2021 test6 productsPower Tools
Which Hammer Drills Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 6 hammer drills options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video. Shoppers cross-shopping rotary hammer, cordless hammer drill, harbor freight hammer drill and drill for brick land here for the head to head that settles it.
Ranked first
Milwaukee FUEL 2804-20
Price shown in test: 133
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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 | Claimed specs | Weight and length | Noise | No-load RPM (claimed vs measured) | Low-speed control (minimum RPM) | Clutch torque range | Hammer drill concrete test (3/4in x 12in bit, 50 lb added weight) | Max torque, 1/2in x 10in lag bolt, first gear | Max torque, 1/2in x 8in lag bolt, second gear | Endurance test (spinning a stalled engine requiring 63 in-lb, second gear) | Runtime test (second gear, until battery depleted) | Charge time (fully drained 5Ah battery) | Max torque, 1/2in x 8in lag bolt | Low-speed control | Endurance test (spinning a stalled engine requiring 63 in-lb) | Charge time (fully drained 4Ah battery) | Charge time (fully drained 1.5Ah battery) | Charge time (fully drained 2Ah battery) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Milwaukee FUEL 2804-20133 | brushless motor, peak torque 1,200 in-lb claimed, 0-550 RPM first gear / 0-2,000 RPM second gear claimed, 32,000 impacts per minute claimed, 5-year warranty, made in Vietnam, electronic clutch (motor comes to a full stop when the clutch activates, unlike the mechanical-clutch drills in this video), tool only (no battery/charger included at this price), tested with a 5Ah battery | 3 lb 3 oz (1,447 g); 7 in long, the shortest/most compact of all 6 drills | 83 dB no-load, the loudest no-load reading of all 6 drills; 77 dB with the electronic clutch engaged | 515 RPM in first gear (vs 550 claimed), 1,798 RPM in second gear (vs 2,000 claimed) | 28 RPM | 122 in-lb at the lowest (level 1) setting, up to 173 in-lb at the highest (level 14) setting; narrator notes this is 'definitely not a tool for delicate work' since, unlike the mechanical-clutch drills, it cannot disengage near 0 in-lb | finished the full 12 in bit in 1 minute 53 seconds without slowing down, one of only 3 brands (with Makita and DeWalt) to finish the bit | 563 in-lb, the highest of all 6 drills | 185 in-lb, the highest of all 6 drills | easily spun the engine for the full 2.5 minutes in second gear (a socket adapter came loose mid-test and was retightened before continuing); one of only 2 drills (with DeWalt) with enough power to complete this test in second gear | 5Ah battery lasted just short of 64 minutes, second best of all 6 drills | 46.5 minutes, the fastest of all 6 drills | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Makita XPH07Z139 | brushless motor, 1,090 in-lb max torque claimed, 0-550 RPM first gear / 0-2,100 RPM second gear claimed, 3-year warranty, made in China, mechanical clutch, tool only, tested with a 5Ah battery, has a battery level indicator on both the drill and the battery | 3 lb 14.2 oz (1,765 g), the heaviest of all 6 drills; 8 in long | 78 dB no-load, tied quietest with DeWalt; 84 dB with the clutch engaged | 550 RPM in first gear (matched its rating exactly), 2,154 RPM in second gear (beat its 2,100 rating); the highest measured RPM of all 6 drills in both gears | 26 RPM, about the same as Milwaukee | 0 in-lb at the lowest (level 1) setting, up to 107 in-lb at the highest (level 21) setting | the fastest of all 6 drills, finishing the full bit in 1 minute 22 seconds (nearly 30 seconds faster than Milwaukee), but the battery overheated at the end of the test and required about 20 minutes to cool down | 431 in-lb, third highest of the 6 drills | 143 in-lb, second highest of the 6 drills | had plenty of power and performed well for nearly a minute before the drill shut off due to the battery overheating, failing to complete the full 2-minute test | 5Ah battery lasted 60 minutes 40 seconds, the shortest runtime of the three 5Ah-battery drills tested (Makita, Milwaukee, DeWalt) | 108.5 minutes, by far the slowest of all 6 drills, more than twice Milwaukee's charge time | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 3DeWalt DCD999B150 | 'guaranteed tough' marketing tagline, 3-speed transmission (0-450 first / 0-1,300 second / 0-2,000 third RPM claimed), no maximum torque figure listed anywhere on the DeWalt packaging (unlike every other brand in this video), 3-year warranty, made in China, electronic clutch, tool only, tested with a 5Ah battery, has 3 selectable light intensity levels | 3 lb 9.3 oz (1,624 g), second heaviest of the 6 drills; 8.5 in long | 78 dB no-load, tied quietest with Makita; 75 dB with the electronic clutch engaged, the quietest clutch noise of all 6 drills | 450 RPM in first gear (matched its rating), 1,330 RPM in second gear (slightly beat its 1,300 rating), 1,996 RPM in third gear (very close to its 2,000 rating) | 24 RPM, the best (lowest) of all 6 drills | 50 in-lb at the lowest (level 1) setting, up to 327 in-lb at the highest (level 11) setting, a notably wide/high ceiling compared to the mechanical-clutch drills | finished the full 12 in bit in 1 minute 43 seconds, 10 seconds faster than Milwaukee and 21 seconds slower than Makita, with no overheating issue | 508 in-lb, second highest of the 6 drills, behind only Milwaukee | not tested | completed the full 2 minutes in second gear without the tool or battery overheating, described as doing 'a terrific job'; one of only 2 drills (with Milwaukee) to complete this test in second gear, and the only one of the two without any mid-test equipment issue | 5Ah battery ran for 70 minutes, the best runtime of all 6 drills | 76 minutes, third slowest of the 6 drills | tested twice due to its 3-speed transmission: 175 in-lb in second gear and 136 in-lb in third gear; the video's final leaderboard for this test uses the third-gear figure (136 in-lb) for DeWalt when ranking it against the other brands, an apparent test-design choice flagged here rather than silently reconciled | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 4Ryobi One+ HP158 | brushless motor, 750 in-lb torque claimed (narrator notes Ryobi also sells a cheaper tool-only version rated for only 600 in-lb, and specifically chose to test the 750 in-lb kit instead), 3-year warranty, made in China, mechanical clutch (motor continues to spin when the clutch activates, unlike Milwaukee/DeWalt), includes a carrying case, claimed 30-minute charger, comes with a 4Ah battery, has a magnet on the front of the drill | 3 lb 2.1 oz (1,422 g), within 2 oz of HART and Milwaukee; 8 in long | 81 dB no-load, tied with HART; 101 dB with the clutch engaged, the second loudest clutch noise of the 6 drills | 412 RPM in first gear (vs 410 claimed), 1,769 RPM in second gear (vs 1,800 claimed) | not tested | 0 in-lb at the lowest setting, up to 89 in-lb at the highest (level 24) setting | described as pretty fast but ran out of steam at 1 minute 33 seconds, reaching about 9.5 in into the concrete, the same depth as HART but reached about a minute faster | 260 in-lb, fourth highest of the 6 drills | 107 in-lb, fourth highest of the 6 drills | not tested | 4Ah battery lasted 49 minutes 40 seconds, third best runtime of the 6 drills | not tested | not tested | no specific minimum RPM number was given by the narrator for this brand; described only qualitatively as offering 'very good low RPM control just like the Milwaukee, DeWalt, and the Makita' | did not have enough power to spin the engine in second gear, but lasted the full 2 minutes in first gear | 77.5 minutes, despite the product's own claim of a 30-minute charger, a discrepancy kept verbatim and flagged rather than resolved | not tested | not tested |
| 5HART80 | drills concrete, brick, and masonry in hammer mode, heavy-duty metal chuck for increased durability, 3-year warranty, hammer made in Vietnam (driving bit, battery, and charger made in China), 0-375 RPM first gear / 0-1,600 RPM second gear claimed, brushed motor, 1.5Ah battery, 2A charger, no battery life indicator on the drill or battery | 3 lb 1.6 oz (1,406 g), within 2 oz of Ryobi and Milwaukee; 8 and 7/8 in long | 81 dB no-load, tied with Ryobi; 102 dB with the clutch engaged, described as 'loud as a chainsaw', the loudest clutch noise of all 6 drills | 372 RPM in first gear (close to its 375 rating), 1,570 RPM in second gear (a little short of its 1,600 rating) | 36 RPM, described as even better low RPM control than Cacoop | 0 in-lb at the lowest setting, up to 44 in-lb at the highest (level 24) setting | described as doing well for a budget tool, gave up at 2 minutes 6 seconds having reached about 9.5 in into the concrete, did not finish the full 12 in bit | 209 in-lb, fifth of the 6 drills | 78 in-lb, fifth of the 6 drills | not tested | 1.5Ah battery was the first of all 6 drills to run out, at just short of 22 minutes | not tested | not tested | not tested | did not have nearly enough power for second gear, but survived the full 2-minute test in first gear, losing a lot of speed near the end | not tested | 52.5 minutes, second fastest of the 6 drills | not tested |
| 6Cacoop66 | 2-year warranty, 0-400 RPM first gear / 0-1,400 RPM second gear claimed, max torque claimed as 40 Newton-meters (354 in-lb), battery and charger made in China, drill made in China, 2Ah battery, has a battery life indicator ('not bad for a budget tool'), comes with 6 spade bits, a carrying case, drill bits, and drivers, and offers no-clutch / clutch / hammer-drill mode options | 2 lb 12.9 oz (1,274 g / 44.9 oz), confirmed later as the lightest of all 6 drills; 8.5 in long | 79 dB no-load; 98 dB with the clutch engaged | 400 RPM in first gear (matched its rating exactly), 1,527 RPM in second gear (beat its 1,400 rating) | 54 RPM, the highest (least precise) low-speed figure of the 6 drills | 0 in-lb at the lowest setting, up to 52 in-lb at the highest (level 21) setting | held in there for about 2.5 minutes before giving up, reaching about 7.75 in into the concrete, the shortest distance of all 6 drills | 125 in-lb, the lowest of all 6 drills | 62 in-lb, the lowest of all 6 drills | not tested | 2Ah battery lasted about 44.5 minutes | not tested | not tested | not tested | did not have enough power for second gear, survived the full 2-minute test in first gear but lost a lot of speed near the end | not tested | not tested | 72 minutes |
How it was tested
- weight and length comparison
- LED work light brightness comparison
- no-load noise level in decibels, with and without the clutch engaged
- no-load RPM measurement in first and (where applicable) second/third gear, compared against each brand's claimed rating
- low-speed / low-RPM control precision
- clutch torque range, from lowest to highest clutch setting, measured with an inline torque adapter
- hammer drill concrete-drilling test using a 3/4 in x 12 in bit with a 50 lb weight added to the drill, drilling into concrete cured for 3 months
- maximum torque driving a 1/2 in x 10 in lag bolt in first gear
- maximum torque driving a 1/2 in x 8 in lag bolt in second (and for DeWalt, also third) gear
- endurance test spinning a stalled engine requiring 63 in-lb of torque, attempted in second gear then first gear
- battery runtime test in second gear until each battery was fully depleted
- charge time for each fully drained battery
“So, which drill is the best? I think that really depends on what you're looking for. The Milwaukee is definitely the most compact as well as powerful. However, the electronic clutch is definitely not going to be the best option if you're dealing with delicate fasteners. On the other hand, the Makita does have the right clutch for delicate fasteners and also offers a higher RPM range. The DeWalt seems to be a third-place finish.”