Had multiple rotten 2x6x12 foot boards on my pond's pier and instead of nails, I wanted to fix new ones in place with deck screws. My drills that I've had for many years just couldn't do it. I had an engineer (my son) advise me to get the Makita to power them in. Looked small when I unpackaged it, but good things come in small packages, I guess. Fits in my hands, not too heavy, and powers the heck out of screws through tough outdoor lumber. VERY PLEASED! With 2 batteries, I never have to stop working.

I was hesitant to try this Makita 18V impact driver because it has a 4 pole motor and isn't brushless, but Makita is such a reputable brand I wanted to try it anyway and I'm so glad I did. This is my first Makita tool and I was incredibly impressed the moment I took it out of the box and held it in my hand. It's very compact and light for not having a brushless motor. The trigger feels great, allowing very good control of the speed from extremely slow to a respectable 2900 rpm.The hammering action is powerful but controllable and similar to other 18v impact drivers. There is no sparking from the motor and it's not as loud as I was expecting. The handle has a great quality feel to it and it's obvious that Makita is another level above most entry level electric tools. 2 smallish 1.5AH batteries are included and they last a long time but unfortunately there is no way to know how much power the battery has until it slows down. Apparently there is circuitry in the battery to cut the power once it reaches a certain level. I never reached it even after using this driver for a long time during testing and building a wooden storage shelf.The charger is about twice the size it needs to be. Maybe that's to keep the circuitry cooler, I'm not sure. it works fine but it takes up so much room in the bag. The storage bag is made of a nice soft synthetic cloth and zips up. Without the battery charger you can fit a drill, impact driver, and a few batteries easily.There aren't a lot of options on this tool. You get the standard forward and reverse and the trigger, but there is no speed/torque adjustment and the only way to adjust the speed is with the trigger, which I do like a lot. If you aren't able to control your trigger finger, you may find yourself over torqueing screw heads and I had a couple come off when I was testing to see what would happen at full throttle. On the other hand, it's also possible to barely turn a screw head if needed. This is a really nice impact driver set, and would be a great gift for someone to get them started with a good quality 18v tool. Makita makes over 200 18v tools and a nice poster is included of all their models. Bare tools are available at fairly reasonable prices considering the quality and a nice Makita drill would be an excellent addition to this kit.While I don't like how big the charger is, the fact that there is no power display for the battery packs, or the decision to use a 4 pole motor instead of brushless, overall this is a fantastic kit and I'd recommend this over a brushless impact driver from a less reputable brand. I can only imagine how nice the higher grade Makita impact drivers are after using this one; there is a reason this brand is used by so many professional contractors and construction workers on a daily basis and now that I have batteries and a charger, I'll be looking to purchase some more Makita 18v tools as an upgrade to the entry level/generic stuff I have now.

Bottom line: this is a great cordless impact driver. It is small yet powerful. The compact size allows me to drive screws in tighter spaces than a typical driver could fit in. With the included case, charger and two batteries, this is a great kit.Pros:Nice and compact body - 8.5 inches tall with battery, power head is 5.5 inches deep - fits into tight spaces.Relatively light weight - 2.8 pounds / 1275g including battery.Standard 1/4” hex bit collar locks well and is smooth to use.Plenty of power - easily drove large screws and lag bolts into a 2x4. Was faster in driving the test lag bolt than my other comparable, but brushless, impact driver.Very comfortable to hold - grip fits hand comfortably - finger goes right to the trigger.Balance is fantastic.LED light illuminates the work area. Placement of light right below bit holder is superior to ones that have the light near the battery.Comes with two 18v 1.5Ah 27Wh Li-ion batteries and a desktop charger. Batteries even have a protective plastic cover for the terminals to prevent them getting shorted out.Batteries / charger are interchangable with the large family of Makita 18V tools.Charger is UL Listed.Battery charger accommodates multiple different batteries - lithium ion from 14.4 through 18V and nickel metal hydride from 7.2 through 14.4V.Kit includes impact driver, two batteries, charger, carrying bag, belt clip, and instruction manual.3-year warranty on the driver (only).Cons:No remaining charge indication on batteries.Battery charger is on the large side.Thoughts:Batteries slide into charger from the back. Since I like to keep my chargers at the back of my work bench, I prefer chargers where the battery slides in from the front.Indicator lights on the charger are not overly intuitive but are understandable if you read the instructionsCarrying bag is well constructed but just barely big enough for the driver, charger and both batteriesBatteries are relatively low capacity at 1.5mAh, but that helps keep them light and they charge fairly quicklyRequires extended bits - they don't need to be super long, but standard short bits are too short to be usable.The motor is brushed. There are other brands with comparable specs, and better warranties, but with brushless motors, for a few dollars less, but of course they don't have the Makita name nor the breadth of other tools using the same batteries.

Had multiple rotten 2x6x12 foot boards on my pond's pier and instead of nails, I wanted to fix new ones in place with deck screws. My drills that I've had for many years just couldn't do it. I had an engineer (my son) advise me to get the Makita to power them in. Looked small when I unpackaged it, but good things come in small packages, I guess. Fits in my hands, not too heavy, and powers the heck out of screws through tough outdoor lumber. VERY PLEASED! With 2 batteries, I never have to stop working.

I was hesitant to try this Makita 18V impact driver because it has a 4 pole motor and isn't brushless, but Makita is such a reputable brand I wanted to try it anyway and I'm so glad I did. This is my first Makita tool and I was incredibly impressed the moment I took it out of the box and held it in my hand. It's very compact and light for not having a brushless motor. The trigger feels great, allowing very good control of the speed from extremely slow to a respectable 2900 rpm.The hammering action is powerful but controllable and similar to other 18v impact drivers. There is no sparking from the motor and it's not as loud as I was expecting. The handle has a great quality feel to it and it's obvious that Makita is another level above most entry level electric tools. 2 smallish 1.5AH batteries are included and they last a long time but unfortunately there is no way to know how much power the battery has until it slows down. Apparently there is circuitry in the battery to cut the power once it reaches a certain level. I never reached it even after using this driver for a long time during testing and building a wooden storage shelf.The charger is about twice the size it needs to be. Maybe that's to keep the circuitry cooler, I'm not sure. it works fine but it takes up so much room in the bag. The storage bag is made of a nice soft synthetic cloth and zips up. Without the battery charger you can fit a drill, impact driver, and a few batteries easily.There aren't a lot of options on this tool. You get the standard forward and reverse and the trigger, but there is no speed/torque adjustment and the only way to adjust the speed is with the trigger, which I do like a lot. If you aren't able to control your trigger finger, you may find yourself over torqueing screw heads and I had a couple come off when I was testing to see what would happen at full throttle. On the other hand, it's also possible to barely turn a screw head if needed. This is a really nice impact driver set, and would be a great gift for someone to get them started with a good quality 18v tool. Makita makes over 200 18v tools and a nice poster is included of all their models. Bare tools are available at fairly reasonable prices considering the quality and a nice Makita drill would be an excellent addition to this kit.While I don't like how big the charger is, the fact that there is no power display for the battery packs, or the decision to use a 4 pole motor instead of brushless, overall this is a fantastic kit and I'd recommend this over a brushless impact driver from a less reputable brand. I can only imagine how nice the higher grade Makita impact drivers are after using this one; there is a reason this brand is used by so many professional contractors and construction workers on a daily basis and now that I have batteries and a charger, I'll be looking to purchase some more Makita 18v tools as an upgrade to the entry level/generic stuff I have now.

Bottom line: this is a great cordless impact driver. It is small yet powerful. The compact size allows me to drive screws in tighter spaces than a typical driver could fit in. With the included case, charger and two batteries, this is a great kit.Pros:Nice and compact body - 8.5 inches tall with battery, power head is 5.5 inches deep - fits into tight spaces.Relatively light weight - 2.8 pounds / 1275g including battery.Standard 1/4” hex bit collar locks well and is smooth to use.Plenty of power - easily drove large screws and lag bolts into a 2x4. Was faster in driving the test lag bolt than my other comparable, but brushless, impact driver.Very comfortable to hold - grip fits hand comfortably - finger goes right to the trigger.Balance is fantastic.LED light illuminates the work area. Placement of light right below bit holder is superior to ones that have the light near the battery.Comes with two 18v 1.5Ah 27Wh Li-ion batteries and a desktop charger. Batteries even have a protective plastic cover for the terminals to prevent them getting shorted out.Batteries / charger are interchangable with the large family of Makita 18V tools.Charger is UL Listed.Battery charger accommodates multiple different batteries - lithium ion from 14.4 through 18V and nickel metal hydride from 7.2 through 14.4V.Kit includes impact driver, two batteries, charger, carrying bag, belt clip, and instruction manual.3-year warranty on the driver (only).Cons:No remaining charge indication on batteries.Battery charger is on the large side.Thoughts:Batteries slide into charger from the back. Since I like to keep my chargers at the back of my work bench, I prefer chargers where the battery slides in from the front.Indicator lights on the charger are not overly intuitive but are understandable if you read the instructionsCarrying bag is well constructed but just barely big enough for the driver, charger and both batteriesBatteries are relatively low capacity at 1.5mAh, but that helps keep them light and they charge fairly quicklyRequires extended bits - they don't need to be super long, but standard short bits are too short to be usable.The motor is brushed. There are other brands with comparable specs, and better warranties, but with brushless motors, for a few dollars less, but of course they don't have the Makita name nor the breadth of other tools using the same batteries.