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SDS hammer vs combi drill

Updated: 2026-10-23

The combi drill is already in the cupboard, and it has just sat buzzing on a concrete lintel or a course of engineering brick. SDS hammer vs combi drill is the difference between a ratchet in the gearbox and a piston striking an SDS bit. If the hole is an occasional plug in soft brick, keep the combi. If the hole is a lintel, hard brick, a floor fixing, or a chisel, you are looking at an SDS-Plus rotary hammer. The Products Compared editorial team compared ten amazon.co.uk listings, not a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Those ten rows are on the [rotary hammer comparison](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/rotary-hammer).

The combi drill is already in the cupboard, and it has just sat buzzing on a concrete lintel or a course of engineering brick.

Our top picks

Bosch Bosch PBH 2100 RE

Best overall

Bosch Bosch PBH 2100 RE
9.2/10about £59.94
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WORX WORX WX381.9 Nitro

Alternative

WORX WORX WX381.9 Nitro
9.2/10about £129.99
View offer
Dong Cheng DongCheng DZC05-26B

Best value

Dong Cheng DongCheng DZC05-26B
8.8/10about £47.17
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two different hammers
  2. 2.When the combi is the right tool
  3. 3.When you want an SDS-Plus rotary hammer
  4. 4.Your old bits and the adaptor

Two different hammers

A combi drill's hammer setting is percussion. Two serrated plates rattle the whole chuck, and the blow is a buzz you feel in the gearbox. The bit is usually a round-shank masonry bit in a keyless chuck. That mechanism will nick a soft brick and it will struggle when the material glazes the tip. A rotary hammer in this set is electro-pneumatic. A piston fires an SDS-Plus shank that is free to slide while it is struck. You can stop the rotation on the tools that claim a hammer-only mode and use a chisel. PBH 2100 RE reviews are the practical version: people move to that SDS-Plus hammer after the combi has already failed on a lintel or hard brick.

When the combi is the right tool

Keep the combi for screws, for wood, and for metal. Keep it for an occasional 5–6 mm plug in soft brick. A few soft-brick fixings do not justify an 8 kg corded hammer. The combi is also the better buy if your week is mostly driving screws and you would only hammer twice a year in soft material. An SDS-Plus body is a clumsy screwdriver. The WX391's bullet does say drill or screwdriver, and it includes a plug-in chuck, but reviews call that chuck clumsy. That does not turn the WX391 into the combi you already own. If you are shopping for a combi, this category is the wrong shelf.
Bosch Bosch PBH 2100 RE

Testsieger

Bosch Bosch PBH 2100 RE
9.2/10about £59.94
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When you want an SDS-Plus rotary hammer

Move to SDS-Plus when the combi skates, when the hole is larger than a light plug, or when you need the bit to stop spinning. Lintels, engineering brick, and a floor fixing are the usual triggers. Chisel mode is claimed for the PBH, the WORX WX381.9, the DongCheng, the Enventor, the Stanew, and the DEKOPRO. It is not stated for the GBH 18V-22, the GBH 18V-18 X, Bosch 0611927000, or the WX391. The Enventor and the DEKOPRO are the heavy corded end, at 7.87 kg and 8.04 kg. They are still SDS-Plus hammers, not hired breakers. None of these ten is SDS-Max, and the bits do not fit. Which rows state joules is the rotary hammer buying guide. The PBH is the one reviewers name after a combi fails on a lintel, at £59.94 with 1,683 reviews, and with joules unstated on Amazon.

Your old bits and the adaptor

Round masonry bits do not lock in an SDS-Plus chuck. An adaptor lets some round bits spin. UK trade pages say hammer mode is not permitted with that adaptor. PBH reviews say the same thing: fit an adaptor if you must, and leave the hammer off. Hammering through the adaptor is how the chuck and the bit get ruined. The WX391 includes a keyless chuck with an SDS adaptor, and reviews call it unbalanced. Use that only as rotary. The GBH 18V-18 X OneChuck bullet claims cylindrical and hex bits, and the included line does not list a separate adaptor. That is a claim on the Amazon page, not a test. Neither feature makes the tool a combi drill.

Common questions

My combi says hammer. Why is that not a rotary hammer?
The combi's hammer symbol runs two serrated plates against each other and rattles a round bit. A rotary hammer in this set fires a piston against an SDS-Plus shank that slides as it is struck. The titles can both say hammer. If your combi still finishes soft brick plugs and screws, you do not have to replace it.
Will a combi drill a concrete lintel?
Sometimes it will scratch one, and often it will glaze the bit and stall. Reviewers of the PBH 2100 RE describe moving to that SDS-Plus hammer after a combi failed on a lintel or hard brick. That is a pattern in the reviews, not a timed test. A concrete lintel can hide reinforcing bars.
When is a combi the better buy?
When the week is screws, wood, metal, and occasional small plugs in soft brick or block. An SDS hammer is the worse buy if you will mostly drive screws. The clumsy plug-in chuck on the WX391 does not close that gap. Leave this category and buy the combi for that work.
Can I put my masonry bits in an SDS chuck?
Not the round ones, not directly. SDS-Plus bits have grooves and are held by the locking sleeve. Your old combi bits need an adaptor, and hammer mode stays off. The OneChuck claim on the GBH 18V-18 X is untested here. For hammer drilling, buy an SDS-Plus bit of the diameter the fixing needs.
Does every rotary hammer chisel?
No. Hammer-only is claimed on the PBH, the WX381.9, the DongCheng, the Enventor, the Stanew, and the DEKOPRO. It is not stated for the three Bosch 18 V bodies or for the WX391. Stanew, Enventor's package bullet, and DEKOPRO list chisels. The PBH does not.
Is SDS-Plus the same tool as SDS-Max?
No. SDS-Plus is the shank on all ten listings here. SDS-Max is larger, the bits do not interchange, and it is the system people move to when the work is breaking rather than fixing. A 5.5 J or 6 J SDS-Plus title does not become SDS-Max. If you need a breaker for a slab, hire one.

Related pages

How to use a rotary hammer

Rotary hammer for concrete

Rotary hammer

Best rotary hammer for brick, cordless or chiselling

Rotary hammer buying guide: what those numbers mean

Sources

Safety figures come from legislation.gov.uk and HSE guidance. Prices, stars, and review counts are amazon.co.uk captures from 22 October 2026, not a live scrape. Bosch UK is cited only for the GBH 18V-22 joule and vibration lines that the Amazon capture does not state.

  1. Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 4 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. HSE INDG175: Hand-arm vibration (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 4 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. HSE: Noise at work regulations (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. HSE CN3: Construction dust from rotary drilling (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. HSE INDG463: Control of exposure to silica dust (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. HSE: Electrical safety on construction sites (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. Bosch Professional UK: GBH 18V-22 (retrieved 22 October 2026)