Drill or impact driver? The obvious answer is both, but what if you have to have one or the other? If budget or space is a consideration, you might be in the position to make that choice. It’s 2018, and Makita doesn’t think you should have to compromise in either direction. The new Makita Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver is technically a 4-in-1 tool, combining the functions of a hammer drill and an impact driver.

The 4 functions, in case you’re wondering, include:

Impact Driving
Hammer Drilling
Rotary Only Drilling
Screwdriving

Taking this from concept to reality isn’t a simple task and you’ll see some complexity in the design. However, Makita does make it easier than it may sound on the surface.

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Makita XPT02 Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver Key Features

Brushless Motor

Aside from the benefits of less maintenance and longer runtime and life that a brushless motor brings to the table, it also introduces a requirement for electronic controls. Those electronic controls are key to making the Makita Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver work the way it does.

Mode Switching

To switch modes, just twist the collar at the front of the driver to the mode you’re looking for – drive -> drill -> hammer drill -> impact driver. Each mode has additional choices to dial in.

Makita Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver Review XPT02

Drive Mode

Like a traditional drill driver, select between the two speed modes on top of the Makita XPT02.

On a normal drill/driver, you’ll have an adjustable chuck collar to dial in how much torque you want to apply to your fastener. The Makita Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver goes with 10 electronic clutch settings that you cycle through below the trigger. Modes 1 – 9 are standard chuck settings and “P” is the self-tapping screw mode that backs off as you finish the drive to prevent damage.

Drill Mode

Twisting the collar over to drill mode, you’ll notice that you lose the electronic clutch control and only switch between the speed modes on top.

Hammer Drill Mode

The hammer drill mode controls are identical to the drill mode controls, you’ll just have the hammer action for light concrete drilling work.

Impact Driver Mode

Moving into impact driver mode, you get your electronic controls back. This time, it’s a simple 3-bar indicator to show if you’re in low, medium, or high speed. Even if you’re in 1st gear on the top, you’ll notice twisting the collar into impact driver mode forces you into gear 2 and locks it there.

Additional Field Notes

You’ll need to stick with 1/4″ hex accessories since there’s no traditional clamping chuck. That shouldn’t be an issue since there are plenty of bit holders, spade bits, drill bits, and more with that 1/4″ hex shaft available.

I noticed that the speed mode switch (gear mode) on top of the drill sometimes gets stuck in the drill/driver modes and doesn’t want to flip down into gear 1. Just give the trigger a quick pull and it releases it to change.

There’s an LED on/off button on the control panel. If you don’t want or need the LED to come on when you pull the trigger, just hit the button to keep it off.

Though it’s unnecessary on most Makita batteries now, if you’re using an older one, there’s a 3-bar battery level indicator on the control panel that gives you an idea of how much juice you have left when you pull the trigger.

Just in case you’re digging around the bottom of a tool bag or it’s dark in your shop, the plastic ring around the tip glows in the dark for a bit after it’s been exposed to light. In addition to helping you find the tool, taking two of them side by side and making creepy noises is a great way to amuse your kids in the middle of the night. By amuse, I mean you’ll be amused. Your wife and kids much less so.

Makita XPT02 Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver Ergonomics

The Makita Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver has the same handle ergonomics as most of Makita’s drill/driver lineup – it fits in your hand well and has overmold in all the right places. As we expect from Makita, the balance is also good.

From there, it depends on what you want to compare the Makita XPT02 against. For both length and weight, it’s in between Makita’s dedicated impact drivers and hammer drill/drivers. As a tool that brings the two tools together, you might expect it to be hammer drill sizes or possibly larger, but it’s more compact than that.

Makita XPT02 Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver Performance

One of the two major questions we had on opening the package is what kind of performance the Makita XPT02 packs in its housing. Direct comparisons are a little tough, but here’s a breakdown of the major points:

Screwdriving – 1100 RPM max
Drilling – 2700 RPM max
Hammer Drilling – 2700 RPM max, 32,400 max
Impact Driving – 2700 RPM max, 3200 IPM max, 1330 in-lbs of torque max

What’s missing from this picture is how much torque the Makita Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver delivers in drilling mode. However, there’s enough information here to get a good picture of what to expect. Drilling speeds are excellent, exceeding the 2000 RPM we see on many heavy-duty models.

Torque specifications fall in between Makita’s 18V LXT impact drivers and their sub-compact line. We say that 12V tools and Makita’s 18V Sub-Compact tools are 80% models. That is to say that you can do roughly 80% of your work without having to pick up something bulkier. The Makita XPT02 covers a bit more than that – it has more muscle than a lot of the 12V models running around, but not enough to replace your go-to hammer drill or impact driver.

Makita rates the hybrid driver up to 13/16″ in wood, 3/8″ in steel, and 5/16″ in masonry. That’s a fair representation of what’s in its wheelhouse based on our testing.

Makita XPT02 Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver Price and Placement

Only available as a bare tool, the Makita XPT02Z currently runs $250. As a comparison, Makita’s XDT12 4-mode impact driver is $187 as a bare tool and their Sub-Compact impact driver is $119. On the hammer drill side, the Sub-Compact model is $129 and the XPH12 hammer drill is $130. So depending on which direction you want to compare, you’re in it for two bare tools at somewhere between $248 and $317.

A couple of dollars more for a bit more performance and the convenience of just one tool over the Sub-Compact? Yes, please.

Nearly $60 less than two higher-performing tools? That depends.

The winner here will be Pros who do a lot of switching between their drills and impact drivers throughout the day without using them as a drill and drive tandem system. Think MRO tech and electrician types. Even for general contractors, there’s a good argument here to grab the Makita Hybrid Impact Hammer Drill Driver instead of opting for a Sub-Compact or 12V combo kit to supplement your heavy-duty application tools.