We reviewed the Kobalt 18V drill here, now we have the Kobalt 18V Cordless Impact Driver. It uses the same batteries and charger as the rest of the 18V line up and either 18 volt LI-ION and NiCd batteries. Lowes sent us the bare tool which is inexpensive at around $74.98. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from the tool, but it actually ended up impressing me. I used it to screw together a bench I was working on and the 1280 in-lbs of torque drove 3″ screws in with minimal effort. I was able to complete the job on one battery charge and ran about 60 3″ screws.
Battery life was good and I was reminded of how much I like the Kobalt charger with its colored LED and info display. The LED light is at the base of the tool which does a good job of illuminating the area provided you can fit the entire tool into that area however I always prefer the LED in the chuck area of the tool. Overall the tool was comfortable to hold and well balanced. The 2.5lb impact has variable speed up to 2400 RPM and throwing out 3000 IPMs. Not to shabby for the Lowes house brand. They cover this tool with a 5 year warranty, which we like a lot. While the Kobalt impact driver may not be the most feature packed impact driver on the market it is a bargain for just under $75.
