My opinions of my 17 Ryobi 18 volt tools

[Marc Rochkind]

Looking at these in my shop today, I realized I have a somewhat strange collection, and that the tools vary from extremely useful to a complete waste of money. Here's a little article showing all 17 and what I think of them:

https://www.mrochkind.com/public/Ryobi/PhotoMag.shtml

[Bert McMahan]

I had one of the smaller "high pressure inflators" and it burned out trying to top up four tires without letting it cool down... a bunch of smoke came out so I decided that one wasn't for me

[Tom M King]

The 18v pole chainsaw is great. Utility light you showed as good as any. Mister works fine but you have to keep it level. I bought the little blower to get the batteries like you did. It is pretty wimpy as blowers go, but it’s my most used cordless blower

[Rick Potter]

I wanted to try out an 18V brad nailer but was too cheap to buy the Makita that matches my batteries, so I got an adaptor that allows me to use the Makita batteries on my new Ryobi brad nailer, without getting into a whole new battery collection. Got the Ryobi bare tool on sale.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Ditto to Rick....
I wanted a cordless brad nailer. Was too cheap to buy a Makita so I bought a Ryobi.
I was going to get the Makita adapter, but, there was a sale on Ryobi batteries that gave you the nail gun if you bought the batteries and charger - so - I'm now invested in Ryobi batteries as well as Makita.

As far as drill drivers and impact drivers go - the only thing that beats my Milwaukee 12V ones are my Makita 18V sub-compact ones.
12V handy size and 18V full size power.

[Jim Dwight]

I also have a bunch of Ryobi cordless tools, 1 bosch cordless (the click model), and some Milwaukee cordless tools. I like the 18 gauge brad nailer, I trimmed my house with it. Base, crown, and casings for windows and doors. I've had it for several years. I use a DeWalt some at church and I like the Ryobi every bit as much. I also like my Ryobi shop vac. I use it inside my house sometimes for quick cleanups. But now that I have a Ryobi stick vacuum, also 18V, I usually use that. I have a couple Ryobi 3/8 drills. I managed to break one and went and bought another. I broke a Milwaukee 12V drilling holes I have done several times with the Ryobis. They are not fancy but work well. The Ryobi 1/4 impact works fine but lacks the power level adjustment my Milwaukee has. I have a little Ryobi 5 1/4 inch circular saw that is about useless. It ws totally useless with the NiCd batteries it came with but with lithium ion batteries it will do a little work. But I have a Skill now that is much better. I wore out my Ryobi cordless reciprocating saw. Did a lot of work with it. The jigsaw vibrates so much I don't use it. The oscillating tool cuts so slowly I don't use it for anything but cutting electrical box holes in drywall. The Milwaukee is hugely better.

It's a bit frustrating that the range of the usefullness of Ryobi tools varies so widely. Some are up there with much higher priced tools IMHO. But some are nearly junk.

[Donald G. Burns]

My only Ryobi cordless is an old teal blue 12V drill/driver that I must have had for 15 years or more and that came with a pair of NiMH batteries that died a long time ago. The charger was a wall wort with a coax connector like found on a mono headset. I saw some 12V Chinese Li Ion batteries with their charger online that will also work with it and bought a set so I could continue to use the drill/driver. It gets used when I don't need a lot of torque.

[Brian Gumpper]

Now that I'm out of the Townhouse and back in a house I had to start buying some tools again. I'm invested in the Ryobi 40V stuff where I would normally have two stroke tools and have to say I am impressed. I would have bought the power washer but not enough for what I need. Wish they would convert some of the 18V such as 3/8" impact driver to 40V but considering the size and weight of the battery probably not going to happen.

[Jim Dwight]

I have a 40V weed whacker and I think it works every bit as well as one powered by a little two stroke engine. I have a 40V chain saw and it works fine except it leaks bar oil pretty bad. The 18V one I also have works better but batteries don't last long. I have the two battery 40V power washer. It works but my gas powered one works significantly better. I would say the 40V is a light duty power washer. If you don't have one of the inverters sold for about $100 for the 40V batteries you might think of getting one. It provides 300W of 120V which is enough for me to run my internet modem and router and big TV. I've used it just to be sure it works. Should be significant benefit if I loose power. Batteries last over an hour.