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This is the tool people buy second, after they have owned a drill long enough to get frustrated with it. Here is whether you need one.

The short answer

You need one if you drive a lot of screws — decking, plasterboard, framing, flat-pack in volume — or if you have ever stripped a screw head, had a drill stall halfway, or felt your wrist twist when the bit caught.

You do not need one if you drill a few holes a year and assemble the occasional shelf. A drill driver covers that, and the money is better spent on a hammer drill.

You absolutely still need a drill as well. An impact driver is a companion tool, not a replacement — see why below.

What an impact driver actually does

A drill applies steady rotational force. When resistance builds — a long screw, dense timber — the whole tool wants to twist in your hand, and eventually it stalls.

An impact driver adds rotational hammer blows: thousands of tiny strikes per minute in the direction of rotation. The effect is strange the first time. The screw keeps going when a drill would have stopped, and almost none of that force reaches your wrist, because the impacts absorb it.

The practical result: it drives long screws into hard material without stalling, without camming out of the screw head, and without hurting you.

Why it does not replace your drill

Three reasons, and they matter:

• It takes 1/4" hex bits only. No keyless chuck, so round-shank drill bits will not fit. Masonry bits, brad points, hole saws — mostly unusable.
• It has no clutch. A drill lets you set torque so it stops before the screw sinks too far. An impact driver keeps going, which will bury a screw in softwood or snap it in a small fixing.
• No hammer action. It will not drill concrete. People assume "impact" means masonry; it does not.

The combination most tradesmen carry is a hammer drill for holes and an impact driver for screws, which is why they are so often sold as a twin kit.

Impact driver or impact wrench?

Easy to confuse, very different. An impact driver takes hex bits and produces tens of newton metres — it is for screws. An impact wrench takes square-drive sockets and produces hundreds — it is for bolts, wheel nuts and scaffolding. Buying the wrong one is a common and expensive mistake. See impact wrenches if nuts and bolts are the actual job.

What to look for

• Torque — anywhere from 140Nm to 210Nm covers home and most trade work. More is rarely the limiting factor
• Speed modes — a slow mode matters more than it sounds. Starting a screw at full speed is how you destroy the head
• T-mode or assist mode — starts self-drilling and small screws gently, then speeds up. Genuinely useful
• Weight and length — the whole point is working in tight spots. A compact body beats a spec sheet

Three to buy

• Cheapest way in — Makita TD110D 12V, $102.94. Compact, light, and plenty for furniture, decking and household work.
• The workhorse — Makita DTD156 18V, $115.06. On the LXT platform, so it shares batteries with the widest tool range in Singapore.
• If you drive screws daily — Makita DTD201 18V brushless, 210Nm, $197. Four speed modes and T-mode. Brushless, so it will outlast the cheaper options several times over.

Browse all drills and drivers, or try one at our Geylang showroom — the difference between a drill and an impact driver is something you understand in about five seconds of holding one.

Buy decent bits

Impact drivers destroy ordinary screwdriver bits. The hammering shatters standard bits that were never designed for it. Buy impact-rated bits — they are made from a more ductile steel that flexes instead of snapping. They cost slightly more and last many times longer.

If you are buying your first cordless tool

Buy the hammer drill first, not this. In an HDB flat the job you cannot do without is a hole in concrete, and an impact driver cannot make one. Our cordless drill guide covers that choice, and the first toolkit guide sets out what a new flat actually needs.