54% of 56 verified owners recommend the Milwaukee M18 FUEL Drill 2904, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. is shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.
“Milwaukee: heavy duty feel and plenty powerful, but is pricier 10-20% than DeWalt (at least in EU) and sold only by one authorised shop in my country, so is hard to get better deals for their tools.”
“So much so that my rotary hammer drill will only work every 2/3 depressions. Very frustrating.”
“The best use i had for the autostop was driving 5/16 lags. It would just touch when they snugged down and shut the drill down. No broken anything or wrists”
“M18 is like having a truck basically is nice to have but you won’t really take full advantage except for those days unless your a contractor or a mechanic”
“the M18 won’t break your wrist if the saw sticks, as it’ll just turn off automatically due to a safety feature the M12 lacks”
“The M18 are very nice but battery issues keep me from buying Milwaukee products”
“I got both and never use the m18 I’m actually buying a Hole Hawk for when I gotta use big hole saws so my M18 is seriously never getting used”
“The Milwaukee is the objectively better drill between these 2 options and it's not actually that close.”
“Now I’m convinced their quality has gone downhill and won’t buy more Milwaukee.”
“I still wish I'd gotten the m12 instead of the m18 drill”
“It is a true monster of a drill with a HO or Forge battery. Its capabilities scale with the battery you use. However its just super heavy. I dont need all the power it offeres and would rather lightweight instead. Id go m12.”
“the M18 drill/driver combo is worth getting upfront. Reason being that hammer drill is so versatile”
“if I’m putting tapcons into concrete or something similar the m18 blows the m12 out of the water”
“DeWalt for the win, the Milwaukee gives up”
“if i only could gave one or the other, i would get the m18, becuase sometimes i just need the extra power and battery life”
“I have the M18, if your drilling into concrete for work, that's the one I would go with”
“Hopefully you got lucky and end up with trouble free units without the chronic trigger and chuck issues though.”
“I really want that M18 hammer drill, even though i'd actually need it vs the m12 maybe once every few years.”
“The m18 is a godsend for drilling metal or enlarging holes. The auto stop is so good.”
“The m18s stay in the truck 90% of the time unless I'm doing a framing job or drilling a ton of large holes.”
“If you're going to be drilling or rattling all day just go M18 or you will hate it.”
“There are only a few things I use my m18 fuel impact driver for like pulling out big old lag screws.”
“the M18 is a beast for all things. I've even rotated my tires with no trepidation.”
“The drill would be great for piling holes or drilling small holes through metal.”
Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.
“I bought the m12 kit impact and drill ($200) First day using I returned the kit Bought the m12 impact ($100) separately and bought the m18 hammer drill for $100 on fb marketplace”
“Milwaukee tools usually are the most powerful, Makita tools are usually more thought through and tend to be a little more reliable or comfortable to use. DeWalt is somewhere in the middle. They're all good choices.”
“I have the m12 and m18 brushed kits. Ironically the m12 drill died the last day of the warranty. There's no difference between those 2 besides battery life. I've heard the m18 fuel impact is significantly more powerful than the m12 fuel though”
“Hole saws is what you need the M18 drill for, so if you have a hole hawg you don’t need it.”
“I like DeWalt, but I only have the basic yellow versions.”
“My reasoning for returning the M12 was that since this deal made the M18 close to the same price, I got the more powerful tool to cover anything I might encounter. That way I'm also able to stick with one battery system - I already have a couple other M18 tools and could use the extra batteries from this kit.”
“General carpenter, my only M18s are the cordless big nailers. The M12 driver is sufficient for just about anything; the drill however, is rather slow. To the point where is consistently annoying. Much prefer my old Dewalt 20v to it. I'd like to try an M18 drill, but haven't yet. The M12 Impact has plenty of oomph.”