Battery-powered 1/2-inch hammer drills for wood, metal and masonry, ranked from live Amazon data.
Ranked by ToolboxTop10 from Amazon data captured Oct 10, 2026. How we rank
A cordless hammer drill is a drill/driver with a hammer mode for brick, block and concrete anchor holes. Most of the best sellers are sold as bare tools for people who already own the batteries, so check whether a pick is a kit before you buy. We ranked 10 best-sellers on rating, review volume and features (brushless motor, battery included, a two-speed gearbox and an LED). They run from about $63 for a complete kit to $207 for DEWALT's flagship bare tool.
CRAFTSMAN CMCD711C2Best OverallStarting fresh: a name-brand hammer drill with two batteries in the box.
DEWALT DCD799BTight spaces on DEWALT 20V MAX, with a short brushless body.
Milwaukee 2904-20Milwaukee M18 owners who want the most torque listed on the page.
Makita XPH16ZMakita 18V LXT owners who want a compact brushless hammer drill.
DEWALT DCD798BDEWALT 20V MAX owners who want brushless for about $100.
RYOBI PCL220BRYOBI ONE+ owners who want a cheap hammer drill.
Already own batteries?
Batteries only fit their own brand's platform, so the best tool for you is often the best
one that runs on the packs you already have. Here's our top-ranked pick on each platform on this page.
A tool-only model skips the cost of a battery and charger you don't need.
Tools sold as "compatible with" another brand's batteries aren't listed here. They're made by third parties, and the battery brand doesn't warrant them.
Where the deals are
The tools ranked here come from DEWALT, DCK, DCA, Dong Cheng, CRAFTSMAN, Milwaukee, Makita, and RYOBI. Prices on these brands move week to
week on Amazon, and the deepest cuts usually land around Prime Day and Black Friday.
Every price button on this page opens the live listing, so you always see today's
number, not the one we captured on 2026-10-10. If your pick is over budget
right now, check back in a few days — DEWALT and DCK rotate through sales and bundle
deals often.
DEWALT's flagship 20V hammer drill and the best seller here by review count: brushless, three speeds, a carbide-insert ratcheting chuck and a three-mode LED. Bare tool with a 3-year warranty.
Best for: DEWALT 20V MAX owners who want the most capable hammer drill in the line.
Skip it if: You don't own DEWALT batteries; it's $207 for the bare tool.
The best-rated name-brand kit on the page: a V20 hammer drill with two batteries and a charger, a two-speed gearbox and a ratcheting chuck. The pick if you don't own a battery platform yet.
Best for: Starting fresh: a name-brand hammer drill with two batteries in the box.
Skip it if: You want brushless runtime; this one is brushed.
Battery platform
CRAFTSMAN V20
Max torque
280 UWO
Max speed
1,500 rpm
Blows per minute
25,500 bpm
Chuck
1/2 in ratcheting
In the box
2 x 1.3Ah batteries, charger
Weight
—
Pros
Two V20 batteries and a charger included
Two-speed gearbox, 25,500 bpm
1,172 reviews at 4.6 stars
Cons
Brushed motor
1.3Ah batteries are small for long masonry runs
#6
DEWALT
DEWALT DCD799B 20V MAX ATOMIC COMPACT SERIES Brushless 1/2 in. Cordless Hammer Drill (Tool Only)
4.6727 reviews
Score 77/100
Why this score
Star rating 45% of score92/100 → 41 pts
Number of reviews 35% of score73/100 → 26 pts
Features 20% of score50/100 → 10 pts
Has: a brushless motor, an LED work light. Missing: a complete kit (everything you need in the box), a 2-speed gearbox.
Milwaukee's M18 FUEL hammer drill, the best seller on the page last month, with 1,400 in-lb of torque, an all-metal carbide-tooth chuck and a mechanical clutch. Bare tool for M18 owners.
Best for: Milwaukee M18 owners who want the most torque listed on the page.
Skip it if: You aren't on M18 batteries.
Battery platform
Milwaukee M18
Max torque
1,400 in-lb
Max speed
—
Blows per minute
—
Chuck
1/2 in all-metal, carbide teeth
In the box
Tool only
Weight
4.3 lb
Pros
1,400 in-lb listed, the most here
900+ bought in the past month
All-metal chuck with carbide teeth; mechanical clutch
Cons
Tool only
The listing's bullets don't mention the motor type or LED
A brushless DEWALT hammer drill/driver at about half the DCD996's price, and the second-best seller here last month. The listing is thin: one bullet and a spec table with errors.
Best for: DEWALT 20V MAX owners who want brushless for about $100.
Skip it if: You want the full spec sheet before buying; the listing barely has one.
Battery platform
DEWALT 20V MAX
Max torque
531 in-lb
Max speed
—
Blows per minute
—
Chuck
1/2 in
In the box
Tool only
Weight
2.7 lb
Pros
Brushless, 531 in-lb
800+ bought in the past month
About half the price of the DCD996B
Cons
Tool only
The listing has one bullet and gives its speed as "0.01 feet per second"
Listing showed only 8 left in stock
#10
RYOBI
RYOBI ONE+ 18V Cordless 1/2 in. Hammer Drill, 515 in-lbs, Tool Only (PCL220B)
4.4171 reviews
Score 64/100
Why this score
Star rating 45% of score88/100 → 40 pts
Number of reviews 35% of score57/100 → 20 pts
Features 20% of score20/100 → 4 pts
Has: a 2-speed gearbox. Missing: a brushless motor, a complete kit (everything you need in the box), an LED work light.
The RYOBI ONE+ hammer drill, with 515 in-lb and two speeds. RYOBI sells mainly through Home Depot, and this Amazon listing comes from a third-party seller.
Best for: RYOBI ONE+ owners who want a cheap hammer drill.
Skip it if: You want a full warranty; the listing states 30 days.
Battery platform
RYOBI 18V ONE+
Max torque
515 in-lb
Max speed
1,750 rpm
Blows per minute
—
Chuck
1/2 in
In the box
Tool only
Weight
—
Pros
515 in-lb, two speeds
Runs on any RYOBI ONE+ 18V battery
$79 for the bare tool
Cons
Third-party listing with a 30-day limited warranty
The listing's only bullet is about lawn-mower parts, so check the details with the seller
Brushed motor
How we rank
Every tool gets one score from 0 to 100, weighted
45% on its star rating,
35% on how many people have reviewed it (more reviews = more
confidence the rating is real), and 20% on the features that
matter for the job. The list is ordered by that score. Best Overall is our pick for the
best all-around, ready-to-use tool; Best Budget the best value at or under
$80; and Money No Object the one to buy if price is no object.
The features score is built from a brushless motor (30%), a complete kit (30%), a 2-speed gearbox (20%), an LED work light (20%), capped at 100. The review-count score is on a log scale, so each tenfold jump in reviews adds the same amount, and 8,000 or more reviews gets full marks. Open Why this score on any tool to see its numbers.
What changed
We re-check every listing on this page on a rotation. The most recent changes:
Page published with 10 ranked picks and 1 tool to avoid.
Buyer's guide
Do I need a hammer drill or a regular drill?
A hammer drill does everything a drill/driver does, plus a hammer mode for brick, block and the odd concrete anchor hole. If you ever hang things on masonry, it's worth the small price difference. For lots of concrete, look at a rotary hammer instead.
Kit or bare tool?
If you already own batteries for a platform, buy the bare tool and save the cost of a battery and charger. If you don't, a kit is cheaper than buying the pieces separately, and the platform you choose decides which tools you'll buy later.
Is brushless worth paying for?
Brushless motors run cooler, get more work from each charge and last longer, because there are no carbon brushes to wear out. For occasional home use a brushed drill is fine; for regular masonry work, brushless is worth it.
What do torque and BPM mean?
Torque (in-lb or UWO) is twisting force, which matters for big bits and long screws. BPM is blows per minute in hammer mode, which matters for how fast it drills masonry. Brands measure torque differently, so compare within a brand rather than across them.
Can a cordless hammer drill handle concrete?
It can drill anchor holes up to about 1/2 inch in concrete, slowly. If you're drilling more than a few holes, or larger ones, a rotary hammer with SDS-Plus bits will be much faster and easier on your wrist.
Tools to avoid
Not everything in the search results deserves your money.
This one would rank dead last on our scale — here's the listing to walk past, and exactly why.
✕ Avoid
GoYwato
GoYwato 1239In-lbs 21V Brushless Cordless Power Hammer Drill Set with Case
4.030 reviews$69.99
A no-name kit whose headline numbers don't add up. The Dong Cheng kit costs the same, comes with two batteries, and is rated 4.6.
Why we'd skip it
It's sold as a 21V drill, but the listing's own fine print says it runs on Makita 18V batteries. "21V" is the peak voltage of an 18V pack, a marketing number, not a more powerful tool.
It claims 1,239 in-lb of torque, more than the brushless Makita XPH16Z (970 in-lb) and close to the Milwaukee M18 FUEL (1,400 in-lb), with no brand or test behind the figure.
The spec table lists a 25 mm metal drilling capacity and a 10 cm wood capacity on a drill with a 13 mm (1/2 in) chuck.
It's a third-party body on another brand's battery, so Makita doesn't warrant it.
