DEWALT DCD996N 18V XR 3-Speed Brushless Hammer Combi Drill (Body Only), 820 W, 18 V, Yellow/Black

I have a number of DeWalt drills. They are all basically the same but have different flavours and your choice should be about mainly what you do "most of the time". My "go to drill" is the little 709. It's a good all round drill, compact and light. Does everything well. It's particularly good as a screwdriver. There are times though that you need a little more speed and this is where the 796 comes in. It's that bit bigger, heavier but faster. Then there is the 996, which is the power drill of the three. It's bigger, heavier, faster and a lot more powerful than either of the two smaller drills. This is especially good for heavier work, drilling larger holes in wood, steel or masonry, but it really is a touch too big for everyday use.The 996 also has three speeds which really seems unnecessary. Two is enough. And there is the LED switch which allows you to control the led on the drill. Three levels of brightness and the last, brightest one stays on permanently once you hit the trigger.One thing that is very noticeable about all three drills is you would swear they are all made by different companies. They all have similar characteristics but they all have different ones too. The 709 for example is the quietest of the three but both the 796 and 996 make a loud clunk noise when spinning fast and you release the power button. Very odd. Also the 996 clutch selector is very noisy, whereas on both the 796 and the 709 it's very quiet. And on all of them the clutch settings are different and the clutch on the 996 is very strange. Instead of just clicking when the clutch slips, it makes an almost inaudible click and just stops turning altogether ( the motor switches off ). Saves power I guess. Also, the speed of the drill is set according to the clutch setting. The lower the clutch is set the slower the drill turns, so you do have to make sure that the clutch is set to "drill" or you won't get the highest speed from the drill. It happens on all three speeds. I guess this is clever, but really I am not sure it's needed, and it certainly can be confusing. You are sitting there wondering why the drill isn't going very fast when you realise it's because the clutch setting is low. Also when the clutch activates it just so happens to be exactly the same as when the battery runs out.... confusing.Personally I removed the belt clip. They are a darn nuisance, they catch on everything. They are useful for some people, but not me. On the 996 the drill is so heavy it's likely to end up with your pants round your ankles.So, best for heavier work, the 996 is a great, but the clever refinements DeWalt have added just seem to leave people confused. All in all I love using the 996 for masonry, but the best general purpose drill is the lighter 796. As a really cute, light duty, the 709 can't be beaten.

Amazing tool.Best drill I ever had so far.Been using it for a while and it constantly outperforms my expectations.With 5Ah battery lasts very long when used by a DIYer.It's got tons of torque and will snap small screws if you're not careful.That would be a downside of it. To me the lowest torque setting is still quite high.. but the trigger is quite good for modulating rpms.It's got 3 speed settings 0-450/0-1300/0-2000 which is plenty to choose from and provides enough speed for good gamer drill action. At top speed it gives 38250BMP and does actually go through walls very easy.I like the belt hook and magnetic holder for you other bit/drill as well.It also has a convenient light with 3 settings with 1/4 and 1/2 brightness that turns on whenever you squeeze the trigger and stays on for about 30 seconds. Last setting is a torch. That's a full brightness and stays on.That feature actually is somewhat annoying as whenever you first squeeze the trigger the LED will flash full bright before going to set setting. And whenever working with anything electrical it scares the Jesus out of me. Every freaking time! But might be something wrong with me...Anyway I could not recommend it more. It's not cheap but great and durable with all the features you will need and lasts for a very long time on the big battery.

Fantastic drill plenty of power 💪👍

For more than five years, I 've been using DeWalt 785. It was good, light weight, enough powerful for use like screwdriver, drilling holes in wood, some thin metal sheet, but not for drilling concrete, bad hammer drill. But it fallows down twice from the scaffold and broke transmission. Now always working like hammer drill. Now I decided to buy the professional DeWalt 986, body only, as the two batteries remained from the old. This one is super. Slightly heavier than 785, but it is much better in performance in all aspects than 785. Especially I can now drill holes in concrete. Tried it and doing great. Brushless motor is perfect and drain battery much less. It's a great tool for that kind of money.

I've been using a cheap unbranded battery drill for many years, which has been adequate for putting screws in and holes in wood, having to use a mains drill for masonry etc. I recently purchased my wife an auger for planting (her request) which required a more powerful drill, and as my last one has done me 20 years, i thought I'd splash out on a multispeed model hence this 3-speed range product. It is quite heavy but feels really well built, metal mechanical housings that seem very robust. I purchased a non-branded battery to go with it, and the performance is amazing, it is easy to use for all types of drilling and screwing in. A pleasure to use. Quite heavy, but I don't mind that, and looks the business. Also the chuck doesn't loosen like on my old drill where I was constantly having to retighten mid-job.