Milwaukee Electric Tool 2607-22CT M18 Hammer Drill Kit

I've already reviewed a couple of inexpensive cordless screwdrivers, and in the comments people told me I should stick to products from reputable brands.
Well, this time I'm going to show you a product from the opposite end of the spectrum: a tool from one of the best-known brands in the US, and a fairly well-known one here too — Milwaukee.

Strictly speaking, this tool is more of a cordless drill, since it can do more than drive screws: it can also drill, including in hammer mode.
That's why this class of tool is called a hammer drill.

Don't ask me how I bought it from the Amazon store. I didn't buy it myself; an acquaintance did it for me, though I chose the specific seller. I also have another tool from this brand at home, and one more on its way, so this won't be my last review of their tools. I hope you'll find it interesting.

First, why Milwaukee?
First of all, I like the combination of red and black. Just kidding, of course :)
I simply like good tools. At first, I was thinking of buying a Metabo. I already use one of their screwdrivers, and it's served me faithfully for about 8 years.
Bosch was another option, but lately I've been liking the quality of their products less and less.

Milwaukee caught my eye because it offers a very wide range of compatible tools. You can buy one kit and then, as needed, add bare tools of different types, using the same charger and batteries for all of them.
Also, after reading various forums, I concluded that quality isn't an issue either. And finally, the advertising did its job: I wanted to buy Milwaukee specifically.

I chose three tools from this brand: two from the M18 series and one from the M12 series. I plan to buy a matching pair for the second one.

I'll tell you about the other tools another time. Today, I'm reviewing the 2607-22CT drill/driver. That's the model number for the tool sold in the US. The same tool is sold here under a different model number. It doesn't really make much difference, but I specifically wanted the version sold in America.

I'll start with the case (I can hardly bring myself to call it a little case).
It's a big red box with the brand name on it. There's a hole at the front for a padlock, which can come in handy sometimes.
The latches that close the case are metal.


The case has proper hinges, not molded ones—another point in Milwaukee's favor. The box is really sturdy.


This brand's tools are sold in various configurations. For example, you can buy the tool by itself.
You can also buy everything you need for it: a case, battery, charger, consumables, and accessories.
There are also kits, such as a bag + a pair of tools + a pair of batteries + a charger, or a case + screwdriver + drill + battery.
I chose the case + drill + two batteries + charger option.

The spare battery fits into its own compartment in the case. The compartment is designed to hold any of the battery packs they make.
Nothing rattles around or jingles when you carry the case; everything fits snugly.


The kit came with two manuals and an advertising brochure. One manual is for the drill/driver, the other for the charger. The manuals aren't much use, since they're entirely in English. Though I suppose it would be surprising to expect anything else :)


I found the technical specifications in Russian on one of the websites.


The brochure shows a pretty large selection of products compatible with the M18 system.


The variety of products made by this company is impressive. Besides all kinds of screwdrivers, saws, rotary hammers, and shears, they make flashlights, radios, and even heated jackets. And all of these are compatible with the same batteries.
The jacket does use an M12-series battery, though apparently there's an adapter for M18-series batteries.



A short video on the subject

But let's get back to the tool review.
The kit included a charger, naturally with a flat-pin plug intended for the US.


The charger has a ton of information on it, mostly about safety, but it also lists the technical specifications.
Input: 120 V, 60 Hz; output: 12–18 V, 3 A.
I never actually timed the charging, but off the top of my head, a 1500 mAh battery takes about 40 minutes to charge.


The charger is universal and supports M12 and M18 series batteries. I can't say for sure since I can't test it, but in theory it should be able to charge both types of battery at the same time.
The charger included with an M12 series tool can only charge that type of battery.


This charger can be mounted on a wall; there are special holes on the bottom for that, and the distance between their centers is even marked on the case. A small touch, but a nice one.


I usually open devices to take a look inside, but this time there was a practical reason too. The charger is rated for 120 V, and as you know, our mains voltage is almost twice that, so it needs to be modified.
The modification is very simple and can even be done without a soldering iron if you want, but I'll get to that later. For now, let's take a look inside.


The build quality is excellent. The first thing that caught my eye was that the EMI suppression capacitors are not only the right type, but are also connected in series in pairs for added safety. I later found that there are two such pairs; the second is on the other side of the transformer and connected to the other terminal of the input capacitor.
The transformer is quite large, around 80–90 W by the looks of it, which also suggests that it probably supports charging both types of battery at the same time.


The input has a mains filter, a protective varistor, a thermistor, and a fuse—everything just as it should be.
The input capacitors have a total capacitance of 220 µF, but since they're connected in series, that works out to 110 µF, which is more than enough for this device's power rating.


The wire solder joints on the board are additionally secured with glue.


The soldering is neat, though I suppose I'll nitpick: the board is made of phenolic paper laminate rather than fiberglass, so they cut costs there.


Transistors are located near the rectifier diode, presumably switching current to the batteries…
Everything is controlled by a multi-pin IC, but I couldn't find any information about it. The entire board is also coated with protective varnish, which is a plus for reliability and safety.


Let's move on to modifying the charger for our mains voltage.
The charger actually runs on the same voltage as our mains, but it gets there by doubling the 120 V input.
If you plug it in without modifying it, in the simplest case the fuse and protective varistor will simply burn out; in the worst case, the PWM controller and capacitors will go too.
By the way, judging by the PCB traces, the chip is a TOP244–250 type.

Our goal is to disable the input voltage doubler. First, cut the trace connecting the midpoint of the input capacitors to one of the terminals of the bridge rectifier connected to the input.
Then desolder the varistor at the input, since it's rated for 190 V AC (marking 271 = 270 V peak).
You can simply break it off, but it's better to replace it with one suitable for our mains: 430 or 470 V, marking 431 or 471, 10 mm diameter.


Let's check how the charger works. For now, I can only use one battery, but that's more than enough for a test. The red LED lights up while charging, and turns green when the battery is fully charged.
While charging, the battery's charge-level indicator comes on, so you can get a rough idea of how much charge is left.


Besides this charger, you can even charge the batteries using a “jobsite” radio like this one :)


As I mentioned above, the kit came with two batteries. Both are rated at 1.5 Ah.


1.5 Ah is the smallest battery in the M18 lineup; there are also 2, 3, 4, 6, and even 9 Ah versions.
There's also some information (though I couldn't find a source for it) that certain tools detect which battery is connected and adjust their power according to its capacity.
For example, with a higher-capacity battery installed, a rotary hammer may run at higher power. But with a smaller battery, the power is automatically reduced to avoid damaging the battery.


Promotional video for the M18 9 Ah series

The battery is protected by a rubber section on the bottom of the housing.
There are 5 terminals: 3 power terminals (charge/discharge/common) and, presumably, a pair of signal terminals.


There's also a four-LED charge-level indicator on top. When the battery is fully discharged, the first LED flashes. Pressing the button on the right activates the indicator for a few seconds.


For a number of reasons, I have some doubts about whether this battery is genuine, but I'll share them in another review.
For now, I'll just say that the battery voltage is marked on it, along with its capacity: 27 Wh.
The battery pack weighs 427 grams. That's quite a lot, especially considering this is the smallest battery in the lineup.


Of course, let's take a look inside.
Inside, I found five 18650 cells marked Samsung INR18650-15M. According to the datasheet, their capacity is 1450–1500 mAh, with a maximum continuous current of 25 A.
The cells were made in Malaysia; the production date is unknown.


I removed the battery pack from the housing. It turned out to be quite difficult, since it was sealed with adhesive in several places.


I also found a video showing the internals of a battery pack and a drill/driver very similar to the ones in this review.

It's very hard to make out anything on the circuit board: it's black and covered with a fairly thick layer of coating.


1. I noticed some kind of substance inside the power terminals that supply power to the tool, most likely to protect the contacts from corrosion.
2. Battery charge indicator.


Let's put the battery to the test. By the way, the charger won't try to charge a battery that's only slightly discharged. In other words, if you take the battery off the charger, drive in a couple of screws, and put it back, charging won't start.


One thing came up during testing: the battery module itself has no over-discharge protection. It only sends a low-charge signal; the tool itself cuts off the power.
That's why I discharged the battery down to 12.5 V, based on 2.5 V per cell as specified in the cell datasheet.
I got 1407 mAh, although the actual capacity should be 1450–1500 mAh. What a shame :(


Well, we've covered everything except the most important thing—the tool itself. Time to get to it.
In short, I'd put it this way: this is a tool that feels good in your hands.


I'd put this drill/driver in the heavy-duty class, size-wise. Obviously, there are tools like rotary hammers, but I'm comparing drills and drill/drivers here.




The drill/driver body has quite a few ventilation openings on the sides, top, and back.
When the motor stops, you can see sparking through them; that's normal. There's also a characteristic click from the spindle lock when the brake engages.


In my review of Chinese drill/drivers, I complained that installing the batteries wasn't very convenient. Or rather, that's not quite it: I'm used to simply sliding a battery into the slots and giving it a little push with my hand until it clicks into place. With the Chinese models, you first had to press the release tabs with your fingers. The mechanism loosened up a bit over time and got better, but they're still nowhere near as convenient as name-brand tools, where this is always much easier.

There are two holes on the sides of the lower part of the body for attaching bit holders. Unfortunately, they aren't included with this kit, so you have to buy them separately :(


My drill/driver is a very basic model, so there's nothing on the bottom of the handle. But there are more “advanced versions” with Bluetooth controls, which have extra buttons on the handle.
Honestly, I think that's overkill, but the manufacturer is promoting it as a new feature, so I wanted to mention it. The system lets you adjust power, torque, speed, and so on, and save all the settings as presets.
Here's a video to give you a better idea.


Besides the handle, the top, sides, and back are also covered with an elastic material, though here it's there to protect against impacts.


The controls are on top. Or rather, that's not quite right: the top shows which operating mode is selected.
The drill/driver has two speeds, 0-450 and 0-1800 rpm, selected with a switch. The second speed is selected here.
Above the speed switch is the operating-mode selector ring: drilling, driving, and hammer drilling.
Driving — the familiar mode with adjustable torque limiting
Drilling — the same as driving, but without torque limiting, so hold on tight.
Hammer drilling — the same drilling mode, but with axial hammering; it's great for drilling into brick. You can drill concrete too, but a rotary hammer is a better choice for that.

Farther along is the torque-limit adjustment ring, with 18 settings in the 2-18 range (setting 1 is between 18 and 2).
The photo shows maximum torque, driving mode, and second speed.


The handle has the trigger for switching on and adjusting speed, and just above it there's a switch for the direction of rotation and trigger lock (center position).
There's also an LED work light near the trigger, covered by a diffuser. It's excellent: it doesn't blind you with a bright spot and illuminates the work area well. The light also stays on for a few seconds after you release the trigger, and fades out gradually—but that's probably just for effect :)
If the forward/reverse switch is in the center position, pressing the trigger won't start the motor, but the work light still comes on.


The chuck is threaded on and additionally secured with a screw from the inside.
Everything is fine here too: the drill has a spindle lock, so it comes with a keyless chuck.
Tightening it produces the characteristic clicks. For ease of use, it gets a solid 5 out of 5: you don't have to put the drill down to change bits. Just release the trigger and use your free hand to loosen or tighten the chuck. This is what I missed in Chinese drills after getting used to Metabo.


It has a three-jaw chuck, but the jaws themselves have an unusual shape, with internal serrations. The chuck grips a 1.5 mm drill bit without any trouble. I haven't tried anything smaller, and don't see the point: drilling holes smaller than 1.5–2 mm with a two-kilogram drill is no fun at all.
The maximum chuck capacity is 13 mm.


The label lists the drill model and all the necessary specs: the speed in the different modes, as well as the impact rate (0–7200 and 1–28800).
Unfortunately, it was assembled in China, despite the label saying “professional assembly.”
There's another sticker with warning symbols on the bottom of the handle. Though I think I've already seen a whole lot of warnings here—what can you say, Americans. But I still haven't seen the warning “Do not dry in a microwave,” so there's an opening for someone.


I called it a two-kilogram drill above, but it's actually a little lighter at 1800 grams. Fit a higher-capacity battery, though, and it'll easily tip the scales at over 2 kg. So this drill is more in the “heavy-duty” class than the mid-range one.
On the other hand, being heavy has its advantages: even if the battery dies, you can just hammer the screw in :)


And of course I had to take it apart. Ever since it arrived, I've been itching to grab a screwdriver and start dismantling it :)


First impression of the build quality: excellent. At least, I haven't seen anything better yet.


And here's the protection board. I also suspect (I forgot to check) that it handles speed control too, while the switch contains only a potentiometer and the reverse contacts. If so, that's an excellent design: fewer losses, since there's one power stage instead of two.
It uses a pair of low-resistance (2.6 mΩ) MOSFETs, each rated for a maximum current of 120 A. Since they're connected in parallel, that gives 1.3 mΩ and 240 A. What more can I say—built to last.


The board also has quite a lot of components, which is why I suspected it handles everything: speed control, overload and over-discharge protection, and switching on the work light.
As you can see in the photo, the board is thoroughly coated with varnish.


The work-light LED is mounted in a separate housing rather than dangling on its own, as it does in Chinese equivalents.


And here's the much-hyped four-pole motor. Strictly speaking, “four-pole” isn't quite the right term for a brushed motor, but that's what the manufacturer calls it.
The motor has four brushes instead of two, as in cheaper models. This makes it easier to handle high currents and, consequently, higher power.
You may have noticed that the motor doesn't actually have its own housing; the drill's body serves as the housing.
This means the motor takes up less space, though you can also see that the drill body is quite large. That's why I estimate this motor's power to be at least twice that of the standard motors used in common drill models.




Since the motor is an open-frame type, I decided not to take the whole assembly apart any further. There was at least a small chance I wouldn't be able to put everything back together properly.
You can see in the photo that part of the gearbox housing is metal and part is plastic. The speed selector linkage is visible on the side.
Out of curiosity, I calculated the gearbox ratio and got about 16:1 in second gear and 64:1 in first.
I also found out that the impact rate listed on the nameplate corresponds to the rotational speed. So the motor's maximum speed is the same 28,800 rpm, which is quite a lot.
The four brushes also give the drill-driver a distinctive sound.


This photo clearly shows the ring with magnets. With the housing open, neither this ring nor the brush assembly is secured in place, so both can move freely.


This was a bit of a surprise: the anti-theft tag is inside the drill-driver, and most likely it's installed during assembly.


It fits my hand like a glove, with nothing digging into my fingers. There is one minor drawback, though: I found the direction selector a little awkward to switch. On the other hand, it can't be switched accidentally, unlike one of the “Chinese” models I had.
From the way it feels, people with larger hands than mine should find it comfortable to hold, too. I wouldn't say I have small hands; they're probably average.


To wrap up the inspection, here's a quick comparison with the drill-drivers I currently have at home. Don't ask why I need so many. First, it happened partly by accident; second, they'll all get used; and third, a fifth one is on its way.
You can never have too many tools (especially good ones) :)


Of course, I had to test it. This time, though, I didn't test how many screws it could drive, mainly because the test board already looks like a termite testing ground—and also because I still sometimes dream about the screws from last time :)

I used the same drill bits and screws as last time, but added a couple of bits: a 25 mm spade bit and a 10 × 220 mm auger bit.
For comparison, the 16 mm bit from the previous test is shown next to them in the photo.


During the test, I often check the alignment. All the bits have hex shanks, and they don't always clamp in without wobbling. I even considered shortening the bits, but decided against it.


Video contents:
16 mm bit
25 mm bit
35 mm Forstner bit
10 × 220 mm bit
6 × 70 mm screws
5 × 120 mm screws; I also checked how the drill-driver handles them in second gear.
6 × 70 mm screw
8 × 70 mm screw

The drill-driver handled all the tasks without any problems, though there are a couple of minor things worth mentioning.
It can't drive the 8 × 70 mm screws all the way in—the clutch slips even at its highest setting. With the clutch disabled, it drives them in effortlessly.
I had a not-so-great bit, so I constantly had to press hard to keep it from slipping.


The results of my “work.” I had to shoot three takes, so there are a lot more holes than you see in the video :)


Then I decided to try it in hammer mode. I had nothing to drill at home, so I had to look around. While searching, I found a piece of concrete wall on the shared balcony, left over from someone's renovation.
Drilling brick would have been much more illustrative. Concrete is better drilled with a rotary hammer, but this is what I had.
Video notes:
6 mm bit
8 mm bit
10 mm bit.
6 mm bit

The 6 mm bit drills with no trouble at all; 8 mm is already a bit of a struggle, and 10 mm is at the limit. When drilling with the 10 mm bit, I initially thought I'd hit rebar. I tried drilling somewhere else, but the result wasn't much better.
Let's just say it will drill through brick like butter, whether you use a 6 mm or 10 mm bit.


Experiment results.


As it happens, some of my tools are currently away from home, including my concrete drill bits, so I had to buy some new ones for this review.
But I was too lazy to drive to a proper store, so I bought the bits at a small shop nearby.


But the bits turned out to be not just low quality—how can I put this without being too rude? In short, they were crap.
The 6 mm bit barely clears the debris, the 8 mm one is just awful—you can see in the photo what happened to it after one hole—and the 10 mm bit has a crookedly brazed carbide tip.
With better-quality bits, it would have drilled much better, but on the other hand, this made the test more representative of real-world conditions.
It would have looked even better if I’d drilled into brick, but unfortunately, I only had concrete.


It’s worth noting that the drill/driver gets noticeably warm during use, especially around the back. This photo shows the temperature after about a couple of minutes (I didn’t think to bring the meter with me) following the concrete-drilling test. The gearbox also heats up in hammer mode, but that’s quite normal.
I also noticed that the back gets warm when driving screws in second gear.


Now it’s time to sum things up.
Pros
High power
Excellent build quality
Easy to use.
Hammer mode
Convenient work light.
Single-sleeve chuck, which means the spindle can be locked.

Cons
Price
Heat.

My take. You might think I’ve dragged this review out too much and wonder why I included an ad video. The thing is, I really like this brand’s tools and could talk about them forever. I also wanted to give an overview of what’s going on in the world of power tools.
I liked the tool itself. Of course, recommending it “for home and family” makes no sense: you’d be better off buying an inexpensive drill/driver and still have money left for a drill or rotary hammer. But for heavy use, this drill/driver is pretty good.
While drilling concrete, I noticed how much I missed having an auxiliary handle, but this drill/driver isn’t designed for one.
It’s great that the M18 lineup includes so many compatible tools, from a flashlight to an SDS-Max rotary hammer. But this drill/driver isn’t very convenient for working with small fasteners—it’s simply too heavy for that. I was also a little disappointed by how noticeably it heats up, but that’s probably the only thing I didn’t like.
The build quality also gives me confidence that it will last a long time.

In short, I’m happy with the tool.

As a bonus, here are a couple of promotional videos from the company that I simply enjoy. I’d planned to include them in a review a long time ago, but didn’t have the right tool :)