We need a “like” emoji.
I believe the biggest limiting factor with cordless tools is their batteries, although they have gotten better over the years.
I don’t know a lot about battery powered hand tools, except drills. I’ve had 2 Black & Decker drills and the batteries for both were crap. After a year they won’t take much of a charge and won’t hold it. The newer one is about 5 years old however. If I charge it up I can get about 20 minutes use out of it. I should just toss it. Maybe they use better batteries now, but they’ll not get any more of my money, ever. On the other hand, I bought my wife a little Ryobi drill to carry in her car and that thing will never die.
I’ve got 3 of the old Makita 9.6V drills and their batteries aren’t very good, but I will continue to use them until the batteries just won’t work anymore.
Anyway, a couple of years ago I bought a Greenworks lawn mower (40V) and it’s been great so far. I wanted an Ego, but it was too expensive. I like the Greenworks enough that last year I got one of their 40V weed wackers to go with it.
I own Ryobi tools, but use both DeWalt and Milkaukee battery-powered tools at work.
I started buying Ryobi for personal use; basically regular-use DIY. I have several tools and am happy with all of them, with one caveat: They are great, at their price point, for household use.
I started working in construction full-time a few months ago. I could tell right away that my Ryobi impact driver was seriously outclassed by the DeWalts and Milkwaukees. And after using DeWalt and Milwaukee circular saws, reciprocating saws, hammer drills, and impact drivers I can safely say that Ryobi doesn’t even come close. But then again, Ryobi are about half the price.
Between the two, I prefer the DeWalt circular saw (side drive) and the Milwaukee everything else, but I hear good things about the Milwaukee worm drive and would love to try one. I had mentally committed to switching to Milwaukee and gradually adding tools, until a couple weekends ago when HD had the Ryobi brushless impact driver on sale for $79. Well, since I already have batteries for Ryobi, I chose to pick that up for now instead of shelling out $300 for the Milwaukee equivalent with a battery and charger.
I’m happy enough with the upgrade to Ryobi brushless, but I’m thinking I’ll still will eventually move on to Milwaukee.
Can’t say exactly what I like about Milwaukee over DeWalt, but I think it’s partially ergonomics and partially that it feels like the Milwaukee have more power.
tl;dr: If you’re not a pro, Ryobi. If you are, then not Ryobi.
As I said, I mostly have DeWalt, but I also have a corded Ryobi belt sander and a corded Milwaukie hammer drill (The Beast); also a Craftsman 10" compound miter saw, a Makita plate joiner (woodworkers will know what this is) and a Makita power planer, all corded. Oh, and a Cutech jointer. Guess most of that is off-topic. Oops.
That’s interesting, “plate joiner.” I’ve had one for years and always have heard it called a biscuit joiner. Wonder if that’s a regional thing? I’m in the northeast.
Everyone calls it a biscuit joiner, but the technical name for it is plate joiner.
I have a mix of Dewalt and Ryobi. Dewalt for tools I care about working well (drills, reciprocating saw, chainsaw) and Ryobi for tools I don’t care so much (trimmer, blower). Although I like my Dewalt chainsaw, it’s a little underpowered and I sometimes have to get my electric one if I’m cutting through thicker logs.
When I worked in construction Makita was commonly considered the top of the line for battery drill motors. Dewalt is also good. Milwaukee is supposed to be good but I had a bad experience with them and would not buy them again. Ryobi feels a little ‘cheap’ to me.
I recently bought a 18V Ridgid (Ryobi’s big brother for contractors) driver/hammer drill set, largely because of the ‘forever’ repair warranty. I’m very happy with it.
One thing which caught me off guard with the new set is the ‘smart’ batteries simply turn off when they get depleted. There is no slow-down or decrease in power when you get close to empty. The drill suddenly stops working entirely until you swap the battery.
Random factoid I’ve read, cannot verify, but am willing to believe:
The average cordless drill is used for a total of 18 minutes over its entire life.
I’d think commercial use would up this, so maybe it was homeowners only, but still. I own one (not the first), also have corded I inherited. The cordless I bought because it’s more convenient, of course. But for that 18 minutes, I could get an extension cord!
My garage is full of Ryobi green, total of 19 tools and lawn equipment. All have performed to my expectations except 2, the first generation multi tool and a small blower. The multi tool as suppose to be the start of a line of tools with replaceable heads, when I bought it, besides the multi tool, it had Ridgid brand heads that would also work such as a jigsaw and a detail sander. Within a few months, the Ryobi and Ridgid replaceable head tools were gone. The blower only generates a enough air in the high setting, the 2 lower settings are useless. I also have a couple first generation 18 volt Ryobi tools when they were blue, not green. The circular saw and 3/8" drill both still work great.