2025 test11 productsPower Tools
Which Cordless Hammer Drill Brand Wins?
We compared 11 cordless hammer drill options head to head. Flex came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Winner
Flex
Price shown in test: $279 (drill, 6Ah battery, charger, and carrying case)
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Runner-up
Milwaukee
Price shown in test: $249 (drill only)
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Construction | Chuck Grip Test | MaxTorqueTest(10in lag bolt, 1st gear) | LagBoltSpeedTest(5in, 1st gear) | Hammer Drill Concrete Test | ClutchPrecisionTest(lowest setting) | Noise Test | LowRPMControl / maxNoLoadRPM | Length Test | LagBoltSpeedTest(highest gear) | LagBoltSpeedTest(3rd/highest gear) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Kimo$57 (with 2 batteries and charger) | claims 1,350 RPM, 350 in-lb torque, 3 modes (driving, drilling, hammer), 20V battery, 2-speed transmission, made in China, claimed 2.41 lbs / about 2.8 lbs with battery installed | lost grip at 54 in-lb, the worst of all 11 drills | ran out of steam early at only 107 in-lb | ran out of steam before finishing the bolt (did not complete) | not mentioned in this segment of the transcript despite the product claiming a hammer mode; only Hercules is explicitly stated as skipped for lacking a hammer setting | 3 in-lb, described as pretty good | 78.5 dB, the quietest of all 11 drills; narrator's explicit noise-category winner | 13 RPM minimum without stalling (best low-RPM control of all drills, per narrator); 1,425 no-load RPM on the highest setting | 7 13/16 in (about 19.8 cm) | not tested | not tested |
| 2Hercules$70 (drill only), about $190 with battery and charger | sold at Harbor Freight, brushless motor, claims up to 1,200 in-lb max torque and 2x torque / 80% more power versus competitors, 2-speed, 14 clutch settings, claimed all-metal Jacob's 1/2in ratcheting chuck, 20V battery, LED stays on 20 seconds, detachable side handle, 4.685 lbs | 159 in-lb, over 100 in-lb better than Kimo, narrator calls the ratcheting-chuck marketing claim 'an honest marketing claim' | ran out of steam at 368 in-lb, described as 'still pretty good' | 5.82s, 5.82s, 5.82s, very consistent; finished 3rd overall in this test's final average ranking | skipped entirely, does not have a hammer drill setting | 47 in-lb, 'really struggled', one of the two worst results alongside DeWalt | 89.9 dB | 25.1 RPM minimum without stalling; 1,882 no-load RPM on the highest setting | 7 1/8 in (about 18.1 cm), tied for third place in the final compactness ranking with Flex at 7.13 in | 2.62s on the first bolt; did not have enough torque to finish the second bolt; 2.87s on the third bolt | not tested |
| 3DCK$80 (drill, battery, and charger) | 20V brushless hammer drill, claims 531 in-lb torque and 36,000 impacts/min, torque clutch, 4Ah battery, claims up to 2,200 RPM, light only when trigger active, made in China, includes driver set and bits, 4.29 lbs; no ratcheting chuck | lost grip at only 50 in-lb, the worst of all 11 drills | 184 in-lb, well short of its 531 in-lb claim | 7.07s, 7.17s, 7.38s, progressively slower each bolt, described as 'bogging down' | 2 7/8 in deep after 1 minute; narrator notes it made a lot of noise without much visible progress during the test | too little torque to move the adapter off zero, tied with Craftsman for the best (most precise) low-torque control in the video | 89.9 dB | 54 RPM minimum without stalling; 1,975 no-load RPM on the highest setting | about 7 13/16 in, the same as Kimo | did not have enough torque to drive the lag bolt in second gear | not tested |
| 4Skil$80 (drill, 2Ah battery, and charger) | 3-in-1 (hammer/drill/screwdriver), 1/2in keyless ratcheting chuck with auto spindle lock, brushed motor (not brushless, unlike DCK), LED stays on about 10 seconds, 2-speed transmission, made in China, 3.22 lbs | struggled, 78 in-lb | 82 in-lb, 'trails all the competition', the worst result of all 11 drills | ran out of steam early, did not complete | lasted about 3 seconds in the highest gear setting before giving up; switched to first gear and still struggled, ending at only 3/4 in, the worst result of all drills tested in this segment | 4 in-lb, performed well | 81.8 dB, second-quietest of all 11 drills | 122.6 RPM minimum without stalling, the worst low-RPM control of all drills; 1,415 no-load RPM on the highest setting, the slowest maximum RPM of all drills | 8 in, described as 'a pretty long drill' | not tested | not tested |
| 5Craftsman$99 (drill, 2 batteries at 1.3Ah, and charger); tested with an additional aftermarket 4Ah battery for fairness since the kit battery was small | claims a 280-unit-watt motor, 2-speed gearbox up to 1,500 RPM, claims 25,500 impacts/min, brushed motor, LED stays on about 20 seconds, made in China, 4.265 lbs with the 4Ah battery | 102 in-lb, took second place (at that point in the test sequence) from Skil | moved into second place behind Hercules; no exact inch-lb figure was narrated for this brand in this test, only its rank | 9.75s, 10.53s, about 10s on the third bolt; among the slowest results, attributed to the brushed motor | started strong but lost RPM by the end of the one-minute test, finishing at 2 1/8 in, second place behind DCK at that point | remained on zero, tied with DCK for the best (most precise) low-torque control in the video; narrator explicitly names DCK and Craftsman as joint winners of this category | 85.6 dB, third-quietest of all 11 drills | just under 21 RPM minimum without stalling; 1,449 no-load RPM on the highest setting | 8 3/4 in, the longest drill of all 11 tested | ran out of torque before finishing the job | not tested |
| 6Ridgid$120 (drill only) | claims up to 2,000 no-load RPM, 0-32,000 impacts/min in hammer mode, brushless motor claims 1,250 in-lb torque, LED stays on 10 seconds, tested with a 4Ah max-output battery, includes auxiliary handle, 5 lbs (heaviest at that point in the video) | struggled, 85 in-lb | 203 in-lb, 165 in-lb less than Hercules's 368 | 6.39s, 6.39s, 6.49s, faster than every previous brand tested except Hercules; narrator notes it averaged 'a little over a half second slower than the Hercules' | moved into the lead at that point in testing, 3 1/8 in, one inch more than Craftsman | 5 in-lb, 'didn't perform quite as well as Craftsman' | 89.9 dB, described as 'pretty noisy' | 133 RPM minimum without stalling, described as not offering good low-speed capability; 1,777 no-load RPM on the highest setting | 7 3/16 in (about 18.3 cm), second place in compactness at that point in testing, behind Hercules | ran out of steam before finishing the first lag bolt | not tested |
| 7Ryobi OnePlus HP$129 (drill only) | claims up to 31,000 impacts/min and 750 in-lb torque, brushless motor claims up to 29% faster drilling, claims up to 2,100 no-load RPM in hammer mode, LED stays on 10 seconds, 2-speed transmission, 24 clutch positions, auxiliary handle, made in China, 4.57 lbs, tested with a 4Ah battery | 119 in-lb, better than Ridgid and Craftsman at that point, moved into second place | 263 in-lb, better than Ridgid's 203 | 6.6s, 6.6s, 6.49s, third place behind Ridgid at that point in testing | moved into the lead at that point, 4 in | 4 in-lb, 'a little better than Ridgid' | 86.5 dB, quite a bit less noise than Ridgid | 75.4 RPM minimum without stalling; just over 2,000 no-load RPM, the fastest yet at that point in the max-RPM test sequence | 7 1/2 in (about 19 cm), described as 'a little too long to be competitive' | did not have enough torque to drive the bolt | not tested |
| 8Makita$130 (drill only) | claims up to 1,250 in-lb torque, compact 7-inch design, 2-speed (550 RPM low / 2,100 RPM high claimed), claims up to 31,500 impacts/min, all-metal self-ratcheting chuck, LED stays on 10 seconds, made partly in Japan and partly in China, just over 5 lbs with a 5Ah battery | 218 in-lb, the best of all 11 drills; the grip was so strong the drill motor itself began rotating, forcing the narrator to stop the test | 401 in-lb, the best result at that point in testing, before Milwaukee, DeWalt, and Flex surpassed it | 6.008s, 5.67s (moved into first place at that point), 5.82s (tied with Hercules) | 3.5 in, second place behind Ryobi at that point | 3 in-lb, 'a little better than Craftsman and Robi' | 91.2 dB, the loudest at that point in the noise test sequence, before Milwaukee and DeWalt were tested | 29.8 RPM minimum without stalling; no-load RPM figure captioned only as '147', almost certainly a caption-dropped-digit rendering of approximately 1,470 RPM given every other drill's max-RPM figure in this test falls in the 1,400-2,400 range; kept the literal fragment and flagged rather than silently corrected | 7 in (about 17.8 cm), took the lead for compactness at that point, before Milwaukee edged it out; finished second overall in the final compactness ranking at 7 in | very fast but unable to finish the first, second, or third lag bolt fully | not tested |
| 9Milwaukee$249 (drill only) | claims to be the most powerful and most compact drill on the market, claims 1,400 in-lb torque, LED stays on 10 seconds, has an autostop feature, mechanical clutch, made in Vietnam, just over 5 lbs with a 5Ah battery | 178 in-lb, second place behind Makita | 455 in-lb, the best (highest) result of all 11 drills: 'the Milwaukee makes the most working torque at 455 inb' | 5.41s (took the lead at that point), 5.62s, 5.62s; finished second overall in this test's final average ranking at 5.55s, behind Flex's 5.36s | 4 1/8 in, took the lead at that point in testing before DeWalt and Flex surpassed it; finished third overall in this test's final ranking at 4.13 in | 4 in-lb; narrator notes this is a major improvement over the same model tested 3 years earlier, which had a poor electronic clutch with soft-start delay, versus the new mechanical clutch which is 'a lot more responsive' | 95.9 dB, the loudest of all 11 drills | 20.8 RPM minimum without stalling; no-load RPM figure captioned only as '554'; cross-referenced against DeWalt's own stated result ('2019 RPM is about 35 less than the Milwaukee'), which implies Milwaukee's true figure is approximately 2,054 RPM (2054 - 2019 = 35), not the literal caption fragment; used this cross-validated estimate here since the video's own numbers resolve the ambiguity, per house practice for order/context-based resolution | 6 15/16 in (about 17.6 cm), edged out Makita for the lead in compactness at that point; the video's own closing ranking sentence, 'the Mori makes the most compact drill from front to back at 6.94 in,' is resolved to Milwaukee (6 15/16 in = 6.94 in exactly) despite the 'Mori' caption superficially resembling the 'Robi'/Ryobi mangling used elsewhere; this is the narrator's overall winner for the length/compactness test | 2.82s on the first bolt (slower than Hercules's 2.62s), completed the second bolt even faster than the first (exact time not stated), the first drill in the lineup to successfully complete all three lag bolts in second/highest gear; finished third overall in this test's final average ranking at 3.08s | not tested |
| 10DeWalt$249 (drill only), same price as Milwaukee | claims to be DeWalt's most powerful 20V max hammer drill, 3-speed transmission, 1/2in ratcheting nitrocarburized metal chuck, brushless motor, claims 1,530W max output, electronic clutch (versus Milwaukee's mechanical clutch), push-button LED with a 20-minute work light, made in China, 5.55 lbs (heaviest at that point) | 123 in-lb, 'isn't nearly as good as several of the other brands'; narrator notes many viewers of a previous review expressed disappointment with DeWalt's chuck | 440 in-lb, second place behind Milwaukee's 455; DeWalt does not make a specific torque claim | 6.75s, 6.65s, 6.91s, over a second slower than Milwaukee; narrator notes it was tested in first gear only for consistency and 'could really benefit from using a faster gear' | 4 9/16 in, the best (deepest) result of all 11 drills: 'the DeWalt came out on top at 4.56 in' | 32 in-lb; a big improvement over the same model tested 3 years earlier, but still 'way too much torque'; narrator flags this alongside Hercules as an area for improvement | 94.1 dB, second-loudest of all 11 drills | 18.2 RPM minimum without stalling, the best (lowest) low-RPM control of all 11 drills; 2,019 no-load RPM on the highest setting, 'about 35 less than the Milwaukee' | about 7 1/2 in, the same length as Ryobi | not tested | 2.26s, 2.36s, 2.31s; the best (fastest) average of all drills able to complete this test at 2.31s: 'the Dwalt came in on top with an average speed of 2.31 seconds' |
| 11Flex$279 (drill, 6Ah battery, charger, and carrying case) | the only 24V system in the lineup (versus 18-20V for the others), includes a 280W rapid charger, claims 'unrivaled torque' at 1,400 in-lb and 200% more power from its 24V stacked lithium battery, 1/2in full-metal ratcheting chuck with carbide teeth, 2-speed transmission, mechanical clutch, turbo mode (up to 700 RPM low gear / 2,500 RPM high gear in turbo), made in China, just over 6 lbs, the heaviest drill in the lineup | 210 in-lb, second place behind Makita's 218 | 454 in-lb, tested with a 5Ah battery instead of its stock 6Ah 'to level the playing field'; came up just 1 in-lb short of Milwaukee's 455, essentially tied for best | 5.46s, 5.36s (took the lead over Milwaukee), 5.26s (narrator notes it 'seems to be getting faster as the drill and battery are warming up'); the best (fastest) overall average of all drills at 5.36s | still in turbo mode during this test, 4.5 in, second place behind DeWalt's 4.56 in | 4 in-lb, performed well | 91 dB, 'just a little bit louder than average' | 26.9 RPM minimum without stalling; 2,361 no-load RPM on the highest setting, 'by far the fastest yet' of all 11 drills | 7 1/8 in (just over 18 cm), tied for third place in the final compactness ranking with Hercules at 7.13 in | 2.77s, 2.87s (half a second slower than DeWalt), 2.87s; finished second overall in this test's final average ranking at 2.79s, behind DeWalt's 2.31s | not tested |
How it was tested
- drill chuck grip strength test (chromed socket extension tightened under increasing torque until slip)
- maximum torque test driving a 1/2in x 10in lag bolt in first gear until the drill stalls
- lag bolt driving speed test, first gear, 5in x 1/2in lag bolts, three bolts timed per drill
- lag bolt driving speed test, highest available gear, three bolts timed per drill (not all drills had enough torque to complete this)
- hammer drill concrete-drilling test, highest speed setting, 50 lbs of downward weight, 3/4in masonry bit, one-minute timed depth (Hercules excluded, no hammer mode)
- clutch precision test at the lowest torque setting, maximum torque before a test adapter moves off zero
- noise level test in decibels, measured 24 inches from the drill
- low-speed / low-RPM control test and separate maximum no-load RPM test
- drill body length / compactness measurement
- overall ranking by average finishing position (1st through last) across all tests
“The Flex came out with the best average finish at 2.3.”