Independent comparisons. We may earn from shop links. More info

Best 12V cordless drill

Updated: 22 October 2026

You want one compact drill for furniture, picture hooks and the odd shelf, and a bestseller list has mixed 18V and 20V boxes into the same strip. The best 12V cordless drill for that job is the one you can charge on a UK plug, not the listing with the highest star and the smallest sample. Prices and review counts are in the [12V cordless drill comparison](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/12v-cordless-drill). Products Compared read those amazon.co.uk listings and public UK sources, not a lab, on 19 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You want one compact drill for furniture, picture hooks and the odd shelf, and a bestseller list has mixed 18V and 20V boxes into the same strip.

Our top picks

Durofix Durofix G12 cordless combi drill

Best overall

Durofix Durofix G12 cordless combi drill
5.9/10about £99.99
View offer
FADAKWALT FADAKWALT 12V cordless drill, green

Rank 2

FADAKWALT FADAKWALT 12V cordless drill, green
8.6/10about £24.99
View offer
VOERJIA VOERJIA 12V cordless drill, two batteries

Best value

VOERJIA VOERJIA 12V cordless drill, two batteries
7.5/10about £29.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Best for what
  2. 2.The amazon.co.uk kits under £30
  3. 3.The two dearer listings
  4. 4.What best does not mean

Best for what

Best here means occasional home use: flat-pack, shelves, a curtain pole, plasterboard fixings and screws in light timber. It does not mean a day of brick or a drill you will issue as work equipment. Bosch DIY's UK guide puts 12V drill drivers at screws to about 6 mm and wood to about 20 mm, and 12V combis at rawlplugs to about 6 mm. Those bands are that brand's guidance, not a test result for the kits below. A 4.4 from 1,204 reviews is a different kind of evidence from a 4.8 from 19 or a 5.0 from 3. The large sample tells you what breaks after ordinary use. Hammer mode on a 12V combi does not become an SDS drill because the title says combi.

The amazon.co.uk kits under £30

The snapshot is green FADAKWALT £24.99, blue FADAKWALT £20.99, FAHEFANA £20.99, DEKOPRO £23.99 and VOERJIA £29.99. On 19 October 2026 the green listing was already nearer £22.99, so check the live page. The green FADAKWALT 8212 is the top pick for light home screws: 20 Nm, a 9.53 mm chuck, one 1.3Ah pack and a charger, at 4.4 from 1,204 reviews. Reviewers use it for shelves, a curtain pole and flat-pack. You stop while the single pack charges, and the chuck has lost grip within a year or once the hole passed about 2 cm. The 21+1 settings are clutch steps, not two gears. The blue listing repeats that review text and does not state torque. The VOERJIA at £29.99 is the best value: two 2000 mAh packs, 35 Nm and two speeds, at 4.4 from 58 reviews. Included bits snap, and the chuck does not feel positive.
Durofix Durofix G12 cordless combi drill

Testsieger

Durofix Durofix G12 cordless combi drill
5.9/10about £99.99
View offer

The two dearer listings

The Durofix RK12136-PMG at £99.99 is the brushless combi: 50 Nm, two speeds, one 4.0Ah pack, at 4.8 from 19 reviews. Reviewers describe it as strong in thick wood, and some used the hammer in brick. The repeated complaint is the battery release. Buyers have used pliers or ground the side lugs. Wood and metal capacity are both listed as 9.53 mm, the same as the chuck, and the weight is 870 g in a bullet and 2 kg in the table. Nineteen reviews cannot tell you how common the latch fault is. The Dremel Blueprint DD12V at £120 lists 5.0 from 3 reviews. The only detailed review says bits must be hexagonal, and the chuck cell says 3 inches, which conflicts with those bits. Torque and rpm are not stated.

What best does not mean

Best does not mean a lab winner, or that you should add the two FADAKWALT review counts, or treat a 20V MAX model on a 12V bestseller page as a 12V drill. On 19 October 2026 that list mixed voltages, and the green FADAKWALT's live price had already moved from the £24.99 in our table. Two batteries are why the VOERJIA wins on value inside this set, with a 58-review sample and chuck complaints attached. If you only drill brick, skip every basic drill here and do not trust a combi title that states no diameter. Chuck, amp-hours and the BS 1363 plug are set out in the 12V cordless drill buying guide. Electrical Safety First still wants the original charger on a UK plug.

Common questions

Which 12V drill is best for occasional home use?
For shelves, a curtain pole and flat-pack, the green FADAKWALT at £24.99 is the top pick in this set: 20 Nm and 4.4 from 1,204 amazon.co.uk reviews. The same reviews report a chuck that loses grip and a single 1.3Ah pack. If you want a second pack more than that review count, the VOERJIA at £29.99 is the better fit, with 58 reviews.
Is the highest star rating the winner?
No. The Dremel is 5.0 from 3 reviews and the Durofix is 4.8 from 19. Both samples are too small to outrank a 4.4 from 1,204 reviews on light home jobs. Leave those small samples aside.
Why do two FADAKWALT colours share 1,204 reviews?
The blue listing repeats the green listing's review text and the same count of 1,204. They are one pool. Adding them treats every comment as if it had been written twice. The blue file also leaves torque unstated. Count that pool once.
Is the Durofix worth about £100?
It is the brushless combi here with 50 Nm and with reviewers who used hammer mode in brick, at £99.99 and 4.8 from 19 reviews. The battery is hard to remove. That fault, the small sample and a weight listed as both 870 g and 2 kg are why it is not the top pick.
Is the Dremel's 5.0 from three reviews meaningful?
It tells you that the people who wrote were pleased, and one of them liked the laser and the stud finder. It does not tell you how the tool behaves after a year, or whether ordinary round bits fit. The chuck cell says 3 inches and the kit is hex bits, so the listing contradicts itself. At £120 that is not enough evidence to call it the best 12V drill.

Related pages

12V cordless drill vs 18V

How to use a cordless drill

12V cordless drill

12V cordless drill buying guide: chuck, battery, plug

Cordless drill for flat pack furniture: clutch first

Sources

Public UK sources from the research digest, last checked on 19 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the product display for this comparison.

  1. Bosch Professional: changeover from 10.8V to 12V (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. BSI: BS EN 62841-2-1, hand-held drills and impact drills (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. HSE: PUWER overview (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Electrical Safety First: drills (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Electrical Safety First: DIY and cables (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK: Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. GOV.UK: recycling batteries and electrical waste (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Screwfix: best drills guide (retrieved 19 October 2026)