News! Upcoming Ryobi 18V Brushless 1/2″ Drill and Hammer Drill

Facebook follower Daniel A. C. brought some good news to the Tool Craze universe which is that Ryobi has come out with a pair of new brushless 18 volt 1/2″ drills. These new brushless drills are a compact 1/2″ drill / driver R18DDBL-0 and 1/2″ hammer drill / driver R18PDBL-0 and are part of Ryobi’s large and growing 18V One+ line of cordless tools.

Now before you guys get too excited, be informed that these were spotted on a Norwegian website so at this point there is no word on when or if these will ever hit the USA market. But in the meantime we can dream and we can definitely drool over these new creations.

Although not titled in the translation as “compact” drills, they appear to be compact as is the case with many brushless tools as brushless drills usually shave off a bit of weight and bulk compared to their brushed counterparts. I couldn’t gather any dimension info but these look rather compact with a very short appearance in length front to back. This will most definitely help reach into tight spots where larger drills just can’t fit into. Compact drills seem to cover the vast majority of the drill segment and usually range between 350-600 in lbs of max torque. They aren’t brute torque monsters but have more than enough power for most tasks.

Both models appear to spec out the same with the only difference between models being the hammer drill mode or lack of, with 60 Nm of max torque which translates into 531 in lbs of torque so it fits right in line with the compact drill segment. Both models feature a mechanical 2 speed transmission with 0-400 / 0-1,600 RPM. The chuck is a 13mm chuck which translates into 1/2″ and is said to be a metal chuck. No word if it is ratcheting but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a ratcheting chuck as the latest brushed Ryobi 18V hammer drill came with a 1/2″ metal ratcheting chuck. Surprisingly, the hammer drill model didn’t list any BPM stats, so we’ll have to wait and see. Spec wise, these are very ordinary drills. They don’t offer any spec numbers that will wow today’s current users of brushed and brushless drill but it is nice that Ryobi is headed in the right direction with their first brushless power tool that isn’t an outdoor power tool. Yes you heard right! This isn’t Ryobi’s first brushless power tool as they have several brushless cordless outdoor power equipment. Users will definitely appreciate increased runtime (up to 40%) compared to brushed drills with the introduction of these new brushless drills.

One new feature on both of these models that will catch peoples attention is the wording E-Torque on both drills. I’m not exactly sure what this is as I didn’t see it described in the translated information but my educated guess is that they may be using an electronic clutch. With electronic clutches, tool manufacturers can control when a drill clutches out to a specified torque setting without the need of a traditional mechanical clutch as it’s all done electronically as the electronics monitor torque and decide when to shut the motor down when it’s reached the desired torque. Manufacturers can also do away with a traditional torque collar and shave off some length front to back. At first glance it looks as if that’s what was done with these drills but they do in fact have a torque collar, although much skinnier than regular drill torque collars. All the numbers for the torque settings are up at top of the torque collar. At this point it’s hard to say if it officially has an electronic clutch or not.

Another new update can be seen on the handle at top where it’s been tapered and appears to be thinner and more ergonomic. This seems to be the same update that was done with the Milwaukee M12 Fuel and second gen drills and impacts. Also included as part of the feature set are Ryobi’s usual bit holder and LED light which has now been moved to the base as seen on recent models. Although not shown in any pictures, the hammer drill model is said to have a side handle included. No word on what they weigh in at but as expected with compact drills, we can be sure that they will be light. Expect around 3.5 lbs for the compact drill driver and closer to 4.0 lbs for the hammer drill model paired with a compact battery ( more or less so don’t quote me). Both models can be had as baretools and as kits that included a pair of 2.5 ah compact batteries

My thoughts are these new brushless hammer drill and drill driver models will catch peoples attention and move forward in the right direction with the latest tech from the tool world. Hopefully we will one day see these here stateside soon so we can satisfy our hunger for more brushless power tools. I’m sure Ryobi fans are eager for these to come out as well. I also can’t help but see a bit of resemblance of Robo Cop or the Reading Rainbow guy from Star Trek the next generation with the cyclops blue strip just behind the chuck.

Specifications:

60 Nm Max torque (531 in lbs)

Brushless variable speed motor (up to 40% more runtime 20% more power according to Ryobi)

2 speed mechanical transmission (0-400 / 0-1,600 RPM)

Integrated LED light

E-Torque (whatever that means – soon to be revealed)

Drilling capacity: Concrete 13mm (1/2″), Wood 50mm (1.96″), Steel 13mm (1/2″)