Yesterday we talked a little about Dewalt’s next-generation 20V Max brushless impact driver, model DCF887. It turns out that this isn’t the only next-gen brushless power tool that Dewalt is coming out with, they’re also launching a new compact brushless drill and a hammer drill.
The new Dewalt 20V Max drill, model DCD791, and hammer drill, model DCD796, are looking to be replacements for the brand’s DCD790 compact drill and DCD795 hammer drill.
These are compact models, and so you won’t see them equipped with an auxiliary handle or 3-speed modes as with Dewalt’s premium brushless drill and hammer drill.
Dewalt says that these are the most compact and best performing brushless drills and impact drivers they’ve ever designed.
The Dewalt DCD791 drill measures 6.9″ long, making it indeed more compact than the previous model, which measured 7.2″ long. It weighs 3.4 lbs, presumably with a compact battery.
But more powerful? According to Dewalt’s introductory video, the new drill and hammer drill deliver 460 UWO (unit watts out) of power, which is indeed more than their previous compact brushless drills. But Dewalt’s premium drills deliver more power.
Dewalt says that the new brushless drills will deliver up to 30% faster application speeds, and that it can handle tasks too demanding for their last generation compact drill.
There’s also a brighter led light. Scroll back at the top to look at the profile view of the Dewalt DCD791 drill. The LED juts out a bit, probably because it requires a heatsink for thermal dissipation.
The drill’s worklight is rated at 60 lumens, which is pretty bight. A few years ago, tactical flashlights delivered 80 lumens of high powered illumination. 100-200 lumens and up seems to be norm these days, but don’t get caught up by numbers, 60 lumens is incredibly bright.
Need to use another tool in a dark space? These new Dewalt brushless drills can be run in spotlight mode as task lights, with up to 20 minutes of runtime.
I don’t think 20 minutes is the battery depletion runtime – I think that’s more what the tool can handle in terms of thermal dissipation and duty cycle.
Dewalt’s 20V Max LED spotlight that I recently reviewed throws 1,000 lumens of light for up to 4 hours. A compact battery pack could surely drive a 60 lumen LED for far longer. But since the emitter is encapsulated within the drill/driver as more of a convenience function, 20 minutes is of spotlight mode probably going to be dependent on engineering constraints.
I’m sure that more information with be forthcoming. In the meantime, what do you think of Dewalt’s next-generation compact brushless drills?
Here’s Dewalt’s promo video introducing the new tools:
I found it interesting that Dewalt describes the new brushless drills and impacts as the best they’ve ever designed. Isn’t that always the case for every manufacturer? Each generation of tool is supposed to be better than the last!
A good voiceover can make anything sound epic, but I’m more interested in hearing and seeing how these compare with other brands’ offerings, such as Milwaukee’s M18 compact brushless drill and impact driver.
From the specs, Milwaukee’s compact brushless drill might be ever so slightly more compact, and Dewalt’s new brushless impact driver might be the teeniest bit shorter. I say might because Dewalt uses decimal measurements and Milwaukee fractions. The numbers are so close that how the brands round up or down could change things.
Thanks to Chaz, Rami, and Steffi for the heads-up!