Erbauer ERB18CD
Price £134.99
Contact tel 0500 414141
Performance 14/14
Is it worth the money? 5/6
Overall score 19/20
Comments Had we sat down and designed our ultimate cordless drill, this is very nearly it. It's as torquey as any other model here. It has 16 torque settings, an adjustable handle, hammer mode, a spare battery and a fast charger. Add to that, other useful additions such as a 13mm chuck and charge-level indicators on the side of the batteries, and it's easy to see why this nearly wins a 'full house'.

Argos 710/5537D Challenge Xtreme 18v Hammer Drill
Price £48.99
Contact tel 08706 003030
Performance 11/14
Is it worth the money? 6/6
Overall score 17/20
Comments This is the perfect example of how less volts doesn't necessarily mean puny performance. This has far more low-down torque than its monster 24v brother, but unfortunately the trigger's not as smooth as we'd like. Argos has priced this competitively considering it comes with a good selection of drill and screwdriver bits, a fast charger, spare battery and features two gears and 15 torque settings. Phew!

Clarke CCD240
Price £46.94
Contact tel 01992 565300
Performance 10/14
Is it worth the money? 6/6
Overall score 16/20
Comments Several drills in this group are good enough to make your mains version obsolete, and this is one of the cheapest. It has bags of torque, helped by two gears, drive a 13mm chuck. There are 16 torque settings and a hammer mode, for extra versatility. Clarke supplies six drill and screwdriver bits, but skimps on supplying a spare battery. Worse still, the charger is a five-hour slogger.

Argos 710/4916D Challenge 24V Heavy Duty Drill Kit
Price £69.99
Contact tel 08706 003030
Performance 12/14
Is it worth the money? 6/6
Overall score 18/20
Comments This is an absolute monster piece of kit, which is only let down by a lack of low-speed grunt, despite 24v electrics. On the plus side, you get a 13mm chuck, spare battery, fast charger, battery-level indicator, two gears, hammer mode, and 23 torque settings. Argos, bless them, also throw in a good selection of decent quality masonry and wood drills. The only other slight niggle is the not particularly smooth trigger. 'Dead slow' is difficult to find.

Draper 69352
Price £99.95
Contact tel 02380 266355
Performance 11/14
Is it worth the money? 5/6
Overall score 16/20
Comments Draper cordless drills come in two colours: shiny, happy blue for the DIY man, and serious black for professionals. The tool on test here is obviously the latter and what a no-nonsense package it is. Only two screwdriver bits are included, but Draper has included a spare battery, fast charger, 22 torque settings, hammer mode, and two gears. Torque isn't quite up to that of the 'Best Buy', but it's seriously impressive for a 14.4v tool.

JCB CD12
Price £39.99a
Contact tel 01980 676400
Performance 10/14
Is it worth the money? 6/6
Overall score 16/20
Comments This follows the lines of Draper's 69352 (see p61). When you open the case there doesn't look like a lot in there, but what is present is good. The drill's torque is slightly sub-'Best Buy', but the two gears help on awkward jobs. JCB includes a spare battery, fast charger, 13mm chuck, and loads of torque settings. The smoothly graduated trigger is rivalled only by that of our 'Best Buy'.

Erbauer ERB12DD
Price £77.99
Contact tel 0500 414141
Performance 10/14
Is it worth the money? 5/6
Overall score 15/20
Comments This is the smaller, 12v version, of our 'Best Buy' (p61). Torque, predictably, is not as good but it's nevertheless respectable compared to rivals on test, here. Other omissions are the useful battery charge indicators, and hammer mode, but everything else we wanted is present: a smooth trigger, 42 torque settings, two gears, spare battery, fast charger, handle, and even the spirit level on the top.

Clarke Xtra-Power CCD18T
Price £82.19
Contact tel 01992 565300
Performance 10/14
Is it worth the money? 5/6
Overall score 15/20
Comments Like Draper,Clarke also has a DIY and professional range – this is from the latter. As is the norm with top-end tools, there's little in the way of freebie tools thrown in but you do get two batteries, a fast charger, and stonking performance. Torque is only slightly below that of our 'Best Buy' (p61), and the trigger's almost as smooth, too. Other features include 16 torque settings and two gears.

Argos 710/5506 Challenge 16.8v Hammer Drill Kit
Price £29.99
Contact tel 08706 003030
Performance 8/14
Is it worth the money? 6/6
Overall score 14/20
Comments A comprehensive and very DIY-orientated, set, which includes an assortment of 73 drill bits, screwdriver bits, and even hole saws. The drill slightly lets the side down as it's quite weak until cranked up fast: made more of a problem because there's only one gear. Its trigger is very smooth, though. Our main niggles are just one battery supplied, and a slow charger.

Blackspur DR105
Price £24.99
Contact tel 0141 3323232
Performance 6/14
Is it worth the money? 6/6
Overall score 12/20
Comments It may be in budget territory, but what a fantastic DIY tool this is. Eighteen-volt electrics supply surprisingly good torque – there are 16 torque settings – despite there only being one gear. There's only one battery, and the charger's a five-hour slogger. Seven drill and six screwdriver bits are thrown in, which makes this a good set for the money.

Bosch GSR14.4v Professional
Price £114.99
Contact tel 01895 834466
Performance 10/14a Is it worth the money? 4/6
Overall score 14/20
Comments On paper, the Bosch seems expensive as your money buys a drill that comes with one paltry screwdriver bit, a spare battery, and a fast charger. But use it, and you change your mind. This GSR is incredibly torquey, controllable, and a real smooth operator. It has two gears, 15 torque settings, and one of the best quality 10mm chucks on test, here.

Bosch Heavy Duty GSB 14.4v VE-2
Price £199.99a
Contact tel 01895 834466
Performance 12/14a
Is it worth the money? 3/6
Overall score 15/20
Comments Here is a case of 'BMW syndrome': not only does this tool outperform most others on test here, in terms of torque output, but it does it more smoothly and quietly. And the ergonomics are spot on, too: it fits your hand like a glove, and the controls seem to find their way to the end of your fingers as if by magic. Two gears, 15 torque settings, 13mm chuck, hammer mode, two batteries and a fast charger ensure this tool can cope with serious usage.

Black & Decker Espirit HP122KD
Price £69.99
Contact tel 01753 511234
Performance 8/14
Is it worth the money? 5/6
Overall score 13/20
Comments Well, we couldn't run a feature on power tools without B&D's name popping up before long. As you'd expect, this tool is very well finished and has that 'Bosch' and 'Makita' smoothness – but it's nowhere near as punchy, and actually feels quite weak until cranked up fast. There are two gears, absolutely loads of torque settings, a hammer mode, a fast charger, but no spare battery. B&D also throws in a pipe-and-wire detector to use against your wall.

KOBE KBE-279-0130K
Price £105.63
Contact tel 0116 288 8000
Performance 9/14
Is it worth the money? 4/6
Overall score 13/20
Comments The first thing you notice with this drill is its size. It's like a normal cordless tool, scaled up to be half as big again. But that must be to allow decent components inside, because this is surprisingly torquey and easily controlled through an excellent trigger. Kobe supplies two batteries and a fast charger, and there are 23 torque settings, and two gears for maximum versatility.

Sealey CP9812VHK
Price £112.75
Contact tel 01284 757500
Performance 7/14
Is it worth the money? 3/6
Overall score 10/20
Comments Considering its price, this tool doesn't look much. And, worse still, there's only one gear, four torque settings, a hammer setting, a fast charger – and no spare battery. On paper, you'd expect performance to be poor, with only a 1.3Ah 12v battery running things. But you'd be wrong. Yes, the package may be sparse, but the drill works well. It's almost as torquey as our 'Best Buy' (p61), and the responsive trigger allows easy control.

Makita 6337DWDE
Price £199.74a Contact tel 01908 211678
Performance 10/14
Is it worth the money? 2/6
Overall score 12/20
Comments In out-and-out performance, this tool out-Bosches the Bosch models. Torque output is among the best here and, while all tools in our test seemed to have lasted ages on a single charge, this is the best – perhaps due to the NiMH batteries. Makita throws in two double-ended screwdriver bits, two batteries, and a fast charger. And there are two gears, and 16 torque settings. Fantastic quality throughout – but at a price.

Black & Decker Limited Edition 85th Anniversary Drill
Price £99.99
Contact tel 01753 511234
Performance 6/14
Is it worth the money? 3/6
Overall score 9/20
Comments As cordless tools go, this looks seriously sexy. Unfortunately the performance, while it is OK, doesn't justify the price. There are two gears and countless torque settings, but this struggled in our torque tests until wound up fast. The trigger doesn't want to let you go slow, either. There is a charge indicator, but only one battery and a standard slow charger. Our main moan is bad balance, with the drill wanting to nosedive when put down.

Draper 69350
Price £61.95
Contact tel 02380 266355
Performance 7/14
Is it worth the money? 5/6
Overall score 12/20
Comments A good mid performer from Draper's DIY range. Torque output's pretty good, though the trigger makes using the machine dead slow difficult. There are 2 gears, for extra torque flexibility, and 22 torque settings. Being mid range, this misses out on the freebie bits packaged with budget tools and it doesn't have the fast charger or spare battery usually included with the professional range either.

Draper 62412
Price £41
Contact tel 02380 266355
Performance 4/14
Is it worth the money? 5/6
Overall score 9/20
Comments As with other manufacturers, as the price drops more goodies are included. In this case, they include screwdriver bits, drill bits, and even 1/4in drive sockets. Pretty good, in fact, for DIY automotive use. Torque output is rather low until the motor spins fast, and the trigger is not very sensitive – making dead-slow operation hard work. There's no spare battery included, and the charger's a slow one.

Clarke CCD140
Price £26.97
Contact tel 01992 565300
Performance 7/14
Is it worth the money? 6/6
Overall score 13/20
Comments With its CCD140, Clarke is in real budget territory. This toll has just one gear, a single battery, a slow charger, and six drill and screwdriver bits. Unfortunately, it's less torquey than any other model here, and it's the only one in our test without an electric brake on its motor. One surprisingly good feature is the trigger, which we found smooth and very easy to use, to control the tool's speed.