Impact Wrench 2025 Test: Which Brand Wins?

nut busting torque claimed; rated for 400 ft-lb in the test summary line

claims 300 ft-lb

tightening torque, up to 450 ft-lb breakaway torque

fastening torque, 275 lb nut busting torque as stated in transcript (unit as spoken, not corrected to ft-lb)

max torque of 330 ft-lb, twice as much as the Ryobi per the narrator

brushless motor claims 330 ft-lb

maximum torque of 250 ft-lb

digital brushless motor delivers up to 150 ft-lb

nut busting torque

nut busting torque claimed, 220 ft-lb fastening torque claimed

advertises 275 ft-lb; claims 525 ft-lb bolt breakaway torque

lightest yet at 3.085 lb, at that point in the lineup

by far the heaviest yet at 4.72 lb, at that point in the lineup

lightest yet at 3.45 lb, at that point in the lineup

pretty light at 3.58 lb

same as Ridgid

heaviest yet at 4.02 lb, at that point in the lineup

pretty heavy at 4.41 lb

loudest yet at 91.1 decibels, at that point in the lineup

loudest yet at 91.6 decibels, at that point in the lineup

loudest yet at 93 decibels, at that point in the lineup

won this test at 29,183 lb clamp load (341 ft-lb); vibrates quite a bit

clamp load (305 ft-lb), moved into the lead at that point; hit hard without vibrating too badly

clamp load (279 ft-lb), moved into the lead over the Milwaukee M18 at that point; hits a lot harder than Skil and vibrates quite a bit more

clamp load (104 ft-lb); not much vibration

after 5 seconds, 17,122 lb clamp load (200 ft-lb)

clamp load (88 ft-lb)

ran out of steam early at 11,769 lb clamp load (138 ft-lb); vibrates by far the most of any brand so far at that point

clamp load (219 ft-lb), moving into the lead over Kobalt at that point in the sequence; hits harder than Seesii but vibrates less

clamp load (192 ft-lb), moving into third place at that point; intense vibration, described by narrator as a case of the shakes

came very close to its rating at 12,010 lb clamp load (141 ft-lb); vibrates the least of all brands tested so far at that point

clamp load (227 ft-lb), moving into the lead at that point; hits hard, described as a real hand shaker

performed better than advertised at 21,123 lb clamp load (247 ft-lb), moving into second place behind DeWalt Atomic at that point; hits hard but does not vibrate too badly

performed better than advertised at 26,950 lb clamp load (315 ft-lb), finished second place behind Milwaukee M12 Fuel; vibrates a little less than the Milwaukee M12 Fuel

finished second behind DeWalt Atomic at 1.75 inches from board (8.25 inches of progress); does not have a setting for driving lag bolts unlike DeWalt Atomic and Flex; made less noise than most at 109.2 decibels

has a setting for wood screws, lots of smoke from the board; finished almost 2 inches from board (almost 8 inches of progress), third place behind DeWalt Atomic and Milwaukee M12 at that point; loud at 112 decibels

won this test at 8.5 inches of progress using a mode optimized for lag bolts in wood, described as a huge positive difference; 109.9 decibels

bolt stopped turning at 16 seconds; finished at 7 inches from board (3 inches of progress); 111.8 decibels

kept the bolt turning the entire 30 seconds but slowed a lot near the end; finished close to 4.5 inches from the board (about 5.5 inches of progress); 111.1 decibels

really struggled; finished at 6.75 inches from board (about 3.25 inches of progress); loudest yet at 112.1 decibels

on the highest torque setting seemed sluggish compared to the smaller Kobalt; kept the bolt turning but slowed near the end; finished at 6 inches from board (4 inches of progress), moving into second place behind Kobalt at that point; least noisy yet at 108.5 decibels

makes 19 ft-lb more torque than Kobalt per narrator, and delivers fewer impacts per a sound-spike video review; moved into a two-way tie with Kobalt at 4.5 inches left to go (5.5 inches of progress); 109.1 decibels

made a little less torque than Kobalt and Avhrit but close progress; finished at 5.25 inches, described as a little less progress than Kobalt and Avhrit; 111.7 decibels

made a little more torque than Seesii but quite a bit less than Ridgid; finished at 5 and 5/8 inches (about 4 and 3/8 inches of progress); 111.9 decibels

produced more torque than all previous brands with quick progress and visible smoke from the screw; moved into the lead at 3.75 inches from board (6.25 inches of progress); made less noise than most at 110.6 decibels

made more torque and faster progress than Milwaukee M18; finished at 3 and 3/16 inches from board (6.82 inches of progress), second place behind DeWalt Atomic at that point; 111 decibels

does not have a lag bolt setting; finished fourth place behind Flex at 2.5 inches from board (7.5 inches of progress); 111.1 decibels

7.48 seconds, 7.84 seconds, average 7.96 seconds, finished second behind Flex

7.01 seconds (fastest time yet at that point), 7.53 seconds, average 7.58 seconds, won this test

8.31 seconds, 8.67 seconds, average 8.29 seconds, finished third behind Flex (7.58s) and Milwaukee M12 (7.96s)

22.25 seconds, 20.81 seconds, average 21.34 seconds

14.45 seconds, 12.49 seconds, average 13.86 seconds

28.66 seconds, 32.5 seconds, continuing to lose speed each bolt; no average stated by narrator

just under 26 seconds, 24.37 seconds (a little faster than the Ryobi); no average stated by narrator

(second place behind Kobalt at that point), 13.52 seconds (second fastest yet at that point), 16.57 seconds, average 15.19 seconds

(second place behind Kobalt at that point), 14.34 seconds, 13.16 seconds (fastest of the three), average just over 14 seconds

14.91 seconds, 14.5 seconds, average 15.58 seconds

12.86 seconds (best time yet at that point), average 13.11 seconds, the best average yet at that point in the sequence

(second place behind DeWalt Atomic at that point), 12.39 seconds, 11.15 seconds, average just under 12 seconds

9.44 seconds, 9.39 seconds, average 9.48 seconds

3.08 seconds, 3.39 seconds, average 3.43 seconds, finished third

(tied Makita), 3.03 seconds, 2.52 seconds, won this test, narrowly beating DeWalt Atomic by about 0.01 seconds average

2.67 seconds, 3.23 seconds, average 2.89 seconds, finished second behind Flex by about 0.01 seconds average

7.38 seconds, 6.39 seconds, average 7.1 seconds

just over 6 seconds, 5.36 seconds, average 5.5 seconds

7.63 seconds, 7.79 seconds, average 7.68 seconds

(almost as fast as Kobalt), 4.53 seconds (fastest time yet at that point), right at 5 seconds, average 4.88 seconds

(slower than Seesii), 5.1 seconds (slower than Seesii), 5.36 seconds, average 5.36 seconds

(fastest time yet at that point, moved into the lead), 4.43 seconds, 4.27 seconds, average 4.29 seconds

5 seconds, 5.72 seconds, average 5.91 seconds

5.2 seconds, 6.19 seconds, average 5.6 seconds

3.91 seconds, 4.06 seconds, average 3.68 seconds, second place at that point in the extraction test

3.6 seconds, 4.12 seconds, average 3.86 seconds

most compact from front to back of all brands tested, at only 4.27 inches

very compact at 4.5 inches

very compact at only 4.8 inches in length