When browsing over at Amazon, I came across a new Hitachi compact brushless drill. There are 2 kits – DS18DBFL2 with 2x 1.5Ah battery packs, and DV18DBFL2 with 2x 3.0Ah compact battery packs, and a bare tool, DS18DBFL2P4.
In recent months, Hitachi came out with a very good triple anvil brushless impact driver, and a compact 1/2″ impact wrench. There’s also a new super-powerful brushless hammer drill with anti-kickback safety feature, but it has not yet been announced for the USA market.
Correction: The super-powerful brushless hammer drill IS available in the USA now.
The new Hitachi 18V brushless drill looks pretty straightforward. It delivers up to 620 in-lbs in a compact package.
- Keyless all-metal 1/2″ chuck
- 620 in-lbs max torque
- 1800 RPM Max
- 22+1 clutch settings
- LED work light
- Belt hook
- Balanced design and ergo grip
- Length: 6-29/32″
- Weight: 2.7 lbs w/o battery
- On-tool battery indicator
As with some other Hitachi drill/drivers, the new compact brushless model has an optical trigger switch, which offers more responsive variable speed actuation, as well as greater wear resistance for the trigger assembly. In other words, enhanced control and greater longevity.
Price: $200 for the kit with 1.5Ah batteries, $140 for the bare tool
Buy Now(Kit with 2x 1.5Ah)
Buy Now(Kit with 2x 3.0Ah)
Buy Now(Bare Tool)
First Thoughts
There’s not much to talk about here – this is just another strong-looking release by Hitachi.
It has very good power specs, a compact size, light weight, and reasonable and competitive pricing.
We don’t yet know the pricing of the more premium kit, which pairs the drill with Hitachi’s compact 3.0Ah battery packs. I would expect it to be maybe $100 more than the 1.5Ah kit, at $300 or so.
I’ve got to say, Hitachi’s 18V product family is looking better and better these days. This is one more appealing brushless addition to the lineup.