Jul. 15, 2024
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Whatever you&#;re planning to do in your garden, keep safe and wear safety glasses when you&#;re using an electric screwdriver.
An electric screwdriver is the perfect companion to a drill, saving you constantly changing drill bits and allowing you to simple go from a drill to screwdriver when you want to drill holes as well as drive in screws. For help choosing a cordless drill take a look at our review of the best cordless drills, and our guide to the best drill bits. For manual screwdrivers, we can recommend our article on the best screwdriver sets. For more hand DIY tools, take a look at our guide to the best multi-tools.
If you're looking for garden DIY inspiration, consider our 10 garden DIY projects for the weekend, or our guide on how to build a bat box. For other tool reviews, check out our reviews of the best hammers, best pressure washers, and the best grass strimmers.
We tested tested a range of electric screwdrivers with each used to drive a variety of screws into different materials to see how they fared. Each has a detailed list of pros and cons for clarity and has been rated according to assembly and storage, ease of use, performance, and value for money. Every electric screwdriver in our round up has scored a minimum of 3.5 out of five stars, so you can buy with confidence.
In every review we award the outstanding products our coveted Best Buy award. To see these and the others we recommend, browse our pick of the best electric screwdrivers below:
RRP: £65
Our rating: 4.5/5
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Awarded a BBC Gardeners&#; World Magazine Best Buy for a small electric screwdriver, the IXO is on its 7th generation, and boasts a huge amount of power with a high capacity battery, all in a modest and lightweight package. The shape of the handle is ergonomically designed and features plenty of grippy textured sections. The large trigger is easy to control, and you can&#;t easily knock the direction selector during use, which was an issue on previous IXO drivers. It packs a huge amount of power in, with 5.5 Nm of turning force, or torque, and with a whopping micro USB charged 2.0 Ah battery it will drive up to 190 screws on a single charge at 235 rpm &#; plus a helpful charge level indicator lets you know how much life you have left .The 360° ring light on the front does a good job of illuminating the work area, and this version even comes with a pair of accessories- a right angle and off-set adapter for working in tight areas. It comes in a small plastic case that contains a modest but quality selection of screwdriver bits.
RRP: £44.99
Our rating: 4.5/5
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The WORX WX255 is an impressive and versatile electric screwdriver. It&#;s lightweight at just 500 g, boasts a comfy rubberised grip, and the internal battery is charged by micro USB. It has earned itself the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy award for best one handed electric screwdriver, because of the way you can easily change bits. The top of the tool slides back to reveal a six round magazine filled with different screwdriver bits and this can be completely removed, allowing you to fit your own selection of standard screwdriver bits, which is rather handy. The best feature on this electric screwdriver though, is the screw holder. It&#;s an ingenious accessory that grips the screw for you and is ideal for anyone with mobility issues or for driving screws one handed above your head. It's only rated to 3 Nm of torque, but that&#;s enough for putting together flat pack furniture or building your own hedgehog house. The only thing it lacks is an adjustable handle for working in tight spaces.
RRP: £66.99
Our rating: 4.5/5
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Bosch have created a clever electric screwdriver that you&#;ll know how to use, purely on instinct. It has a surprising amount of power and is simple to handle thanks to their &#;Push&Go&#; technology - there&#;s no trigger to pull on this screwdriver, the motor engages when it senses pressure on the tip of the screwdriver, and this earnt it a BBC Gardeners&#; World Magazine Best Buy award for a precision electric screwdriver. There&#;s plenty of grippy rubber that runs the length of the tool, and even a cover that keeps dust and dirt from getting into the micro USB charging port. You can select from six different torque settings from 2.5 &#; 5 Nm for working on hard or soft materials, and the single speed motor runs at a reasonable 360 rpm. When the direction selector is in the locked position, it performs just like a conventional screwdriver, which is useful for delicate jobs, or when you&#;ve forgotten to charge the battery. It comes in a plastic case that holds 32 decent quality bits, including Torx and hex bits. The only downside is that you need to hold on tight when it&#;s set to a high torque setting. It can twist your wrist if you&#;re not paying attention.
RRP: £30
Our rating: 4.5/5
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The Rapid Driver Screwdriver is a deceptively powerful tool that packs a punch inside its miniature frame. Putting out a class leading 5.5 Nm of torque, this little screwdriver doesn&#;t hesitate to drive home long screws. The direction selector sits on the top of the tool and is operated with the thumb, so you can&#;t accidentally change direction halfway through the job. The hard case is a welcome feature that keeps the driver safe between tasks, holds the ten included bits securely, and even gives you extra space for odds and ends. Something we really like though is the recess in the case that allows you to charge the driver up via micro USB even when the lid is shut. It&#;s a thoughtful inclusion that makes a lot of sense. We&#;ve awarded it the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy award for a powerful electric screwdriver.
RRP: £44.99
Our rating: 4.3/5
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We&#;ve awarded this clever little tool the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy award for excellent accessories because it comes with four different detachable heads for different jobs. You get a right-angle head, an eccentric head for screwing adjacent to walls or corners, a torque head that means you can screw into delicate materials, and a unique cutting device that&#;s perfect for card and other thin sheet materials. It can make 4 Nm of torque, and it all comes neatly packed in a hard case that holds 27 different screwdriver bits. It&#;s charged via USB, and there&#;s a charge level indicator on the top. The handle is well shaped and there&#;s plenty of rubber on there for grip, and although the handle doesn&#;t adjust, one of the four attachments will get you into (and out of) most tight spots.
Although some models didn't quite achieve a BBC Gardeners&#; World Magazine Best Buy award, they still have great features that make them worth recommending. Browse our pick of the best of the rest on test.
RRP: £70.41
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Our rating: 4.3/5
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Makita make a huge range of professional level tools, but this little screwdriver is more suitable for light work. It&#;s a 3.6 Volt screwdriver that produces an impressive 6 Nm of torque. The adjustable handle makes it nearly 30 cm long in in-line mode, which is good for getting into awkward spots, but in &#;gun mode&#; the handle and trigger are a bit cumbersome. There&#;s no torque selector, but you still have good control thanks to the large handle. You charge the internal 1.5 Ah battery via micro-USB, it comes in a quality plastic case with a thoughtful selection of quality bits, but the single LED work light is a bit dim.
RRP: £33.99
Our rating: 4.3/5
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The ERGO electric screwdriver is a hugely comfortable tool to use, whether you&#;re changing the blade on your lawn mower or even building a compost bin. The trigger extends almost all the way to the bottom of the handle so it&#;s easy to use if you&#;re wearing gloves. The powerful 4 Volt Lithium ion battery is charged via micro USB and provides 5 Nm of torque. It spins bits round at a manageable 200 rpm, and because it&#;s 1.5 Ah it lasts for a long time too. It also includes a single bright LED work, which you can use while the screwdriver is in the locked position. It all comes in a translucent plastic box with a zip around it, along with a modest collection of 10 different bits. The ERGO is compatible with a couple of different accessories like a right angle driver, but unfortunately, they&#;re not included.
RRP: £20
Our rating: 3.5/5
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The MSD36-Li is a low cost 3.6 Volt powered electric screwdriver that comes with a surprising number of features. The battery has a 1.3 Ah capacity, and it can make up to 5 Nm of torque. By pressing a button on the top of the tool, you can turn the handle from a gun shape to an inline electric screwdriver that can fit into narrow spaces. The handle is comfortable and big enough for someone with large hands, there&#;s a charge level indicator, and you can employ a seriously bright four-LED work light on one end. You don&#;t get a case though, and only a few screwdriver bits to play with.
RRP: £17.98
Our rating: 3.5/5
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The Titan brand of tools is familiar to anyone who uses Screwfix for their home and garden projects, and their adjustable handle electric screwdriver is budget friendly piece of kit. Boasting a maximum 5 Nm of torque and making 200 rpm, the onboard 1.3 Ah battery charges in an hour. It&#;s comfortable enough to hold on to and the bits are held in mechanically rather than with a magnet. You can adjust the handle from inline to gun shape with the press of a button, and the torque selector ring means you can control how much power the screwdriver will apply to a screw before it cuts out. You get a single LED work light on the front and even a dazzling four-LED work light on the other end. It&#;s a basic model that doesn&#;t come in a case, but for the price it&#;s a very useful tool to have around.
RRP: £32.32
Our rating: 3.5/5
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Supplied with a dazzling array of 55 different screwdriver bits, this handy budget electric screwdriver from Draper is like a whole toolbox in a single package. Sporting a reasonably comfy grip shape and adjustable handle, you can convert it from a gun shape to an inline screwdriver by pressing a button for getting into tight corners. There&#;s a clear plastic case to keep everything together and a single LED to light the way. It&#;s just a shame that instead of the widely used micro USB charging cable, it comes with a sluggish non-standard charger that you really don&#;t want to lose.
Instead of carrying around a toolbox full of different screwdrivers, one of the best things about an electric screwdriver is the exchangeable bits. Held in place with a magnet or locking sleeve, you can choose from an enormous range of screwdriver bits to fit every type of screw or bolt. And changing screwdriver bits is as simple as pulling it out from the bit holder and putting in another one.
Follow these simple steps to get the most from an electric screwdriver:
They might look similar, but an electric screwdriver and a drill are not the same thing. The main difference is power. A drill needs a lot of power to make holes in materials like wood or metal, so they come with a powerful motor and a heavy battery, which is why they&#;re a lot bigger and weigh more than an electric screwdriver.
Drills can spin much faster as well. A typical combi drill can reach speeds of up to 2,000 rpm, while an electric screwdriver might only need to produce 200 rpm. Because they don&#;t need to produce lots of torque or speed, electric screwdrivers can be much smaller, lighter weight, and much easier to use.
An electric screwdriver is a good replacement for a manual one, especially if you have mobility issues, saving you time and effort. It performs the physical action of driving a screw in or out, leaving you free to concentrate on keeping the tool steady.
And, as you simply change the bits in the end of an electric screwdriver, you can easily carry around the equivalent of a whole toolbox full of manual screwdrivers. A small electric screwdriver won&#;t replace a heavy duty combi drill for driving home huge decking screws or concrete anchors, but it&#;s an ideal companion for anyone who does home or garden DIY.
The most powerful electric screwdriver on our list is rated at 5.5 Nm of torque. That&#;s enough to drive a screw into a piece of soft timber, especially if you have drilled a pilot hole first. It&#;s powerful enough to put together flat pack garden furniture and much faster than using a manual screwdriver as well.
A torque selector allows you to control the turning power, or torque, on your electric screwdriver, or drill. Usually numbered and controlled by a selector ring just behind the bit holder, the higher the number the more power the screwdriver will put into the screw. If you&#;re working with delicate surfaces or you don&#;t want to overtighten a screw, you select a lower number, but if you want to drive a large diameter screw into a piece of wood, you&#;ll need to choose a higher number.
The BBC Gardeners' World Magazine reviews team tested a range of electric screwdrivers with each used to drive a variety of screws into different materials to see how they fared. They were assessed according to the following criteria with equal marks attributed to each:
For more information on our testing process, see How we review
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This Review was last updated in June . We apologise if the price or availability of the reviewed products have changed.
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