RYOBI ONE+ 18 Volt 1/2 In. Hammer Drill (Certified Pre-owned) - $23.99 FS

Good price opportunity for a capability upgrade from a standard drill.

I replaced my standard drill with this, then went from this to the brushless version. I also own their rotary hammer drill.

For the tool noobs, hammer drills are primarily for drilling in to concrete, mortar or brick. They essentially have an anvil mechanism which taps the masonry bits forward as the drill rotates to chip in to the hardened material (as opposed to an impact driver which uses an anvil mechanism to rotate the shaft). It has a selectable switch so you can go back to regular drill/drive mode. Honestly I have not noticed a huge difference between the brushed and brushless version and neither are very fast at going through the material I've used them on (cement, brick and concrete block). Their rotary hammer tool is a better choice if you need to do chiseling, scraping tile, or more than a few small jobs at once and need to stay in the One+ ecosystem but it uses SDS Plus bits and you can't revert to regular drill/drive mode with it and honestly it's also not all that powerful if bigger bits are needed. The quick change chuck is wobbly and bad about coming unlocked. I replace them all with quality Jacobs chucks almost immediately.

If you're planning on doing a lot of masonry work or need to work fast cry once and buy the corded Bosch Bulldog. It's a beast.

Quote from apathyduck : Good price opportunity for a capability upgrade from a standard drill. I replaced my standard drill with this, then went from this to the brushless version. I also own their rotary hammer drill. For the tool noobs, hammer drills are primarily for drilling in to concrete, mortar or brick. They essentially have an anvil mechanism which taps the masonry bits forward as the drill rotates to chip in to the hardened material (as opposed to an impact driver which uses an anvil mechanism to rotate the shaft). It has a selectable switch so you can go back to regular drill/drive mode. Honestly I have not noticed a huge difference between the brushed and brushless version and neither are very fast at going through the material I've used them on (cement, brick and concrete block). Their rotary hammer tool is a better choice if you need to do chiseling, scraping tile, or more than a few small jobs at once and need to stay in the One+ ecosystem but it uses SDS Plus bits and you can't revert to regular drill/drive mode with it and honestly it's also not all that powerful if bigger bits are needed. The quick change chuck is wobbly and bad about coming unlocked. I replace them all with quality Jacobs chucks almost immediately. If you're planning on doing a lot of masonry work or need to work fast cry once and buy the corded Bosch Bulldog. It's a beast.

Do you have any opinion on power differences between this version and the brushless version? I saw a review that basically said the brushless version is more powerful on paper but in practice is actually less useful because the protection circuit cuts out much too early.

I imagine torque isn't a great measure of effectiveness in hammer drill mode, but how about regular drilling? Would either be sufficient for a 4x4, for example?

Quote from ThriftyHaddock3083 : Do you have any opinion on power differences between this version and the brushless version? I saw a review that basically said the brushless version is more powerful on paper but in practice is actually less useful because the protection circuit cuts out much too early. I imagine torque isn't a great measure of effectiveness in hammer drill mode, but how about regular drilling? Would either be sufficient for a 4x4, for example?

The brushless ships with a 4ah non hp battery kit and works better with the hp batteries.
Most reviews tested with non hp battery.
Brushless Ryobi tools are higher quality than the non brushless and have a extra contact on the tools
for the hp batteries.

Quote from apathyduck : Good price opportunity for a capability upgrade from a standard drill. I replaced my standard drill with this, then went from this to the brushless version. I also own their rotary hammer drill. For the tool noobs, hammer drills are primarily for drilling in to concrete, mortar or brick. They essentially have an anvil mechanism which taps the masonry bits forward as the drill rotates to chip in to the hardened material (as opposed to an impact driver which uses an anvil mechanism to rotate the shaft). It has a selectable switch so you can go back to regular drill/drive mode. Honestly I have not noticed a huge difference between the brushed and brushless version and neither are very fast at going through the material I've used them on (cement, brick and concrete block). Their rotary hammer tool is a better choice if you need to do chiseling, scraping tile, or more than a few small jobs at once and need to stay in the One+ ecosystem but it uses SDS Plus bits and you can't revert to regular drill/drive mode with it and honestly it's also not all that powerful if bigger bits are needed. The quick change chuck is wobbly and bad about coming unlocked. I replace them all with quality Jacobs chucks almost immediately. If you're planning on doing a lot of masonry work or need to work fast cry once and buy the corded Bosch Bulldog. It's a beast.

Thanks for that info! I have a question though. I have to drill some holes for anchors in concrete. Do I even need a hammer drill to do that?

Quote from ThriftyHaddock3083 : Do you have any opinion on power differences between this version and the brushless version? I saw a review that basically said the brushless version is more powerful on paper but in practice is actually less useful because the protection circuit cuts out much too early. I imagine torque isn't a great measure of effectiveness in hammer drill mode, but how about regular drilling? Would either be sufficient for a 4x4, for example?

There is probably a power difference and likely a battery life improvement with the brushless but I don't really notice it in my use. And as far as the protection circuit goes, that's true as well in certain situations but generally over-exaggerated in reviews and YouTube videos by people who don't know how to use the tool's gear selection properly. The brushless version can utilize the extra power available in the new HP batteries and when that's not available and/or the overload protection kicks in it can cut out power. Generally what happens is that people put the drill in to the #2 gear high speed mode and then get upset when they use a high torque bit in to resistive material and get poor results. I can make the brushless overload every time by doing this, or I can just switch the slide back to low gear #1 position and it goes through without any problem at all regardless of which battery I'm using.

If my brushless version of this died today I'd go back to the brushed and not feel like I was giving anything up. Also, the brushless has a high pitched whine to it which I don't like.

As far as torque goes I haven't measured it nor can I recall a big difference when I initially compared the two versions in my shop. Since you asked, I just did a test where I used an extremely aggressive 1" Bosch Daredevil speed spade with the brushless version using an older (non-HP) 4ah batt and went through an 8" oak log five times. On gear 1 went through like butter with enough torque where I needed to use the side handle all 5 times. Gear 2 overloaded and cut out almost immediately on every try.

Quote from apathyduck : Since you asked, I just did a test where I used an extremely aggressive 1" Bosch Daredevil speed spade with the brushless version using an older (non-HP) 4ah batt and went through an 8" oak log five times. On gear 1 went through like butter with enough torque where I needed to use the side handle all 5 times. Gear 2 overloaded and cut out almost immediately on every try.

That was very helpful, thank you!

Quote from TealLeopard348 : Thanks for that info! I have a question though. I have to drill some holes for anchors in concrete. Do I even need a hammer drill to do that?

Generally yes. Let me elaborate on the difference between "drilling" concrete vs drilling wood/metal: On wood or metal the sharpened edges of the hardened bit cut in to the (softer) material as it turns. In concrete and other forms of masonry the bit doesn't cut at alll but chips/chisels (or sometimes grinds) away the material as it turns. If you look at the difference between a wood/metal drill bit and a masonry bit you'll find that the bit isn't really sharp but instead has a reinforced chiseling tip instead. The reason that makes a difference is because a normal drill just turns, it doesn't hammer the bit in to the material to chip/chisel it. That's why you'll need a hammer drill for concrete. If you try to use a masonry bit in a regular drill you /might/ make some headway in to the material but you're probably destroying the bit before you finish.

As a historical addendum, if you've ever seen movies where they film 1800's mining scenes you might recall seeing a two man crew, one guy with a hammer and the other guy holding the bit. You'll see the bit guy turning the bit with each hit from the hammer guy. That's basically what they implemented in a hammer drill and what you have to do when you try to put a hole through like materials.

Some good info and descriptions in this thread, thanks for sharing!

It's showing as $31.99 for me.

missed it

can anyone comment on the
power of he SDS

SDS Rotary hammer is available at Home Depot using the "battery return method" for $51.88. Not a bad deal. I don't have any experience with it, but it would certainly have better drilling power than this guy. If you're doing more than just 1 hole here and there you would want the more powerful drill. But, keep in mind you have to buy SDS plus bits (or use some kind of adapter).

Showing $59.99
now $44.99

It's $44.99 when I go to the link also. Looks like it's over.