Forget DeWalt: These Home Depot Impact Drivers Have Higher Ratings

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It's not often that you see someone telling you to forget DeWalt. It has a great reputation for tool quality, including its impact drivers, and Home Depot customers rate them among the best power tool brands available. However, there are impact drivers from Makita, Milwaukee, and Ryobi that have higher ratings.

Before we go any further, we should point out that ratings do change. They might be boosted by special offers, for example. Any given tool might also have higher or lower ratings at a different retailer, and a cheaper model often attracts more cost-conscious customers. So, we haven't gone with the number of reviews, which might skew results, but rather the percentage of customers who would recommend each one. None drop below 90%, which is impressive.

Our baseline is the DeWalt 20V Max XR ¼-Inch Impact Driver, which buyers give a 92% rating and Home Depot offers for $169. To keep the playing field as level as possible, our other picks are all ¼-inch models (more powerful ½-inch tools are available from some manufacturers). They are also all sold as bare tools; that is, they don't include accessories, such as extra batteries.

The Ryobi One+ 18V ¼-Inch Impact Driver is the cheapest of our highly rated tools by a noticeable margin. It's just $59. It's also the one with the best customer feedback, with 98% happy to recommend it. It's fair to assume that price has an impact. Ryobi may not have the same name for quality and durability as DeWalt, Makita, and Milwaukee, but nobody is going to recommend a tool that keeps breaking down.

There are a number of things you should know before buying an impact driver, and torque and IPM (impacts per minute) are key figures. Comparisons show the Ryobi's specifications are on par with most competitors. If you're looking for a tool for occasional use, or for one big job, such as building a deck, Ryobi is a great value.

Makita produced the world's first battery-powered tool way back in 1969. It's been ahead of the curve with many other innovations, including the modern brushless motor, which is now adopted across the industry. The Makita 18V LXT ¼-Inch Impact Driver has a 96% approval rating and costs $159. One important feature of Makita power tools is their exceptional battery technology. It can result in longer run times between charges, and also protects the power units from overheating and other damage. Makita is often considered a high-quality alternative to DeWalt and Milwaukee at the head of the field.

You can't beat 18V and 20V impact drivers for out-and-out performance, but if you're looking for something compact and lightweight that's ideal for getting into tight corners, then the Milwaukee M12 Fuel Surge 12V ¼-Inch Impact Driver is definitely worth considering. It's available for $149, and 96% of Home Depot customers would recommend it. It's small enough to fit easily on a tool belt, yet it shares many of the features you'd expect to find on full-size models.

On the subject of full-size models, we ought to mention the 12V tool's larger sibling, the Milwaukee M18 Fuel 18V ¼-Inch Impact Driver. It's the most powerful impact driver here and has a price tag of $179, but just failed to make the cut with 91% against the DeWalt's 92%. In fact, all of these tools are quite closely matched, and we doubt any of them would be a bad choice, but it's important to delve into the details to make fully balanced comparisons.

These impact drivers are among a host of Home Depot products to consider for your next renovation, but there are other retailers who might offer equally competitive pricing. It's always worth shopping around and seeing what other buyers have to say before you make your choice.