The Milwaukee M18 Fuel is the pick for best overall. It made the most torque of
anything tested at 468 in-lbs — driving a 1/2 x 10-inch lag bolt almost fully
home where the next-best drill stopped at 403 — and it is the shortest tool in
the lineup at 7 inches, which is the combination that matters in a stud bay or
inside a cabinet. It averaged 5.51 seconds over five 5-inch lag bolts in first
gear and 1.87 in top gear, and along with the DeWalt it was one of only two
drills to spin a compression-braked engine in second gear for the full two
minutes, the only one to do it without struggling to get started. The costs are
a 136 in-lb minimum clutch release, the coarsest low-speed control here at 35
RPM, and a tie for loudest at 83 dB.
The DeWalt and the Makita are close enough behind to be interchangeable choices.
The DeWalt was second in peak torque at 403 in-lbs, quickest of all in top gear
at 1.56 seconds, and has the widest clutch range in the test at 245 in-lbs on
its highest setting plus the brightest work light. The Makita was the fastest in
first gear at 5.24 seconds and third in torque at 348, and its mechanical clutch
releases below 1 in-lb where the DeWalt's electronic clutch holds on until 76 —
though it is the heaviest tool here at 82 oz and it shut down partway through
the endurance run. For value the Bauer is the outlier: $45 for the bare tool,
the lightest in the group at 64 oz, and a clutch every bit as delicate as the
expensive ones. Its 143 in-lbs of torque and 6.59-second first-gear average put
it near the back on work rate, but for light-duty or occasional use — especially
for anyone already holding Bauer batteries — that is hard to argue with.
Two findings deserve weight before buying. Advertised torque bears almost no
relationship to what a drill will do to a lag bolt: ratings of 1,090 and 1,200
in-lbs produced 348 and 468 in practice, so these tools are worth comparing on
measured work rather than packaging. And clutch type matters more than a
specification sheet suggests — the DeWalt, Festool and Milwaukee use electronic
clutches that will not disengage below 76, 92 and 136 in-lbs respectively, which
is enough to strip a small screw before the clutch ever intervenes, while every
mechanical clutch in the test let go under 1 in-lb. At the top of the price
range the Festool is difficult to justify at $544: it is the quietest drill at
73 dB with excellent low-speed control at 11 RPM, but it finished sixth in peak
torque at 250 in-lbs, is the longest at 9 inches, and needed first gear to
complete the endurance run. The Bosch has the finest speed control of anything
here at 7.3 RPM and runs quietly at 77 dB, though 289 in-lbs leaves it behind
the top three under load, and the Ryobi finished last in torque at 131.
