Which Allen Keys Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 13 allen keys options head to head. Wiha and Wera Hex+ (tied as the narrator's named top performing picks) came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Wiha and Wera Hex+ (tied as the narrator's named top performing picks)
Price shown in test: $42 for 9 wrenches, or $4.67 each
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Craftsman
Price shown in test: $15 for 20 pieces, or 75 cents each
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“if you're looking for the top performing brands i really like the weira and the wheel now the wheel seems to provide the best fit but the wira seems nearly indestructible”
Best in 4 of 6 measurements, including Ball end test, 3/32 test and 5/16 test.
Best in 1 of 5 measurements, including 3/32 test.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Claimed specs
- 1Wiha20 percent
longer keys for hard to reach areas, precision machined for exact fit, hardened chrome vanadium tool steel, hex ball end allows up to a 25 degree working angle
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plus
patented Hex Plus design providing surface contact claimed to transfer up to 20 percent more torque than standard hex profiles
- 3Craftsman
strong steel hex keys with a black oxide coating for durability, durable handle turns L keys into comfortable T handles, full lifetime warranty
- 4Gedore
zinc plated to help prevent corrosion, chamfered nose ends for easy use, chrome vanadium steel
- 5Kobalt
larger dual action handle for stronger grip, easy to see size markings, ball end allows for 20 degree pivot, meets ASME specifications, hassle free lifetime guarantee
- 6EPAuto
durable, heat treated chrome vanadium steel, includes metric and SAE, corrosion resistant black oxide finish
- 7Facom
black oxide finish to help resist corrosion
- 8PB Swiss
tolerances held to the width of a human hair for dimensional accuracy, longer handle and shorter key for comfortable reach, PB spring steel for toughness and elasticity, unlimited lifetime guarantee
- 9Bondhus
proprietary Protanium steel claimed to be up to 20 percent stronger than the competition, ProGuard finish claimed up to 5 times more effective at stopping rust
- 10Husky
precision formed to exact tolerances, does not have a ball end (unlike most other brands, intended to resist rotational distortion), chamfered edges to guide the tool into the fastener
- 11Tekton
ball end allows up to 25 degree offset, chamfered inserts smoothly into fastener head to reduce wear, claims to be precisely sized
- 12Eklind
ball end allows up to a 35 degree angle, burr free short arm allows users to apply maximum torque, manufactured using Eklind alloy steel
- 13Pittsburgh
includes SAE and metric, standard length and long reach, chrome vanadium steel, black oxide finish to resist rust, lifetime warranty
Country of origin
- 1Wiha
manufactured in Poland, designed to German standards
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plus
Czech Republic
- 3Craftsman
China
- 4Gedore
Germany
- 5Kobalt
Taiwan
- 6EPAuto
Taiwan
- 7Facom
France
- 8PB Swiss
Switzerland
- 9Bondhus
USA
- 10Husky
product of Taiwan, finished in mainland China
- 11Tekton
China
- 12Eklind
USA
- 13Pittsburgh
China
5/32 test (inch pounds before losing grip)
- 1Wiha1741st
first place overall, 18 inch pounds more than the second place finisher; held up exceptionally well with only minor damage to two sides
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plus136
loose fit compared to top performers hurt its result here; held up extremely well with very little visible damage
- 3Craftsman1553rd
held up better than Kobalt
- 4Gedore1562nd
second place behind Wiha at the time it was tested
- 5Kobalt1534th
one of the six sides of the wrench experienced some damage
- 6EPAuto1465th
the wrench is soft and experienced quite a bit of damage
- 7Facom145
better than average, held up really well with very little damage
- 8PB Swiss143
very close to average, held up very well with very little visible damage
- 9Bondhus136
slightly better than Husky, held up better than average with a very small amount of damage
- 10Husky
performed slightly better than Eklind, but the transcript does not state the actual number; a caption gap where the figure was dropped entirely, kept as omitted rather than guessed
- 11Tekton139
performed nearly as well as EPAuto, quite a bit of damage but not as much as EPAuto
- 12Eklind130
or 25 inch pounds less than Craftsman, quite a bit of rounding and damage to all sides
- 13Pittsburgh121
lowest result among brands with usable data in this test (Husky's number is missing), held up fairly well with very little damage
3/32 test (inch pounds)
- 1Wiha39
suddenly broke with quite a bit of damage, including splintering
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plus481st
first place overall, looks nearly as good as new afterward
- 3Craftsman35
held up the best of any brand tested to that point with only a very small amount of rounding
- 4Gedore31
zinc coating showed some damage
- 5Kobalt411st
tied for first place with Facom at the time it was tested, badly twisted with some rounding
- 6EPAuto40
moved into the lead at the time it was tested, badly twisted with quite a bit of damage
- 7Facom411st
tied for first place with Kobalt at the time it was tested, held up well but not quite as well as Craftsman or Bondhus
- 8PB Swiss34
gave up a little early, but looked as good as new afterward
- 9Bondhus36
performed about the same as Husky, held up really well with very little visible damage
- 10Husky36
performed better than average, damage about the same amount as Eklind
- 11Tekton37
a little more damage than Pittsburgh
- 12Eklind31
quite a bit more damage than Craftsman
- 13Pittsburgh32
very small amount of damage
5/16 test (foot pounds)
- 1Wiha138.31st
first place overall, 15 foot pounds more than any other brand; did not begin twisting until around 130 foot pounds despite quite a bit of eventual damage
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plus121
fourth position, performed better than average and held up by far the best of any brand, looking nearly as good as new
- 3Craftsman123.2
to 123 (stated slightly differently in two places), nearly tying EPAuto, some twisting but less rounding than most other brands
- 4Gedore110.3
slightly below average, zinc coating began peeling away during the test
- 5Kobalt115.9
second position behind Tekton at the time it was tested, damage about the same as Tekton
- 6EPAuto108
before struggling, broke at 110.9, seemed quite a bit softer than most of the other brands
- 7Facom111.7
gave up a little early, quite a bit of damage and rounding to all sides
- 8PB Swiss108.2
did not perform as well as some other brands on raw torque, but experienced very little damage and looked nearly as good as new
- 9Bondhus119.4
performed nearly as well as Tekton and Craftsman, quite a bit of rounding like most other brands
- 10Husky117.2
third position behind Craftsman at the time it was tested, quite a bit of rounding
- 11Tekton123.62nd
by far the best result at the time it was tested (before Wiha's later 138.3), second place overall behind Wiha, held better than EPAuto with less rounding and twisting
- 12Eklind107.5
gave up quickly, seemed to be made of a pretty soft metal with quite a bit of rounding and damage
- 13Pittsburgh108.5
quite a bit of rounding and damage
Ball end test (inch pounds)
- 1Wiha1042nd
broke
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plus1061st
best of the 9 wrenches with ball ends
- 3Craftsman953rd
tied for third place with Bondhus, broke
- 5Kobalt87
performed nearly the same as Tekton, held up just fine
- 7Facom91
about average, the ball end broke
- 8PB Swiss90
about average in both the 5/32 and ball end rounds
- 9Bondhus953rd
tied for third place with Craftsman, did not break (unlike Craftsman)
- 11Tekton91
broke
- 12Eklind87
broke, struggled in both the 5/32 and ball end rounds
- 4Gedorenot tested
- 6EPAutonot tested
- 10Huskynot tested
- 13Pittsburghnot tested
Fit
- 1Wiha
described repeatedly across every test as offering the best fit of all 13 brands, with very little side to side slop or play
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plus5/32
test noted a looser fit than the top performing brands at that stage; by the 3/32 test the fit was described as the best yet
- 13Pittsburgh
described as offering a poor fit with lots of side to side play, sold at Harbor Freight
- 3Craftsmannot tested
- 4Gedorenot tested
- 5Kobaltnot tested
- 6EPAutonot tested
- 7Facomnot tested
- 8PB Swissnot tested
- 9Bondhusnot tested
- 10Huskynot tested
- 11Tektonnot tested
- 12Eklindnot tested
All measurements (2 more)+
Corrosion resistance
- 4Gedore
the zinc coating did a great job resisting corrosion in the aggressive 12 hour test, but the coating is soft and appears to hurt the tool's grip performance
- 8PB Swiss
performed very well in the 12 hour aggressive corrosion test, called out by name alongside Gedore
- 1Wihanot tested
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plusnot tested
- 3Craftsmannot tested
- 5Kobaltnot tested
- 6EPAutonot tested
- 7Facomnot tested
- 9Bondhusnot tested
- 10Huskynot tested
- 11Tektonnot tested
- 12Eklindnot tested
- 13Pittsburghnot tested
Corrosion
- 6EPAuto
already showed signs of corrosion forming under the black oxide finish even before the dedicated corrosion test
- 1Wihanot tested
- 2Wera Hex+ Hex Plusnot tested
- 3Craftsmannot tested
- 4Gedorenot tested
- 5Kobaltnot tested
- 7Facomnot tested
- 8PB Swissnot tested
- 9Bondhusnot tested
- 10Huskynot tested
- 11Tektonnot tested
- 12Eklindnot tested
- 13Pittsburghnot tested
How it was tested
- 5/32 inch allen key gripping strength test: torque adapter measures maximum torque before the key breaks or loses grip in a fixture holding a 304 stainless steel fastener
- ball end torque test: maximum torque before the ball end of the key breaks or loses grip, only for the 9 of 13 brands that include a ball end design
- 3/32 inch allen key gripping strength test, using a different, smaller fastener
- 5/16 inch allen key gripping strength test, using a heavier duty torque adapter, measured in foot pounds
- corrosion resistance test: an aggressive corrosion agent of hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and salt applied twice over 12 hours
“if you're looking for the top performing brands i really like the weira and the wheel now the wheel seems to provide the best fit but the wira seems nearly indestructible”
Data notes and caveats
This transcript has severe phonetic overlap between two separate brands, Wiha and Wera Hex+, both captioned with very similar sounding strings throughout (we a brand, the wheel, wease, wii, wia, weira, weir, rear hex plus). Each occurrence was resolved independently by testing order and by cross checking against the recap leaderboard sentence for each test, which in three separate tests (5/32, ball end, 3/32, and 5/16) lists both brands' names and numbers together in the same sentence, confirming they are distinct entries rather than one brand. Wiha won the two largest raw torque tests (5/32 and 5/16) outright and consistently had the best physical fit; Wera Hex+ won the 3/32 and ball end tests and consistently showed the least wear and damage of any brand. The narrator explicitly names both as his top picks in the closing verdict, which is why winner captures both rather than picking one. Husky's 5/32 test result is missing its number entirely in the transcript (a caption gap, not a garbled figure) and was omitted rather than guessed. The corrosion test gives no brand specific numeric ratings beyond naming Gedore and PB Swiss as standouts and stating that black oxide coated brands performed roughly the same as each other.
