Best Impact Driver? 12 Tested for Raw Torque and Speed

Search "impact drill" and what most shoppers are actually trying to find is an impact driver, the compact, high-speed tool that drives screws and small lag bolts far faster than a standard drill without stalling or stripping. The confusion is understandable since the tools look similar and both drive fasteners, but they are built for different jobs, and the impact driver market alone runs from 94 dollar house brands to well over 150 dollars for name-brand kits.

A hands-on bench test put 12 cordless impact drivers through the same driving and torque gauntlet, and the results settled which one is actually fastest under real load.

What the testing showed

Every number below comes from Project Farm, who bought 12 cordless impact drivers and ran them through identical screw driving, lag bolt, and torque tasks. The full 12-driver breakdown is on the impact driver head-to-head, and every figure here traces to that video.

The lineup covered DeWalt 860, Milwaukee M18 Fuel, Hercules, DeWalt Hydraulic, Makita, Kobalt, Ryobi One+ HP, Craftsman, Metabo HPT, Ridgid, Greenworks, and Excited Work, priced from 94 to roughly 150 dollars. Each driver went through:

• No-load RPM, claimed versus actually measured.
• Low RPM control, how slowly and precisely the driver could run for delicate starts.
• Number 10 by 5 inch screw driving, timed across three attempts.
• 5/16 by 5 inch lag bolt driving, also timed across three attempts.
• A maximum torque burst test, measured as clamp load.

DeWalt's 860 won on overall average finish

DeWalt's 860, at 140 dollars, took the outright win with the best average finish across the three graded events. It was the fastest driver of all 12 on the number 10 screw driving task, averaging 1.41 seconds across three attempts and taking the lead from Milwaukee. It also posted the fastest average time on the lag bolt test at 4.95 seconds. Its measured no-load RPM came in at 3,850, second only to Milwaukee, and its maximum torque burst test hit 24,429 pounds of clamp load.

Milwaukee M18 Fuel had the best RPM and low-speed control

Milwaukee's M18 Fuel, at 100 dollars, measured the highest no-load RPM of the entire field at 3,889, edging past its own claimed 3,900 RPM rating. It also had the best low RPM control of all 12 drivers at around 77 RPM, which matters for starting a screw straight before the impact mechanism kicks in at full speed. It finished as runner-up overall on the average scorecard.

Hercules and Makita punched above their price

Hercules, at just 98 dollars, briefly led the field on RPM early in testing at 3,655 and turned in a screw-driving average of 1.79 seconds, the fastest at that point in the video before DeWalt and Milwaukee's stronger numbers came in later. Makita, at 120 dollars, was the most consistent driver tested on the screw task, posting three nearly identical times (2.31, 2.31, 2.30 seconds) with notably less vibration than most other brands, even though its raw speed trailed the leaders.

Craftsman and the budget end of the field lagged on lag bolts

Craftsman, at 94 dollars, had the slowest low RPM control setting in the test at 172 RPM and posted an average lag bolt time of 13.16 seconds, nearly triple DeWalt's winning time. The spread between the top and bottom of this field on the lag bolt task was the widest gap in the entire test.

How to read this for your own purchase

DeWalt's 860 was the clear overall winner of this 12-driver test, but the runner-up and mid-pack results matter for anyone shopping by use case rather than by scorecard alone.

For general fastening speed, DeWalt's 860 is the tested pick, winning both timed tasks outright and posting one of the highest torque numbers in the field.

For delicate work where control matters more than raw speed, Milwaukee's M18 Fuel had the best low RPM control in the test, useful for starting screws in soft material or finish work where the impact mechanism engaging too early can mar the surface.

For value, Hercules at 98 dollars led the field on RPM early in testing and stayed competitive on screw driving speed at a lower price than the DeWalt or Milwaukee.

It is also worth noting how tightly this field was packed near the top: DeWalt's winning average finish, Milwaukee's RPM lead, and even Hercules' early speed results all came within a narrow band relative to the wide price spread across the 12 brands tested, which is a stronger argument for buying based on the specific measurement that matters to you than for chasing the single highest-priced option on the shelf.

A couple of rules the data backs up regardless of brand:

• No-load RPM claims run optimistic in both directions. Some drivers in this test exceeded their claimed RPM, others fell short; measured numbers, not the box, are what predict real performance.
• Vibration and consistency matter as much as top speed. Makita's near-identical repeat times with reduced vibration are worth factoring in even though its raw speed trailed the leaders.

Browse the rest of the power tools tested this same hands-on way for drills, wrenches, and grinders put through comparable head-to-head testing.