This is a larger, 20-volt drill, but it shares all of the most important characteristics of the smaller, 12-volt DeWalt: It’s very powerful and extremely comfortable to hold and use, and the little convenience features, such as the belt hook and the case, are spot-on. If you take on projects that require drilling lots of holes and sinking long screws, we recommend stepping up to the DeWalt DCD791D2 20V Max XR Li-Ion Brushless Compact Drill/Driver Kit.
The DCD701F2 also comes with a nice belt hook, and the battery gauge is on each battery rather than on the tool, so you can check batteries without having to insert them into the drill. The battery is designed so that the drill can stand upright when not in use (other drills, like the runner-up Bosch, need to be placed on their side), and the LED is positioned such that it illuminates the drill front better than most. The molded handle seems to account for every curve and bulge of the hand, making this drill the most comfortable we’ve ever held. The DeWalt 12-volt’s power is on a par with that of some of the other drills we looked at, but it particularly excels in ergonomics and convenience features. In our tests, it bored 30 1-inch holes through a 2-by-10 on a single battery charge-results that show it can handle just about anything within the four walls of a home, and even the occasional foray into more aggressive work such as a small decking repair.
The DeWalt DCD701F2 12-volt drill combines power, comfort, and convenience in a way that none of the other tested drills do.