Cordless tools, compared on published specifications and the true cost of a battery platform
We do not test tools. We read manufacturer specification sheets — torque, no-load speed, blows per minute, chuck size, cell count, bare-tool weight — normalize them into one set of units, then work out what a battery system actually costs you once you own six tools on it instead of one.
Choose the platform before you choose the tool
Most cordless buying decisions are made in the wrong order. Someone needs a drill, compares three drills, buys the one with the largest number printed on the box — and in doing so quietly commits to a battery ecosystem they will still be paying into five years later. The drill is a one-off purchase. The platform charges rent, in the form of every replacement pack, every charger and every bare tool that only fits one brand’s rail.
That is why the battery section here is not an accessories afterthought. It is the first decision, and every category page below assumes you already know which voltage class and which brand’s rail you are working within.
Drills & Drivers
Drill/drivers, impact drivers, hammer drills and impact wrenches. The category where torque figures are quoted most aggressively and mean the least across brands.
Saws
Circular, reciprocating, jig and mitre saws. Cordless saws are where battery discharge rate stops being a specification and starts being the thing that limits your cut.
Outdoor Power Equipment
Mowers, blowers, string trimmers and chainsaws. High-draw tools whose published runtimes are measured under conditions almost nobody’s garden matches.
Battery Platforms
Voltage classes, amp-hour ratings, cell formats, charger speeds and cross-compatibility. The page that determines what every other purchase costs you.
Measuring & Layout
Laser distance meters, line and rotary lasers, digital levels and stud finders. Accuracy claims here are stated in millimeters and are unusually easy to verify on paper.
Why “max torque” is the least comparable number on the box
A drill listed at 100 Nm and a drill listed at 90 Nm are not reliably ranked by those numbers, because the two manufacturers may not be measuring the same thing. Torque can be quoted as hard-joint torque, where the fastener meets sudden resistance and stops almost immediately, or soft-joint torque, where resistance builds gradually as the fastener draws into compressible material. The same tool produces meaningfully different figures depending on which test the marketing department chose, and there is no requirement to say which one appears on the packaging.
Impact drivers and wrenches add a second ambiguity: some brands publish fastening torque, some nut-busting torque, and the two can differ widely on the same tool. So we record the figure as published, note the units — 1 Nm is roughly 8.85 in-lbs — and treat cross-brand torque as a weak signal rather than a ranking.
Stronger signals sit further down the spec sheet: no-load speed ranges per gear, blows per minute, chuck size, brushless or brushed motor, bare-tool weight, and the warranty terms on tool and battery.
The five-year arithmetic nobody prints on the packaging
Here is the calculation that changes decisions more often than any other on this site. Buy one combo kit and you have paid for two batteries and a charger. Add a saw, a blower and a trimmer over the following three years, and you will typically buy two or three more packs — because high-draw tools drain a 2.0 Ah pack fast enough that you either buy 4.0 Ah and above or you buy spares. Then the original packs reach the end of their useful cycle life and get replaced.
Across a realistic five-year window, the batteries and chargers on a mid-size collection frequently cost more than any single tool in it. That total should drive brand selection, and it is knowable in advance from pack price tiers, published Ah ratings and the tool count you honestly expect to own.
A platform with cheaper packs and a wider bare-tool range can be the better long-run choice even when its individual tools have less impressive headline specifications. Lock-in compounds.
Common questions
Do you test these tools yourselves?
No, and we say so on every page. Our work is reading manufacturer specification sheets, converting everything into consistent units, and setting products side by side so the differences are visible. Where a figure comes from the manufacturer rather than an independent standard, we label it as a claim.
Why are there no star ratings or review counts on this site?
Retailer review data is not ours to republish, and an averaged score compresses very different tools into one number that hides the tradeoffs. We would rather show you the speed ranges, the mechanism and the platform cost.
Why do you publish price tiers instead of prices?
Cordless pricing changes weekly and kit bundles change faster. A figure written today would be wrong within a month. Tiers stay honest, and they are what you need when weighing a bare tool against a kit against a battery-only purchase.
Where should I start if I own no cordless tools at all?
The battery platforms page. Decide the voltage class and the brand rail first, then work outwards to whichever tool category prompted the search — because that first decision constrains every purchase that follows it.