-of-the-range combi drill.

Again, when choosing your impact driver, take note of the battery fitted and over all construction of the power tool.

Makita BTD134 LXT 14.4V Li-Ion	Bosch GDR10.8-LI 10.8V li-ion	Metabo PowerImpact maX 12 10.8V Li ion	Dewalt DCF885C2 18V XR li-ion
Max torque: 155 Nm Standard Bolt: M5-M14 Impacts per minute: 0-3200 ipm	Max torque: 105 Nm Hex bit holder ¼" Impacts per minute: 0-3100 ipm	Max torque: 105 Nm Metric bolt: M4 - M12 Impacts per minute: 0-3000 ipm	Max torque: 155 Nm Bit Holder: 1/4" Impacts per Minute: 3200 ipm
LED job light with pre-glow and afterglow functions Enhanced dust and drip-proof performance Battery fuel gauge	137mm head length 3 LED job lights Variable speed trigger High speed at 2600rpm	58 8x80mm screws per charge 236 5x25 mm screws per charge Job light	Part of the intelligent XR Lithium Ion Series 6.35mm 'drop in' keyless hex driver Bright white LED job light

It goes without saying that each of our four listed manufacturers has other combi drills, drill drivers and impact drivers in their ranges. We feel, though, that this list reflects the variety in terms of power, performance, features and price.

We love to know what tools you're using or if you've got any questions about any of the tools in this buying guide.
Plus, check out our video guide below.