The new generation of drills is here with some great long lasting Lithium-ion batteries and great dual battery versatility making the Black & Decker VPX Drill/Driver a fantastic all around tool.
Ease of Use, Performance: 23/25
Look & Feel: 24/25
Features 24/25
How much I enjoy 25/25
Total: 96/100
Drills and drivers for general everyday work around the house and a great do it yourselfer tool box has taken a leap forward with today’s lithium-ion battery technology. The next step is the great use of dual batteries that make charging and use in separate devices even easier and more logical.
The dual batteries the VPX Drill/Driver uses are also used in a host of other VPX products from Black & Decker such as the VPX Cut Saw, VPX LED Flashlight, VPX Hand Vac and VPX Inflator. Some of these devices use one battery while other more battery draining ones like the Hand Vac and the Drill/Driver I received take two.
The use of dual batteries means an easier change out for these batteries and less expensive ones for purchasing new ones and even spares. The battery chargers for these devices, the VPX chargers, are much more user friendly for multiple chargers. You can gang chargers together and charge onsite several sets of batteries from one outlet.
The VPX line of Black & Decker tools is a great new step forward in high power battery operated tools. The Drill/Driver I received, model VPX1212X, is a very nice and hefty tool and yet not so heavy that it would get tiring, that middle ground of a sturdy tool.
The Black & Decker Drill/Driver Model VPX1212X comes with the drill and two batteries, a charger stand, case, set of drill bits and set of driver bits that fit in the side pockets of the case. The drill is well designed with the forward reverse push button switch is through the body for trigger finger and thumb use.
The driver has plenty of features such as the two speed transmission for getting those fast jobs like drilling done quickly and then those heavier duty ones like driving screws into wood all the way. The two speed transmission changes with the flip of the slide switch on top for 0-350 and 0-1200 revolutions per minute.
Other features for the Drill/Driver are two mode clutch for either drill force or variable number setting that slips at the appropriate clutch setting or not at all for the drilling. The chuck is a nice all metal hand chuck that also locks when tightening unlike many of those older ones that often slipped when tightening.
The drill has a low battery light on the back of the grip for easy warning of a low battery for each battery pack. No guessing which one is low, just look at the light and pop out the low one. Spares are another matter entirely with the lower cost of the separate ones that are readily available at hardware and home improvement stores for about $20.
This lower cost is much better than that fifty or sixty for those large batteries like my older Black & Decker 14.4 Volt drill driver. The battery for that model costs almost as much as a new drill driver set so why bother buying just the battery. Now with the VPX system you buy the individual batteries and don’t have to spend nearly the cost of the whole Drill/Driver set.
For charging you just slap the batteries into the charger stand but for charging multiple sets of batteries you can plug each charger into the next. This ganged system works very well for multiple drill use like in home do it yourself jobs where the convenience of two drills and the chargers for them is a time saver.
Construction sites are another place where this system would be fantastic not to mention much less confusing for workers. I have seen the mess of chargers at a job site with a mass of cords lying around all to charge the mob of batteries from all the various brands of drills, drivers, saws and such.
The Black & Decker Drill/Driver has plenty of force to drill or drive with good torque on the low setting and great speed on the higher speed. I did a little test and drove in 68 2 and a half inch screws fully into a four by four piece of wood.
The Black & Decker Drill/Driver did a great job and finally ran low of juice on one battery at the 68th screw with the indicator showing one battery low but the other did not come on. I drove in several other screws part way starting at about two inches and then less and less but did not get the other battery to show as being low. I gave up.
The drill driver slowed and did not drive the screws much past a half inch and would then stop driving. With the two batteries this is probably normal and all I had to do was replace the one battery, this ended my testing as I have no way to compare other drill drivers with this changing of a battery.
I thought driving 68 screws 2 and a half inches long fully into a four by four was pretty good and looked on the internet to find some fairly decent comparisons. There were several tests comparing drills and drivers that did a similar or exact test but the results are a bit better for other drills.
But the fact that this drill uses two separate batteries does not make this a fair comparison for the other drill/drivers and this one from Black & Decker. The current draw on the separate batteries does not evenly drain the batteries as my test shows so there really is not an exact way to compare this drill with others in the same kind of testing.
I think the fact that I was able to drive in the 68 screws fully is a good enough test and the drill driver passed pretty well for my opinion to be pretty positive. I really like the feel of the Black & Decker VPX Drill/Driver as well as how it performed in my little driving test. The drill has a nice heft but is not so heavy as to cause strain from constant use like the half hour I drove screws in and then removed them with my corded drill.
The rubber grips feel nice and even with slightly slippery hands from sweat you can still grip the handle securely. During my testing the drill did not get very hot like my corded drill or even my previous cordless drill driver with half as much workload.
The Black & Decker Drill/Driver is a nice drill as well as doing a good job of driving in those screws. The drill mode for the clutch runs well for drilling various metals like sheet metal and sheet steel. I have several pieces of scrap metal hanging around my basement workbench for just this kind of torture test.
I had no problems with the drill driver holding the bits securely with just the hand tightening of the bits. In previous models of hand tightened chicks I had problems with the bits not being held firmly enough.
With the VPX Drill/Driver the locking mechanism that holds the chuck from turning as you tighten the chuck on the bit works very well. It holds the chuck from turning automatically and without any problems of going from tightening to drilling and other uses. The chuck has been well designed along with the rest of the Black & Decker VPX Drill/Driver.
The Black & Decker VPX Drill/Driver is a great cordless 14 volt power tool with the great new dual batteries for even better performance and versatility. I really like this drill driver and highly recommend it for all those home do it yourselfers or anyone who needs a great performing tool.
