Probably one of Harbor Freights most popular items in my opinion is their Drill Master cordless 18V drill. How good can a cordless drill be? Lets find out below.
I bet most of you have pretty low expectations as did I before I tried one out. Most people wonder if it sucks and if you dont feel like reading the entire article or watch the video, Ill sum it up by saying this: For dollars price point, it does not suck and you actually get a lot of features for the price. You wont build a house with it and it wont compare to a Dewalt drill or anything like that but thats not really a fair comparison considering the low price point. If you compare it to + drills it will disappoint, but come on, realistically what can you expect for ?
I remember my first cordless drill ever (maybe from 2006) was also priced at I got that one from Big Lots and it was also an 18V drill or so it said. I forgot the brand name (whatever it was it was forgettable) but it was cheap, and Im not talking only about the price. It had a basic charger built into it, which plugged into the drill. The drill was single-speed, had no torque clutch, had no light, and had no electric brake. It barely had enough power for a screw to drive. And the battery life was horrible. Worst dollars I ever spent! I was lucky to get dollars back on it from selling it at a yard sale and I feel bad for who ever bought it. Im sure its deep in a landfill by now.
The Harbor Freight Drillmaster cordless drill, on the other hand, offers a wide range of useful features. It has a removable battery! This is an important feature because you can change the battery, not the whole drill, if it dies. The drill has a built-in light and is single-speed, but can be adjusted to variable speed by how hard you push the trigger. You get a 21 settings clutch 20 torque settings plus drill mode. The drill uses a keyless Chuck and the electric brake is a surprise for this price range. An electric brake stops the motor upon releasing the trigger.
It even has way better performance than my other drill from Big Lots and can drill up to 5/20 cm holes with a spade bit and had no problems driving 8 cm screws past the surface into a 44. It surprised me of what it was capable of.
This sounds like the perfect drill, right? It costs only 20 dollars and comes with a great feature set. It is without doubt the best value on the market, but it isn’t the best drill. Its what I would call a light duty drill. In the video above, I said it makes a great gift for your mom and I still stand by that. It is not useless, but it has its limitations. If you want something more serious with higher huevos, there are many other drills that offer better performance. This drill is not suitable for anyone who needs to run self-feed bits, hole saws and augers.
It might be the perfect drill for you if you are on a tight budget and have very light duty needs, think hanging pictures on a wall, light duty arts and crafts projects, etc.
You also have to remember Harbor Freight had to cut a lot of corners to get a drill in the price point, besides torque performance, the batteries themselves are very old technology. The ni-cad batteries they use are less efficient than the lithium ion ones. Ni-cad batteries are more prone to the memory effect which can drastically limit their capacity if you recharge them often before they are fully drained. Nicad cells also drain faster than Lithium Ion cells.
The charger for this drill is also extremely basic, what I would call a dumb charger. In my testing the charging light stayed on even past the amount of time it takes to fully charge a battery which leads me to believe that might overcharge batteries if left on the charger for too long. Smart chargers allow you to leave your battery on the charger for as long as you like without worrying about overcharging. They stop charging once the battery is fully charged. The drill worked fine, but I left it on the charger for many hours after it was fully charged. It seemed to work fine, but keep in mind I only had the drill for a short period of time so I cannot say how well the batteries will last in the long run.
The charger is also very slow. I’m used to charging my batteries in 30-60 minutes, but this charger takes about 3-5 hours to fully charge the battery. This is a lot of downtime!
The chuck can be used two-handed, so you will need to use both hands to insert and remove bits. The base of the chuck is held by one hand, while the other holds it in place.
For the price point you only get one battery but you can buy extra batteries and theyre very inexpensive at
To conclude, theres not much else I can say that I havent said above or in the video. Although it won’t impress anyone, its performance might surprise you. It’s hard to believe I would buy it today, as I am used to cordless drills from pro brands. However, I know that I would have been pleasantly surprised if I had bought this drill over the Big Lots one. It might make a decent first drill and ok for those on a tight budget with light duty needs. There are many options for those who want more features and torque, but at a higher price.
- Variable speed, reversible
- Electric brake
- 21 Torque clutch settings
- Keyless chuck
- LED light for clear view in dark corners
- The battery can be used interchangeably with other 18-volt Drill Master Tools
