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Best cordless drywall screwdriver for the job ahead

Updated: 23 October 2026

The highest star rating in this set is a tek screwdriver, and the largest review count is a body-only plasterboard gun whose depth stop some users say drifts. If you want a best cordless drywall screwdriver from the five amazon.co.uk listings we kept, the honest answer is a match to the job, with a reason to walk away. Those five are not a UK-wide shortlist. Trade roundups name other Makita bodies, including drywall models that are not the DFS251Z, and those guns sit outside this comparison. The full table is the [cordless drywall screwdriver comparison](/hub/hand-tools/cordless-drywall-screwdriver). Peter F., DIY and tools editor, wrote this on 22 October 2026 from those saved listings, not from a lab test. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The highest star rating in this set is a tek screwdriver, and the largest review count is a body-only plasterboard gun whose depth stop some users say drifts.

Our top picks

Makita Makita DFS251Z bare unit

Best overall

Makita Makita DFS251Z bare unit
6.3/10about £129.43
INGCO INGCO CDSLI204281 20 V kit

Best value

INGCO INGCO CDSLI204281 20 V kit
2.5/10about £76.99
On this page

Best is a job, not a star rating

A star line tells you how many people marked the listing. It does not tell you that the nose stops on plasterboard paper. Treating the Makita DFS251Z’s 4.7 as the winner would hand a cladding gun to someone fixing Gyproc, because the UK texts are roofing, purlins, cladding and sheeting. The Einhell TE-DY 18 Li-Solo’s 4.3 from 943 reviews is the plasterboard file, including a ceiling. The INGCO CDSLI204281 is 1.0 from one review with no text. The two ONEMANA magazine guns are both 3.5, from 16 and from 8 reviews. For loose plasterboard screws and an existing Einhell pack, the TE-DY has the only large review file on that job. For a stated battery at the lowest shelf price, the INGCO kit is the best-value row in our scoring, and the empty review file is the limit on that mark. For steel sheet, the DFS251Z is the listing whose reviews match the work. For a magazine, neither ONEMANA earns a default recommendation, because the saved texts already describe jams. The checklist underneath those choices is the cordless drywall screwdriver buying guide.

One room of plasterboard

For one room, or a ceiling, the Einhell is the plasterboard gun with the most reviews in this set. Reviewers who set the stop on scrap describe a consistent depth, and one preferred it to depth bits that kept breaking on a ceiling. The £83.99 buys the tool, an E-Box and a belt clip. A Power X-Change battery and charger are extra. One UK review stopped after four sheets because the gun felt slower than a drill and the hard handle caused blisters. Other notes say the stop drifts and the magnet lets the bit fall. Einhell’s manual says to set depth on a test screw, and that the tool is not designed for commercial use. The INGCO is the other loose-screw gun. It lists a 2.0 Ah battery and a charger at £76.99. There is no text behind the single one-star rating, so choose it when a stated battery matters more than a review file. Skip both if you need a Makita plasterboard nose. RCI Magazine separates the DFS250, as the drywall screwdriver, from the DFS251, as the TEK version. Bodies such as the DFS451Z are the same kind of distinction, and they are not in this set.
Makita Makita DFS251Z bare unit

Testsieger

Makita Makita DFS251Z bare unit
6.3/10about £129.43

A lot of board, and a magazine

A magazine earns its place when you are fixing many sheets and you will buy strips of the length you set on the nose. Neither ONEMANA listing here clears that bar as a default buy. The gun at £89.99 is titled machine only. Seven German texts behind a 3.5 from 16 say it can run with the magazine or one screw at a time, and they also say the slide jammed and the nose was about 2 mm too long for a standard bit. The specification says corded electric, against a cordless title, and the reviews say there is no battery. The gun at £104.99 states a detachable magazine and 25–57 mm screws, with 4,200 rpm in the bullets and 5,000 rpm in the table. It is 3.5 from eight reviews. A UK buyer returned it after it jammed within minutes and drove screws through the head. That return is not a bargain. Loose screws on the Einhell or the INGCO remain the path for one room. Strip lengths and jam patterns are on the collated drywall screwdriver page.

Steel, cladding, and the DFS251Z

Buy the DFS251Z from this set when the job is tek screws in steel: roofing sheet, purlins, cladding, sheeting. UK reviews describe that work, call the depth accurate for sheeting, and one prefers it to an impact driver on heavy steel. The box is the bare tool, a belt clip and a magnetic socket bit, at £129.43, with no battery. The listing prints a 5 mm drywall capacity beside a 6 mm self-drilling capacity. Reviewers who wanted plasterboard say the supplied holder does not take a normal 1/4 inch bit, and that the nose is for cladding. RCI’s split is the clean version of the same point: DFS251 is the TEK gun, and the drywall sibling they name is the DFS250. The amazon.co.uk speed table says 2.5 rpm and 500 rpm, which disagree. Makita publishes 0–2,500 rpm for the DFS251Z elsewhere, and that figure is not on this amazon table. A 4.7 rating here is a sheeting rating. Leave this set when you need a trade plasterboard nose, a specified fire or acoustic screw, or a magazine whose reviews do not already describe a jam.

Common questions

Which of these five is the plasterboard gun with the most reviews?
The Einhell TE-DY 18 Li-Solo, at 4.3 from 943 reviews and £83.99. The texts describe plasterboard and depth, including a ceiling. It is body only, the stop is also reported to drift, and one UK review cites blisters and a slow pace after four sheets. The review count is the reason it leads this set for board, not a claim that it is the best gun on sale in the UK.
Why is the Makita higher rated and still the wrong nose for Phillips screws?
It is 4.7 from 191 because reviewers use it on steel sheet and cladding, and they rate that job. The included bit is a magnetic socket for tek screws. French and German notes say it does not take a normal 1/4 inch plasterboard bit. A 5 mm drywall line on the listing does not put a PH2 nose in the box. RCI treats the DFS251 as the TEK model and points at the DFS250 for drywall.
Is the INGCO kit the best value because it includes a battery?
It is the best-value row in our scoring because it is the only listing that states a 2.0 Ah battery and a charger, at the lowest price, £76.99. The rating is 1.0 from one review and there is no text, so the mark is the kit contents. It is not evidence that the depth stop holds. The platform is INGCO 20 V only, and the plug type is not stated.
What if I want a brushless 4,000 rpm Makita plasterboard gun?
You will not find it among these five. The DFS251Z is the tek body, and its amazon.co.uk speed table does not state 4,000 rpm or 2,500 rpm. Trade listings of the DFS451Z and DFS452Z, and RCI’s description of the DFS250, are the plasterboard side of the Makita range. They are context, not rows in this table, and their shop prices are not our shelf prices.
Does a high star rating mean the depth stop holds?
No. The DFS251Z’s 4.7 describes sheeting and steel in the UK texts, not a Phillips plasterboard nose. The Einhell’s 4.3 includes both a stop that held on scrap and a stop that drifted. The INGCO’s 1.0 is one review with no text, which is not a test of the stop either. Set any of these on scrap before you touch the finished board.
Who should skip all five?
Skip them if you need a trade plasterboard gun with a published nose and a speed line that agrees with itself, or a collated gun whose reviews do not already describe a jam. Also skip them for a specified fire or acoustic system, where the system’s screw and centres override a marketplace listing. A roofer on tek screws is the person who stays for the DFS251Z. Everyone else starts by naming the screw head.

Related pages

Sources

Sources from the research digest, last checked on 22 October 2026.

  1. British Gypsum, screw fixing centres (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. British Gypsum, screw lengths for metal and timber (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. British Gypsum, Gyproc WallBoard data sheet (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. British Gypsum, collated drywall screws (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. HSE, hand-arm vibration regulations (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. HSE, noise for employers (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. HSE, PUWER overview (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. GOV.UK, Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (retrieved 22.10.2026)