Ryobi 18V One+ HP Compact 3/8-Inch Impact Wrench Review PSBIW01B

Ryobi Compact Impact Wrench Fills the Need for a Lightweight, Compact Impact Wrench

Responding to the need for genuinely compact tools, the Ryobi 18V One+ HP Compact Impact Wrench answers the call with a 3/8-inch model that’s ready to tackle your light-duty jobs.

Pros

Compact, lightweight design
3 standard modes and an Auto mode
Comfortable, ergonomic handle design
Great for light-duty fastening tasks

Cons

No belt hook included

Recommendation

This Ryobi compact impact wrench gives us exactly what we’re looking for in a compact model: a compact design, light weight, and a budget-friendly price. For Ryobi Nation, it’s a must-have addition for all your light-duty socket fastening jobs.

Ryobi 18V One+ HP Compact Impact Wrench

Compact and Lightweight, Really

There are a ton of fastening jobs that don’t require a ton of power to tighten or remove nuts and bolts. In fact, using too much power when you’re tightening can stretch or strip threads.

One one of the reasons we LOVE compact impact wrenches is that they give us the power we need for light-duty jobs without the bulk and weight of larger models. And that’s what we get with the Ryobi 18V One+ HP Compact Brushless Impact Wrench.

Unlike Ryobi’s traditional design, this model is genuinely compact. Its head is just 5.4 inches long. To go much shorter, you’d need a stubby design.

It’s lightweight, too. Bare, it’s just 1.9 pounds, and the compact 1.5 Ah battery that’s recommended only brings it up to 2.8 pounds.

Overall, it’s a pretty big departure from the size and weight we’re used to from Ryobi cordless impact wrenches.

With a stick pack-style battery design that’s cross-compatible with all Ryobi One+ tools, there’s not as much flexibility in the handle design as you see with slide packs. Still, Ryobi does a nice job creating a comfortable, ergonomic grip that feels good in your hand.

Light-Duty Fastening Specialist

While the physical design is a big win, the impact wrench still has to do the job if we’re going to recommend it. Ryobi builds its performance foundation around a brushless motor with 4-mode control.

The controls are mounted on the foot next to the single LED light. Just press the button to cycle between three standard modes and an auto mode.

The auto mode is very cool. In forward, it runs up until the first few impacts before automatically shutting off. Once it sets lightly, you can use your torque wrench to set the proper torque without worrying about over-torquing.

When you run the auto mode in reverse, it starts slow and ramps up the speed and impact power until the bolt breaks loose. Then it automatically stops to let you hand thread it the rest of the way.

Both modes worked well on our test rig. However, the reverse auto mode could stand to kick in its auto-stop a little earlier. It was hit or miss on whether it would completely take the nut off or stop first.

As far as power is concerned, this Ryobi compact impact wrench can hit up to 160 ft-lbs, or 1920 in-lbs if you’re comparing it to an impact driver. It’s also capable of speeds up to 2900 RPM and impacts reaching 3900 IPM.

On our test rig, the torque numbers were a bit lower. We consistently fastened 53 ft-lbs and broke 100 ft-lbs. There are all kinds of factors that play into the difference, including our short-burst test methods, the size of the nuts and bolts, and the fact that we had to use a 1/2-inch socket adapter to use the rig.

That said, we find that it has plenty of power for all of the light-duty applications we ask of it. While you shouldn’t expect a compact impact wrench to handle vehicle lug nuts, it does a lot of assembly/disassembly tasks really well.

Noteworthy Features

Brushless motor
Foot-mounted LED light
Variable speed trigger

Depending on your preferences, it may or may not bother you that there’s no belt hook in the package. There are screw points on both sides for one, though.

Price

You can pick up the Ryobi 18V One+ HP Compact Brushless Impact Wrench at Home Depot for $119 as a bare tool. There’s no kit version available currently.

That price fits between Kobalt’s $99 price and Craftsman’s $129 price. They’re all in the same ballpark in terms of performance. Ryobi’s auto-mode is more developed than Kobalt’s and Craftsman doesn’t include one, and it’s a fair price in our opinion.