On Black Friday, our goal was to avoid stores, but we needed a new drill/driver (we managed to kill our Bosch)… so our destination of choice was anything home improvement related. We visited both Home Depot and Lowes. Home Depot won by-far for Black Friday: they had a few choices in the drill/driver category. We compared at 3 Ridgid, 1 Mikita, and 1 DeWalt in both 12 volt and 18/20 volt categories.
For us, the important points to compare were:
– price
– comfort/weight/build quality
– battery life
– torque
– warranty
For comfort, we were mainly comparing the drill/drivers because they are the tool we would most commonly be using. We were kind of treating the impact drivers as a bonus – because we didn’t own one (for comparison)… but still comparing/considering them seriously as well.
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Our original Bosch 12 volt drill/driver:
(model# PS31-2AL1A) we purchased June 2013
– drill/driver with 265 max torque
– two 1.5 amp hour hyper Lithium-Ion Batteries
– ? warranty on the driver
– bonus stackable tool box
We originally purchased this drill in mid-2013, just before we started all of our house renovations. It came with a really nice box for organization, and two batteries. We also *really* liked the size & comfort vs. the larger 18v drills. Less weight = less fatigue = more time to drill! If there was one thing I’d ask to be fixed about this, it would be the back of the drill/handle shape. Spencer gets a blister if he uses this drill without wearing a glove as it wears on his hand. It’s not terrible, but it is something to note. We’ve been very impressed with it’s power … however, we ended up killing it trying to drive 8-inch lag bolts into a double-header (apparently, after doing research, you should really use an impact driver for this … something we weren’t even really aware of until we did research this time around).
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First the 12 volts. Makita and Ridgid compared to our Bosch.
The Makita & Ridgid are both sold as drill/driver and impact driver combos, but the Ridgid came with a “insert” battery option that could be inserted into the handle (like the Bosch) and also “foot” style battery. The Makita came with two “foot” batteries.
Makita 12 volt drill/driver and impact driver set:
(model# CT226)
– Black Friday $99
– drill/driver with 250 lbs. max torque
– impact driver with 970 lbs. max torque
– two 1.5 amp hour Lithium-Ion Batteries
– 3 year warranty on the drivers
The Makita’s felt just a little bit cheap in the hand. The handles were nice, but the batteries made the entire drills slightly bulky. Overall, they seem fine.
Ridgid 12 volt drill/driver and impact driver set:
(model# R9000K)
– Black Friday $99 (was $149) for comparison, the drill alone is $99
– drill/driver with 400 lbs. max torque
– impact driver with 1100 lbs. max torque
– one 4 amp hour hyper Lithium-Ion Battery
– one 1.5 amp hour hyper Lithium-Ion Battery
– lifetime warranty on the drivers & batteries
The ridgid 12v’s are slightly larger than the bosch in our hands, but it’s not too much to be troublesome. They do weigh more than the bosch as well, but still less than 18v drills. We really wanted to love these – at $99 for two of them (drill and a pretty impressive torque impact driver), plus a 4ah & 2ah battery, and lifetime warranties – they are a steal. However, there was one *major* issue with the drill – the chuck, that is the part that clamps down on the bit, loosens very quickly (within seconds). We had read reviews online and thought, “how bad can it really be?” … and then we tried it. The bit falls out on its own within 10 seconds. The “fix” to this is to replace the chuck with one from another drill (not a great solution). … so, this kit hands-down wins … until the chuck issue.
Conclusions:
If it weren’t for the chuck issue and if we were to go with one of the 12 volts, it would probably be the Ridgid. The Mikita did have a smaller diameter handle, but I just personally liked the configuration of the Ridgid (and Bosch) handles better (without the “foot”). They both were the same price.
The Ridgid also just had better specs as well. Better torque 400 & 1100 (Ridgid) compared to 250 & 970 (Mikita), better battery life one 1.5 & one 4 amp hours (Ridgid) compared to two 1.5 amp hours (Mikita), and warranty lifetime on the drivers & batteries (Ridgid) versus 3 year limited (Mikita). (HUGE caveat is the chuck on the Ridgid drill. With all of this in mind, keep on reading, 18v may just be the way to go).
12 volt category winner… Ridgid:
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Next the 18/20 volts. DeWalt and Ridgid compared to our Bosch. Much larger, all with “foot” style batteries. (The DeWalt & second Ridgid are just drills alone with no impact driver).
DeWalt 20 volt drill/driver:
(model DCD771C2)
– Black Friday $99 (was$129)
– drill/driver with ? lbs. max torque
– two 1.3 amp hour Lithium-Ion Batteries
– 1 year free & 3 year limited warranty on drivers
So, as with any 18v drill (though this was 20v), it’s considerably heavier than the 12v. However, the Dewalt has the slimmest profile/size handle of any of the 18v drills we tested. If you have smaller hands, this may be something to consider purely on that reason alone. Otherwise, this drill is very sparse in information … it’s a good brand, but that’s about where it ends.
Ridgid 18 volt drill/driver and impact driver set:
(model# R9602)
– Black Friday $149 (was $179)
– drill/driver with 535 lbs. max torque
– impact driver 1750 lbs. max torque
– two 1.5 amp hour hyper Lithium-Ion Batteries
– lifetime warranty on the drivers & batteries
Both of these are pretty serious drills/drivers. The grip is larger than the Dewalt, but still manageable. The weight isn’t terrible, and they come with lifetime warranties on both the batteries & the drill/driver. Also, the comfort of the grip is the best of the 18v drills that we tested.
Ridgid 18 volt drill/driver:
(model# R860052K)
– Black Friday $99 (was $129)
– drill/driver with 500 max torque
– two 1.5 amp hour hyper Lithium-Ion Batteries
– lifetime warranty on the drivers & batteries
This is like the cheaper cousin of the Ridgid drill above. You can tell they are closely related, but it just looks & feels slightly less ‘high-end.’ It’s still a serious one to consider though, and does have lifetime warranty on the drill & battery.
Again, the Ridgid beat the DeWalt in torque (because the DeWalt torque wasn’t listed), about the same in batteries (due to 20 vs. 18 volt), and warranty lifetime on both the drivers & batteries (Ridgid) versus 1 year free & 3 year limited warranty (DeWalt).
So, the Ridgid wins again in the specs for 18/20 volt category…. it’s just that the 18 volt Ridgid combo is $149 instead of the DeWalt’s $99. But that’s why we included the 18 volt Ridgid drill/driver stand alone for $99 as well.
Overall, the best value however (due to lifetime warranty, comfort, & power), is the 18 volt Ridgid drill/driver and impact driver combo for $149. We really liked the 12 volt combo for the weight issue, but the 12 volt drill/driver’s chuck just didn’t hold the bit very well. For us, we should hear from Bosch to see if they can fix or replace our 12 volt drill. If they do replace it, we can still use our 12 volt Bosch for smaller projects and use the 18 volt Ridgid drill/driver for larger projects…. and the impact driver for even more intense projects (like those lagbots.)
One last note – we didn’t compare the Ryobi or Milwaukee drills. Milwaukee is known as being the best-of-the-best drills, and they charge for it. To us, it just wasn’t worth the price difference – Ridgid is their mid-grade line and offers a superior (lifetime) warranty. However, if you have the funds & don’t mind a five year warranty, we’d strongly recommend considering the Milwaukee drills (12v & 18v, and brushless!). We didn’t consider the Ryobi as they are entry level and had lower specs all-around. However, if you’re new to this or don’t expect to be installing 8-inch lag bolts, I’d look into them. It’s a solid brand, and they come with a three year warranty. Be SURE to register your drill & battery within 90 days of purchasing though or you are defaulted to a one-year warranty (even with Ridgid … especially with Ridgid from what we’ve read).
Second last note – in doing all of the research, we actually learned quite a bit. First off, an impact driver should almost be used to screw in nearly any screw 2.5″ or longer (instead of a drill). Secondly – there is a rest ratio time for your tool – that is how long you need to rest the tool before using it again / burning out a component. Brushless drills have a lower cool down time required vs a non-brushless. It’s a lot of technical details not truly worth going into, nor are we experts enough to really speak on the subject – basically, just remember to let your drill / driver rest every now and then. A brushless is, sometimes, a 50% ratio – if you used your drill for one minute straight, let it rest for one minute. However, with non-brushless, it’s safe to say that you should allow it to rest longer. Aka, if you use it for 10 mins, give it 15-20 minutes of rest before using it heavily again. This mostly applies to heavy use and has a lot to do with your own pace between when you’re pressing the trigger. Another rule of thumb – if you feel the battery getting HOT, stop. Put the drill down – you’re about to fry the motor.
Oh, and Izumi decided she needed to weigh in on the drills:
Apparently, this was the perfect place for a bath:
…aaaaand here’s a normal one for you: