It also tends to be more expensive, and the LED is positioned at the top of the handle. Finally, the DeWalt DCD791D2 kit comes with a nice hard case that leaves plenty of room for drill and driver bits. The LED sits at the foot of the 20-volt tool, as it does on the 12-volt model, but here DeWalt has put an unusual spin on the idea. It can’t replace a real flashlight (we have some more thoughts on those), but in a crawlspace or a poorly lit basement, it has come in handy for us.
And given the excellent performance of the brushed motor version, we don’t think this drill and its so-so ergonomics are worth the investment. For our structured tests, we sunk 3-inch screws into doubled-up 2-by-10 lumber (a total of 3 inches thick). We did this on a fully charged battery until the battery was empty. This test simulated the process of framing, as if someone were building a tree house or a partition wall. To prevent the drills from overheating, we rested them after every 14 screws.
But the DeWalt 12-volt’s balance was so nice that, before we weighed the drills, we were convinced it was the lightest one we were testing. The truth is that the Bosch GSR12V-300B22 is almost half a pound lighter. For these tests, we set the drills to the faster of the two speeds and switched over to the slower speed (with higher torque) when dewalt reciprocating saw a drill stopped being effective. With a drill in the lower gear, we were usually able to continue on for a bit until the battery was completely drained. For the drilling test, the 12-volt models usually could handle drilling only a few holes before we switched over to the lower gear with the higher torque needed for the difficult task.
In order to know for sure, we had to personally test the drills, and that’s exactly what we did. The DEWALT DCD996P2 hammer drill includes a bright, three-mode LED spotlight that lets you to work in waning daylight or in confined spaces without losing sight of what you’re doing. It’s 20 times brighter than the previous model and includes a 20-minute shutoff function that allows for extended worktime in dark or confined spaces. Though the smaller 12-volt battery gives this drill a shorter run time, Bosch makes up for it by including two batteries in the kit. There are also two speed options and 20 clutch settings, plus one for drilling, adding the versatility needed to handle various jobs. There are drills with brushed or brushless motors, various voltages, and different chuck sizes, among other specifications.
We then inserted a ½-inch auger bit and started drilling holes in a tree stump. This DeWalt drill powered right through multiple holes on both low and high speeds. The tool’s grip is comfortable in the hand, and DeWalt has added a bonus palm support on the back of the drill, which allowed us to use our other hand to stabilize the drill and exert pressure on the bit. The following cordless drills represent many of the top brands, which are known for reliability and value, and we tested each drill on the list.
We switched to a 2-inch hole-saw bit and drilled a dozen or so holes with the DeWalt drill. After about 55 minutes of solid use, we lost battery power, so we paused to recharge dewalt reciprocating saw the battery before we tested its driver functions. As with all of the drills, the first thing we did was charge the drill’s 20V battery to ensure we had plenty of runtime.