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The best cordless drill for you will depend to some extent on whether you want to create holes in wood, metal, masonry or plastic for your interior decoration and DIY projects. Once you understand a few key terms, it’s actually quite easy to work out – and these days it’s hard to find a bad drill, whatever your budget is.
“Tradespeople will tend to go for drills over £200,” says professional electrician Dan Lloyd of Diamond Solutions, “but any drill over about £50 is going to be suitable for DIYers. Today’s lithium-ion batteries hold a charge for months and are far quicker to charge than the previous generation of nickel-cadmium batteries. Brushless motors also make new cordless drills far more efficient.
Read on for Dan‘s quick guide to the different types of cordless drills, followed by my reviews of this year’s best. Below that, you can find answers to frequently asked questions like what is the best voltage and torque for a cordless drill. If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick look at my top five:
Which is the best cordless drill in 2024? At a glance:
What are the different types of cordless drills?
A drill driver is designed for making holes in wood, plastic, laminates and interior walls, Dan says. They tend to be lighter, more compact and more affordable than other drills. Most will be able to drive screws too, but nowhere near as well as impact drivers.
An impact driver is designed to drive screws, not drill holes. Impact drivers deliver extremely high torque and percussive force for expertly fitting screws to studwork, decking and so on. Although you can fit drill bits to impact drivers, you will get less control and poorer results.
A combi drill combines hole-drilling and screw-driving in one package, often adding a limited hammer function. These are a popular choice for DIYers. A good combi drill should be able to drill into wood, masonry, plastic and metal.
A hammer drill will be heavier and noisier. The hammer action makes it better for making holes in hard masonry, stone and concrete. Many of them allow the hammer function to be turned off for drilling wood, but they’re no good for driving screws.
Finally, SDS drills (it stands for slotted drive shaft) are specifically designed for hard masonry, concrete, steel and other heavy duty drilling jobs. They use a special bit with a slot and a ballbearing at the base. These give an incredibly secure grip that enables high-power hammering. Turn off the rotation function and an SDS can be used as a power chisel.