Black and Decker Impact Driver Offers Homeowners an Affordable Driving Solution
Say you’ve got some projects around the house that call for strong, reliable fastening, but you’re not trying to break the bank accomplishing that task. The Black and Decker impact driver provides a nice balance of performance and price for homeowners that want a cordless solution.
Pros:
- Incredible value
- 20V lithium-ion power source
- Quick-release 1/4″ hex chuck
- Lightweight
Cons:
- Magnetic bit holder is somewhat ineffective
- Rocker switch is a little tight
- Trigger comes out to a sharper angle than most
Recommendation
It’s easy to see why this Black and Decker impact driver is one of the best sellers on the market today. It’s inexpensive and it will get the job done. Of course, it doesn’t have a lot of the bells and whistles that you’ll find on Pro and trade-ready DIY models. But for general homeowner tasks, it’s less than $60 bucks for the tool, battery, and charger.
Performance
We ran the Black and Decker impact driver through our battery of tests for our DIY Impact Driver comparison a few weeks ago. When testing impact drivers, we look for two main things: speed and torque.
Note: To see our testing methods, please check out our Best Impact Driver main page.
Manufacturers like to give out no-load speeds all the time, but a truer test of a driver’s speed comes from putting under load…which we did. The Black and Decker impact driver can run at 296 RPM while under the moderate load of a 1/4″ ledger screw.
That’s going to just fine for most any general fastening tasks around your home from installing fans to building planters.
For fastening torque, the Black and Decker model generates 616 in-lbs of hard torque in our tests. Likewise, this impact driver produces 1200 in-lbs of nut-busting torque. These are pretty solid numbers from a tool designed for homeowners, and perfectly adequate to get most tasks accomplished.
Our torque tests do not and cannot replace how manufacturers test for their specifications.Our Best Impact Driver main page has our testing methods. Please check it out to see the details of how we get our results.
Ergonomics
The Black and Decker BDC120C is a bit more DIYer friendly than other brands. For one thing, the grip is designed with smaller hands in mind. It’s a bit easier for women and other users with small to medium size hands to manage.
The trigger comes to a bit of a point on the edge, similar to what we expect from the finger choil on a pocket knife. It feels a little more uncomfortable than triggers that round more gently at the edge.
Also, the rocker switch is stiff and takes a little effort to switch. Neither of these points is a major deal-breaker for us, but they are worth knowing before you pull the trigger.
On the plus side, this it was one of the lighter models we’ve tested. Without the battery, the Black and Decker impact driver weighs in at 2.0 lbs. With it attached, it only jumps up to 2.8 lbs., matching the weight of our lightest Pro model. This is a model that’s going to be easy to use for a while without much fatigue.
Feature Set
If you’re familiar with more premium tools, it won’t come as a surprise that you don’t get an overabundance of features for the price. Other than having a quick release 1/4″ hex chuck, LED worklight, and an on-board bit holder, this tool is pretty bare bones.
But where we as Pros might see that as a trade-off, it’s actually a benefit if you don’t use this kind of tool every day. There’s nothing terribly complex to figure out – just insert your bit, pull the trigger, and check one more task off your to-do list.
Noise Level
This might sound crazy, but at 100 dB(A), the Black and Decker is among the quieter impact drivers we’ve used recently. We’ve tested a few that crank out 5 decibels more than that, and your ears will be able to tell the difference. It wouldn’t hurt to get a hold of some hearing protection.
Value
This impact driver is so reasonably priced that “value” might as well be Black and Decker’s middle name. For a cool $60, you get the 20V tool, a 1.5 Ah battery, and a charger. This tool also comes with B&D’s 2-Year Limited Warranty.
If you want to go with a combo kit, you can add their 20V drill for a total price of $99.99
The competition in this space has quite a bit of variety.
- Hyper Tough HT Charge 20V Impact Driver (Wal-Mart): $39.98
- Wen 20V Max Impact Driver: $54.31
- Black and Decker 20V Max Impact Driver: $59.99
- Bauer 20V Hypermax Impact Driver (Harbor Freight): $69.99
- Genesis 20V Impact Driver: $69.99
- Skil 20V Impact Driver: $79.99
- Worx 20V Impact Driver: $79.99
The Bottom Line
It’s easy to see why this Black and Decker impact driver is one of the best sellers on the market today. It’s inexpensive and it will get the job done. Of course, it doesn’t have a lot of the bells and whistles that you’ll find on Pro and trade-ready DIY models. But for general homeowner tasks, it’s less than $60 bucks for the tool, battery, and charger.
Black and Decker Impact Driver Specs
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Model: Black & Decker BDC120C
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Power source: 20V
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No Load Speed: 0-3,000 RPM
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Maximum Torque: 1,375 in-lbs
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Impact Rate: 0-3,900 IPM
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Bare Weight: 2.0 lbs
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Weight with Battery: 2.8 lbs
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Length: 6.7″
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Height: 7.4″
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Warranty: 2 years limited
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Price: $58.99
