Ryobi has launched their next-generation 18V One+ HP brushless cordless power tools, featuring a drill, hammer drill, impact driver, circular saw, and reciprocating saw.
Ryobi says these 5 new Gen 2 additions are the most powerful tools they offer. All of the new tools are said to deliver their best performance when powered with Ryobi’s more premium 18V 4Ah batteries.
A quick look at the power and speed specs for the 5 new tools shows that Ryobi isn’t exaggerating.
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The 18V One+ HP line wasn’t Ryobi’s first attempt at cordless power tools with brushless motors. Compared to the earlier tools, the HP line of tools featured – in my experience – much more compact form factors.
To me, Ryobi’s 18V HP cordless power tools delivered amply power while making some sacrifices for the sake of size and weight savings. It seems that Ryobi has reversed course and is focusing again on squeezing as much power and performance as they can into the new 18V HP Gen 2 models.
Ryobi 18V Gen 2 Brushless Drill and Hammer Drill
The new brushless drills deliver up to 850 in-lbs max torque and have a 2-speed gearbox with 0-700 and 0-2150 RPM speed settings.
Ryobi’s claims of these models being 45% faster and delivering 65% more torque are in comparison to one of their more basic cordless drills (PCL206 drill, PCL220 hammer drill).
Looking at their existing 18V One+ HP cordless drill kit (PSBDD02K2), the new models deliver 26% faster speed and 89% more torque. It’s uncertain as to whether the Gen 2 models will be replacing Ryobi’s existing HP brushless cordless power tools.
Features include a 1/2″ metal chuck, 24 position clutch, base-mounted LED worklight.
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The kits come with a charger and 4Ah High Performance battery.
Ryobi Gen 2 Brushless Impact Driver
The new Gen 2 18V HP brushless impact driver also boasts impressive specs – up to 2300 in-lbs max torque and 3400 RPM max speed.
It also has 4 operating modes with 3 speed settings and an assist mode.
Just going by the specs, this looks like it could be one of the highest performing cordless impact drivers on the market.
Ryobi 18V Gen 2 Brushless Circular Saw
The new Ryobi 18V HP Gen 2 brushless circular saw features a 7-1/4″ blade size.
Ryobi boasts that this is their most powerful circular saw ever. They say it delivers “3X faster cutting” than their PCL500 circular saw, which has an entry-level price and much smaller blade size.
Features include up to 5000 RPM speed, 0-56° bevel shoe adjustment, die cast metal upper guard, max cutting depth of up to 2-9/16″ at 0°, and a rafter hook.
Ryobi says it delivers the best performance with an 18V 4Ah High Performance EDGE (tabless) battery.
Here’s a quick side by side comparison between Gen 1 and Gen 2 models. From what I can tell, there’s a bump up in max speed, which could contribute to faster cutting performance, and several design differences including the addition of a rafter hook.
Ryobi 18V Gen 2 Brushless Reciprocating Saw
The new Gen 2 reciprocating saw features a 1-1/4″ stroke length and 3200 SPM max speed.
They say it delivers 2X faster cutting compared to their PCL515 recip saw, a brushed motor model at entry level pricing.
Spec-wise, there’s not much difference compared to Ryobi’s other 18V HP brushless reciprocating saw, PBLRS01B, which also has a 1-1/4″ stroke length and 3200 SPM max speed.
The Gen 1 model is priced at $129 right now (tool-only), and the Gen 2 model will be $139. It looks like $10 gets you a different blade release level and a rafter hook.
Whereas the older model advertised “over 380 cuts per charge” with a 9Ah battery, the new model says you can get “up to 470 cuts per charge” when cutting through 2×4 white pine with a 12Ah battery.
Pricing
- Drill kit (PBLDD02K1) – $159
- Hammer drill kit (PBLHM102K1) – $179
- Hammer drill tool-only (PBLHM102B) – $129
- Impact Driver tool-only (PBLID04B) – $129
- Circular Saw tool-only (PBLCS302B) – $139
- Reciprocating Saw tool-only (PBLRS02B) – $139
Availability
All of these tools will be available exclusively at Home Depot. They will be available starting in March 2025.
Discussion
Ryobi’s 18V HP line of brushless power tools previously seemed centered around high performance in a compact form factor, with a couple of full-size tools mixed in, such as with the reciprocating saw.
It seems like the new push is towards top power and performance.
At this time, Ryobi has not made any announcement as to whether the Gen 2 tools are an expansion or if they will be replacing some of their existing 18V HP brushless power tools, but the official description of this being a “Gen II” launch carries a lot of implications.
Jared
Seems like the HP line was a successful experiment for Ryobi – albeit with a slight course adjustment. It’s interesting, because Ryobi is marketed generally as a hobby, DIY and budget brand, but the HP line seems aimed at competing with pro brands – but is also near-pro priced itself.
I speculated when the HP line was announce that it was intended to compete with SBD’s plans for Craftsman, since SBD announced the brand would span the homeowner-to-pro categories. Craftsman does have different grades, but I don’t feel like the original plan ever came to fruition – yet obviously that model is succeeding for Ryobi, at least enough to keep the HP line going.
Maybe there is no connection. Either way, I think it’s a good thing for Ryobi to have both budget and higher-tier options in the lineup; people tied to that platform don’t have to buy into a new one if they want an upgrade.
Brandon
That is a fair assessment of Ryobi. I have a few of the older models of their HP line and they do perform better than what one would expect from Ryobi.
Where Ryobi definitely shines is you can often purchase their HP line on sale (which makes them an even better value). Also, most importantly (to me), if you are invested in their battery system, you have some decently powerful choices for core tools while simultaneously being able to have a wide array of everything Ryobi has to offer and not needing to upgrade batteries or switch brands for the more powerful tools.
Craftsman seems to be just as adrift now as when Sears owned the brand (which is sad as I absolutely loved the brand). Whenever I see displays of Craftsman power tools it makes me feel like SBD is saying, “Hey we own Craftsman now, sure, they’re a hodgepodge of Porter Cable and Dewalt, but look at our new shade of red!”. Nothing really stands out to me.
Stuart
The inclusion of rafter hooks makes me wonder if Ryobi and Home Depot are targeting value-minded pros. This is a feature homeowners and DIYers can do without if it saves them money, but it’s a quality of life feature for many pros if not a must-have.
Big Richard
I love how DeWalt still does not have a single cordless recip with a rafter hook. It truly confounds my brain, as you pointed out it is nearly a must have for pros.
Joellikestools
It is especially weird since Kobalt and other budget brands have had them for awhile…
Stuart
Dewalt’s first brushless circular shipped without a rafter hook https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/dewalt-20v-brushless-circular-saw-dcs570/%3C/a%3E , and they quickly changed that. It launched around March 2017, and I noted in August that year https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/5-new-dewalt-tools-from-2017-media-event/%3C/a%3E that it’s been updated with a rafter hook.
Big Richard
But a recip is is not a circular saw though, it’s a different type of saw with different use cases. And as I mentioned above, DeWalt does not have a single cordless recip with a rafter hook.
Stuart
When users complain loudly enough, they’ll listen. I can only surmise that users haven’t complained loudly enough about wanting a rafter hook on Dewalt recip saws. Or, people want a rafter hook but not enough to hurt Dewalt sales.
Bonnie
I could see these supplanting Ridgid cordless tools in that niche.
Stuart
I hadn’t considered that. With Ryobi tools this good, is there still a place for Ridgid 18V at Home Depot?
Rog
I understand the why behind three lines at HD (good, better, best), but it seems like they’d do just as fine to put all their effort behind only Ryobi and Milwaukee.
Jared
Except of course, that Ryobi and Milwaukee are owned by TTI; the Ridgid brand belongs to Home Depot and is manufactured by TTI.
The HP line certainly does impinge on the marketing space where Ridgid is positioned, but I think that’s just competition – I don’t expect Home Depot to drop it’s own brand in favor of a Ryobi expansion.
Also, even with higher-grade tools in Ryobi’s portfolio, I think it may take a little while to shake off the budget/hobby reputation of the brand. I’ve certainly seen pros with some lime green mixed into their tool bag, but usually that’s a niche tool – not meat-and-potatoes options like drills, impacts and saws.
Stuart
@Jared, Ridgid does NOT “belong to Home Depot.”
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/tool-brands-corporate-affiliations/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
TTI owns the Ryobi power tools and accessories division in North America and other regions, but not globally.
TTI develops and produces Ridgid power tools for Home Depot under a licensing agreement with Emerson going back more than 21 years.
In the USA, Home Depot is TTI North America’s sole customer for both Ryobi and Ridgid cordless power tool products, excluding Ridgid plumbing industry products sold by Emerson.
Ryobi and Ridgid products are handled by TTI North America, Milwaukee does their own development and marketing.
Milwaukee and Ryobi/Ridgid are like 2 siblings that only see each other and talk at Thanksgiving.
Other companies, such as SBD, might have different teams that only change their shirts or hats when they work on different brands. Some tools might be marketed under Dewalt here, and Stanley elsewhere.
For all intents and purposes, Ryobi and Ridgid (with respect to non-plumbing cordless power tools) are both “Home Depot brand.” If Home Depot has incredible power to determine the product direction of those brands, as there’s no other place for TTI to sell the tools in the USA.
Jared
Jan 28, 2025
Thanks, I didn’t realize that. I thought Home Depot owned that branding and the tools were just made for them by TTI.
dabmanjones
Where do you find all this? I cannot find anything online about this. I didn’t get an email from ryobi saying anything about this stuff, and it’s not on their website.
I’m curious where ya found the scoop lol
Stuart
Press/media communications.
Rog
If Ryobi is listening; Please don’t get caught in the “strakes and slashes” trend. I appreciated the simplicity of the Gen I HP stuff. It looked mostly clean and unfussy. But many manufacturers—especially the auto industry—feel the need to up the ante on new models and iterations and start adding unnecessary bumps, creases, shapes and flourishes. It’s a power tool. Let it do its job. It doesn’t need to look like a space cannon or a prop from Star Wars.
Nate
Further, they’re harder to wipe clean! I retired my otherwise-decent Engineer pliers after I simply couldn’t get the grime out of the handle greebles.
Jim Felt
That has bothered me too. They just love those sci-fi looking “handles”.
will
I feel that way with new cars. All of them sharp lines just add up to ugly.
David Z
Did I do my math wrong, or does the new reciprocating saw cut fewer times per Ah than the old one? 42 vs 39. And no speed change. So the update is just the blade release mechanism, hook, and shorter run time?
Luis
Yeah I also did the math, that’s definitely a slight efficiency downgrade.
For a moment I thought it was just a repackaging of the 1st gen, but it could have an updated motor with the same SPM and stroke length, just geared for more torque under load. At the end of the day those are no-load SPMs so you’ll only notice real improvements once the blade touches the surface.
Sam
I get the idea is to try to make the nose stronger by moving the light to the foot of the tool but I far prefer my light to be in line with the collet or a halo around the collet. I also miss the little magnet that was on the foot of the old drills (it is now where the speed adjustment it). Overall though Ryobi has moved up into the “prosumer” category- somewhere above homeowner but below full time contractor.
Steven Phillips
Almost looks like they are making a play for some of the pro market. The prices on these tools are starting to get up near pro level. I don’t know how that will go for them though, but it is interesting.
Luis
they already did that with the 1st gen HP Brushless tools about 3 years ago. Price bumps are only around $10 up across the board.
As a previous owner of Ryobi tools I never paid MSRP for them as I noticed regular price was already close to my Milwaukee and Bosch tools.
Ryobi is one of those brands that has become a good purchase only if there are deals around, which is often.
Miles
They’re definitely going after some of the Pro marketshare. And I think it’ll probably work out well for them because their performance seems to have improved enough to warrant the minimal price increase, plus, nobody ever pays MSRP for Ryobi. There are good promotions basically on a constant cycle throughout the year which seem to work well in getting consistent product sales all year long.
My biggest curiosity is where Rigid is going to fit in with Ryobi releasing it’s new HP brushless line and the new tabless Edge batteries. I feel like Rigid will be pushed away from it’s target consumers.
SteveP
I’m a busy DYIer and currently doing mechanical, electrical, structural and plumbing projects. I am a big fan of Ryobi, having switched for the typical hodgepodge of some “pro” tools and a mishmash of battery systems. When my 2nd $100 Makita 18V battery died with no warranty honored, I gave up and went pretty much 100% Ryobi (I do have a few Milwaukee 12V Fuel tools as they are tiny and fit in tight spots and are often on sale)
I even take my Ryobi lights (and they make a lot of versions) camping. But Ryobi does not reall offer (AFAIK) a good “mechanic’s” stick light – with a hook and a magnet and tilt head. Possibly it would need to be the newer 4V Lithium to keep the form factor small. I’ve been in the system for a decade now, and have yet to have a battery (I must have 30) die. That includes the ones my wife uses in garden tools and returns covered with muck
There are a bewildering number of variations of some tools, like drills. I do find the chucks on the basic drills are not great and tend to loosen all by themselves. Ryobi has missed the trick where the LED stays on a few seconds after a trigger press – that way you can see where to aim in a dark corner (or is that someone else’s patent?)
Most of my Ryobi tools that require an allen key to adjust or replace a blade offer a place to store the tool. Even their electric chainsaws have this (unlike my “pro” gas ones). So it is amusing to see what they do right and what they just miss the mark on. Overall, more hits than misses for me
Nate
There’s a lot of aftermarket Ryobi stuff too, including some very competent lights.
HOWEVER, they’re ultra cheap and some have “soft” power switches that continue to draw power even if the light is off. After flattening a battery (which is bad for the battery), I added a big “Remove battery to turn off” label, and otherwise the light is fine.
SteveP
I did exactly the same – wrote it on the light with a Sharpie. The Ryobi ones I have do not have that issue. I also buy battery 3D-printed caps off Etsy, and a cover for the spotlamp
Luis
“Ryobi has missed the trick where the LED stays on a few seconds after a trigger press – that way you can see where to aim in a dark corner (or is that someone else’s patent?)”
That feature can be found on most Ryobi Brushless tools. The base ones don’t come with an afterglow LED feature.
Agree with you on the drill chucks, base ones don’t have a ratcheting feature but the all metal chuck on my One HP Brushless Hammerdrill did.
Scott K
I don’t own any HP tools, but I’ve checked them out at HD before and must say that the compact form factor of many of the Gen 1 tools were really appealing. They also felt much more substantial and well built that earlier models. Every time they release new tools I find myself leaning away from other brands I would’ve considered. When I have a need for a recip it will likely be either this or their compact version. I also plan to buy the tripod light before my next paint project.
Ben
As a long time Ryobi user the HP brushless tools with HP batteries show a noticeable improvement in power and runtime over the non-HP equivalents.
Albie Hanson
I have a range of Ryobi 18v+. I try to buy Brushless where I can which are excellent. Good solid range of tools that can hold their own against the more expensive ranges.
Is the batteries interchangeable with the current range.
Cheers
Stuart
Ryobi 18V batteries should be fully compatible.
Jason M
Ryobi has always punched above their weight class IMO but this is a nice step forward. A true high torque impact would be a winner
Luis
they have had a High Torque Impact Wrench for a couple years. Is that what you mean? Model PBLIW01B
Farmerguy
If Ryobi and Milwaukee are under the same tool group umbrella, why should it be a surprise they deploy some better tech or features when premium lines had them for awhile? Do they have separate engineering departments or one hand not talk to the other? I understand the value play between and apart from the brands and marketing angles, but fail to see how the value brand has much exclusive, new, surprising, and/or exciting.
Stuart
There are hard boundaries between the companies with interactions rare except maybe at the highest levels.
Scott K
You’ve mentioned this before and I believe it. Is this to protect Milwaukee’s image and help protect the “pro” user market from moving to their lower cost sibling? It would seem beneficial for Ryobi to benefit from all of Milwaukee’s advances and not waste R&D money to have teams working on similar advancements.
Stuart
I cannot tell you why things are this way. Some companies combine efforts – that’s how Stanley Black & Decker does things. Others don’t, even if there is some overlap.
Milwaukee seeks solutions and has a broad retail and distribution network. Ryobi has one customer – Home Depot.
I doubt it’s about image or anything like that. If separation works, why change for the sake of change?
SteveP
Ryobi sells the same tools in the UK direct and through Amazon(and possibly elsewhere) so while I’m sure HD is 90% of their market, they do have other outlets. Amazon UK has a better selection of Ryobi tools, so maybe they are an approved source there. In the US, it always seems the (few) bona-fide Ryobi tools on Amazon are 3rd party sellers, and the prices are often not competitive even with HD’s regular prices
https://uk.ryobitools.eu/technologies/one/
And the Ryobi brand is completely different in South Africa, where it is a real also-ran with different color last-last-last generation line
I assume that’s just a “brand” the way Kodak and Polaroid gets stuck on some dubious products as long as they pay the licensing cost
https://ryobi.co.za/product-category/cordless-power-tools-standard-duty/
Tucker
I would assume these new tools are designed to take advantage of their new Edge battery?
TTC just did a video on tabless batteries and the 4ah definitely seemed like an impressive upgrade.
JR Ramos
I watched that the other day…the Bosch results were shocking until I read in their pinned post about how they received a standard non-tabless pack. It’ll be interesting if they can get their hands on a real Bosch tabless somehow and show us the test results and innards for it. I don’t know if our portable battery pack tech is getting close to a plateau (maybe) but it’s sure a good time to be a cordless tool user after 2+ decades of performance that left a lot of users wanting for more.
Stuart
They’re shown off with High Performance and High Performance EDGE batteries. The video mentioned high performance batteries, I’m not 100% certain EDGE batteries are required.
JR Ramos
I’m glad to see an apparent return to longer (i.e. standard) stroke length recip saws. The new Bosch and now this Ryobi. Perhaps that’s a side benefit of better battery power these days, being able to un-nerf the nerfing that seemed necessary during the first part of the cordless revolution.
I’m not a fan of the trend toward putting circ saw handles more on top of the arbor rather than behind it. It’s ok if you cut at full depth and/or at typical sawhorse height where you can place your body over the tool or walk along beside it, but it’s rather un-ergonomic for many other uses, especially as you raise the shoe or have maybe have to work freehand or overhead.
Michael
One of the “problems” with the first generation drill, is that instead of pushing through a tough spot, or twisting your wrist/body around when it gets stuck, it simply stops and flashes the lights. As someone who relies on my drill to do pretty hard work, it’s been kind of a letdown. I hope the Gen 2 fixes this, and I’ll be watching closely for reviews.
P.S. It’s interesting that a grinder is pictured but no further information about it. I wonder what’s going on there?
Keith H Morris Jr
Yes,I agree ryobi has a little more to learn.The plastic drill chucks are and hv been trash so far.plz someone at the big green machine fix this asap-plz.Ive been using the brand for last 20-25 yrs after switching from DeWalt and the fantastic and epic fail on old 18 v Packs failing after only months of use.I absolutely love Ryobi battery packs and hope to aquire some 12 amp-hour batterys and HP tools.Thanks 4 the overall great products and plus one line