Makita XFD061 18V LXT® Lithium-Ion Compact Brushless Cordless 1/2" Driver-Drill Kit (3.0Ah)

Let me begin by saying that this kit for 99 dollars after shipping is an absolute steal in the tool market. I have used many different tools and while the red and yellow pro tools are good sea foam green are typically great.Let me start off by explaining what you don’t get which will be a lot easier than what you do. The kit doesn’t come with Makita’s fast charger; it’s a slow charger in line with the same offer you will get from Milwaukee or dewalt. It takes an hour to charge the included 3 ah battery which is still decent if you’re performing light duty and since it’s brushless you will be more than ok.You do not get a high capacity battery, you get a standard 3ah which Makita has been selling for years but this one does at least come with a battery gauge.You don’t get a metal chuck but more on that laterThis drill is based on an older modal Makita drill so you don’t get their slim handle like you do on the newer tools (I have the brushless kit that sells for 280 and those tools are incredible)Now that that’s out of the way let me go into what you DO get with this kit.You get an extremely high quality drill with 530in pounds of torque ( this is excellent for a kit of this price that’s also brushless)You get a brushless tool, the difference between this and another brushless offering from a competing brand is that Makita make all their own tools, all their own brushless motors, and all their own peripherals that go with the tools. In this regard Makita excels in every category as they always seem to have a slightly better/more powerful brushless motor and a slightly better chuck since YES they do make their chucks in house and YES they are great chucks regardless of metal or plastic exterior.You get an energy star protested battery with an energy star protected tool, this means that the tools and battery have built in safety to prevent over voltage and over discharge (this practically means the tool is close to immortal)You get a bag… moving onYou get an excellent chuck… omg I cannot stress this part enough, the chuck on a drill is like a set of tires on a car, you can have the best car in the world but with awful tires the car will be awful no matter what and the same goes for tools, a chuck is easily one of the most important parts of a tool and people don’t seem to realize that. This chuck, while plastic, has an excellent feel when ratcheting down on a bit, its strong and feels firm so no possibility of slipping. I had the SAME CHUCK on an old, I mean old, white Makita drill and that thing is still going strong after nearly 9 years of abuse and dozens of large scale projects. So I have confidence in this drill and chuck for longevityThe most important thing you get in this kit, easily is the expandability. You are buying into the largest 18v power tool line that exists on earth and while not all their tools are this cheap, they do typically have an answer for everyone when it comes to cordless. So this battery and charger will work with any existing Makita tool and that’s valuable part of this kit.One last thing I wanted to add to this review is the deflection on this drills chuck, unfortunately I don’t have the tools to give you exact numbers on the deflection (the amount of space in thousands of an inch that the center of the drill chuck is off, this can range anywhere from 0.006(decent) to 0.014(bad)) but I can say that eyeballing it a long drill bit is nearly perfectly centered so im thinking the deflection is within reason. I say this because the deflection can cause you to be off when drilling or driving and while you might not be able to see it yourself it can greatly impact the use of the tool making you feel like the tool is just not working well or make you question your angling of the drill to drill or drive. This is important to contractors but might not be as important to residential who just want a drill to drive stuff.This concludes my reviewWould I buy again?1000%Is the kit worth the money?AbsolutelyAre there compromises that Makita made to make this kit cheap?Yes, the bag (not a blow molded hard case), the chuck isn’t metal but that’s honestly more of a preference, the slow charger 60 minutes vs Makita standard 25 (60 minutes charges as fast as the competitors standard chargers)These are compromises that don’t affect the tools quality, lookin at your ryobiComment if you have questions and ill update my review accordingly

I compared all the top brands before making this selection. I highly recommend this drill/driver for the following reasons. The Motor is powerful, yet quiet. The variable speed feature is extremely smooth, with no noticeable increments. The drill is well balanced and comfortable to hold. The chuck turns with precision, and has a strong gripping force. I like the battery life indicator on both the drill base as well as the battery. LED light is bright and well positioned. The charger has a locking feature, which holds the battery in place until you press the release button on the battery. As others have mentioned, this kit only has one battery. Although a negative, I believe you are getting a higher quality tool.

I’ve only had this for about a few weeks and I am very pleased. I’m a heavy DIYer and like reliablity just as much as the next guy, that said I was a bit skeptical about it due to people saying the bots come undone, etc. But not many people know much about tools either. The “fix” to this issue is you rotate the numbered nob to a high number (number depends on how tight you need it don’t read to into this it’s mostly trial and error) once you turn the nob to a high number, grab the tightening nob, switch the drill to tighten itself as you just hold the nob and press on the trigger. Once you hear clicking, stop! You’re all set (: anyway, back to the review...awesome tool! Battery has been holding a charge really well and I’ve been using it for many jobs (mounting tv’s, mounting this, mounting that) and the battery hasn’t died yet. Very good! Definitely recommend. I’d also recommend the 75 piece tool box. Has about everything you need in a drill bit. Good luck! (:

My husband absolutely loves this drill. He is so glad that he bought this one. It is heavy-duty, yet fits really well in his hand. I've even had no problem using it with my small hands. He was concerned because it only came with one battery, but it lasts so long, that it is of no concern anymore.

I like that is has a lot of power and a long battery life. Even when boring with 3/4" spade bits, it does great. The high speed is very fast and the low speed as s ton of torque - enought to twist you hand if you're not careful. This is a great cordless drill.