Best Cordless Drill of 2024

Besides general use and impressions I have three main ways to test drills. There is a clearance test where I determine the smallest space the drill can go into and still be able to drill or bore at a perfect 90 degree angle perpendicular to the drill surface. Then there are two different types of power/life tests; one with a high torque load and one with a lower load.

For the high-torque test, I use a new 1-inch wood spade bit for each drill bit. I use the drill to drill a series of holes into standard yellow pine construction lumber. I then divide the number of holes drilled by the battery capacity, which gives me a “holes per amp hour” data point for comparison. I like this particular metric method because it negates the ability of a drill to win just by having a bigger battery.

In this test, the numbers for the 12-volt drills are pretty low — so if you’re going to be drilling a lot of holes, it’s probably best to stick with the 18-volt drills. Overall, all of the 18-volt drills felt strong when starting this test with a new battery, and while it came in second-to-last here, the Ryobi felt the strongest from the start. There’s also the groundbreaking feel — how well the spade bits can leave the other side of the wood without snagging and binding. Here it was Milwaukee that really showed off. Milwaukee not only completely crushed the competition, but the spade bit moved from one side of the wood to the other without snagging. On the other end of the scale, both Bosch and Ridgid seemed to struggle to leave the boards almost every time.

In the low torque tests I included a number of screws — a ton of screws — and drove them into standard 4×4 construction lumber. Drive in as far as you can until the drill bit can no longer fully seat a screw; i.e., flush with or slightly below flush with the wood, and then count. I’ll use the same method described here, dividing by amp-hours to get our final metric. The original tests for 12-volt drills used #8 2 1/2-inch screws, and the 18-volt tests use #9 3-inch screws.

The low-torque tests take longer to complete than the high-torque tests, so there’s more time to get to grips with the tools themselves. Overall, the drills all feel about as you’d expect, but there were a few things that stood out. On the 18-volt DeWalt, the handle feels small. This may be a plus for some, but for me it was a bit off-putting. I also wasn’t a fan of the trigger on the 18-volt Ridgid. It felt like I had to pull the trigger further back to get maximum power than I did with other drills. This did lead to a bit of extra hand cramp over time. Not ideal if you plan on using it for hours at a time.

For the clearance test, I measured the distance from the center of the chuck opening to the top of the drill bit and separately to the side of the drill bit. The lowest value for each drill bit you see is graphed below. I converted the measurements to decimals for the purposes of the graph, but I did measure them in 1/64 inch increments. The lower the value, the smaller the overall size of the drill bit, allowing it to be used in tighter spaces than drill bits with larger values.

There were a couple of other features worth mentioning that may help if you’re still on the fence. Most drills now come with LED lights to improve visibility in low light conditions. These typically activate as soon as you pull the trigger and turn off when you release the trigger or after a slight delay. The LED is either located on the underside of the tool near the battery or above the trigger on the main barrel of the tool. I prefer the near-battery placement. The barrel LED creates a hard shadow line above the center of the chuck, while the lower-mounted LED provides more available light above the tool — ideal if you’re in a position where you’re looking down at the tool and it’s not above your line of sight. In 18-volt drills, Bauer, Ryobi, and Bosch all have the lower-mounted LED, with Ridgid being the only model without an LED.

Battery life indicators can help when you’re in places where it’s not convenient to change batteries, such as on a ladder, roof or other inaccessible location. With the push of a button, you’ll get an estimate of how much battery life you have left — usually in 25% increments. Bauer, Ridgid, Milwaukee and Craftsman 18-volt drills all have this feature.

Another feature that may not be a deciding factor for you is the battery release mechanism. The front tab has become the standard and works better on some models than others. All of the battery powered tools I personally own are front tabs, but I’ve come to appreciate the side release. It feels more natural and is easier to release. Of the 18-volt drills mentioned, Ridgid, Milwaukee, and Ryobi all have side releases. To me, the Ridgid design feels the most comfortable.

There is a greater range of performance in 12 volt drills than I expected and probably less at the 18 volt level. If you are in the market for a drill, make sure you have a clear idea of ​​exactly what you hope to achieve with your drill and then review the information provided here. It should be easy enough to get a clear picture of the performance, price, and capabilities to ensure that you end up with the best cordless drill for your needs.