When I went to buy a drill, I could see different voltage drills available in the market. But I did not know how to select the suitable one for my tasks. After searching many sources, I could select the middle voltage range drills. That was 12V and 18V. There is a difference between 12V vs 18V drills. So this guide will help you to select the suitable drill for you task easily.
12V Vs 18V drills have high RPM, higher torque, more expensive, more battery capacity, weigher, and chuck difference than 12V drills. Because of these 18V drills are better than 12V drills, although their price is high. 18V drill will be an excellent solution for all of your 12V drilling purpose.
Considering many factors, we can finalize which one is better for the drilling purpose. These factors will tell you how much is your drill powerful. According to that, you can choose the best one with the best performance that is 100% compatible with your job. So let’s read on to find the best!
Difference Between 12V vs. 18V Drill
Below are a few of the leading brands that are available in the market with different specifications. When you check it, you can see there is a vast difference between its 12V and 18V specifications. If you consider other brands, the situation is the same.
Some brands do not available only drills tools. They provide it with a hammering option also. Some are not available in the market. You can double-check this as you wish for your clarification. Most hammer drills can be used as regular drill.
Many top brands are being developed years ago and now they have the best performance tools with more long life span.
Milwaukee 12V vs 18V Hammer Drill
| 12V | 18V | |
| Model | 2407-20 | 2801-21P |
| Speed | 1500 RPM | 1800RPM |
| Voltage | 12V | 18V |
| Weight | 2.1 lbs | 3.4 lbs |
| Chuck | 3/8″ | 1/2″ |
| Torque | 30 Nm | 55 Nm |
| Price | 59$ | 169$ |
Dewalt 12V vs 18V Drill
| 12V | 18V | |
| Model | DCD701F2 | DCD771C2 |
| Speed | 0-1500 RPM | 0-1,800 RPM |
| Voltage | 12V | 18V |
| Weight | 1.9 lbs | 3.64 |
| Chuck | 3/8″ | 1/2″ |
| Price | 132$ | 169$ |
Makita 12V vs 18V Drill
| 12V | 18V | |
| Model | FD09Z | XPH07Z |
| Speed | 700 RPM | 2100 RPM |
| Voltage | 12V | 18V |
| Weight | 2.27 lbs | 5.9 lbs |
| Chuck | 3/8″ | 1/2″ |
| Price | 59$ | 159$ |
When you check this clearly, you can see the exact difference of each tool. Some brands do not provide 12V series. So let’s consider each specification one by one.
I have grabbed some data by researching. Those are very important for having an idea about 12V Vs 18V performances. Directly it is useless to compare 12V and 18V because 18V is better than 12V. So next, you need to select the best 12V or 18V drill with the best performance. Check below.
12V vs 18V Drills Performance Comparison
12V Drill Performance
Drilling time, Torque and Charging time of Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch, Black and Decker, and Craftsman
| Drill Brand | 3/8″ Hole Drilling (Holes) | 1″ Hole Drilling Time (sec) | Torque (In-lbs) | Battery Charge Time (min) |
| Bosch | 178 | 7.4 | 163 | 80 |
| Milwaukee | 105 | 7.6 | 205 | 32 |
| Craftsman | 88 | 10.8 | 133 | 32 |
| Black and Decker | 75 | 9.8 | 118 | 184 |
| Dewalt | 75 | 7.2 | 200 | 55 |
| Makita | 72 | 10.8 | 145 | 41 |
When you check this carefully, you can see how data has changed with its brand. There is no tool for the best of all tasks. There is drawbacks and performance. Let me explain these values.
- The 3/8″ drill bit is the most used drill bit that we use in the 12V; hence column 2 will show how many holes can be drilled with fully charged battery with 3/8″ drill bit. This shows how much power is in one battery.
- In column 3 it shows how much time will it take to drill 1″ hole through 1″ wood. This shows the speed of the drill.
- In column 4, you can see the practical torque
- You can see the battery charging time in column 5
18V Drill Performance
18V drills are heavy tools than 12V; hence their performance can be evaluated with the above test. Sometimes those are used for heavy work such as concrete drilling purposes. So let’s see the test result.
Drill Brand | 10mm Hole into Concrete Stumps (min) | 22mm Auger into 35mm stud (Sec) | Hard Torque (Nm) | Battery Run Time 32mm auger into 105mm (sec) |
| Bosch | 3.23 | 43 | 75 | 62 |
| Milwaukee | 1.38 | 33 | 135 | 54 |
| Hitachi | 1.29 | 37 | 136 | 57 |
| Hilti | 2.23 | 41 | 80 | 45 |
| Dewalt | 1.27 | 35 | 95 | 72 |
| Makita | 1.53 | 40 | 115 | 48 |
When you check these detail, you may have some confusion. So I am going to explain this.
- In column 2, it’s drilling 5 holes into the concrete stud, which is 6″, and took the average time for that. Those data are in the first column. That is the reference to power.
- Column 3 will show the speed of the drilling. It will show how much time it will take to drill a 35mm wood stud using 22mm auger.
- Column 4 is the hard torque which you know very well
- In column 5 it shows how many holes can be drilling with using a 32mm auger to drill 105mm wood depth.
According to your necessities, you can select the best drill that is from 12V or 18V.
12V vs 18V Drills Speed Comparison
The speed of the drill affects the cutting speed of the tool, which is cut and removes the materials using the tool. Due to the sharpness of the tool, the material can be cut and removed. The rating of the cut and removing depends on the speed of the tool rotation in the drilling.
You can check it with your own drill using two speeds.
When we consider a drill, speed is a very essential part. The drill speed is measured with the RPM (Revolution Per Minute), Which means how many rotations do a bit per minute. The drill is powered with a brushed or brushless motor. Sometimes an inside gearbox can adjust the bit rotation according to the requirements.
Nowadays, most drills RPM has two values that are lower and higher values as well as it can be controlled with the trigger.
18V battery is with more voltage than a 12V battery. Therefore its efficiency is higher than 18V. You can see the RPM values are also high due to this.
When you use 18V tools instead of 12V, you can have a sharp cutting surface every time.
Torque
When we consider the drill, we must mention the torque of the drill. The torque of the drill is with a constant value. When it is varied, the sharpness of the hole will not be clean.
If the speed is reduced, will torque reduce?
When the speed is reduced, torque will not be reduced due to constant power. Power is a multiplication of the torque and the angular speed. When the angle speed is reduced, the torque will be increased due to the constant power supply.
12V vs 18V Drills Weight Comparison
Considering the weight of the tool, there is more weight for 18V drills. The reason is there are more mechanical and electrical components are included to gain more power and efficiency from the tool.
The weight of the tool is a factor of usage. If it is more light, you can use it more time and also one-hand handling. Cordless tools are very light. That is another factor why these are very popular. If you are working on rooftops, weight is more important for the user and structural as well as user handling.
12V drills are lightweight rather than 18V. So select the tool with less weight.
12V vs 18V Drills Chuck Differences
Chuck is a drill bit mounting place of the tool. Typically 12V drills are with 3/8″(10mm), and 18V drills are with 1/2″(13mm). Because 18V is more powerful than 12V, the 18V drill will provide more torque when it operates. Avoid the torsion of the drill bit there should be that much diameter for both bit and tool.
Conclusion
After you refer to all detail, you can analyze that 18V is more important than 12 for the job, although there is an additional cost. So It is a great idea to buy an 18V drill between 12V vs 18V drills.
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