Customer Reviews

Panasonic EY6432NQKW 15.6-Volt NiMH 1/2-Inch Cordless Drill/Driver Kit

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I waffled between this unit, with it's 3.0 amp-hour NiMH batteries, and the model with 3.5 amp-hour units. It turns out that this drill is about 1/2 pound lighter than the other, a smart trade-off because you're only losing 15% of run-time. The weight difference is seen in the user's manual, not on Amazon's erroneous description.

Buying anything heavier than this drill would be a big mistake for me. At work, we have a Porter-Cable 19.2 drill that is an absolute beast. We need all the torque we can get at work, because we regularly use it to drill through steel. But you get fatigued immediately with this clumsy, bulky drill. As a woodworker, I sometimes use my drill-driver for hours on end- and having a light drill is absolutely mandatory. At 15.6 volts and with it's two-speed gearbox, this Panasonic has more than enough torque.

This drill is also very compact- more so than my cheapie Black and Decker 12 volt drill. That helps me get into tight corners.

The chuck is high quality and easy to use.

I added a Bosch Clic-change quick-release chuck and driver set for rapid changing between my countersinking drills and my drivers.

Paired together, this is quite an effective, powerful, lightweight and efficient drilling system.

I'm a weekend warrior but use my Panasonic cordless drill nearly every week. I've had if for more than a year. It works very well. Battery life is excellent, I will ALWAYS try to buy NiMH batteries in the future. They are far superior to NiCd batteries. (Battery life is such that I rarely have to change batteries on a weekend project. There is no "memory effect" on the batteries so I don't worry about fully discharging a battery before recharging it.) The drill itself works great. The one hand keyless chuck is very easy to use. The clutch works well. Two speeds, fast for drilling, slower for driving screws are appropriate. Size/weight/power/controls are perfect for me. (I'm an average size guy.) If I had it to do over, I would have purchased the Drill/Driver combination with the circular saw. Saw is not available w/o batteries & charger like other brands. If it were, I'd buy it in a second! Are you listening Panasonic/Amazon?

I don't understand why Panasonic doesn't push these tools. They're the best you can buy. After seven years of overloading it, I finally burnt up the 12V I had at work and bought this...
The tool: This just feels right in your hand, it doesn't tug your wrist. The chuck is much better than my old one as it ratchets in both directions. The chuck on my old tool would loosen up when I was breaking and extracting a bunch of sheet metal screws. I never ate a clutch, unlike the DeWalts our construction division bought. We'll see how this one holds up with the extra power (I've only had it for a few months). When I get into sheet metal on our equipment, I appreciate a light tool, I'm getting old. This tool weighs more than a 12V, but I can do the repetitious work without fatigue. With the higher voltage tools I need 2 hands after a while. I have a 12V at home that I DID buy from Amazon (model EY6407NQKW) xlnt.
I'm a heavy equipment mechanic/power generation technician and fully expect my 15.6 to last to my retirement in 4 yrs.
jd

I have done over 30 years in the remodeling trades. I have always preferred compact drills to larger ones. I have used many of the different cordless drill models; mostly because the batteries wear out and it is always cheaper to get a new drill with two batteries than it is to get two replacement batteries. I have had this drill for nearly a year now and the batteries are still working. The drill itself is light, powerful, and it has a precise feel to it that pleases me. It compares favorably to many of the 18 volt drills I have used but it is lighter and smaller. I should mention that I have never owned or used a cordless drill that I didn't like, but that being said, this is my favorite to date.

As the owner of a commercial cabinet shop I require all of my dozen or so employees to provide their own hand tools and one power tool: a cordless drill. Over the last 21 years we have obviously seen about every cordless manufacturer out there. The employees are proud people and get quite competitive over who has the best drill. For many years we had quite a variety but for the last 3 or 4 years almost every single drill we buy is a panasonic. Bottom line is they have the best battery power and life second to none. They are built well and last through the abuse of day to day constant use. Our only warranty work that has been done on a few of them is the clutch but I attribute that more to heavy use than poor quality. The biggest debate we have is whether to get the 15.6 volt or the 18 volt and it's all about weight. The 18 volt is definately more powerful but a fair bit heavier also. Personal preference and end use should guide you. With either drill you can't go wrong, I have two myself.

First off, I have to admit that I'm a bit of a Panasonic groupie, because I think that for the money, they produce some of the best electronic products made. They're kind of like Sony used to be in that you could count on buying the best if you bought that brand. So you can understand how surprised I was when the trigger speed control failed after only 1 month of light use!

A month ago, when it was "new", I found that it went from zero to 60 rpm rather abruptly. But since other reviewers had mentioned this behavior, I wasn't unduly alarmed since it did spool up smoothly with more trigger pressure. But now it has just two speeds: Off and full speed! So it seems that this drill/driver's weak link is its trigger speed control. That's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

But while I'm disappointed that my unit has failed, it's well within the warranty period, and I think it is worth trying to repair it, rather than just giving up and buying something else. There's just nothing else in its class that's as light, powerful, has two NiMh batteries, charges quickly, has a good case, and is so well designed -- barring, of course, the trigger speed control!

I'll report back when it's repaired to let you know what I think about it after that.
===================
Update
===================
The switch was repaired and I had my drill back in 1 day. And it's been going great since. No other problems despite the fact that I use this a lot; more than any other thing in my shop. I just love this drill, er screwdriver, uh, whatever.

Drill is extremely powerful, I use it daily in my work.
Only drawback is clutch head becomes loose after about a year of heavy use.
This is my second and plan to repair my first

The best cordless drill i have used .comfortable to use
,powerful as an 18 volt model.I have used cordless tools from every major manufacturer and panasonic is the best.If only panasonic made electric tools!Panasonic never promote tools in the uk and as such there are very few stockists.

Since I am a contractor I am always on the lookout for a tool that has the power and will hold up during heavy use. This Panasonic has done both. I went from Bosch to this cordless drill and never looked back! It has been dropped several times on a concrete floor and is still drilling straight as an arrow. The batterry lasts a long time and takes a quick charge. This is important on the job site. You won't go wrong with this Panasonic tool. I use it every day...
Submitted 10/21/2009
Purchased 7/4/2006
Now thats durability!

I've owned the 15.6V 3.5 amp-hr Panasonic drill for about 3 years. My 18V other brand finally wore out and I saw the Panasonic being used by local contractors, so I bought one. I've built a deck, finished a large basement, and done numerous other projects on 3 houses. Love the drill! I've had no problems whatsoever. The chuck is probably the best I've ever had - no slippage with drill bits. I really like the lighter weight & the relatively compact size. The batteries are finally beginning to lose their storage capacity after 3 years, so I just bought a 3.5 battery two-pack. The old batteries still hold some charge, but the time is noticeably shorter than new. The drill has quite a lot of torque for a battery model (not as much as my Milwaukee 1/2 hole shooter of course) and is very controllable. Batteries last a long time before recharge. I'm sure that cold weather degrades the battery time, but for most intermittent projects, cold temps don't seem to be a problem. I wish the plastic case had a little more room for storing bits, etc. However a plastic tube / rubber end cap storage container fits perfectly in the case & will hold a fair number of bits. Our local industrial supply house has sold many of these to local contractors & I've talked to a number of the guys using them daily. So far almost everyone really likes the drill. So do I.