The best drills we tested
Best drill: DeWalt 20V Max Brushless 1/2-Inch Compact Drill
Best budget drill: Skil 20V 1/2-Inch Cordless Drill
Best impact driver: Milwaukee M18 1/4-Inch Compact Impact Driver
An electric power drill is perhaps one of the most important power tools any homeowner could have. They can help hang shelves and drywall, assist with quick fixes around the house and can even create new screw holes in various materials (e.g. concrete, drywall, wood, etc.). Whether needed for basic homeowner tasks or being used as part of a larger renovation, their value can’t be understated.
But there’s a wide range of drills available in different power options, sizes and capabilities. As someone who just finished building a new house, I know just how useful a versatile drill can be and how vital it is in helping anyone get through their ever-growing to-do list of projects.
To find the best drills worth buying, I tested a pool of 18V to 24V brushless power drills, as well as a few impact drills for variety. I used them to hang cabinets and curtain rods, build a climbing wall, repair towel racks and do countless other odd jobs around my house. Some were even used to put the finishing touches on my newly built home. In the end, three drills stood out as the absolute best.
DeWalt’s 20V Max set the gold standard for our drill test. With some of the most powerful scores driving in screws and drilling holes, long battery life and incredible precision, there is no question it’s the best rotational drill we tested.
Skil’s Compact 20V is not only one of the smallest drills we tested but it’s the least expensive. And while this drill is small, it’s also powerful, making it perfect for the homeowner who needs to tackle small jobs.
Milwaukee’s M18 impact driver delivers substantial power despite being one of the smallest and lightest drills we tested. It’s perfect for small or large jobs and packs a punch despite its size.
Best drill: DeWalt 20V Max Brushless 1/2-Inch Compact Drill
After spending roughly a month testing several of its drills, DeWalt should change its name to “DaBeast.” I tested the 20V Max Brushless drill, the 20V Max Atomic series drill and the 20V Atomic impact driver. They all consistently scored near the top in every one of our tests, but the drill that emerged as the best is DeWalt’s gold standard, the 20V Max Brushless drill.
I put the drill through its paces fresh out of the box by using it to hang cabinets, a task that needs speed and precision for the weekend carpenter to do right. It locked them in quicker and easier than any other drill I tested. When drilling for drywall anchors and hanging curtain rods, it was also smooth and sensitive, which is exactly what you need for those jobs.
While most cordless drills have a braking function that stops the drill the second you stop pushing the trigger, DeWalt’s 20V Max has one of the quickest. This means that when you’re drilling screws, there are no extra turns that might strip it as you pull up and move on to the next one, allowing you to jump quicker from one screw to the next. It’s also a useful safety feature since it stops your drill from spinning when you pull it out and let go, preventing what could be a dangerous extra couple of revolutions.
In testing, the DeWalt 20V Max Brushless drove the screws deepest of all the rotating drills. It was also the fastest at drilling through a two-by-four, a good second quicker than any other drill in the testing pool. It also performed well while drilling holes into concrete.
The DeWalt 20V Max’s lithium-ion PowerStack battery was also a stand-out, as it ran for roughly five hours, blowing away the closest competitor by over an hour. This gives the average homeowner working on a weekend project plenty of battery life for jobs of any size. Once the battery is drained, it takes around 80 minutes to fully charge. Add to this the fact that it can fit almost any size drill bit you’d need to use and you have a super-drilling machine.
DeWalt’s reputation for making tough and strong tools is well known, so it should be no surprise that the 20V Max performed as well as it did. It offers excellent power, long battery life and versatility that’s unmatched by many other drills.
Best budget drill: Skil 20V 1/2-Inch Cordless Drill
I tried several small drills but Skil’s Compact 20 was the best I tested and is a quality option if you’re looking for an affordable, lightweight yet strong drill. With category-leading performance in many of our tests despite its size, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better, cheaper option.
This drill continued to surprise me throughout testing as it performed among the best in the pool for screw-driving and was top three in drilling. It even beat some of the larger, heavier and more expensive competitors, which is astounding considering how inexpensive and small this drill is.
With its standard battery pack, this was also the lightest of any drill we tested. This proves especially helpful when you need to use the drill for jobs where you need to raise your arm above your head (like installing curtain rods or adjusting a light fixture). With its small size, Skil’s Compact 20V can also maneuver at random angles and in areas where it’s tough to fit a full-size drill.
There are a few drawbacks, though. The battery life is one of the shortest among the drills we tested, and while it did perform well, it can’t match the power of our biggest drills. It’s probably not the drill you want to use for boring into concrete or drilling through heavy, thick wood.
What it is perfect for is assembling furniture, since particle board can crumble under too much pressure and hanging things like shower rods. A nice added benefit is its wide built-in light, which was the biggest light on any drill we tested and perfect for drilling in shadows.
If you’re looking for a dependable tool to keep around the house for all those random tasks that come up more frequently than you think they will, Skil’s Compact 20V is the perfect partner.
Best impact driver: Milwaukee M18 1/4-Inch Compact Impact Driver
Milwaukee is known for making durable, red-colored tools that can handle almost any project you throw at them. Because of that, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that its M18 Compact Impact Driver was one of our best-tested picks. It packs a serious punch but comes in a small package. This is great for any homeowner, as it’s useful across many project types.
Since the M18 impact driver only has one setting (essentially “go time”) it’s lighter and has fewer frills than many of the other drills we tested. And since weight can be a concern with drills, the M18 impact driver counterbalances its light weight via its unique driving motion. This means you get the benefits of a lighter tool but none of the drawbacks.
It’s also a stand-out in terms of how it drills. The M18 impact driver drove screws incredibly smoothly and could even pop loose old, rusted screws easier than most others without stripping them. In one test, I assessed how quickly it could drill through a two-by-four, and it bested the entire product pool by about one second. Of course, it didn’t excel at every test I threw at it. Milwaukee’s M18 impact driver was a little noisier and had more of a persistent whir than our top pick, the DeWalt 20V Max Brushless.
Despite that, the M18 impact driver is still impressive, especially when you consider some of the extras it comes with, such as the five-year limited warranty Milwaukee offers. Additionally, you can buy this impact driver as part of a kit that also comes with Milwaukee’s M18 Hammer Drill, another tool that performed extremely well in our standard drilling tests. With this hammer drill and the M18 impact driver, there will be very little that you can’t do.
How we tested
We started our testing process by using these drills in the most basic ways. We used them to hang cabinets, curtain rods, pictures and shelving and relied on them to help piece together pieces of furniture and take apart old tightly locked ski bindings.
Throughout that process, we made sure to note how the drill felt in our hand, how easily it drove in screws, how it fit in small spaces or worked at weird angles, and how quickly each drill took care of our tasks. Then we set up a series of challenges and took more technical measurements of how each drill performed. Here’s what we tested.
Drilling tests
- The Philips-head test: This test involved driving standard Phillips-head screws into a two-by-four mounted on a piece of plywood, measuring how smoothly the screws went in, how deep the screws went into the wood and how cleanly they drilled.
- The 7/16-inch test: We drilled 7/16-inch holes into a two-by-four, measuring the time it took to drill and evaluating the overall smoothness. We also used the same-sized drill bit to drill holes into a dead hardwood tree, measuring how long it took and how deep it went before the drill stopped.
- The concrete test: We tested the drills by making screw holes into concrete and timing how long it took.
Features and qualities
- Chuck size: The size of each drill’s chuck, which is the aperture that holds the bit, was also a major consideration, as this can have an impact on the drill’s ease of use.
- Drill design: Even more important is the size of the drill, its weight and how loud it is, since the noise of a drill can echo in your ears after a long day of work. We evaluated how easy it would be to carry and hold, and if it fit into tight spaces.
- Battery life: We tested each drill’s fully charged battery by holding the trigger with a clamp and timing how long it took until it died. This was no easy task as some batteries lasted roughly five hours before going out. We then timed how long it took to fully recharge the battery.
- Warranties: We considered the warranty offered by each brand, in terms of length and amount of coverage.
How to shop for drills
A power drill is a wonder tool that can handle various tasks and projects, big and small. For that reason, there are countless options when it comes to the type of drill you should own.
The first question to ask is whether you want a cordless or a corded drill. Corded drills can grind for hours without running out of battery life, and you can run a more powerful drill without the extra weight of a battery. It’s most serious drawback, however, is its portability. A corded drill is impractical for most users unless you’re a contractor constantly working on big projects.
Battery-powered drills offer a different, more versatile experience. You just pick it up when you need it, pop on the battery and get to work without the limitation of extra cords.
When it comes to power drills, voltage is another consideration. There are small models with a voltage rating in the single digits that are quite limited as far as what they can do. We recommend shopping for drills in the 18V to 24V range, as these are often powerful enough to handle a wide range of projects. We tested drills in this power range for this guide specifically for that reason.
You’ll also want to consider the size of the drill’s chuck, which is the opening for screw and drill bits. Drills come with a 1/4-inch, a 3/8-inch or a 1/2-inch chuck. This is important because the bigger the size, the bigger the bit it can handle.
Finally, there are several power drill types, including rotating, hammer and impact drills. Rotating drills are the typical standard that uses a rotating drill motion and has various settings to dial in the amount of torque you want.
Hammer drills also fall into this “standard” category since you can dial in the specific chuck size and many allow you to select your torque. The difference is that these use a hammering drive (as opposed to circular rotation), making them heavier for some projects. However, they enable the drill to bore into materials like concrete considerably more easily.
Impact drivers use rotation and impact to drive drill bits and give more power to both driving in and pulling out screws. But they only have one speed and their chuck size, which is often a 1/4-inch, can’t be expanded or decreased based on the bit size you want to use. They help get out tough screws or drill into tougher materials, but given the pounding motion, impact drivers can cause some thin surfaces to splinter. For instance, we don’t recommend using one to hang curtains into drywall.
Other drills we tested
DeWalt’s 20V Max Atomic is a great alternative to our top pick. It doesn’t offer the same level of power, but if you need small drill for small- to medium-sized tasks, this is the drill to buy.
It should be no surprise that our best drill’s sibling, the 20V Max Atomic, performed almost as well as the bigger one. On most tests, it was the second or third most powerful, and since it can use DeWalt’s Power Stack battery, which blew away every other battery we tested, it nearly nabbed the title of runner-up in the best drill category. It did have noticeably less power than the top drills in our guide, though, which ultimately held it back.
The biggest benefit of the Atomic over our top pick, the 20V Max, is its size. For example, when screwing a board onto a cabinet for a table below my tool bench, the 20V Max didn’t fit in the tight space. But the Atomic fit perfectly. With its smaller size comes more maneuverability and some weight savings as well.
If you’re trying to find that perfect nexus where small size meets big power, DeWalt’s 20V Max Atomic is just right.
It’s heavy and loud, but Kobalt’s 24V Max is one of the most powerful drills we tested. If you only need a drill for assembling furniture or hanging pictures, you may want to look elsewhere.
Kobalt’s 24V Max is the second-most powerful drill in our testing pool, offering a level of power and precision that’s nearly unmatched. It drives screws deeper than most, drilled quicker than almost every other tool and its battery ran for over three hours on a single charge.
But what held it back is that one of its biggest strengths is its main drawback: its size. The 24V Max was the biggest and heaviest drill we tested. It was also the loudest. For some people, it would be no issue to hold this drill above their head or screw in drywall for a few hours. Others will quickly get tired, and the drill’s weight negates its usefulness for things like assembling furniture. If you don’t mind the size or you prefer having some extra heft to help drive and drill, Kobalt’s 24V Max would be the best drill for you.
This powerful little 18V drill is great at drilling into harder surfaces like rock or concrete, but it may not be the best choice as an all-around option.
Milwaukee’s M18 1/2-inch Compact Cordless Hammer Drill is excellent at drilling into concrete, and its hammer motion gives it an extra kick when needed. Despite its 18V power, it performed highly across each of our drilling and power tests.
While it may not have topped our tests, the hammer function of this drill sets it apart if you’re looking for a drill that works on concrete or rock. If you want a “one kit fits all set,” pair this with our top-rated Milwaukee M18 impact drill and there will be almost nothing you can’t handle.
This impact driver was in a close race to nab one of our top spots in the guide, but its larger size ultimately held it back — not everyone needs this big of a drill. But it still offers plenty of power and does so while also being one of the quietest drills we tested.
Although DeWalt’s Atomic Max Impact Driver wasn’t one of our best-tested picks, don’t think it’s underpowered or unworthy. It was a back-and-forth between this and the Milwaukee impact driver, with the DeWalt topping a few of our driving tests. The DeWalt impact driver is a little bigger, though, which may not benefit every user. On the other hand, it was one of the quieter models, especially compared to other impact drivers (where one of the biggest complaints is how loud they are compared to rotating drills).
While it is bigger than the Milwaukee drill, its place in the Atomic line ensures it’s one of the smaller impact drivers on the market while still delivering plenty of power. And, of course, it brings that DeWalt reputation for quality and durability.
This drill won’t wow you with its battery life, overall power or drilling capability, but it is one of the smallest and lightest options we tested. It’s great for small projects around the house and is backed by an excellent warranty from Bosch.
There’s a lot to like about Bosch’s 18V Brushless drill. The look is one of the smoothest of every drill we tested, and the handle is one of the thinnest, making it great for those with smaller hands. It’s also the quietest drill we tested.
However, while it performed well in the drilling and driving tests, it was one of the less powerful options. It is quite light, making it good for smaller tasks, but it’s worth noting that the battery died sooner than most other options we tested.
It does come with a five-year limited warranty on the drill and a three-year warranty for the battery. Bosch’s 18V Brushless drill is a light and quiet but completely adequate cordless drill and driver.
Black and Decker’s Power Connect Matrix 20V allows you to have one tool that can be swapped out for various power tool attachments: an impact driver, a sander, a router, an oscillating multitool and, of course, the standard drill or driver. It’s literally an all-in-one power toolbox.
As a drill alone, Black and Decker’s Power Connect Matrix 20V took care of most of the drilling and driving tasks I asked of it — just not as quickly or powerfully as its competitors. But where it truly excels is with its versatility.
For instance, say you want to install some new laminate flooring. To do it right, you’d need a drill, a jigsaw, an oscillating power tool and, possibly, a sander. This means you either need to buy each of those tools separately or get one tool capable of handling it all. If you only use tools when an immediate need arises, you’d be wasting money kitting out a full home workshop, and some of your tools might even become outdated before you need them again. This is exactly where the Power Connect Matrix comes into play.
The Power Connect Matrix offers this unique variety that’s perfect for the homeowner who tackles a small job from time to time. None of the attachments will perform as well as the designated tool they replace, but having access to all of them, in one place, is an incredible value.
