How bad are Ryobi 18 tools?

[Wade Lippman]

I have a set of 15 year old Dewalt nicad 12v tools. The batteries die about 1 per year, and I have 4 left, so I can keep going for a while.
The drills and impact drivers work okay, but the circular saw is pathetic.
I am looking to upgrade, and get some tools that weren't available 15 years ago.

If I want to stay with 12v, that means Makita or Milwaukee, but they are both so expensive. (dewalt and bosch have a very limited selection)

I see that HD has a Ryobi 18 drill, driver, circular saw and recip saw for $150. Heck of a buy. How bad are they?

I also see that Lowes occasionally has PC really cheap. How bad are they?

[Charlie Hinton]

I bought a suitcase full of the Ryobi 18V Nicad battery tools and still use them today.
It was really nice to be able to move directly to the better batteries when they became available.
For my level of use they are plenty good and I am satisfied.
I have recently used some Dewalt cordless tools and without doubt they are much nicer tools than the Ryobi tools are.
It all depends on how much you are going to use them and how you are going to use them and it also depends on whether you are generally satisfied with homeowner grade tools or not.
If you look out into your shop and see a bunch of entry - mid level machines and are satisfied with them, then the Ryobi ecosystem may be a good match.
If you look in you shop and only see mid - high level machines and wish the mid level machines were better, then Ryobi is probably not going to satisfy you.

You know, just thinking about the header for your post has made me reconsider, it is doubtful the Ryobi tools will satisfy you.

[Wade Lippman]

I bought a suitcase full of the Ryobi 18V Nicad battery tools and still use them today.
It was really nice to be able to move directly to the better batteries when they became available.
For my level of use they are plenty good and I am satisfied.
I have recently used some Dewalt cordless tools and without doubt they are much nicer tools than the Ryobi tools are.
It all depends on how much you are going to use them and how you are going to use them and it also depends on whether you are generally satisfied with homeowner grade tools or not.
If you look out into your shop and see a bunch of entry - mid level machines and are satisfied with them, then the Ryobi ecosystem may be a good match.
If you look in you shop and only see mid - high level machines and wish the mid level machines were better, then Ryobi is probably not going to satisfy you.

How are the Ryobi better? Lighter? More powerful?

[Chase Mueller]

I used Ryobi when I was doing carpentry in Illinois. The only thing that came close to reliability was Milwaukee. I was fairly satisfied.

[Marshall Harrison]

I bought a Ryobi drill several years ago and the batteries eventually died. Back around thanksgiving I bought a new set of Ryobi drills along with a 4" circular saw. The new batteries work fine with my older drill as well as the older sawz-all and my weed eater. I'm okay with them. I also have their 12" scms and I'm happy with it also. Plan to get the larger circular saw along with the trim router.

[Andrew Joiner]

I switched to Ridgid for the lifetime battery warranty.

[johnny means]

IME, Ryobi power tools offer plenty of value and will serve the average homeowner or hobbiest just fine. You don't see the difference between brands until you start punishing them on a daily basis. Also, i appreciate that Ryobi seems to support their lineups for a long time. I also like that they seem willing to try out quirky, unconventional products.

[Jon Wolfe]

Another question about Ryobi 18v tools.... anyone have an opinion about the 16-gauge Straight Finish Nailer? I would be using it for glue ups but I have not used a nailer before. Is there a huge difference in performance between the 18 gauge and the 16 gauge nailer (beside the price)?
Are either of these Ryobi's worth owning or should I go with another brand? I have about 5 or 6 Ryobi 18v tools and they work for me.
Is this tool underpowered?
Hope this doesn't derail this thread.
Thanks
Jon

+7

18-Volt ONE+ AirStrike 16-Gauge Cordless Straight Nailer

[johnny means]

18 gauge vs 16 guage is like comparing a sawzall and a tablesaw . Sure, they're both tools, but they serve completely difference functions. A 16 gauge nailer is generally considered a construction tool, in twenty years as a cabinet maker, I've never seen one used in the shop, unless we were still building said shop. What do you mean by glue ups? If you mean assembly, an 18 gauge brad nailer is the usual suspect. Some fussier types, myself included, try to make the 23 guage their assembly gun. But this requires fairly tightly milled parts, as micro pins have almost no pulling power.

[Jon Wolfe]

Thanks Johnny,
I mean assembly not construction so I am interested in the 18 gauge brad nailer not the 16 gauge. My question then would be then... does the Ryobi 18 gauge 18v nailer work well for assembly? I am not aware if Ryobi has a smaller gauge nailer like the 23 gauge one that you are writing about. I would use it to assemble small furniture and cabinets during assembly.
jon

[Dave Lehnert]

I have had Ryobi drill in my shop for years. I started with the 14.4 volt before the 18 volt came along. Just got into the 18 volt 3 years ago.
I like you can buy just the tool and use your existing battery. I never seen a need to spend more $$$ on a drill.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

DeWalt makes a 20V LiIon to 18v NiCad adapter. Keep your 18v tools and have the benefit of LiIon batteries. A win win situation. Skip Ryobi in my extremely biased opinion. The DeWalt 20v line is real nice. And you can use your 18v tools until they die.

[Tim M Tuttle]

I recently made the jump from an old Craftsman cordless set to DeWalt. Before I decided on DeWalt I did a lot of research and thought a lot about my needs. I considered Ryobi but didnt for a few reasons.

1) They are more geared towards home hobbyists. They dont offer the overall selection that DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc do such as track saw, framing nailer, etc. More construction grade tools. I am a hobbyist woodworker but also flip houses. I wanted one battery platform and the largest selection of tools possible within a reasonable price.

2) Ergonomics. I was at HD and compared the size of an Ryobi impact driver to that of DeWalt or Milwaukee. The Ryobi is much larger. Very similar to my 15 year old Craftsman driver. I wasnt really concerned with the weight as much as being able to get into tight spaces. In construction there are always odd angles and tight spots and more compact tools really help out. The Ryobi requires about 4 more inches of space to work in compared to the DeWalt.

3) The lemon factor. I am sure that most people buy Ryobi and are very happy with them and they last a long time. However, I've heard too many stories about a tool crapping out. Yes, it's probably rare but based on anecdotal evidence I think it's much more rare to get a lemon from DeWalt.

Based on those factors I decided I was going with DeWalt, Milwaukee or Makita. They all seem to offer the largest selection of tools for both woodworking and construction and have good reliability. DeWalt had more tools I wanted and had a good price point so I went with them. Ridgid was in the running but their overall selection couldnt compete with the other three I mentioned. However, if I wasnt flipping houses and was just doing occasional house work and woodworking I'd probably go with Ridgid based on the warranty.

All that said, you can build great stuff just using Harbor Freight and Black and Decker tools.

[Robert Engel]

I can only comment on the impact driver, the narrow crown stapler, the and right angle drill.

Impact Driver: Very happy with it.

Narrow crown stapler: Junk

Right angle drill: The ergonomics are terrible, ie. the switch is too far back from the head and the fwd/rev buttons recess into the handle and require letting go to switch them. Even choking up and using the pinkie on the switch, you have to use two hands when you need extra pressure on the head.

I think Ryobi has made great progress in the quality of their cordless tools. Everything else (table saw, planer, miter saw) I would stay away from.

[johnny means]

I can only comment on the impact driver, the narrow crown stapler, the and right angle drill.

Impact Driver: Very happy with it.

Narrow crown stapler: Junk

Right angle drill: The ergonomics are terrible, ie. the switch is too far back from the head and the fwd/rev buttons recess into the handle and require letting go to switch them. Even choking up and using the pinkie on the switch, you have to use two hands when you need extra pressure on the head.

I think Ryobi has made great progress in the quality of their cordless tools. Everything else (table saw, planer, miter saw) I would stay away from.

That's pretty much how right angle drills are supposed to work. That way they reach into places where your hands won't fit. If I can get my hand up behind the chuck, I probably don't need a right angle drill.