Masterforce 20V Brushless Drill Review

Masterforce 20V Brushless Drill Geared for Greater Bit Range

Today, we’re looking at the shootout performance of the Masterforce 20V brushless drill in our epic 50+ drill shootout. The brand comes to us as a Menards’ exclusive, built by Chervon and joining the ranks of Kobalt 24V Max and Skil 12V/20V cordless tools.

Features

The Masterforce 20V brushless drill features a brushless motor, a keyless 1/2″ chuck, and 24 clutch settings. An LED light is in its traditional place above the battery, and there’s a 2-speed gearbox you can toggle at the top of the unit.

It’s a basic yet functional feature set that checks off everything most Pros need. It’s missing smart controls/tracking, additional electronic modes, and kickback control if you’re comparing to premium brands. Those aren’t a big deal considering Masterforce caters to more price-conscious users.

Performance

Our Best Drill Head to Head Review has all the details of how we test for soft torque and speed under load. Be sure to check that out!

Torque Testing

The Masterforce 20V brushless drill averaged 178 in-lbs of soft torque in our compression test, landing it in 5th place for the compact drill category. Metabo HPT (Hitachi) put everyone in the rearview mirror with 312 in-lbs of torque. Masterforce starts to look more competitive as you work down the list to DeWalt’s 2nd-place 220.8 in-lbs and the rest of the group all under 200 in-lbs.

Speed Testing

For speed under load, we hooked up a 3/4″ Bosch Daredevil High-Speed Auger Bit and went to work on 5-ply OSB subflooring. The Masterforce 20V brushless drill averaged 1185 RPM in high speed, which was 73% of its tested no-load speed. This landed it in 12th place for the compact drills.

Even though the speed isn’t near the top, the 73% efficiency rating tells us it still has more muscle to offer at high speed. You should be able to move up to 1″ auger or spade bits with relative ease.

We then inserted a 1-1/2″ Milwaukee SwitchBlade Self-Feed Bit and ran the test over again. Masterforce managed 359 RPM for its average and 80% of its no-load speed. For the compact drills, this earned it a 10th place finish.

Again, we see that the efficiency here leaves us more wiggle room for larger bits. It’s the third most efficient in this test with only DeWalt and Metabo HPT having an easier time of things.

Performance Takeaway

When we look at no-load speeds, Masterforce is near the bottom in both high and low speeds. It results in somewhat lower drilling speeds with higher efficiency. The trade-off is that you have a wider range of bits sizes you can work with than other compact models. If you’re looking at this as a standalone tool, that’s important. Picking a model with more drilling speed might be the way to go if you’re only looking to compact drills as a supplement to your heavy-duty drill, though.

Size and Weight

As a budget-friendly option, the Masterforce 20V brushless drill is a pretty reasonable size. Its height is 8.0″ without a battery and that’s in a tie for the tallest. However, most of the group is 7.8″ to 8..0″, so take that with a grain of salt. Its 7.2″ head length is solidly mid-pack with the tightest options down to 6.6″ (6.3″ for sub-compact models) and the largest at 8.3″.

Masterforce is the heaviest in this class, weighing 4.21 pounds with a battery. That’s a bit deceptive, though. The drill came to us with 4.0Ah batteries and we tested the other compact drills with their compact packs.

You can shave the most weight by going with a 1.5Ah battery. However, the kit comes with 2.0Ah batteries and you can upgrade to compact 2.5Ah packs to get the best combination of weight and runtime.

Price

Menards runs plenty of different sales throughout the year. Regular price on the drill kit is $139 with a pair of 2.0Ah batteries and a charger. At the moment, it’s not available as a bare tool. From a bird’s eye view, it’s a pretty average value and a fair price for what you get.

The Bottom Line

The Masterforce 20V brushless drill isn’t going to wow you with a lot of bells and whistles or eye-popping performance in the compact class. Its greatest benefit is that its gearing is set to let you work with larger bits in both speeds than you might with other compact drills.

If you have a little more wiggle room in your budget, you can upgrade to Masterforce’s 20V brushless hammer drill. It’s faster, has more torque, does light concrete drilling, and comes with 2.5Ah batteries for $40 more.

Masterforce 20V Brushless Drill Specs

Drill Model Number: Masterforce 2410480

• Voltage: 20V
• Chuck Type: Keyless
• Chuck Size: 1/2″
• Number of Speeds: 2
• Clutch Settings: 24
• Max Speed: 1,750 RPM
• Max Torque: 600 in-lbs
• Warranty: 3-Year
• MSRP: $139 for the kit, which includes two 2.0Ah batteries and charger