Best Cordless Combi Drills UK 2026: Six Drills Worth Your Batteries
The combi drill is where nearly every cordless kit begins. It drills timber, drives screws with a clutch so you do not sink them through the plasterboard, and its hammer mode handles the red brick and blockwork that make up most British walls. Because it is usually the first tool bought on a battery platform, the drill you choose today quietly decides which brand of saw, grinder and impact driver you will be buying for years, which is why this purchase deserves more thought than its price tag suggests.
We have narrowed the 2026 market down to six combi drills that a UK buyer can order with confidence, spanning a compact joiner's favourite, two out and out flagships, and an honest value option for lighter work. For each one we spell out who it suits, who should skip it, and the typical Amazon UK price band. One thing you will not find here is a sub £50 brushed bargain: drills at that level exist, but in our view around £90 is where genuine, lasting quality starts, and anything below it tends to be a purchase you make twice.
What a Combi Drill Actually Has To Do
Spec sheets bury you in numbers. Strip it back to the jobs the drill will face and four things decide whether you will still be happy in five years.
- A brushless motor is the baseline. Brushless designs waste less energy as heat, so each battery charge does more work and the motor itself has no contact parts to wear out. Every drill in this guide is brushless. The remaining brushed models on the market are only cheap because the technology is a generation old, and for anything beyond occasional shelf hanging they are poor value.
- Understand what hammer mode can and cannot do. A combi's percussion action rattles the bit thousands of times a minute, which is ideal for house brick, mortar joints and lightweight block. It is not a substitute for an SDS rotary hammer in dense concrete, engineering brick or stone. If your week is full of concrete lintels and structural fixings, budget for an SDS on the same battery platform and let the combi handle everything else.
- Gearbox and chuck quality show up under load. A two speed gearbox covers most work; the three speed boxes on flagship drills add a fast top gear that makes small diameter drilling noticeably quicker. Whatever the speed count, insist on an all metal chuck. Plastic sleeved chucks loosen their grip on hexagonal and large round shanks just when the drill starts working hard, and a slipping chuck is the single most common complaint about cheap combis.
- Count the cost of the platform, not the drill. Batteries and chargers are the expensive half of cordless ownership. Your first drill should almost always be a kit with two batteries, after which every future tool can be bought as a bare unit at a large saving. That logic also means brand choice matters beyond this one purchase: check that the platform you pick sells the other tools you can see yourself needing, from circular saws to garden kit.
All Six Picks at a Glance
| Pick | Best for | Class | Typical band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Makita DHP486 | All round trade use | Two speed flagship | £110 to £170 bare |
| DeWalt DCD999 | Maximum drilling power | Three speed flagship | £250 to £330 kit |
| DeWalt DCD805 | Compact everyday drill | Two speed compact | £100 to £160 bare |
| Milwaukee M18 FPD3 | Heavy daily site work | Two speed flagship | £140 to £200 bare |
| Bosch GSB 18V-55 | Overhead and fitted work | Two speed compact | £85 to £140 bare |
| Ryobi ONE+ HP combi | Serious DIY, light trade | Two speed value | £90 to £140 kit |
Bands are typical Amazon UK prices at the time of writing, quoted as ranges because prices move often.
Our Six Picks for 2026
Makita DHP486 18V LXT Brushless Combi Drill
Best all rounder for UK trade use
If one drill had to cover a whole career, the DHP486 would be a very safe bet. It is the high torque brushless combi in Makita's LXT family, with an all metal chuck, a wide speed range across its two gears and the slim grip and front heavy balance that generations of UK trades have shaped their hands around. It bores big auger and spade bits through joists without drama, and its hammer mode deals with brick and block as well as any combi here. The quiet advantage is the LXT platform itself, which remains one of the broadest in the world, so batteries bought for this drill will end up powering saws, grinders, radios and even mowers. Considerations: it lacks the app connectivity and anti kickback electronics some rivals now fit, and its size makes it more of a van drill than a kitchen cabinet drill. Typical bare tool band is around £110 to £170.
View on Amazon UKDeWalt DCD999 18V XR FlexVolt Advantage Combi Drill Kit
Best for maximum drilling power
The DCD999 tops DeWalt's 18V combi range and it is the pick for anyone whose drill regularly does the hard yards: large hole saws, long augers, mixing the odd bucket of adhesive, repeated masonry fixings. A three speed all metal gearbox gives it a genuinely fast top gear, and the FlexVolt Advantage system lets it pull extra performance when a larger FlexVolt battery is fitted, effectively future proofing the tool as your battery collection grows. Build quality is everything you would expect at the top of the XR line, with a robust metal chuck and a two position side handle you will actually want to use. Considerations: it is heavier and dearer than most people need for everyday screwdriving, so if your work is mainly second fix, look at the DCD805 below and save both money and wrist strain. Kits with batteries typically land around £250 to £330.
View on Amazon UKDeWalt DCD805 18V XR Brushless Compact Combi Drill
Best compact drill for everyday work
Most drilling is not heroic. It is pilot holes, fixings into brick, hinge screws and the hundredth cupboard of the week, and the DCD805 is built for exactly that reality. It is the compact model in the current XR range, short enough front to back to work inside carcasses and light enough to use above your head all afternoon, yet it keeps a proper metal chuck and enough power that you rarely feel the difference from the flagship. DeWalt also fits an anti rotation system that cuts power if the drill snags and tries to spin, which anyone who has caught a wrist on a jammed bit will appreciate. Considerations: sustained heavy drilling and big diameter work are where the DCD999 justifies itself instead, and the DCD805 gives up a little runtime under hard load. As the one drill in a working van or a serious home kit, it is arguably the sweet spot of the whole XR line. Typical bare tool band is around £100 to £160.
View on Amazon UKMilwaukee M18 FPD3 Fuel Percussion Drill
Best for heavy daily site work
Milwaukee's Fuel badge marks its top tier brushless tools, and the M18 FPD3 is the current generation of its flagship combi. The character of the tool is unapologetically aggressive: a compact body hiding a motor that chews through timber and masonry, electronics that manage the battery cleverly under sustained load, and an anti kickback function that shuts things down if the bit binds. The M18 range has expanded rapidly in Britain and has a particularly loyal following among plumbers and electricians, so batteries bought here will not run out of tools to power. Build quality tolerates the kind of daily abuse that gradually kills lesser drills. Considerations: on platform cost is the highest of the big brands once batteries are included, and for lighter second fix work the FPD3 is more drill than the job requires. For people who are hard on tools, that is precisely the point. Typical bare tool band is around £140 to £200.
View on Amazon UKBosch Professional GSB 18V-55 Combi Drill
Best for overhead and fitted furniture work
The GSB 18V-55 takes a different route to earning its place: instead of chasing headline power it concentrates on being small, light and pleasant to use for hours at a stretch. That makes it a quiet favourite among kitchen fitters, joiners and anyone who spends the day inside cabinets or working at ceiling height, where every gram and every centimetre of body length counts. It is brushless, its clutch is nicely progressive for delicate screwdriving, and Bosch's Professional 18V batteries are shared across a wide blue tool range as well as partner brands through the amperage sharing alliance Bosch belongs to. Considerations: its hammer mode suits light masonry rather than all day drilling into hard brick, and users with big power demands will outgrow it. As a first professional drill for fit out work, or a light second drill beside a flagship, it is one of the best value brushless tools from any premium brand. Typical bare tool band is around £85 to £140.
View on Amazon UKRyobi ONE+ HP 18V Brushless Combi Drill Kit
Best value for serious DIY and light trade use
Ryobi's HP series brought brushless motors to the ONE+ platform, and the result is a combi that comfortably covers renovating a house, maintaining rental properties or working as the spare drill that lives in the loft conversion. Power is honest rather than exceptional, the clutch and two speed gearbox do what they claim, and the ONE+ battery system connects to a vast catalogue of tools, from sanders to garden equipment, which no professional platform matches for sheer variety. Kits with a battery and charger regularly appear at prices the trade brands cannot approach. Considerations: the construction is plainly built to a friendlier price, with more plastic in load bearing places, and daily commercial use on site will find its limits within a couple of years. Buy it for what it is, a very capable value workhorse, and it will not disappoint. Kits typically land around £90 to £140.
View on Amazon UKWhich One Should You Buy?
Buying your first serious drill? The Makita DHP486 in a two battery kit is the choice we would make for all round UK trade work: proven, powerful and attached to a platform you will never struggle to expand.
Working compact, or mostly second fix? The DeWalt DCD805 and Bosch GSB 18V-55 are the drills you will actually enjoy picking up. Choose between them on which battery platform better matches the other tools you want.
Hard on your kit, or drilling big holes daily? The DeWalt DCD999 and Milwaukee M18 FPD3 are built for exactly that, and the extra outlay buys years of headroom. On a tighter budget for lighter work, the Ryobi kit covers the ground for far less.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a combi drill and a drill driver?
A drill driver drills and drives screws with a clutch. A combi drill adds a percussion hammer mode for masonry on top of those functions. In the UK, where most walls are brick or block, the combi is the default buy, and the price difference between the two is now small enough that there is rarely a reason to choose the plain drill driver.
Can a combi drill handle concrete?
Occasionally and reluctantly. A combi's hammer action suits house brick, mortar and lightweight block. Dense concrete, engineering brick and stone want an SDS rotary hammer, which strikes far harder and drills those materials several times faster with less wear on the tool. If concrete features in your week rather than your year, buy an SDS on the same battery platform as your combi.
Do I need a side handle?
For big diameter drilling, yes, and you should use the one in the box. Large hole saws and augers can snag mid cut, and the full torque of a flagship drill arriving at your wrist without warning is how sprains happen. Several drills in this guide add electronic kickback protection, which is a genuine safety feature rather than a gimmick, but a braced second hand remains the first line of defence.
Is it worth paying for a three speed gearbox?
Only if you drill a lot. The third gear is a high speed setting that makes small bits noticeably quicker in timber and metal, which adds up across a full day of drilling but means little if your drill mostly drives screws. Two speed drills like the DHP486 and DCD805 cover the overwhelming majority of real work.
Which battery capacity should I buy?
For a combi drill, a pair of mid size packs around the 4Ah or 5Ah mark hits the balance between runtime and weight. Small compact cells keep the drill light for finish work; the very large capacity packs make more sense on saws and grinders than on a drill you hold at arm's length. Two batteries matter more than any particular size, because one can always be charging.