How to choose a drill?

Start with the task. If you are fixing a shelf, assembling furniture or driving a handful of screws, a compact cordless tool is often enough. If you need to drill brick for wall plugs, the type of tool is already a different question. If concrete is an everyday material, you will usually want a rotary hammer — not a “more powerful drill”.

This is the one distinction worth understanding before you buy.

Cordless drill

Suited to wood, furniture, plasterboard and light renovation at home. Compact, cord-free and quick to get going. Do not buy it as your concrete solution if concrete will be regular work — that needs a different type of tool.

Browse: cordless drills.

Impact drill

Adds a hammering action that helps in brick and block. A sensible compromise if you occasionally drill masonry but concrete is not your daily work. It is still not a rotary hammer.

Browse: impact drills.

Rotary hammer

Built for concrete and stone. The SDS chuck and the hammering mechanism belong to a different class of tool. If you only need a couple of holes in concrete a year, a heavy professional model is not required — but trying to push regular concrete work through a light drill is usually slow and tiring.

Browse: rotary hammers.

Drilling wood

Furniture, boards, light assembly — the typical cordless drill territory. The right bits matter as much as the tool itself.

Drilling metal

You need a steady hand, a suitable bit and often a lower speed. The type of tool is still decided by whether the job is light household work or heavier use — metal is not automatically “rotary hammer work”.

Drilling concrete

This is where a rotary hammer is usually the honest answer. A cordless drill can sometimes cope with a very light, one-off task, but that is not the same as an SDS tool for regular work.

Drilling brick and masonry

An impact drill is often enough. If the material is harder or the work more frequent, PALĪGS will steer you towards a rotary hammer.

Typical home scenarios: a shelf, furniture assembly, wall plugs, small renovation jobs, occasional use. Convenience and a battery win here. There is no point buying the heaviest model just because its numbers look impressive.

If most of your work is driving screws, also look at cordless screwdrivers.

If 90% of the work is screws, a drill may be more than you need — a screwdriver is often more comfortable. If you need both holes and screws, a classic drill makes sense. Impact for driving screws and impact for drilling masonry are not the same thing, so do not mix tool types just because the word “impact” appears.

Specifications help once the type is clear.

Voltage (V)

Roughly indicates the class of the battery system — not automatically the quality of the work. A higher voltage is no guarantee that a tool is suited to concrete.

Battery capacity (Ah)

How long you can work between charges. For household jobs a compact battery is often enough; for longer sessions Ah becomes more important.

Torque (Nm)

Important for driving screws and for heavier loads. It is not the first question if you do not yet know the type.

Speed

Affects how drilling feels in different materials. In practice, control and the right bit often matter more.

Chuck

A standard chuck takes typical round-shank bits. SDS is for rotary hammers. Do not mix the two systems.

SDS

SDS is not “a better drill”. It is a rotary hammer system for concrete. An SDS bit is not the right partner for a standard drill chuck.

As much as your typical job requires — not more “on paper”. For light home renovation, excess power often just means extra weight. For regular heavy work it is the other way round: an underpowered tool tires you out and wears itself out.

For most home renovation: a cordless drill plus the right bits. If you occasionally meet brick, consider an impact drill. If you plan a lot of concrete, a rotary hammer is a more honest choice than hoping a light model will cope.

When the material is concrete or stone and the work is not a one-off “I’ll try it”. If PALĪGS suggests a rotary hammer after the material question, it is not an upsell — it is the logic of the tool type.

• Looking only at volts and ignoring the tool type.
• Buying the “most powerful” model for light, occasional work.
• Mixing up an impact drill and a rotary hammer.
• Ignoring the battery platform if you plan several cordless tools.
• Forgetting accessories — the bit often decides the result.

Answer about the job, the material, how often you work and whether you need a battery kit. If you are unsure, choose “I don’t know”. The recommendation is based on your steps, not on a single technical figure.