Ridgid has announced a new 18V SubCompact right angle drill, model R87701B, and they’re making two very notable claims.
First, Ridgid says that this is the industry’s most compact right angle drill, with a 3-1/2″ head length.
Second, Ridgid says that their new 18V SubCompact right angle drill delivers best-in-class power – up to 375 in-lbs of max torque.
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I asked for readers’ 18V right angle drill recommendations more than 6 years ago, and it doesn’t look like there have been many developments since then.
Indeed, the new Ridgid does out-spec models by Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch, and other brands’ 18V-class cordless right angle drills.
Ridgid’s SubCompact right angle drill features a 3/8″ keyless chuck, a brushless motor, two-finger trigger switch, and 2 speed settings.
Key Features & Specs
- 3/8″ chuck
- 3-1/2″ head length
- 0-500/0-1900 RPM
- 375 in-lbs max torque
- LED worklight
Price: $139 for tool-only (R87701B), $189 for the kit (R87701KN)
ETA: February 2022 (exclusively at Home Depot)
The kit comes with a charger and 2.0Ah “Max Output” battery.
Discussion
A higher powered and more compact 18V cordless right angle drill? Sounds great for users who work in tight spaces. Marketing images show the drill being used to drill between studs and drive fasteners in cabinetry and under-sink installation applications.
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The new Ridgid 18V SubCompact right angle drill bears some resemblance to Ryobi’s 18V One+ HP model, which also features a brushless motor. The Ridgid bests the Ryobi with respect to size (3.5″ vs. 3.6″), torque (375 vs 350 in-lbs), and speed (0-450/0-1700 RPM).
The Ryobi is priced slightly lower than the Ridgid, at $119 for the tool-only. At the time of this posting, the Ryobi kit (PSBRA02K), which comes with a charger and 1.5Ah battery, is on sale for $109.
Ridgid and Ryobi cordless power tools are developed by TTI North America, and so some resemblance is unsurprising. We have also seen cross-brand products before, although it’s rare.
Obviously there are differences between the tools, at least according to their on-paper specs. Some of the components look to be shared between brands, such as the keyless chuck and two-finger trigger, and there’s nothing wrong with this.
The Ryobi tool offers a nearly identical compact size – where it matters – 90% of the max speed, and 93% of the max torque. That, coupled with the current $109 kit pricing, might make the Ryobi a more compelling choice than the Ridgid.
One final thing to note is that the Ridgid tool and battery are eligible for their Lifetime Service Agreement for users that register within 90 days of purchase.
Both brands’ cordless right angle drills look better than competitors’ outdated brushed motor models.
I’m curious – which would you go with?
Jared
I wonder how well these sell? I’m sure some people need them, but I imagine “installation drivers” and “right angle attachments” are the more popular choices for most users.
I think Ridgid being the industry-leader on specs would be more impressive if this was a higher power tool. 375inch/lbs is plenty to be useful, but not really much in any category other than right angle drills.
Stuart
5-in-1 and installation driver types of tools are versatile solutions and problem-solvers, but right angle drills might be more effective at consistent applications and repetitive tasks.
There are reasons why brands offer few right angle drills and (non-impact) drivers, and why there haven’t been any notable releases in a very long time.
But, they do remain useful for certain users.
Ian
Definitey a niche item but I worked in a scenic shop in the entertainment industry and we had a good half dozen in the tool crib for tight spots.
Also can be somewhat common as a lifesaver in metalworking.
fred
We used a lot of pneumatics drivers to get into the tight spots that we were fabrication for our aerospace/aviation customers. One from Pan American come to mind:
https://www.panamericantool.com/nova-system-pneumatic-tools.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI99qzvvHQ9QIVV3RgCh2-nwXKEAAYASAAEgIHEvD_BwE
Meanwhile in our cabinet business – our installers were always on the lookout for cordless tools that could work at odd angles and tight spots
Jammer
I’m looking forwards to an upcoming m12 fuel now that the ridgid is out. The current 100 in/lb and 3.75″ length doesn’t seem like thay great of a deal.
Rog
I have the Ryobi right angle drill and I don’t use it often, but it’s been extremely useful in those times I have needed it.
Ecotek
Funny thing, I bought a Ryobi tool kit back in ’06 that had the previous right angle drill included. Back when they were still blue. That drill had base that allowed you to twist the battery in different ways to orient it better for different situations. It was a great, thoughtful feature. I see it’s been abandoned.
Mike
Does anyone buy a different brand from their main battery line cause it’s “better” on the package? 18v right angle drills just seem too big anyways. Sure seems like a tool that excels in a 12v version especially like the Milwaukee M12 that doesn’t need to have a huge battery hanging off the back.
fred
In the NiCad/NiMH batery days – we tried a number of different tools from various brands. One was this Ridgid branded driver:
https://www.ebay.com/p/820348957
But, when we made the switch to LiIon – and bought into the Makita 18V lineup, then Milwaukee’s M12 – the numbers of cordless tools that we were using had really proliferated. That translated into a desire to buy batteries in bulk – and to limit the number of platforms/chargers/batteries that we bought into.
In the plumbing business we decided to switch to Milwaukee – when they started catering to the trade with PEX tools and their Force-Logic lineup, But in the GC/remodeling business we stuck with Makita – not often tempted to jump ship because of some one-off nice tool on another platform
Dave
Maybe not so much with regards to the battery, but in all cases I’ve seen of m18 vs m12 right angle tools, the m18 actually has a smaller head and therefore better access. Go figure.
Bruce
The very first thing I consider when buying a tool is what battery standard I already own. I run Ridgid at work and Ryobi at home, I would buy the tool based on where it would be used. All other factors are secondary.
Matt the Hoople
If I were an electrician or a plumber or possibly a cabinet builder/installer using for production work, then specs might matter. However, as has been mentioned above, this type of tool is really more of a seldom used problem solver. For the cases where I might need it, it would likely be to drill a few holes and possibly install a few screws at most. Therefore, for me it’s going to be the Ryobi, only because I already have the batteries. In fact, I would even consider the older brushed version if I could get it on sale or close out for significantly cheaper. Again, that’s because it won’t see a lot of use and the specs don’t matter to me.
Julian
I’ve had the Makita LXT 18v keyed chuck right angle drill for over ten years or so. Being a keyed chuck, it’s got a head that measures only 2 5/8 .
It’s a lifesaver for boring 3/4” holes (auger bits) in joists for running romex; have always been impressed with its power doing so.
It’s also one of the oddball few Makita cordless tools that is actually made in Japan, giving it the feeling of a very solid build quality.
fred
In our GC/remodeling business, we used to sub out most of our electrical work. But in our plumbing business – cutting clearance holes to run pipe and tubing was an everyday chore for at least one or more of the crews. They like Milwaukee Right angle Hole Haws and Super Hole Hawgs – and preferred selfeed bits.
The current Milwaukee models are quite powerful:
https://www.toolup.com/Milwaukee-2809-20-M18-FUEL-Super-Hawg-1-2-Right-Angle-Drill-Bare-Tool
Matt the Hoople
I was gonna mention something like the Hole Hawg. If you’re cutting lots of large holes in studs and joists for a living, then that’s what you really need, not a standard angle drill. Helped a buddy wire the house he was building about 20 years ago. Used the corded version and it was amazing how quickly that thing made drilling what seemed like 400 holes to run wire through.
As to Julian’s comment, if I were on the Makita system, The keyed chuck model would be my first choice because of the short overall length which is the primary reason for this type of tool in the first place.
Gus
Works great in plastic blow molding when ya gotta drill out alignment pins in mold half packed with plastic. No room for regular drill and torching could melt or shorten life of orings in mold water jackets.
Franck B.
I do both electrical and plumbing for a lot of whole-house remodel and restorations. In seismic areas on older (1920-1950ish) homes it involves a lot of parallams doubled onto existing floor joists. After these are installed, the bays have little room to use Hole Hawgs, and right angle drills come in to play a LOT. Sometimes the bays are narrower than the amount of wood to be drilled, which requires several length bits and a mid-hole change. When building new custom homes or additions, the right angle drill was generally a problem solver–but the problems always showed up several times per site, so it wasn’t used as extensively. We even recently finished a new construction where the previous contractor bailed out, but all the structural framing was done with engineered PSL studs.
So, performance became the number one requirement over “does it fit the battery pack I already have”. I’ve tried nearly every right angle cordless drill on the market (until this Ridgid) and have learned that in this segment for demanding situations, brushless is pretty much a requirement. I can’t tell you how many brushed units we burned out, but keep in mind that slow speeds are worse on motors, and if the brushes aren’t sized to match the current draw of the armature windings, you’re going have a weak spot. If the current isn’t limited to what the windings can handle, you’ll have another problem. These are all issues I’ve found in most of the products out there.
I found two products that had good motors–the Ryobi One+HP, and the Kobalt 24V Max. However, the Ryobi has the worst chuck I’ve ever seen on a tool, which isn’t being too negative since I pretty much only buy premium brands and hadn’t had any Ryobis since they were still blue. The two Ryobis we had ended up snapping the screw holding the chuck. One was replaced (didn’t have time to drill/ez-out the broken screw myself). The replacement unit had the chuck self-destruct with the springs and jaws popping out. So while this unit might be good for driving screws in tough spots at home, we didn’t have luck with it in our use case. I was really hoping for the Ryobi because it was inexpensive and could use our standardized Dewalt 20V batteries with an inexpensive adapter, as long as the battery doesn’t get over-discharged (I also built one adapter with a shutdown circuit from the Dewalt 18V adapter).
However, the Kobalt 24V Max looked better already, as it has a genuine Jacobs chuck. The power is great, the batteries are relatively inexpensive. I found the 4Ah battery usually lasts long enough to be able to charge another 4Ah on the fast charger (when I looked last year, it seems Lowe’s only sells fast chargers, the slow ones pretty much only come with the kits). We’ve had zero failures with the Kobalt 24V Max right angle drills.
Although the Dewalt has the absolute worst motor out of all of them, it has a great gearbox, and the best chuck (despite being an in-house item). It is specially designed for use in right angle drills, and it swallows up most of a 2″ driver bit. This makes the depth of the head plus bit the shortest, so it fits in the tightest places. A lot of people will ask “why does it need to do that, just use a shorter bit”. This is true in many, but not all cases. While you can find specialty bits (like Southwire or Greenlee super short augers), most larger paddle bits only come in 4″ length as shortest, and cutting the bit down eliminates the advantage of having a shaped arbor which engages the chuck better and mostly eliminates spinning when the bit catches (and turns it into kickback). Sharp paddles seem to work better in PSL than augers, and hole saws go slow with plug removal. I know that some of these are edge cases and the issues are particular to drilling in parallams or other unusual situations and materials, but I seem to run into them all.
I’ll probably give this Ridgid one a try as it looks promising and I find their other tools perform much more reliably than Ryobis. But my main hope is that Dewalt comes out with a better version of their current right angle drill and still have it be part of the main 20V Max line, with their excellent chuck and a better motor similar to the DCD996 (and up) drills. At least the Ridgid might give SBD some competition and incite them to improve.
fred
Our territory was in the northeast, where seismic activity seems to produce only modest earthquakes. Sistering of joists was more likely for us – when we needed to correct dodgy work done by previous “contractors”.
Some of our plumbing business customers would be taken aback when told that the source of some sagging or bouncy floors was prior work that compromised the structural integrity of their floor joists.
In the GC business we were also sometimes called in by our painting sub-contractor who might have been asked to paint seriously cracked walls, sagging ceilings etc. – that he suspected were telltales of structural problems. The modern emphasis on open-plan living is nice – but “contractors” who break into bearing walls to achieve “the look” – without picking up the load is not so nice.
Franck B.
For better or worse… EVERYTHING here requires plans (often engineered) and full inspection. Joist penetrations have to meet the manufacturers specs (or the basic rules for real wood). We do a lot of steel retrofitting to enable those open plans that people still insist on having… I thought the charm of the Victorian was the rambling floor plan without real hallways.
Luckily there were contractors like you that could go in and fix things that other people hack. 😉
Franck B.
P.S. I didn’t want to use “sister” in case UWStL soon deems it as a “troublesome” phrase, so I tried a more neutral term.
fred
Us octogenarians may not always be up on what’s politically correct parlance – so I apologize if I’ve offended anyone with how I described the doubling up of beams/joists. Although referring to a “sister” as one who strengthens a relationship – does not seem to me to be a cause for offense.
DC
I have a Milwaukee M12 just for the size to get into tight spaces. Ridgid is strange animal – brand owned by Emerson Electric and licensed to TTI who owns/makes Milwaukee. This is the 2nd item from Ridgid that beats Milwaukee. The first is their Octane 1/2-in drive cordless impact wrench.
Julian
It’d take both hands to count all the battery platforms Ridgid has abandoned.
Dave the tool
I have the Milwaukee m12 right angle drill. Think I got it in a “free tool promotion” thingy at the time. I have used it occasionally but not nearly as much as I originally anticipated but since it was free no biggie. I can definitely see good usage with a right angle drill in the right line of work however. Since I purchased the Dewalt 20v subcompact this Christmas Season I am thinking it will be my go-to tool for limited space drilling BUT since it doesn’t have a regular chuck the size of holes drilled will determine the drill bit length size (on 1/4” Chuck bits) where at least you can always cut regular drill bits down in length if needed for the Jacobs type chuck.
Scott P
I think you’re mistaken. Ridgid 18V power tools have been on the same battery platform since it’s inception. I still have my first Ridgid 18V hammer drill that I purchased in 2003 and it works with every 18V battery that’s ever been sold.
Ben
I have 15 year old Ridgid 18v NiCad batteries that still work great in my current model Ridgid tools. Not sure what else they abandoned, but the really old stuff still works with the new.
Roberto
For compact right angle drills, I wish manufacturers would offer models that replaced the chuck with a 1/4″ hex drive.
In some situations every inch (or fraction of an inch) of clearance makes the difference between using the drill or messing with an imperfect right angle adapter. Ditching the chuck for a 1/4″ hex drive would make for a more compact head. Once I went looking for a 1/4″ hex that could replace a standard keyless chuck but couldn’t find one.
Big Richard
They do make right angle impact drivers that have the 1/4″ hex. You may not want/need the impact aspect of them, but they are nice to have.
https://www.skil.com/pwrcore-12v-impactdriver-kit-ri574502/
Stuart
There are some right angle screwdrivers and also right angle impact drivers.
You can drill and drive with a drill chuck, but 1/4″ chucks have traditionally been better suited for driving applications. I suppose that cordless right angle drills are more common when a brand can only offer one non-impact tool.
Franck B.
The Dewalt 20V right-angle drill has a normal-appearing chuck that has a 1/4″ hex inside. You can just push in 2″ bits, or twist/paddle/auger bits that have the 1/4″ hex drive. Tightening the chuck retains the bit, but isn’t what drives the bit.
It’s really an innovative chuck attached to an otherwise subpar tool. If they upgraded it by doing nothing other than using one of their midrange (or even Atomic) brushless motors, it would elevate it to a fantastic tool.