Patrick and BoltBolter wrote in about the new Ryobi 18V One+ Cordless Quiet Strike Pulse Driver (model P290). Thank you for the tips!
I had the opportunity to briefly check it out in person a few months ago, and while slightly larger than the leading compact cordless impact drivers, the Quiet Strike is indeed quieter. But, it’s also faster.
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And compared to many brands’ latest and greatest impact drivers, the Ryobi Quiet Strike is nicely affordable, at just $99 for the bare tool.
The Ryobi Quiet Strike isn’t quite an impact driver, it’s a pulse driver. There are 2 other pulse drivers currently on the market (that we know of):
Pros: It’s fast and quiet. Cons: It’s larger than the best professional impact drivers (but around the same size as many DIY or consumer models), and not quite as powerful.
I’m not quite sure what the max torque is, as it’s not specified on the product page, but we do have speed specs: 3,200 RPM and 2,200 IPM. So yes, it’s fast.
They say this about the power:
QUIET STRIKE technology gives more power and speed than a drill but with 50% less noise than an impact driver.
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The Ryobi Quiet Strike pulse driver also features a tri-beam LED worklight, a belt clip, and improved overmolded grip.
Lastly, there is a neat feature towards the battery base, called a Magtray. This feature does exactly what you think – it’s a small magnetic holder where you can temporarily place your screws, bits, or other small steel parts.
Price: $99 (bare tool)
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
Update: I checked my notes and found that I thought it important enough to jot down that the Quiet Strike, and pulse drivers in general, is slightly more reactive. You won’t see the counter torques that can develop when a cordless drill binds or jams, but you won’t see the reactionless torque that you would with a traditional impact driver.
Here’s a quick intro video. Once we get a sample in-hand I’ll try to show off its speed.
First Thoughts
Impact driver or pulse driver? High torque, or quieter operation? Smaller size, or faster application speeds?
There’s definitely a lot of good things about this pulse driver, but it’s not a do-all tool. If you don’t have any driver other than your cordless drill, you have some thinking to do.
$99 seems like a great price for the bare tool.
If you’re not already bought into Ryobi’s system, perhaps Ridgid’s Stealth Force pulse driver might be the better choice. Its full price is $199 for a kit that comes with a battery and charger, but when on sale it’s $179 at Home Depot. Maybe sometimes you can find it for less.
A Ryobi battery and charger starter kit is $59. So with no battery or charger, it’s $158 ($99 + $59) for the Ryobi combination, or $179-199 for the Ridgid.
David
I suspect that the “near future” is meant to read new feature. I don’t think it’s actually new, but it wasn’t on every model. The Magtray used to appear on their drills – it’s something I missed between generations from the early drills to newer models.
Stuart
Sorry, I meant “neat.” Typo? Maybe anot autocorrect issue. Either way, thanks!!
Derek
These are a little confusing.
They are faster then a standard impact, but are less powerful.
Usually power & speed go hand in hand.
I’m looking into making the plunge to replace my older cordless power tools with new ones, I’m leaning towards Ridged this time. If I do, I think I will get their stealth impact over the normal one. Quieter is almost always better. IMO
Milwaukee tool Steve
Get Milwaukee FUEL they will come trough the clutch, and plus you can’t beat a five year tool warranty from Milwaukee tool FOR EVERY TOOL this is the way to go besides hilti this is the best warranty, tool system sub-compact, and pack a punch m18 system, your gonna find.
Stuart
Ryobi One+ 18V and Milwaukee M18 Fuel tools are aimed at completely different types of users.
Milwaukee tool Steve
Yes I am well aware of this I was talking about this quote later down here
“I’m looking into making the plunge to replace my older cordless power tools with new ones, I’m leaning towards Ridged this time. If I do, I think I will get their stealth impact over the normal one. Quieter is almost always better. IMO”
I ment to tell the user that Milwaukee’s warranty is way better than Rigids and yet Milwaukee is the best platform of its kind.
Stuart
Ah, I see.
But I hope you can appreciate how it looks for a commenter named Milwaukee Tool Steve to start talking about Milwaukee Fuel in the midst of a Ryobi and Ridgid discussion.
Satch
I really don’t know much about this technology but on first flush I think it will be a much more popular than we may believe right now. Sure, many blokes are driven by the torque/power specs of each new model that comes out. But there is more to it than raw specs. Horses for courses and all that.
It reminds me of the discussion of the new Bosch brushless impacts that were just announced for our Yankee side of the pond. Mostly a negative comparison to the M12 lineup from Milwaukee. And that is a valid point to make. If you need more impact and power for each and every job. For me, i will pick the PS22 and PS42 for a few reasons.
First, I don’t need ultimate power or blows per minute for my tasks. Second, the Bosch tools are measurably shorter in length than their Milwaukee counterpoints. This is a BIG plus for me since I would use a devise like this in a good many locations that the nearly inch less length of the Bosch would make a difference. Third, it is also ergonomic. The Bosch fits my mitts rather well. Well, lets add a fourth. I like Bosch!
What’s all that to do with this Ryobi? Plenty if you look at it from a task oriented perspective. As has been mentioned impacts, particularly in residential locations such as apartment buildings, can make a lot of noise. They really do echo and vibrate through metal and steel so a driver like this may make the difference between working earlier and later hours in an occupied structure. I don’t know if it transmits less vibration into the user’s hands but it may be easier on those with repetitive strain and injury issues. Just a thought. I am all for innovation in tools.
BTW, I don’t think we will ever get past the point of needing a traditional hammer/anvil type impact driver or whatever it is actually called. Again, tool suited to need.
jtr165
I completely agree…I’ve been guessing for a while that most companies are going to come up with new lines of ‘quiet’ cordless impact drivers/wrenches, with various compromises depending on brand/design…
hydraulic torque wrenches (they’re usually not called impact wrenches because they work very differently) have been around forever, and always have had an advantage of far simpler design, far quieter, and much lighter weight mechanically…They actually ‘impact’ the opposite of designs that use pneumatic/mechanical torque application in that the torque is the easy part…they just use bleeder valves to ‘slip’ at the intended thresholds…They’re just very unpopular because of the complexity of powering them. Max torque probably isn’t the best application, also, as a clogged valve results in broken wrists, arms, people, buildings, etc….but there are still some merits to it in specific applications.
I don’t know what this Ryobi uses, but the stuff from last spring about the Rigid hydraulic pulse driver is kind of an open arena imo. A closed hydraulic cylinder that uses a driver’s electronics as a pump instead of the direct feed for the impact mechanism (I don’t remember what the Rigid does exactly, this is all guess work)…where as the electronics can detect any issues with the applied torque and just stop if something goes wrong…is probably going to be a pretty popular approach over the next couple of years…as theoretically they could be getting some pretty decent cordless impact drivers that make as little noise as a typical drill…and are every bit as compact and lightweight…
jtr165
and forgot to add: Yes, I feel like we’re in a bizarre middle ground between traditional impact wrenches…and the newer cordless impact drivers. They just keep getting more powerful, and almost all of the higher end devices are far beyond what you need to just be an ‘easy drill’. I’ve had my dewalt 20v brushless driver since summer 2014, and there is a more powerful replacement available…yet mine can literally uncork any bolt installed on my car if I can reach it.
I’d buy a quiet driver, that was less annoying than using a fixed drill chuck, with a bit less torque than my current driver…that used the same packs…yesterday. I love my impact driver, but it’s overkill for 90% of what I use it for. I mean anything wood working; it’ll either blow through and/or maniacally split the work piece…or twist the screw head right off if you let it. I know newer models have that ‘sense’ stuff to apply less torque, but a different design that made little noise would be a fair alternative imo.
abnormalist
Last night at home, I took a pile of 2x4s a circ saw and the impact driver to throw together a few motor stands for outboard motors, trolling motors etc.
About 5 min into it, my friend who was watching my kids while I got this done brought out my daughter (6mo) as she was grumpy. He kept having to walk away with her whenever I grabbed the impact to drive a screw in. There is absolutely a market for something that can drive screws like an impact, but not generate the noise level of an impact.
This is on my short buy list right now.
Blythe M
I’m all for quiet, construction work has already given my slight hearing loss before 30. However the claim that it is faster is confusing because some of the Home Depot reviews say it is markedly slower than the traditional model
Adam
$99 seems a bit high for a Ryobi bare-tool. Maybe $79? Then again, a quiet impact driver does seem like a luxury tool, which begs the question why aren’t other manufactures making quiet drivers? not enough demand, or too new of a product area maybe
Jim
I know I’m commenting nearly a year later, but I just bought a $99 drill/driver kit at Home Depot and got the (price now reduced to $79) Quiet Strike driver for free! Figure $40 for each bare tool and $20 for the battery – now that’s a bargain!
Brett
My experience with the mag tray is that everything always comes to rest pointy side out. It’s like placing a sea urchin of screws on the handle of your drill or driver.
Bolt
Yeah the price is higher than I’d like especially considering it’s just a single speed driver unlike the rigid. But when I finally break down and get an impact driver it’s going to be a tough choice since I like my hearing as much as I hate spending money.
Mike
Is it single speed? The manual lists 0-3200 RPM and 0-2200 IPM which to me implies variable speed, but I haven’t seen one of these in person yet.
Christopher Trafnik
RPM is for the rotation speed.
IPM is for the number of impacts
pete
I saw this at HD a month ago and was curious to see the specs because they didn’t have any listed at the time yet to compare with their standard impact driver. This will more than likely be my next ryobi purchase OR the cordless shop light. This impact driver paired with my ryobi impact wrench would get almost anything done.
Noah
So when does the Milwaukee version come out? 😉 I’m invested in the M12 platform.
I could definitely benefit from the quieter power of a pulse driver. There are many times at work where we can’t use our impacts because they are too loud.
James C
I’m right there with you. At some point in the next few months I’m going to get into 18v and if Milwaukee doesn’t have some sort of quiet impact-like driver by then, I’ll be strongly considering Ridgid.
I hate to say it, but I find little use for my first gen m12 impact. It makes an awful lot of noise for not much performance difference over the m12 drill (at least for the vast majority of stuff I use it for).
I have a couple 18v Ryobi tools (weed whacker and hand vac), which I love, but not sure I’d invest in Ryobi for woodworking. The Ridgid driver is more appealing and probably worth the additional cost to me.
Derek
Well, I ponied up the cash, and bought this driver today. So far I love it, it’s much quieter then I expected…it’s kinda hard to gauge a tools noise level from youtube videos, so I’m very impressed with it. I had a buddy come over to check it out, and doing a side by side noise comparison with my 18v makita impact, it’s literally night & day.
My next tool is gonna be the ridgid blower…cause I hate having sawdust always covering my garage.
Satch
Derek, good feedback. Do let us know how its going in say, three or four weeks. It is always good to get a bit more time under the belt with new stuff like this.