Testing of Electrical Drills

Electrical drills are perhaps no longer a common household purchase so how much attention should Which? give to this area. In March Which? carried out a survey of 2587 members of Connect and uses their responses to rank various drill manufacturer brands. At the same time they also surveyed electric screwdrivers. The highest rated drill brand is AEG where the 38 respondents rated it at 91%.

''Sample sizes: AEG 38, Makita 287, DeWalt 283, Hitachi 74, Bosch 918, Ryobi 185, Wickes (own brand) 55, JCB 30, Black & Decker 323, Erbauer 40, Mac Allister (B&Q own brand) 54. Table notes: Customer score is derived from how satisfied people were with their product and how likely they would be to recommend to a friend.''

I was not involved in the survey but I have had have multiple electrical and cordless drills from five different brands. My guess is many of the respondents may not have that breadth of experience of different models which must make it a highly subjective response. This always make me slightly wary of the value of the results particularly when it is applied to an entire range of drills.

This is how the German Stiftung Warentest dealt with drill testing earlier this year - please forgive the translation and that it is only a sample of the information that exists:

''" With or without cable? This question has our Belgian sister organization "test-Aankoop" made and tested 15 impact drills with AC adapter and 24 cordless electric screwdriver. For a good device home improvement must spend at least 100 euros.  Bosch tools score well   With the Bosch PSB 1000-2 RCE cable cuts (about 170 euros) from the best. You convinced as strong, comfortable impact drill with good ergonomics. Good quality also offer Black & Decker KR8542 (about 100 euros) and Bosch PSB 850-2 RE (about 120 euros). The cordless screwdrivers are Dewalt DCD is 730 (about 220 euros) to the top. The testers praised the handling and faultless driving and drilling. Not far behind: Hitachi DS 14 DBL (about 400 euros) and Bosch PSB 18 Li-2 (about 180 euros). The Bosch screwdrivers also provides a hammer action. For works in stone and partly also in strong concrete machines are equipped with cable but the better choice (www.testaankoop.be). ''

''Tip: Do not skimp when buying too much. Cheap devices are only good for casual work. More information can be found in the tests: impact drills and cordless drills: fail cheap cell phones and cordless drills: power packs without cable."''

So Stiftung Warentest bought in actual tested results.

'''Carrying out tests does have cost implications however it need not be done often and, it seems, results can be bought in. If Which? has an edge over review sites it surely is that its reviews. If the reviews are simply surveys of existing owners I am afraid a lot of validity is lost.'''