Drill-drivers have moved through different battery voltages like a NASCAR driver moves through gears at Talladega. Many manufacturers pushed through 18 volts and upward to 24 volts, with a few reaching the 36-volt area. Then the power was downshifted and leveled at 18 volts, and along the way the newest power source was installed much like a new motor on a race car. Pushed aside are Ni-Cad and the other older power supplies to be replaced by the latest and greatest batteries known as Lithium-ion.

As we move forward, drill-driver size has become important. Some consider 18- volt drill-drivers too heavy for non-stop use on the job, but like to have the power when needed. Nobody wants to hoist a heavy drill all day long. As a result, compact drill-drivers stepped into action with their lighter weight and smaller dimensions.

Compact drills are great to use for extended periods of time, but if you have to work in small areas such as inside cabinets, even these tools can feel oversized. To squeeze into tight places and to make the job easy and less burdensome on our arms, wrists and shoulders, 12-volt drill- drivers are back in the spotlight.

These drill-drivers include 1⁄4" hex- drive tools as well as standard chuck designs. To whittle down the list of candidates for our review, we set parameters that we felt would be the best choice for everyday use. Drill-drivers with 1⁄4" hex heads are OK for some operations such as driving screws. But for simple drilling tasks, we didn’t want to have to have a dedicated line of tooling (drill bits with 1⁄4" hex shanks). We decided that two- speed drills that afforded the operator the choice of torque settings, and had conventional chucks in a 3⁄8" size, were the best bet.

While you might think that this list of requirements is limiting, we found six contenders that met our parameters. The six include the Bosch PS30-2A, Craftsman’s NEXTEC drill-driver, the Hitachi DS10DFL, Makita’s DF330DW (the only 10.8-volt tool in the test), the Milwaukee 2410-22 and Ridgid’s R82008 drill-driver.

About the Tests
For comparison to the larger drill-drivers reviewed in April 2008 (issue #168), we set about to drill holes in 13⁄4"-thick poplar using 1"-spade bits and to drive 1⁄4" lag screws that are 11⁄4" in length into the same thickness of poplar. Each phase was completed beginning with a fully charged battery. For the drilling phase, we set the tool to the highest speed and for the lag-screw portion of the test we selected the lowest speed.

As a simple comparison, the lowest number of holes drilled with the 18-volt tools was 19 (the highest was 37). With the lower-voltage drill-drivers in this review, the greatest number of holes is eight. The results are similar when the lag-screw portion of testing is compared. It’s easy to see that these drill-drivers are not the tools to grab if you have heavy-duty work to perform. But after you work with these tools for an extended period of time, you’ll notice less wear and tear on your body.

The tests are best for a comparison between like tools and not to indicate workload capabilities. And because the purpose of these smaller voltage drill-drivers is comfort during use, it may be better to gauge the feel of the tool in your hands, how balanced the drill-driver is or isn’t and whether the battery charge is in line with the competition, along with other characteristics.

Comfort is Key
A quick look at the chart at right reveals two important areas when the overall feel of the drills is discussed: girth measurement and the total weight of the tool (the drill-driver and the weight of the battery).

To choose an appropriate girth measurement, you have to evaluate your hands as a beginning. Obviously, if you have large hands, a small girth such as the 5" on the Hitachi DS10DFL is going to swim in your grip. But with medium-sized hands, I found this drill-driver to be comfortable to use and easy to grab.

The “easy to grab” part of the equation could be due in part to the battery design. Hitachi is the only drill-driver in the test to keep the battery design similar to that of larger drills, with a wide base design that holds the tool upright for easy pick-up. Hitachi’s competitors have all adapted a smaller battery that slips inside the handle of the tool, and that increases the girth of the drill-driver.

Contrarily, if your hands are larger, you may find a better fit with large-girth drills. If that’s the case, the Milwaukee 2410-22 or the Ridgid R82008 could be your choice. Both of these drill-drivers have a girth of 61⁄4", the largest in the group.

The average weight for the 18-volt drills is 4.1 pounds. The heaviest drill-driver in this review is 2.64 pounds and the average is 2.57 pounds. That tells me a couple things. First, the difference between 18-volts and the lower voltage drill-drivers is significant – 1.46 pounds is better than a 50-percent increase in weight over the smaller drills. Your arms and shoulders will feel better after working a full day with any of these tools versus an 18-volt drill-driver.

Second, there is little weight difference when comparing these drill-drivers to each other. Overall, there is a difference of only 63⁄4 ounces between the heaviest and lightest of these tools. In my opinion, tool weight can be discounted as being too close to warrant a choice based solely on this characteristic.

A Tip of the Drill
As for overall balance, a few of these drill-drivers feel more top-heavy than the others. The Bosch and Makita drills tip forward when set in the upright position, indicating that these drills would roll your wrist downward when put to work. The Craftsman and Ridgid tools sit upright, but tip with the slightest touch. The Milwaukee drill-driver, the heaviest tool in the test, is balanced and stands squarely on its battery-filled base.

Another area where comfort becomes apparent is with the over-molded grips and the shape of the tool as it rests in your hand. Most of the drill-drivers have a gentle rounded shape at the rear of the tool, directly behind the trigger. The Bosch and Ridgid tools, however, form an acute angle that rubs the area between your thumb and forefinger. Not comfortable.

Rotation and Speed Selection
Each drill-driver has a rotation selection switch for forward and reverse movement, and a lock position. Push the switch fully to the left and the drill rotates to drive a screw. A switch pushed fully to the right backs a screw out of your workpiece. And the center position, which is hard to find on a couple of these drill-drivers, is the lock position. (The lock position is used when drill bits or screwdrivers are replaced.)

The Makita tool has the smallest rotation switch while the Craftsman switch is the largest and most noticeable. It is also the switch that’s the most difficult to operate. Because there are operations when you need to increase or decrease the rotation speed, each drill-driver has a two-speed gearbox. As a result, changing those speeds is of importance.

Each of the tools has the speed selector on the top of the tool. On the Hitachi and Craftsman drill-drivers, to select the low-speed setting you push the selector forward, and to move to the higher gear, you pull the selector back. The other tools in the test work in the reverse way.

Overall, the selector on the Hitachi drill-driver is the stiffest and hardest to adjust, while the others are easy to change.

Other Interesting Attributes
All the tools in this test have common attributes, such as multiple torque settings so you can dial in the exact amount of torque for any given task (although I seldom adjust the torque settings) and each drill-driver includes two batteries so the idea of completing a job without any downtime waiting on batteries to recharge is minimal. (All the tools have 30-minute chargers except for the Makita DF330DW, which has a 50-minute recharge time).

Interestingly, each of the tools in the test require a two-finger grip, with a quick squeeze, to change the batteries. For all the drill-drivers except the Ridgid, the grip is across the width of the tool. To change the battery on the Ridgid, you pinch the battery from front to back. Even with the difference in how the batteries are replaced, the operations to change out the power sources are equally smooth and easy.

Shine-on LED
Another feature that most drill-drivers have – and all the tools in this test have as well – is a light emitting diode (LED). And because these tools are great for enclosed areas, the LED differences should be discussed.

The standout LED is on the Makita driver. It is brighter than the others in the test. And more important, the LED comes on when the trigger is slightly depressed. The Makita LED also stays illuminated for 10 seconds after the drill stops, then it fades to off.

The Ridgid LED is the second brightest. It, along with the Milwaukee LED, is noticeably angled upward when compared to the others.

The Milwaukee tool is the only one with a fuel-gauge light to indicate battery power. As the trigger is depressed, the LED shines, and for a period of two to three seconds, a fuel gauge light illuminates with one to four dots, depending on the remaining charge.

Which Drill-driver to Choose
Choosing a 12-volt drill-driver should not require that you give up on the tool’s ability to be a workhorse in the shop just because you need to work in tight areas. But comfort is also a concern with repeated use. So which drill driver do you choose?

The Editor’s Choice award goes to the Milwaukee 2410-22. It’s the overall best tool. It powered through the 1" holes and amassed a whopping 491⁄2 driven lag screws. And there is plenty of torque to do the job.

The 2410-22 registered a lowly 105º motor temperature and scored near the average in battery temperature (138º). Excessive heat should not shorten this tool’s life.

The Milwaukee drill-driver is well balanced and comfortable in your hand. The rotation switch and speed selector are easy to use without being switched inadvertently.

Also, the Milwaukee single-sleeve chuck is the only all-metal chuck in the group.

But if the $149 price tag on the Milwaukee drill is too steep for your budget, take a look at our “Best Value” drill-driver. Hitachi claims this honor with the DS10DFL.

The test numbers for the Hitachi drill are good, but are still behind those posted by Milwaukee’s drill-driver. The tool is comfortable in small to medium hands, but large hands may find issues with it.

The Hitachi drill-driver is about $40 less expensive than the 2410-22 and is considerably lighter. And I particularly like the old-school battery/base design. PW

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Bosch PS30-2A

The Bosch 12-volt drill-driver is certainly a handful of tool. it’s near the top in handle girth (6-1⁄8") and tied for the top in the drill- head-length measurement at 7-7⁄8".

With a price tag at $131 and change, the PS30-2A is the fourth-most expensive drill- driver in our test.

the PS30-2A drilled a test-leading 8 holes in the 1" spade-bit drill-a-thon. It also has the lowest upper-end speed setting in the group.

In the lag-screw test, the Bosch drill- driver performed admirably by installing nearly 32 lags. While that number was not the most lags driven, it was enough to position the tool in fourth place.

We all know that heat is a destructive force on batteries as well as tool life, but even with more than eight holes drilled, and the battery depleted, the PS30-2A registered a motor temperature of 108º (just below the mean temperature). And at 136º, the battery temperature was also positioned in the middle of the pack.

This tool gave our top pick a run for the money given its ability to drill holes and drive lags, but in the end, the ps30-2a was nudged out due to tool design. during use, the back of the drill rides heavily on the area between your thumb and forefinger, causing soreness.

The Bosch PS30-2A, two batteries and a charger are packaged in a canvas case. additional batteries are $33.

boschtools.com or 877-267-2499 • Street price: $131.47

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Craftsman 11812

The Craftsman NEXTEC drill-driver has the third-smallest girth size and is one of the longest drill drivers in the test with a drill- head-length measurement of 7-7⁄8".

The good news is that this drill-driver is the least expensive tool in our test (at $80, it sells for $69 less than the most expensive drill reviewed). Unfortunately, the NEXTEC drill is also the least productive of the drill- drivers tested. While six holes were driven through the 1-3⁄4"-thick poplar before the 1.3 amp hour battery gave out (that was the third-highest test number for holes driven), only six lag screws were seated before the juice ran out on a fully charged battery. And those six screws required three attempts to drive them home due to multiple motor stoppages.

Also, the NEXTEC battery and the tool itself did not heat to the levels comparable with the other drills in the test (probably because of the lack of actual work). The tool’s temperature tied for the lowest in the test with a drill that drove eight times as many lag screws. And the battery temperature topped out at 123º, again the lowest in the test.

The NEXTEC drill driver is great for occasional use in the shop, or for do-it- yourself work around the house, but we don’t recommend this tool as your “go to” drill in this category.

Replacement batteries are $25 and the kit is packaged in a canvas carrying case.

craftsman.com or 800-349-4358 • Street price: $79.99

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Hitachi DS10DFL

Hitachi’s 3⁄8" drill-driver is the only tool in the test that stayed with a traditional drill- driver design. The base of the tool is wide and holds the drill upright without issues. This allows for an easy pickup when reaching for the tool.

With the smallest girth in the review (5") and a middle-of-the-road measurement for the drill-head length (71⁄2"), this drill fits comfortably in any small-to-medium hand.

The DS10DFl is priced around $108, the second-most inexpensive tool in the test. So you may guess the tool would place near the bottom when drilling holes or driving screws. But that’s not the case. In fact, with 48-1⁄2 lag screws driven, it’s only one screw away from the best results in the test; that could be a result of the slowest low- end speed setting (300 rpm).

The number of holes drilled is slightly different. Here the Hitachi drill-driver completed five holes before the 1.5 amp hour battery pooped out.

Motor temperatures for the Hitachi drill ran on the high side of those tested at 114º. But the battery temperature rated second from the coolest at 127º.

One area of disappointment is the battery charger. There is little information on the unit; it simply indicates a charging battery and when the battery is fully charged. Overall, we are impressed with the Hitachi DS10DFl and think this is a good-quality drill for the money.

hitachipowertools.com or 800-706-7337 • Street price: $107.73

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Makita DF330DW

The Makita DF330DW places in the middle of the pack in both girth (5-5⁄8") and in the drill-head-length measurement at 7-1⁄2". It is noticeably top heavy and tips forward when set down. As a result, Makita’s drill- driver will not stand upright.

The purchase price of the Makita drill- driver pushed it into the top half of all the drills in the test at $134.

The DF330DW scraped the bottom of the tested tools in holes drilled with just four, but rebounded a bit when driving lag screws – 41-1⁄2 lags were driven on a single 1.3 amp hour battery that was fully charged.

Temperature testing came after the hole drilling phase and Makita’s drill-driver reached higher-than-average recordings. The motor temperature reached a test-high 116º and the battery temperature hit a sweltering 168º, the highest in the test by 30º.

The most curious feature that stands out on this tool is why engineers selected a 50-minute battery charger to accompany this tool. It’s the longest recharge time and makes the possibility of downtime while waiting for a battery to recharge a distinct possibility.

The Makita DF330DW is a good choice if you have an occasional need for a drill- driver of this size. But you’ll have to move on if you’re looking for a standout 12-volt, 3⁄8" drill-driver.

Battery replacement cost is $40.

makita.com or 800-462-5482 • Street price: $133.99

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Milwaukee 2410-22

The Milwaukee drill-driver is the standout tool in this test. It’s a stout tool that fits comfortably into larger hands – the girth size is tied for the largest at 6-1⁄4" and the drill-head length is 7-1⁄2".

The $149 purchase price is tops in the test as well, but in this case the outlay of funds is justified.

The 2410-22 has the highest torque rating and the highest, high-end rpm rating in the group. It is the leader in both test categories with eight holes drilled and 49-1⁄2 lag screws driven, each on a single 1.4 amp- hour battery charge.

After the eight holes were complete, the tool temperature came in tied for lowest at 105º and the battery temperature was a respectable, although not the lowest in the test, at 138º.

The Milwaukee 2410-22 is also the only drill-driver tested to include a fuel-gauge indicator light and the led shines upward to help light up the work area.

If pushed to come up with a downside to this drill-driver, I would have to comment on the size and weight of the tool. Small hands will find this drill-driver to be thick, but very usable. And there is a noticeable weight difference when compared to the other drill-drivers tested.

Bottom line: this drill-driver is at the top of the category and is well worth your investment dollars.

Replacement batteries are $39.

milwaukeetool.com or 800-729-3878 • Street price: $149

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Ridgid R82008

This drill-driver is available as part of a kit only. The kit includes the R82008 drill- driver, two 1.5 amp-hour batteries, a 30- minute charger and a flashlight that works off the same batteries. If you need the flashlight, there’s extra value here.

The ridgid R82008 drill-head-length measurement is the shortest in the test at 6-3⁄4". It also had one of the highest girth measurements in the group. But if you need to squeeze into a small work area, this might be your tool. It is very compact and thick not only at the grip area, but at the nose as well. The single latch to release the battery from the tool is located on the backside of the battery. You have to change your grip to make the switch.

The Ridgid R82008 came in just below average with five holes drilled and ranked second from the bottom in total number of lag screws driven at 24-1⁄2, which is surprising given its 240 inch-pounds of torque.

The R82008 registered a cool 105º reading on the motor, which is tied for the coolest motor temperature. It didn’t fare quite so well in the battery temperature at 138º.

Overall, this is a good-working drill- driver, but i don’t think the tool performed well enough in the test to reach a “buy” decision. Even with the added flashlight I don’t think the kit is the choice to make.

Replacement batteries for the R82008 are available for $40.

ridgid.com or 866-539-1710 • Street price: $139

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COMPACT 12V DRILL-DRIVERS

Glen is a senior editor of this magazine, the author of several woodworking books and the host of several woodworking DVDs. Contact him at 531-513-2690 x11293 or glen.huey@fwmedia.com.