INGCO Hand Tools for the Home: What's Worth Buying and What Isn't
Let us be straightforward about where INGCO sits. It is the budget end of what we sell. We also sell Makita, Bosch, Milwaukee and DEWALT, and we are not going to pretend an INGCO screwdriver is the equal of a professional one.
But that comparison is the wrong one for most households. If you open your toolbox eight times a year to hang a shelf, tighten a hinge and assemble flat-pack furniture, a professional set is money spent on durability you will never consume. INGCO is genuinely the sensible choice for that, and the honest service we can offer is telling you which parts of the range are worth it and which are padding.
Where budget is fine, and where it is not
For hand tools, budget is mostly fine. A screwdriver, a spanner, a pair of pliers and a hex key either fit or they do not, and INGCO's chrome-vanadium hand tools fit. The difference against a premium brand shows up in handle comfort over hours, in how many times you can really lean on them, and in corrosion resistance — which in Singapore's humidity is the one that actually catches up with you.
Be more careful with anything that spins fast or carries a load. That is not a reason to avoid INGCO's power tools, but it is a reason to think about how hard you will push them, and it is a different conversation from this article.
Should you buy a big set or individual tools?
Combination sets look like obvious value and are often not. A large set includes sizes and bits you will never touch, and you store and carry them for years.
The 25-piece hand tool set (HKTH10258) is, for most households, the smarter buy. It covers the tools you will actually reach for without the filler.
The 142-piece combination tool set (HKTHP21421) makes sense in two situations: you are furnishing a flat from nothing and want one purchase to cover it, or you also work on a car or a bike and will genuinely use the sockets. Otherwise you are paying for a bigger case.
If you want drill bits bundled in, the 86-piece drill bit and hand tool set (HKTAC010861) is the middle path.
And a set needs somewhere to live. The 3-layer tool box (HTB02) is the standard answer — one tray for tools, the lower levels for fixings, so the screws stop migrating to the bottom of a drawer.
Screwdrivers: buy two kinds
You want a proper set with fixed shafts for anything that needs force, and a bit driver for everything else.
The 6-piece go-through screwdriver set (HSGTDC180601) is the one to own. "Go-through" means the shaft runs the full length of the handle, so you can tap the end with a hammer without destroying it — useful on a seized screw or for scraping and levering, which is what screwdrivers get used for whether or not they should.
The 8-in-1 ratchet screwdriver (AKISD0808) is the one that will live in your kitchen drawer. The ratchet matters in a cupboard or behind a toilet cistern where you cannot make a full turn. The 2-in-1 interchangeable screwdriver (AKISD0201) is the minimal version.
For bits, the 55-piece screwdriver bit set (HKSDB0558) covers the odd security and torx heads that appliances and furniture now use.
Two specialist mentions. The 12-piece flexible shaft set (AKSDFL1208) reaches screws at an angle you cannot get a straight driver to — behind a cistern, inside a cabinet carcass. And the 6-piece insulated screwdriver set (HKISD0608) for anything near a socket or a switch.
On that last one, plainly: insulated handles are a second line of defence, not permission to work live. Switch off at the DB first, every time. If the job is beyond changing a socket faceplate, it belongs to a licensed electrician — that is the law here, not just caution.
Hex keys are what you will actually use most
Nobody expects this until they have assembled three pieces of flat-pack furniture in a weekend.
The one to buy is the 8-piece foldable ball-point hex key set, 2–8mm (HHK14082). Foldable means it stays together instead of scattering into a drawer. Ball-point means you can drive the screw at a slight angle, which is the difference between reaching a fixing inside a half-built wardrobe and giving up.
If you would rather have the leverage, the 9-piece long arm ball-end set (HHK12091) or the extra-long version (HHK12092) get into deeper recesses. The 18-piece hex and torx set (HHKSET0181) adds the torx sizes that appear on bicycles and some appliances.
Pliers: one set, not three
The 3-piece plier set (HKPS08318) — combination, long nose, diagonal cutter — is the complete household answer and there is not much point going further.
If you want them individually, or want better than the set: the heavy duty combination plier, the long nose plier and the diagonal cutter. The 3-piece high leverage set (HKHLPS2831) is worth the step up if you have arthritis or weak grip — the geometry does more of the work.
Spanners and sockets, only if you need them
Most flats need almost no spanner work. If you have a bike, a car, or you maintain your own aircon brackets and gate hinges, this changes.
The 12-piece combination spanner set, 6–24mm (HKSPA1142) covers the normal range. The 8-piece flex ratchet combination set (HKSPAR1083) is the genuinely nicer thing to use — a ratcheting ring end that pivots, so you are not relocating the spanner every sixth of a turn in a tight space.
For sockets, the 12-piece 1/2" socket set, 10–24mm (HKTS12122) with the 1/2" ratchet handle (HRTH8412). And the 6-piece magnetic socket set (AMN65061) is a small thing that saves real irritation — it holds the nut instead of dropping it behind the washing machine.
The two that make work look professional
A 3-vial aluminium spirit level is the difference between a shelf that looks right and one that quietly annoys you for years. Get the version with magnets if you will ever use it on a metal frame, a gate or a door — it holds itself and frees both your hands.
And a multi-function hammer (HMFH0121) covers the household jobs: picture hooks, tapping things into place, and pulling the occasional nail.
Cutting things
The 10" straight aviation snip (HTSN0110S) is more useful at home than people expect — it cuts the metal strapping, wire mesh and thin sheet that normal scissors ruin themselves on.
If you have plumbing ambitions, the copper pipe cutter, 3–32mm (HPC0232). For bolts and padlocks, the 8" mini bolt cutter (HMBC0808). And the auto oil-feed glass cutter (HGCT03) if you cut your own glass or mirror — most people do not, and should not start on a window.
The actual short list for a Singapore flat
If you want to stop reading and just buy the right things:
A 25-piece hand tool set, the foldable ball-point hex keys, a 3-vial spirit level with magnets, the 8-in-1 ratchet screwdriver for the kitchen drawer, and a 3-layer tool box to keep it in.
That covers flat-pack furniture, curtain rails, shelves, hinges, blocked traps, loose handles and almost everything else a flat throws at you for a decade.
Add the insulated screwdrivers if you intend to change socket faceplates, and a pipe cutter if you are confident around plumbing.
What we would not sell you
You do not need a 142-piece set for an HDB flat unless you are also working on a vehicle. You do not need three separate plier sets. You do not need a 120-piece drill bit set when a basic masonry and wood selection will do — and for HDB concrete, the bit matters far more than the quantity, which we cover in our guide to concrete drill bits.
And if you are fitting out a new flat from scratch, read your first toolkit for a new BTO or resale flat before buying anything — it works out the order to buy things in, which saves more money than any single discount.
For more on the brand itself and what we stock, see INGCO in Singapore: where to buy and what's actually worth it.
Come and pick them up
Handle comfort is the one thing you cannot judge from a photo, and with hand tools it is most of the experience. Both showrooms have the range out and you are welcome to hold everything before you decide.
645 Geylang Road, Singapore 389575 — +65 6546 7446
2 Gambas Crescent #03-19, Nordcom Two, Singapore 757044 — +65 6255 3446
WhatsApp +65 8978 9808, or browse the full INGCO range.