Makita 18V Lxt Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Quick-Shift Mode 4-Speed Impact Driver (Bare Tool)

Why it's worth it

Makita's 4-speed LXT driver is the one finish carpenters and cabinet installers keep reaching for. Quick-Shift Mode eases off automatically as a fastener seats, and at a listed 2.27 pounds it's the lightest tool in this guide by a clear margin.

Every impact driver can drive a screw. Not many can stop driving at the right moment. Quick-Shift Mode uses the brushless motor's electronics to balance speed and torque as the fastener nears flush, which is exactly where trim splits and screw heads round off. If your work is cabinets, casing and hinges rather than framing, that one feature is the argument for this tool.

The four speeds here are genuinely different tools, not marketing. You get 0–1,100 all the way up to 0–3,600 RPM, selectable from a rear-handle switch or a one-touch button under the chuck. Assist mode is the other quiet star: it starts fasteners at low speed until tightening begins, which kills cam-out and cross-threading before they happen. That's a real help with self-tapping screws.

From our review of 8 impact drivers

What we like

• +Every impact driver can drive a screw
• +The four speeds here are genuinely different tools, not marketing
• +The LED is a full ring rather than a single spot
• +Makita's LXT platform has been running on the same battery interface for years, and it's deep — hundreds of tools, easy to find,…

What to know

• –It's listed at 1,590 in-lbs of max torque, below the Milwaukee and Bosch
• –This is another bare-tool listing, and owner feedback on this specific model is thinner than on the long-established DeWalt, so…