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SDS drill body only

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are comparing two amazon.co.uk prices for what looks like the same cordless rotary hammer, and the lower one is an SDS drill body only. That line is the tool. The battery, and often the charger, are another order. If a matching pack is already on the shelf, the bare price can be the honest one. If the shelf is empty, you are starting a second battery system, not taking a discount. The live rows are on the [cordless rotary hammer comparison](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/cordless-rotary-hammer). Which size of hammer the holes need comes first, in the [buying guide](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/cordless-rotary-hammer/sub/cordless-rotary-hammer-buying-guide).

You are comparing two amazon.co.uk prices for what looks like the same cordless rotary hammer, and the lower one is an SDS drill body only. That line is the tool. The battery, and often the charger, are another order.

Our top picks

Ryobi Ryobi R18SDS-0 body

Best overall

Ryobi Ryobi R18SDS-0 body
9.0/10about £90.29
Bosch GBH 18V-22 X kit

Alternative

Bosch GBH 18V-22 X kit
6.4/10about £319.20
Dong Cheng Dong Cheng 2.1 J kit

Best value

Dong Cheng Dong Cheng 2.1 J kit
8.5/10about £79.99
On this page

Body only is a price for people who own the pack

An SDS drill body only is the hammer and the side handle. It will not make a hole this afternoon unless the right pack and a charger are already in the house. The bare price stays cheap only when you already own a family such as Makita LXT, DeWalt XR, or Bosch Professional 18 V. Buy the pack and the charger afterwards and a modest body can land in the same band as a kit. The GBH 18V-18 X is £116.95 as a tool only, order code 0611927000 is £122.95, and the GBH 18V-22 X body is £176.95. The £319.20 GBH 18V-22 X carton adds two 5.0 Ah GBA packs, a GAL 18V-40, and an L-BOXX, about £142 more than the body.

Five families in this comparison

18 V on a title is a voltage, not a shared battery. Five families sit here, and a pack from one does not click onto the next. Blue Bosch Professional 18 V is the GBH 18V-18 X, the GBH 18V-22 X, and the 0611927000 body. A green PBA pack is not a spare for a GBH. Green Bosch is the UniversalHammer 18V, 2.0 J in the title. The £132.60 kit includes one PBA 2.5 Ah, an AL 18V-20, and a case. Ryobi ONE+ is the R18SDS-0 at £90.29, a bare body. Dong Cheng uses its own 20 V Max packs: the 2.1 J kit at £79.99 and the 2.8 J kit at £99.99, each with one 4.0 Ah battery and a charger. The fifth group only claims a Makita or DeWalt fit. That is a seller's sentence, not Makita LXT or DeWalt XR.
Ryobi Ryobi R18SDS-0 body

Testsieger

Ryobi Ryobi R18SDS-0 body
9.0/10about £90.29

What these boxes actually contain

Read the scope before the specification table. The UniversalHammer body and the Ryobi both print 2.5 Ah in the table, while the scope says there is no battery. The scope wins. None of those bare tools is ready to drill unless the matching pack and charger are already yours. Dong Cheng's two kits each include a 4.0 Ah pack and a charger. The green kit is about £35 more than the £97.92 body because it adds a PBA 2.5 Ah, the AL 18V-20, and a case. Own Professional packs already and buy the body. Own none, and compare the £319.20 kit with a Dong Cheng or the green kit. Bosch still rates the GBH 18V-22 X at 2 J, optimum about 6–12 mm in concrete, so a cheaper complete box can remain the wrong class.

Seller-fit bodies

NailHsing at £34.67 claims a Makita 18 V fit, and the row has no review line. ConBlom at £59.99 claims a DeWalt pack, with 2.6 J in the listing bullet. The amazon.co.uk text claims a fit. It does not make either hammer a Makita or a DeWalt, and there is no maker test here that a genuine pack runs it. Skip both rows if you wanted the brand's own tool. A £34.67 body that still needs a Makita pack and charger, and only if the fit holds, is no longer the cheapest way to drill a 10 mm plug hole. A fit that fails leaves a tool you cannot power.

Common questions

Is the cheapest listing the cheapest way to drill?
Only if you already own a pack that fits, and a charger for it. NailHsing at £34.67 includes neither. Add a Makita 18 V pack and a charger and the total can pass a Dong Cheng kit that arrives with a 4.0 Ah pack and a charger, at £79.99 or £99.99.
I have Ryobi batteries. Which row?
The R18SDS-0 at £90.29 is the ONE+ body in this set. It is sold without a battery, so your existing ONE+ packs are the reason that price can make sense. Ryobi rates it at 1.3 J and masonry to 16 mm. It will not run on a Bosch, Dong Cheng, Makita, or DeWalt pack, and the 2.5 Ah line in the table does not mean a battery is in the carton.
Will a green Bosch battery fit a blue GBH?
No. A PBA pack from the green UniversalHammer does not fit a GBH 18V-18 X, a GBH 18V-22 X, or the 0611927000 body. Blue packs have fitted blue Bosch Professional tools since 2008, which is a different system. If your packs are blue, price a blue body or the £319.20 kit, not the green hammer.
Do I need a charger as well as a pack?
Yes, unless you already have a charger for that same family. The bare Bosch, Ryobi, and UniversalHammer bodies here do not include one. Dong Cheng's kits include a charger with the 4.0 Ah pack. The green kit includes an AL 18V-20, and the £319.20 kit includes a GAL 18V-40.
Does fits Makita 18 V mean the tool is a Makita?
No. On the NailHsing row it is a seller's claim for a body at £34.67, not a Makita rotary hammer. ConBlom's DeWalt claim at £59.99 is the same kind of sentence. This comparison does not promise that a genuine pack will run either body. If you wanted the brand's own tool, leave both rows.
The table says 2.5 Ah but the title says there is no battery. Which is true?
Trust the scope. The UniversalHammer body at £97.92 and the Ryobi R18SDS-0 at £90.29 are bare tools here, even where the table prints 2.5 Ah. That figure describes a pack the family uses, not a pack in the carton. The green kit is the listing that includes a PBA 2.5 Ah, the AL 18V-20, and a case, at £132.60.
Can one Dong Cheng pack run a Bosch or Ryobi tool?
No. Those 20 V Max packs belong to the Dong Cheng kits at £79.99 and £99.99, each with a 4.0 Ah battery and a charger. They do not replace a GBA, a PBA, or a ONE+ pack. If you already own one family, stay on that rail even when another kit looks cheaper.

Related pages

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 display file.

  1. HSE, Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. HSE, vibration risk groupings (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. HSE, CN3 drilling with hand-held rotary tools (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. HSE, noise duties (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK, Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. SDS Drill UK, advice when buying an SDS drill (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. Bosch Professional UK, GBH 18V-22 X (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Ryobi UK, R18SDS-0 (retrieved 19 October 2026)