House & Home / Drills

When it comes to buying a new drill, the chief thing to consider is the kind of tasks you are planning to undertake. If you want a drill for occasional light-duty jobs, like hanging pictures or assembling flat pack furniture, a cordless drill might be the ideal option. However, more ambitious DIY enthusiasts who are planning to tackle more demanding jobs might require the extra power and extended runtime that a corded drill can provide.

Cordless versus corded

Cordless drills with a rechargeable battery tend to be lighter and more convenient to use than mains-connected drills. They have no cord to get in your way, making them safer to work with, and, as you don’t have to be near a power point, you can use these drills almost anywhere – up ladders, in the attic or outside in the garden. These flexible tools are easy to handle for those new to DIY and they can double as an electric screwdriver, taking all the effort out of inserting or removing screws. You will, however, need to remember to charge the battery and, for longer jobs, there is the possibility that the battery will run out of power and your work will be interrupted as you wait for it to recharge. This is one major advantage of corded drills for jobs that require continuous power for an extended period. More experienced DIY fans might also appreciate the greater power and added torque, or twisting force, of a corded drill compared to a cordless model for more heavy-duty jobs. In addition, if you are tackling tougher tasks involving masonry and other very hard surfaces, cordless models may not be able to cope as well as main-powered drills. However, corded drills tend to be heavier and an extension cable may be needed if there is no electrical socket located nearby.

Drilling modes

The drills on test are all capable of rotary drilling and screw driving and many also provide hammer drilling, with varying degrees of success as you can see from the results on our table below. The rotary drilling mode provides high-speed drilling involving around 3,000rpm (revolutions per minute) for making holes in wood, metal or plastic. This mode can be used for most simple DIY jobs around the house. The screw driving mode provides lower speeds and greater torque, or twisting force, for inserting screws and the reversible direction means you can also remove screws from wood or other materials with ease. All our corded models and some of our cordless drills are capable of hammer drilling and we have two models on test that are dedicated hammer drills. With hammer drilling, the rotary action is supplemented by a hammer action that forces the drill bit to strike the surface with thousands of blows per minute and to puncture very hard surfaces like granite or concrete. Hammer drills are great for heavy-duty tasks but they may not be suitable for lighter use as they are slower and can be a bit uncomfortable to control. It is important to use toughened tungsten carbide tipped masonry drill bits when working on very hard surfaces and a chisel attachment may be added to hammer drills.

Features to look for

When choosing a drill, consider the following features and elements.
Weight
Before buying a drill, it is a good idea to feel its weight. The heaviest drill in our current tests weighs almost 4kg whereas the lightest weighs less than 1kg. If the tool is too heavy, it may be difficult to hold for continuous drilling or when drilling overhead. However, if it is too light, it may not able to cope with tougher tasks. As well as considering its weight, you should make sure that the drill is well-balanced by gripping it firmly and lifting it as if you were about to bore a hole in the wall. The chuck should point straight ahead rather than tilt up or down.

Handle
The design of the drill’s handle will have a major impact on how easy and comfortable the tool is to use. A rubberised or ‘soft-grip’ anti-slip handle will provide greater comfort than a hard plastic handle. Drills with a T-shaped handle centre their weight so they feel more balanced. Buyers can also look for a second handle that can be screwed in at the side enabling you to hold the drill with two hands and giving you greater control and helping to steady the drill and counteract twisting force.

Chucks
The chuck is the part of the drill that holds the drill bit securely in place. The vast majority of drills now have keyless chucks, which means that owners can avoid the frustration of missing keys when they want to change drill bits. With most drills today, drill bits are attached or removed quickly and easily, simply by twisting the chuck – particularly useful if a job requires frequent bit changing. Many models have 13-mm chucks, allowing for the use of larger drill bits.

Drill bits
The drill bit is the metal rod that makes the hole. Standard drill bits can be used for drilling small holes in a range of materials, such as wood, metal and plastic, without the hammering action. Most hammer drills require special ridged SDS+ drill bits. An SDS chuck is a quick-locking bit system for higher-specification drills designed for drilling through very hard surfaces. Some hammer drills will provide a separate chuck for standard drill bits but most have an adapter that owners can attach to the SDS chuck. However, this can make the drill a little unbalanced and harder to control.

Gears
The gears transmit the power from the drill’s motor to the chuck and the drill bit. Although a drill with only one gear might be fine for general drilling, you should look for a drill that has two mechanical gears if you want to also use the device as an electric screwdriver. The first gear provides greater torque at lower speeds, giving you more control when driving screws. The second gear offers higher speeds with a lower torque for rotary drilling. A reverse gear is useful for removing screws or freeing stuck drill bits.

Speeds
Variable speed control from barely rotating to full speed allows you to match the speed to the job depending on the material you are working on. The speed of a drill is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm) and is key to overall performance. Good control at low speed is especially important when trying to start a screw. Drills that have a ‘fast stop’ function can stop quickly when the trigger is released, providing more accurate control and giving a neater finish.

Torque
The torque is the twisting force of the drill and most cordless models have variable torque settings. By choosing the right torque setting when screw driving, you can avoid overtightening or snapping a screw, as the clutch will disengage when the torque on the screw gets too high, thereby stopping the drill from turning.

Battery
Most of the cordless drills in our current test use lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries, which more and more are replacing nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries. Li-Ion batteries are lighter and provide a longer runtime than NiCd batteries and as they hold their charge better, they need less frequent charging between jobs. Li-Ion batteries are also the more environmentally friendly option as NiCD batteries contain toxic cadmium and need to be disposed of carefully at the end of their life. It is handy if your new cordless drill comes with a second battery, as this eliminates the problem of running out of power midway through a job and means that one battery can be charging as you work with the other one. A fast recharge time of an hour or less is useful if you do not have a spare battery to minimise the length of any potential interruptions to your work. Another useful feature on some models is a battery-charge indicator that shows the remaining charge – this is particularly helpful for Li-Ion batteries which can be damaged if they are allowed to run down completely before recharging.

Work light
Some drills have a built-in LED work light which can come in handy when working in dark areas, illuminating the work surface as you drill. Often, drill kits will include a separate work light.