But despite the capabilities of these smaller drills, most people prefer larger, heavy-duty options. They offer plenty of power for most household tasks, like hanging a shelf or tightening screws, and they weigh less, too. Lower-voltage drills, which we call general-use drills in our ratings, typically use about 12 volts.

They’re typically heavier but also more capable of tackling difficult tasks like boring a large hole through studs or joists, or driving hundreds of screws on a single battery charge, which is what you’d want if you were building a deck. Higher-voltage drills, which we call heavy-duty in our ratings, have 18 to 20 volts of power or more. The voltage of your drill dictates the size of the job it can tackle. You can adjust the voltage to match the project you’re working on, and save money by buying bare tools to complete your set.” “So you can use the same batteries for your drill, chainsaw, and string trimmer. “A more recent trend we’re seeing is interchangeable batteries that work among a brand’s entire suite of power tools,” says Courtney Pennicooke, CR’s market analyst for cordless drills. And the changes aren’t unique to cordless drills they’ve occurred across many of the power tools we test. These improvements in cordless drills come thanks to advancements in lithium-ion battery technology and the introduction of brushless motors, which are more powerful despite requiring less energy. In the past decade, cordless drills have become more powerful, lighter, and energy-efficient, making corded drills practically obsolete. In fact, we would argue that it’s the single most important item in your toolbox. Whether you’re hanging a shelf, installing a ceiling fan, or building a deck, a cordless drill is a must.

Most powerful ryobi cordless drill