Milwaukee M12 Cordless Screwdriver Review

Milwaukee M12 Scredriver

This Milwaukee Cordless Screwdriver, model number 2401-20 is part of the Milwaukee M12 line.  This is a compact drill and only weights 2.0 lbs, and 2.6 lbs with the Lithium Ion battery.  In the past if you saw a drill of this size, you would think the power would be small also.  Not the case with these new drills.  The Milwaukee Drill, even though small, packs a powerful punch.  This drill puts out a whopping 150 in-lbs of torque and has an impressive 0-500 RPM.

Milwaukee included a clutch setting system on this power tool of 14, with the drill setting.  The chuck is a 1/4″ hex chuck system.  As we noted earlier, this drill is very small and light, it’s only 7″ long.  Compact enough to get into most tight spaces.

The Review

The first thing you notice when you pick up this drill is the light weight, which we really like.  The drill is very compact.   As you can see by the picture above, the handle fits in your hand very nice.  This gives the user a lot of control.  On the side of the drill there is a built in fuel gauge which is nice.  On the front of the drill there is an LED light that shines plenty of light, so the dark corners you need to access can be lit up to see your area of work.  Another item we really like about this drill is the variable speed trigger.  Again, this is just a nice feature as it allows for more control for the user.

The chuck system is great on this drill.  You have to remember that this is a bit holder type system, not a chuck system.  This drill has a 1/4″ Hex chuck system.  We love the one handed feature of the bit system.  All you have to do is pull the chuck out with one hand and it stays out.  As soon as the user inserts a hex bit, such as a screw bit, into the chuck, it snaps back  and locks the bit in place.  When you are done, just pull back out on the chuck and the bit pops right out.  Again, we love this system. It makes changing bits a snap.

For our video review, we really wanted to show the features of this drill and show you it in action.  This drill is one of the strongest drills in its class with one of the fastest drilling times.  As you can see in the video, it screws into wood very easily and has more than enough power to drive 3″ screws deep into wood.

One thing we really like about the Milwaukee M12 line is the charge time of the batteries, only 30 minutes.  Oh yeah, Milwaukee uses a 1.4 amp battery for this M12 cordless line.

Final Thought

Overall this is a great drill.  Very light and small, but still packs a powerful punch to complete applications where a sub compact drill is required.  Now don’t get us wrong, this will not replace your 18V drill system, but this makes a great addition for any power tool enthusiast.  While an 18V will do a lot of things this 12V can’t, the 12V will do a lot of things an 18V can’t, such as getting in tight spaces for the user.  Whether you are a home owner, hobbyist or contractor who needs a smaller system for certain jobs, take a look at the Milwaukee Cordless Screwdriver.