The 2021 Best Cordless Drills

The 2021 Best Cordless Drills

When shopping for a vehicle, you may take into account the vehicle’s power, performance, speed, and handling. The same appears to be true if you’re in the market for a cordless drill—except you’re drilling screws and holes into wood, drywall, and metal, not roadways.
 
Cordless drills have improved in versatility, power, weight, and efficiency over the last decade, owing to developments in lithium-ion battery technology. (The batteries frequently last longer and charge more quickly.)
 
“An emerging trend is replaceable batteries that operate throughout a brand’s whole line of power tools,” says Courtney Pennicooke, CR’s cordless drill market analyst. “This means that you may use the same batteries to power your drill, chainsaw, and string trimmer.

You may modify the voltage to suit the project at hand and save money by purchasing only the essential equipment required to complete your set.”
 
Whether installing a new ceiling fan or constructing a backyard shed, an increasing number of consumers are turning to flexible heavy-duty drills to complete the task.

According to a recent CR member poll, individuals who possess cordless drills choose heavy-duty versions by a large margin (18 to 20 volts or higher). 42% of members possess 18-volt drills, while 22% own 20-volt versions. 2% go all-in on drills with a voltage of 22 volts or greater.

Cordless Drills

However, how much power do you truly require?

• Drills for general usage (about 12 volts) and light-duty work may handle the majority of domestic tasks.
•  You’re familiar with the drill. We whittled the field down to the most generally available types and subjected them to a battery of tests in our cordless drill lab, where we utilize a device called a dynamometer to determine torque under various loads.
• We converted these measurements to power, speed, and run time scores. Additionally, we integrated expected dependability and owner satisfaction ratings derived from CR’s member survey data. Two-thirds of cordless drill brands receive favorable ratings in both categories.
• Bosch, DeWalt, Makita, Milwaukee, and Ridgid achieve the highest scores for anticipated dependability and owner satisfaction.
• Chicago Electric Power Tools is on the other end of the spectrum, with a dependability rating of Fair and an owner satisfaction rating of Poor.
•  The following is an alphabetical list of ten of our best cordless drills. For more information on drill types, visit our cordless drill purchasing guide or skip straight to our in-depth cordless drill ratings.