The Difference between Combi, Drill Driver, Impact and SDS Drills

I agree about using lightweight combi drill drivers for DIY use, you wouldn’t go far wrong with the Milwaukee you demonstrated. I have a Makita 9.6V percussion combi drill and an impact driver. I’ve also got the matching right angle drill which is useful for tight spaces and pilot holes whilst using the combi in conjunction for screw driving. I used to have some Dewalt 18V stuff and the drill was a beast and really too powerful for things like kitchen cabinet assembly so I sold it all. I’ve still got a big corded 1100 Watt Dewalt SDS and that’s great for the heavy duty stuff and I use it for mixing as well. I also have a couple of old Stanley Yankee screwdrivers which I think are a forgotten tool and I have found them to be invaluable over the years, the small one for general assembly and the large one for stubborn screws (the large one was my dad’s and is over 60 years old!).

Thank you for such complete info!

Can you do a video about black & Decker 20 max tools. Cheers.

Great video

Cracking videos Charlie, they really help me out alot. Thanks for making them so easy to follow. I'm looking at buying an Impact Driver and notice you use the Erbauer and Ryobi - not much difference between the 2 but i wonder which one you would recommend? I'm thinking of the Erbauer because it comes with the 4Ah battery as opposed to the Ryobi which comes with the 2Ah.

Thanks Charlie, really helpful just completely changed what I was about to buy

Mate! Your videos are always on another level! Best explanation

Excellent, I need an all singing all dancing drill & your advice has helped enormously

Just an idea for a new video. Nobody seems to have done a comparison of an oil pulse and standard impact driver and explained the difference in loudness and how unpleasant a standard one is to use. Are ear defenders necessary for an oil impulse driver for instance? I see Erbauer have both types of brushless impact driver and an impact wrench so might make an interesting video.

Good video. I agree that a drill driver (with or without hammer mode) is probably the single most useful tool for DIY, if for no other reason than it’s extremely flexible. I also agree with you on using a good 12V model such as the Milwaukee, Bosch, or Makita. Ryobi doesn’t seem to be committed to their 12V line, so I personally wouldn’t recommend the Ryobi 12V, but if you find a good enough deal on it, it’s fine.

I also find that for most DIY users, a good 12V hammer drill/driver (aka combi or impact drill) such as the Makita CXT, Milwaukee M12 FUEL, or DeWalt Xtreme is sufficient. If you’re doing a lot of brick/concrete drilling or a lot of tile removal, then an SDS rotary hammer might make sense. For a one time project, it may be more cost effective to just rent an SDS tool.

As you mentioned, if you’re installing a lot of screws, bolts, etc, then an impact driver is highly recommended. They’re almost as flexible as a drill/driver, and much faster, and easier to use for most fasteners. They’re also suitable for lightweight drilling as long as you buy impact rated hex shank QC drill bits. Word of caution, because of their speed, it’s easy to over drive smaller screws, until you learn to control the speed using the trigger and/or speed mode controls. If you’re installing a deck or similar project, save yourself a lot of time by using an impact driver.

Since installing screws and bolts was the primary task for which I use power tools in my work, my impact driver gets used much more than my drill/driver. But when I changed projects and was installing/removing more small screws, I bought the Milwaukee M12 screwdriver (model 2401, brushed) which is now the tool I use most, it’s by far the easiest to control and the lightest of my power tools. Impact driver is now second most used, for larger jobs and larger fasteners, and the hammer drill/driver is used almost exclusively for drilling, mostly for larger holes or masonry as the other two tools handle drilling smaller holes in softer materials just fine. It’s a luxury to have all 3 at my disposal, not a necessity.

PS. I also have 18V/20V power tools, but rarely use them. For saws and other high power tools, 18/20/24V is definitely more appropriate than 12V

Thanks Charlie. Can I use hex drill bits in my combi drill or would I be better off sticking with the normal round bits?

Brill video Charlie, how about a vid on how to stop drill drift, i.e drilling through a softer initial surface then hitting a hard surface-think that makes sense.

Would you recommend the Ryobi combi driver over the regular Ryobi 18V drill driver as an all purpose driver for a complete newbie?

I agree with the combo drill/driver/hammer. How about the combo drill/hammer plug-in 7.5 amps?

can i use a 4.ah and a 2ah battery on the same drill ? does it just give more power or length of use?

Tim from Canada so it looks like you went from Ryobi.. that was discontinuing in your country and you switched to Milwaukee.. so the Milwaukee driver you were using in this video is the Milwaukee M 12.. this is the make that is running in the Home Depot in Canada and USA.. you can still buy your little Ryobi 12 v. Screw gun in Canada at Home Depot these are one of the big sellers at Home Depot trying to find anything that is 18 V half decent by Ryobi.Most of the time is impossible at least in the city I am in in Canada where I live there is two Home Depot’s within an hour of each other from me and trying to find tools here is somewhat impossible and trying to find someone to help you find tools this is another problem Home Depot is having one day you’ll go in and there will be five people that will help you... you can go back in a week looking for something else and you will not find any help in the power tool section... this seems to be a big problem at Home Depot.. what I am finding two in Canada at the Home Depot is stuff will be on the website you go to buy it.. it is now out of stock and it is not listed anymore at any stores.. they need to fix this update the service at the website at Home Depot or get someone there that knows what the hell they are doing... you can go in there and ask a five-year-old to help you and they will have more sense than the people working here. These are my problems I am having at the Home Depot in Canada but people are scared they do not want to speak up...

Very helpful. Thank you 👍

Just one comment about batteries as a DIYer, I have recently invested in some Erbaurer stuff to replace an ancient Dewalt and compliment my lower end Makita G series drill and impact driver. I needed a new hedge trimmer as the battery died due to lack of use (Bosch green), so I decided to buy a hedge trimmer that will work with batteries I will use a lot. For this reason I bought a cheap 18v Erbaurer combi drill that was on an offer and a cordless vac, that way when I come to use the hedge trimmers the battery won't die due to lack of use. I also have a 12v Erbaurer drill driver and I love using it for drilling into wood or applications where my impact driver is too powerful.

Other than that I totally get your point about not being loyal, and I love my corded stuff for this reason too.

All my tools are brushed apart from the new hedge trimmers which are brushless but my 11 year old Dewalt cordless did fail recently due to brushes failing and as it was a lower end Dewalt they are built into the motor :(

PS I have your channel and watch a lot of your videos, to me you are very competent and far more skilled than most DIYers.

Finally, someone with logic that's getting off the brand-name loyalty bandwagon. I commend you sir for your opinion on brand loyalty. I was so wrapped up with my first tool, a Porter cable drill driver that I wanted to continue with that line, but Porter cable is no where to be found. You're right, so what if I have three different manufacturers and three different batteries. For do-it-yourselfer it's really a no-brainer when you come to think about it.

For taking down tiles, what hammer drill do you guys recommend?

Y’all come up with complicated names for these drills over there “combi drill” “percussion driver”

Over here in the US we were just like “does it hammer? Not really but kinda? Fuck it call it a hammer drill”

There’s a much larger difference between “combi” drills and SDS than the travel distance of the bit. The mechanism of action is completely different. The SDS’s motor drives both the chuck (rotational) and a piston located behind the chuck at the same time. This piston pushes an anvil into the back of the bit thus actually hammering on it. A hammer drill simply implements bumps and grooves on the gearbox that cause the gear driving the chuck to move up and down (forwards and backwards inside the drill). An SDS could have only 1mm of travel and would still be 10x better than a hammer drill.

I also highly disagree with your comments about impact drivers. A good impact is life changing. They’ve pretty much all but replaced the drill driver for me in every task except drilling metal. And even then I opt for one of my several impact drivers before any of my drills most of the time. They’re especially useful when drilling big bore holes as they do not torque your wrist off when the bit binds.

I primarily use my drill drivers for assembly as the safety chuck with adjustable torque is extremely useful for this. It helps prevent you from overtorquing a nut on plastic or bending sensitive metal with a bolt etc. but other than that the impact takes the cake.

I know I’m not alone because I see a very large amount of people using their impacts for any of a wide variety of tasks that you would associate with the standard drill driver. It may just be a US thing but that is the current trend.

Very thankful for your help Charlie!

Thanks Charlie, corded SDS drill for me and a good drill driver, no need for an impact driver or a combi hammer action drill driver for my diy.

My old man purchased a fresh set of tools circa 1994. I went with him as a teenager. It seemed so easy.

Today, I went to get two tools and about lost my mind. This video helped so much. My dad had no idea about battery types or even that there were three categories drill/drivers. We learned a lot here. Thank you.

What people need to realise is that the power tools u like and use are 4 DIY only really! If you work on site as a professional you need the better more expensive brushless models like Dewalt, Makita, Festool, Hilti, Metabo and Milwalkee! The tools you prefer aren't really upto the heavy duty work that professional's use! By the way brushless are more powerful and the batteries will last longer! Also you want the same brand as you don't want to lug round umpteen chargers and batteries!

Iv fell in love with erbauer brushless tools, started with the palm router corded and its got slow start so it's unreal, then got the cordless brushless plainer and skilsaw and they are amazing so I'm getting all erbauer from now on

@charlieDIYte could you please do a review of the draper storm force impact driver I've bought one and think its great but would love your opinion

I recently bought a Stanley Fatmax brushless,cordless hammer drill.
It looks virtually identical to the Dewalt so have I bought an equal product or a poor man’s Dewalt?

Brushless Vs Brushes: Yes longer battery life, a more snappy tool and NO SMELL.
"I don't think you'll notice the difference" < strongly DISAGREE. ;)

"unfaithful FOR A CHANGE" I think you stress brand loyalty too much ~ it's another bleeding charger and battery.
The different battery is what stops me buying tools ~ batteries can last one use; especially those tiny 12v ones, you can go from the frying pan to the fire over the bleeding battery ~ and add in the price ~ almost the only way to buy batteries is in kit form where as example for all the major manufacturers, one can buy a two unit combi kit with case and two 4 or 5AH batteries ~ for the unit cost of just the batteries alone <

Informative video Charlie. Btw Metabo's 18v charger will also charge their 12v batteries (dependant on the charger model no. of course.) What
I tend to do, especially when I need to pilot hole and then drive the screw, is to get a same make, older, brushed model drill/driver and then keep the relevant drill bit/screw bit on each. For instance I bought an older Metabo but brushed 18v bare unit drill/driver for £35 and just keep a screw bit on it.

Greate video. Very clear and helpful descriptions, thanks for sharing!

Are these all technically power drills?

I'm looking to get a drill for coring 102mm holes in plasterboard and brick. With the brick, I live in a flat on the second floor so would only be able to core through from the inside. What drill/type would you recommend? I only have a drill/driver at the moment but the chuck isn't wide enough to fit the auber (for the hole saw for plasterboard) so a chuck size of 13mm would be required.

Your video has just explained why my Erbauer combi struggles with walls and screws. Kept changing bits, but now I know I am using the wrong tool for the job! Thank you for the clear and detailed information.

well my driver is heavy and isnt a combi, its just old 😂

had a ryobi first drill then i got a makita combo pack and found that drill more powerful, so i got rid of the ryobi had it for 5 years as an extra but never needed it so finally sold it and bought a impact wrench, next on sds drill, my old makita drill wasnt a combi unfortunately bought it when i didnt know much about drills.

I can definitely recommend that Erbauer SDS drill that you're eyeing up. I picked one up to drill into my house brick as my very poor bosch drill driver just wouldn't do it. It's safe to say, that Erbaur SDS gets into the brick INCREDIBLY easy.

One thing that confuses me is battery's, sometimes i see 2,3,4,5 AH and not sure what i need for combi drill for example.

Enjoyed your video, if you were an electrician, is their an all round drill you could recommend, I would like to buy my grandson one as he is a trainee. Oh and please be budget friendly. As I am an OAP and not made of money. Many thanks if you choose to reply.

If a tool comes with a battery does it always come with a charger or a way to charge the battery?

Thanks for making it clearer, as you many descriptions are misleading or just plain wrong. It's no wonder I was confused as I'm just an occasional DIYer My intentions is to keep my old corded hammer drill and augment it with a combi for lighter tasks around the home, and this video seems to confirm that idea.

Thank you Charlie, really clear and useful video to find!

I have bought a new build & anytime a monkey (aka the dross contractor trades) come to do any fixes, if it’s adjusting French doors, internal door hinges, you name it they only seem to have/use Impact Driver?! To me completely the wrong drill?! Would you agree?

Even at 3 years old, this is still the most helpful information I've had to work out what the differences between combi & drill drivers are! I've literally spent hours on various store pages and nothing ever really explains it. Also, you probably already know but may be worth a short update video about AMPShare, which means if you have a Bosch or Titan 18V battery, you can buy a bare version of either brand's tools and use the other's battery!

Thank you for explaining all the differences Charlie! I have a Dewalt drill with two batteries, but it's probably 25 years old. The batteries just won't hold their charge and it weighs a ton! So now there are all kinds of little drills out there and it is a bit overwhelming, your video really helped. I will look at a small drill/driver for basic screwing wood projects. But we have an old stone barn that we need to remove old cement from, is that when we'd use a SDS drill? I think the one kit you showed had a chisel tip in it.

For us total DIY noobs these are so helpful, thank you - been binging all your vids!