Cordless Power Tools: How to Pick a Brand and Kit
With cordless tools, the smartest decision is not which drill to buy, it is which battery system to commit to. Here is how to choose well.
Pick the platform, not just the tool
Every cordless tool runs on a brand's battery. Once you own batteries and a charger, staying in that system is far cheaper because you buy bare tools without new batteries each time. So choose a brand with a wide lineup you might grow into.
Match voltage to the work
Lighter voltage platforms are lighter and fine for around-the-house drilling and driving. Higher voltage systems deliver more power for demanding jobs and outdoor equipment. Most homeowners are well served by a mainstream mid-voltage line.
Start with a combo kit
A drill-and-impact-driver combo with two batteries and a charger is the best-value entry point and covers the majority of home tasks. From there you can add a saw, sander, or yard tool on the same batteries.
Batteries are the real cost
Bare tools are cheap; batteries are not. Buy kits when they include the batteries you need, and keep an eye out for battery bundles. More amp-hours means longer runtime and more weight.
Amp-hours, volts, and what each one does
Voltage sets power. Amp-hours set runtime. They are frequently confused and they do different jobs. An 18V or 20V MAX platform, which are the same thing named differently, covers essentially all homeowner and most professional work. 12V platforms are lighter and shorter, which makes them better in tight spaces and better for long overhead work, and they are genuinely capable for assembly, cabinetry, and electrical.
Amp-hours are runtime per charge. A 2.0Ah battery is light and suits a drill. A 5.0Ah battery weighs roughly twice as much and runs a circular saw or a grinder without sagging. High-draw tools also pull more current than small packs deliver, so a saw on a 1.5Ah battery underperforms even when charged. Match pack size to the tool: small packs for drills and drivers, large packs for anything with a blade.
Brushless is worth it, with one exception
Brushless motors have no carbon brushes to wear, run cooler, deliver 20 to 50 percent more runtime from the same battery, and produce more torque in a smaller housing. They cost more up front and they last considerably longer. For any tool you will use regularly, brushless is the correct buy.
The exception is a tool you will use twice a year. A brushed oscillating multi-tool or a brushed detail sander at half the price is fine if it lives in a closet. Brushes in a tool used lightly outlast the owner's interest in the project.
The platform decision is the real decision
Batteries cost $50 to $120 each and only fit their own brand. Once you own three or four packs, switching brands means rebuying all of them, which is why the first kit you buy effectively chooses your tools for the next decade. Before committing, check that the brand makes the tools you will want in three years, not only the drill you want today. Brands differ enormously in lineup breadth: some offer 300 tools on one battery, others offer 30.
Also check backward compatibility. The major brands have kept a single battery interface for 10 to 15 years, which protects the investment. A brand that has changed its battery format twice is telling you something.
Torque ratings and how they are inflated
Drill torque is quoted in inch-pounds and impact driver torque in inch-pounds or newton-meters, and manufacturers measure them differently enough that cross-brand comparison is close to meaningless. A drill quoted at 500 in-lbs from one brand and 650 from another may perform identically.
What to look at instead: chuck size, where 1/2 inch handles larger bits and hole saws while 3/8 inch does not; speed ranges, where a two-speed gearbox matters more than peak torque; and whether the tool has a clutch with enough settings to avoid stripping screws. For impact drivers, three-speed selection is more useful than peak numbers because the low setting is what prevents driving a screw through drywall.
What a good price looks like
A two-tool brushless combo kit, drill and impact driver with two batteries and a charger, lists $199 to $279 and falls to $99 to $169 during major sale events, which is where most people should buy. Five-tool kits list $400 to $600 and reach $250 to $350. Bare tools, sold without battery, run 40 to 50 percent of kit price and are the right purchase once you own packs. Battery multipacks discount hardest around holiday tool events, often two 5.0Ah packs for the price of one.
Compare current picks
Browse drills, combo kits, and outdoor tools in our tools & DIY category, and check which battery platform each uses in the price context.