By the numbers the PB Swiss is the winner across the six scored tests. It took first place in four of them: 8.6 passes for a full rotation in a 50-degree arc, 2,310 grams of bit retention, close to 200 grams of magnetic lift, and 0.34 inches of rotation with the collar locked. Its bit was also the strongest at 145 inch pounds. The catch is back drag: at 47.88 grams it sits ninth of thirteen, which undercuts the very arc-swing advantage it wins on, because in a genuinely tight space there is nothing to hold the shaft while the handle comes back. It is also the most fragile tool here, with the handle parting from the ratchet at 152 inch pounds.
The Snap-On finished second and is the more balanced tool of the two: second in arc swing at 8.7 passes, second in back drag at 9.98 grams, and second for shaft play at 0.0185 inches. It costs the most at $82, holds a single bit with no handle storage, and the bit it came with broke at just 50 inch pounds. The LTT was third at 3.7 and is the pick for precision work at a bench: the lowest back drag in the group at 9.89 grams, the straightest shaft at 0.0085 inches, third for arc swing at 9.6 passes, and 90 grams of tip magnetism, all with its bits carried onboard. It is not a tool to lean on, though, with the shaft breaking at 193 inch pounds.
For value, the MichaelPro at $13 is hard to argue with: 9.9 passes for arc swing, 1,200 grams of bit retention, 0.357 inches of locked rotation for third place in that test, and a bit that held to 131 inch pounds, all for a dollar more than the Stanley that finished behind it almost everywhere. If durability matters more than finesse, the Stahlwille at $29 survived 582 inch pounds, held its shaft to 0.021 inches, and produced 67.99 grams of magnetic lift, though it ships with no bits and its ratchet needed 11.3 passes. Two tools are worth approaching with care: the GearWrench let go of its bit at only 186 grams, and the Milwaukee's 89.98 grams of back drag is the highest here by a wide margin, which is exactly the wrong trait in the tight spaces these screwdrivers exist for.
