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DeWalt cordless drill buying guide

Updated: 23 October 2026

You are looking at a row of yellow drills on amazon.co.uk and they look like the same tool at different prices. They are not. A DeWalt cordless drill here is either a 12 V drill driver or an 18 V combi. The batteries do not interchange, and several listings are a bare body with no charger. Decide in this order: battery family, hammer or not, what is in the box, then whether the plug is British. The [DeWalt cordless drill comparison](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/de-walt-cordless-drill) lines the listings up. Prices are GBP shelf prices from 20 October 2026. If you buy through our amazon.co.uk links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are looking at a row of yellow drills on amazon.co.uk and they look like the same tool at different prices. They are not. A DeWalt cordless drill here is either a 12 V drill driver or an 18 V combi.

Our top picks

DeWalt DeWalt DCD796P1-GB

Best overall

DeWalt DeWalt DCD796P1-GB
9.4/10about £119.98
View offer
DeWalt DeWalt DCD701D2-GB

Alternative

DeWalt DeWalt DCD701D2-GB
9.4/10about £138.64
View offer
DeWalt DeWalt DCD776

Best value

DeWalt DeWalt DCD776
9.2/10about £54.50
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.12 V or 18 V
  2. 2.Combi or drill driver
  3. 3.Body only or a kit
  4. 4.GB, QW, and the plug
  5. 5.What to ignore on the listing

12 V or 18 V

Start with the pack you will still own in two years. DeWalt's 18 V XR batteries, including Powerstack and FlexVolt packs used as 18 V, fit the 18 V tools. The 12 V XR family takes 12 V packs and older 10.8 V slide packs. The systems do not click into each other. The only 12 V tool kept here is the DCD701D2-GB at £138.64, titled as 12 V with two batteries and a charger, while a voltage cell says 18. Trust the title. If you already own 18 V packs, another 12 V kit is a second charger. That can still be right for overhead screws, which is the DeWalt 12V vs 18V drill page. It is a poor buy for a plug hole in brick, because this listing does not state a hammer.

Combi or drill driver

A drill driver has a chuck, two speeds, and a numbered clutch. A combi adds a mechanical hammer: a ratchet in the gearbox, not an SDS piston and not a figure in joules. The DCD701 is the drill driver here. Hammer is stated on the DCD776, DCD778N, DCD796P1-GB, GG107, DCD778S2T-QW, and DCD799P2T-GB. The DCD795N bullets do not spell out a hammer. The DCD709N-XJ title says impact drill while a table cell says impact driver. Skip the hammer for hinges and pilots. Keep it for an occasional wall plug in brick or block. A lintel, a run of anchors, or a core hole is the limit on the DeWalt combi drill vs SDS page. Headline Newton-metres are hard-joint torque.
DeWalt DeWalt DCD796P1-GB

Testsieger

DeWalt DeWalt DCD796P1-GB
9.4/10about £119.98
View offer

Body only or a kit

Registration examples use N for a body with no battery, D2 for two 2.0 Ah packs, and P2 for two 5.0 Ah packs. The DCD778N, DCD795N, and DCD709N-XJ are bodies. The DCD776 title says body only. Bare prices run from £54.50 to £82.00. Kit prices run from £119.98 for the DCD796P1-GB, one 5.0 Ah pack and no charger on the include line, through £131.00 for the DCD778S2T-QW, which does name a charger, up to £189.97 for the DCD799 with two 5 Ah packs. The twin pack is £236.34. GG107 prints both 1.5 Ah and 2 Ah. Tool warranty is one year, or three if you register. A no-warranty cell, as on the DCD795N, is a reason to pause.

GB, QW, and the plug

UK mains are 230 V and the plug you want is BS 1363. -GB is DeWalt's UK pack code. The DCD799P2T-GB title says UK plug, with two 5 Ah packs and a charger named. The DCD796P1-GB and the DCD701D2-GB also carry GB, though you should still read whether a charger is on the include line. -QW is a continental code. amazon.co.uk selling the DCD778S2T-QW does not prove a British plug. The DCD709N-XJ is an XJ body only, so the plug question only matters for the charger you already own. A cheaper -QW kit is a false saving if you then need a different charger.

What to ignore on the listing

The DCD796 table prints AC power, 1 mph, and 209 g on a cordless combi. The DCD701 voltage cell says 18 on a 12 V title. The DCD799 prints 74 Nm and 26 Nm. GG107 is not a DeWalt catalogue code. Do not average a clash into a third number. The DCD799 is 4.8 from 15 ratings and the DCD796 is 4.7 from 1,243. The higher star is not the more settled record. Which? does not crown a DeWalt from this list. Our scores scale the amazon.co.uk star line.

Common questions

Do I need batteries in the box?
You need batteries in the box if this is your first DeWalt tool. A body-only listing, including the N models and the DCD776, assumes an 18 V XR pack and a charger you already own. Adding those afterwards often closes the gap to a kit price. If you already run 18 V tools, a bare body is the cheaper way to add a drill.
What do N, D2, and P2 mean?
On DeWalt's registration examples, N is a body with no battery, D2 is a kit with two 2.0 Ah packs, and P2 is a kit with two 5.0 Ah packs. The DCD796P1-GB in this set names one 5.0 Ah pack, so the letter pattern is a guide, not a promise that every code here contains two batteries. Read the include line on the listing you open.
Will a -QW charger have a British plug?
Not on the evidence of these pages. The DCD778S2T-QW names a charger and uses a continental suffix, and the listing does not say the plug is British. The DCD799P2T-GB is the kit in this set whose title says UK plug. A sale on amazon.co.uk does not by itself prove a BS 1363 plug.
Is 12 V the same battery as 18 V?
No. The DCD701 uses 12 V packs, which DeWalt also describes as compatible with older 10.8 V slide packs. An 18 V XR, Powerstack, or FlexVolt pack used as 18 V will not run that drill. Buying the small kit to use up 18 V batteries does not work.
Do I need a hammer?
You need a stated hammer if you want occasional plug holes in soft masonry from the same tool. You do not need one for screws, pilots, and hinges. A hammer combi is still the wrong tool for lintels, repeated anchors, and core holes, which belong on an SDS-Plus rotary hammer.

Related pages

Best DeWalt cordless drill

How to use a DeWalt combi drill

DeWalt cordless drill

DeWalt 12V vs 18V drill: the batteries do not match

DeWalt combi drill vs SDS: soft brick, not concrete

Sources

Public sources and amazon.co.uk listings used for this comparison. Listings read on 20 October 2026.

  1. DeWalt DCD799P2T-GB product page (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  2. DeWalt DCD796 product page (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  3. DeWalt DCD701 product page (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  4. DeWalt product registration (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  5. BSI BS EN 62841-2-1, hand-held drills and impact drills (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  6. HSE hand-arm vibration regulations (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  7. HSE vibration risk assessment and time bands (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  8. HSE PUWER overview (retrieved 20.10.2026)