Who Makes The Best Entry Level Cordless Impact Wrench? Bosch vs Ingco vs DeWalt

300 newton meters guys! That is a little bit of a shock! Good day and welcome everyone, it's Structure from Northern Bolts and Tools and today is comparison day. We're very excited with this type of video, we're going to be looking at some entry level impact wrenches from three different brands. We've got DeWalt, we've got Inco and we've got Bosch. The DeWalt is rated at 406 newton meters, Inco this is the brand new 405 newton meter impact wrench and Bosch 350 newton meter impact wrench. So the Bosch is lagging the others a little bit but what we've seen in the past is that the number on the box doesn't always give a proper indication of the performance of the tool. So for you guys we're going to have 4Ah batteries on all of these machines. We tried to get the PowerStack for DeWalt and we tried to get the Procore for Bosch but due to circumstances outside of my control we weren't able to get them in on time for the video. So we've got standard batteries for all of the machines all the way through but they're all going to be 4Ah batteries just to try and remain consistent and as impartial as possible. So with that I think let's unbox these tools, I'll show you guys all the model numbers, the pricing because the prices do vary quite a bit from model to model and we can see what they come with and then of course we're going to test the performance and see how they compare to each other and which one you should buy. So with that let's jump into the unboxing. All right guys coming in at 870 we've got the Inko 405Nm impact wrench. This is the tool only variant. Inko claim 405Nm of tightening force, 555Nm of loosening. We're obviously going to be testing that. So opening it up you've got the machine over here and it looks and feels very similar to the previous model. Obviously 405 it's slightly different, upgraded. You can see the control panel looks very very similar. There are a few visual cues that are slightly different as well as an extra mode over here. So first of all you've got your speed here 1, 2 and 3, fast, medium and slow. You've got your nut buss feature at the bottom here and then the new feature at the top here it says AI on this little pad. So what AI does is when you loosen something the machine remembers how much force it took to loosen that fastener. When you fasten it again it fastens it with the same force. So quite a nice interesting feature there and something that we're definitely also going to be testing today. So other than that machine is brushless, it's industrial, all of those good things. The rest of the machine is very very similar to the previous outgoing model as well as the sockets that it comes with. It comes with 17, 19 and 21mm sockets, obviously half inch drive to go with the machine. Other than that not too much different, just got that extra AI feature. It'll be interesting to see if this machine outperforms its predecessor, the outgoing model. Also how it compares to the others. Talking about the others let's unbox the next tool. All right everyone, next up we've got the Dewalt unit. So this unit comes in at 6,200 Rand, just over. Is quite a bit more but you do get a very nice sustain and carry case type setup over here as well as two 2Ah batteries and a charger. You got the machine itself over here which is nicely wrapped in plastic for us. I'm going to take it out and have a closer look. So we're going to ignore the battery and the charger for now, just because we've got our 4Ah battery that we're going to be doing the testing with. They're just standard 2Ah batteries. If you'd like to know more about this kit head over to the link down below where you can find out more about this particular tool. So looking at it visually on the front, better lighting over here. You've also got a number of different settings. You've got a scapholding setting, a lot of different settings on this particular unit. I do think that having this type of tool is for the person that's going to use those settings. As we mentioned before on some of the Dewalt tools, you do get a lot more features and functions. If you're going to be using them it is something definitely to consider. But with the price point that it's at, it is quite a bit more expensive. It'll be interesting to see how it compares in terms of performance. It does feel like a very nice ergonomic tool in terms of physical size as well. It does feel slightly shorter, although I think we need to do a little bit of a side-by-side with the other tools to see exactly how it compares. The overmolding, all of that sort of stuff feels very, very nice in the hand, I must say. And yeah, that's pretty much the Dewalt. Again, like the Inco, it has the brushless motor. All of those good things, industrial feels very, very steady in the hand. With that, that's pretty much the Dewalt. Let's move on to the Bosch. Coming in at 1,069 Rand, we've got the Bosch unit. This is GDS 18V-350, and this is the tool-only variant. So you can see only just a few hundred Rand more expensive than the Inco, but you get a Bosch in this instance. So opening it up, you've got your owner's manual, and you've got the tool again, nicely wrapped. You've got a bolt holder, bolt clip. The Dewalt also comes with a bolt clip. I just didn't show it there. Always a nice feature to have. So just unwrapping the Bosch over here, you can see the machine is also nice and compact. It is brushless as well. It's a very, very nice machine. It does feel very good in the hand as well. The ergonomics are very, very nice on this machine, I must say. The trigger feels really good as well. And your half-inch drive. Also got a number of modes and features at the bottom here, which we'll get into a little bit later. But that's the tool over here. Now, I do find it very interesting in terms of pricing, how close Bosch have been able to get to the likes of an Inco. So, inch-level tool, 350Nm. Let's see how it stacks up to the competition. I'm really hoping that this machine performs well, because I think it is a very nice machine at a very compelling price. From a brand like Bosch, I think it could be a very compelling deal and offer if the performance is there. Alright guys, so just before we get into the testing, I'd like to just talk about the ergonomics and the physical size of these tools. In terms of height, they're all pretty much the same. I don't think there's much in it between them. But the difference comes in the length of the tool. So, you can see visually from the top here, the Rewalt is actually quite a little bit shorter than the Bosch, and quite a significant amount shorter than the Inco. The Inco is the longest of all of them. In terms of settings of these tools, they've all also got some extra settings. So, the Rewalt's on this bolt over here. That's for when you need a fastening. It turns slowly when it detects that it's gaining force. It increases the RPM of the tool to fasten the nut or the fastener that you're fastening. Similarly, in reverse, it impacts hard. When it detects that it's loose, it moves a little bit slower. On the scaffolding function over here, the machine on fastening, when it detects that there's some resistance, it just impacts for a very short period of time just to nip that bolt up, and it stops, cuts the machine off. Similarly, with releasing or loosening the bolt, as soon as it detects that it's a little bit loose, it cuts off the machine quickly just to prevent it from fully loosening or removing that fastener from whatever it is that's loosening. Then you've got number one and number two. Number one is your low-speed setting. Number two is your full-speed setting. That is just for normal impacting. As you would imagine, no special features there. Just off you go, number one or number two setting. Use it for whatever your application requires. So, for more delicate applications, use number one. For harder or higher torque applications, you can use number two. Then you've got your light button over here, so you can manually turn the light on or off, something that the other tools do not have. On the Bosch, you've got levels one, two, and three. That's simply your speed setting, as with the one and two on the DeWALT, and your three speed settings on the Inco. Now, it does have an ABR feature, which automatically turns the tool off when you're loosening something. As soon as it detects that the bolt or nut is loosened, it'll automatically turn the machine off instantly. So, that's a nice feature there. Stops fasteners and stuff from getting loosened and falling all over the floor, that sort of thing, running off the nuts. As I mentioned, on the Inco, it has all three settings, the speed settings. It's got nut bus to boost it. Now, also, the AR function, as I mentioned before, it is that memory function. So, we're going to test that out and see exactly how it works. So, guys, we've charged all of our batteries. We're going to head downstairs to our test rig and test some tools. All right, guys, starting off, we're going to be doing our fastening test. We're going to fasten this nut down with our impact wrenches for 10 seconds and see how much force it requires to break them free. So, we've got our Inco over here. We're on number three, four amp hour battery fully charged. Three, two, one. Now, let's break it free and see how much force it takes. Okay, 150 newton meters. Easy. 200 newton meters, 250 newton meters, 300 newton meters, 350 newton meters, 400 newton meters, and we broke it free at 400 newton meters. So, somewhere between 350 and 400. Let's move on to the next test. All right, fastening test with the DeWALT in three, two, one. Now, time to loosen and see what you did. Okay, loosening with the DeWALT, 200 newton meters. Moving to 250 newton meters, 300 newton meters. Wow, and we broke free at 300 newton meters. That is a little bit of a shock. I'm not going to lie. All right, guys, fastening test with the Bosch. We've got it in its top setting over here. Let's get going in three, two, one. Now, time to loosen and see what you did. Okay, Bosch loosening test, 200 newton meters. Easy. 250, 300. Let's go. And it also broke free at 300. Quite the shock there, guys. All right, guys, now it's time for the loosening test. We've torqued this down to 300 newton meters. We're going to go up by 50 newton meter gradients. We're going to see if the machines are able to break it free. First, we'll try it on normal mode. If it's unable to break it free, we'll engage nut bust mode and see if we're able to get just a little bit more performance out of the tool. We're going to give them each 10 seconds to loosen this nut. Three, two, one. Easy. Let's torque it down to 350 and see how it does. Couldn't quite get there. Let's just torque this nut down 100%, make sure it's good, and then we'll engage nut bust and see if we can get a little bit of extra performance out of this tool. All right, guys, as you can see, nut bust is engaged. Let's give it another 10 seconds. The reason why it stopped is that it automatically cuts out when it gets loose. This did, in fact, loosen the nut. We do get a little bit of extra performance. Let's see how far we can push the nut bust feature. Just on the cusp of time, it just managed to do it. Let's bump it up. 500, no problem. Let's do 525. All right, guys, 525 Newton-meters, and that's where she taps out. Fantastic performance from the Inco. A lot of advantage on the nut bust feature. Let's move on to the next tool. 300 Newton-meters on the loosening test with DeWalt. Let's get going in three, two, one. No problem there. Let's go to 350. Three, two, one. Three, two, one. Unfortunately, we couldn't loosen it. All right, Bosch 300 Newton-meters. Let's go. Three, two, one, and the Bosch is able to loosen it. Let's go to the next setting. Yo, just snuck it in there, was just able to get it loose. Let's bump it up. Nope, 450 is a little bit too much for the Bosch to handle. All right, guys, testing is done and dusted, and I hope you guys enjoyed it. We definitely learned a few things. First off, starting off with fasting, we saw that Inco was an absolute beast, fasting between 350 and 400 at its peak. The other two only managed between 250 and 300 Newton-meters, so quite a bit down on the Inco. The Inco was definitely the one to get in terms of outdraft performance, if that's what you're looking for. In terms of loosening, though, it was a little bit different in that on the standard setting on Inco, it was very close to the Bosch that did outperform the DeWalt, however, but with the NutBuzz feature engaged on the Inco, again, it was an absolute beast. I'm glad to see that the NutBuzz feature actually does something because sometimes you see these things and you aren't quite sure if that's marketing or if it actually is a performance difference, and it's good to see that Inco does, in fact, have a massive, massive advantage or improvement with that NutBuzz feature engaged. Now, in terms of which one you should buy. Now, you can look at features, all that sort of thing. In the past, the DeWalt had the king of the hill in terms of features and usability and size difference, etc., etc., in terms of the physical size, a lot smaller, but I do think Inco especially has caught up quite a bit, and Bosch does have a number of good features on its tool as well. But I think the DeWalt doesn't quite offer enough to make me recommend it. Now, it does have a smaller physical size, it does have maybe an extra feature here or there that the Inco and the Bosch do not have. If it is something that is essential to you, that you have to have that, then the other two cannot meet that requirement, especially on physical size. I would argue that in terms of the more delicate work, you do have the option of setting one or two, depending on your application. I'd always recommend starting out on speed setting number one and seeing how much force is applied to whatever it is that you're fastening, and if it is suitable for your application, and you can go from there. Obviously, if number one or the lowest setting is too much, then you might need to look for alternatives. That's where maybe the DeWalt could come in, but I think on setting number one, they are delicate enough for you to use in most applications. So, without a doubt, I think the no-brainer option of all of these, it's the cheapest option, it performed the best, it has all the settings that you would want, and that is the Inco. I don't think that I could recommend either of these other two brands over this particular impact wrench. We've also been selling them for a number of years. I know, I can see the fanboys in the comments now complaining about the quality, and you're going to only use this one for a year, and the other ones are for a lifetime. Guys, we've been selling these things for a very, very long time. They are durable. Now, with that said, I'd like to give an honorable shout out to the Bosch. The Bosch in our testing today came second to the Inco, obviously, and then the DeWalt. The Bosch is only rated at 350 Newton meters, but it outperformed the DeWalt rated at 405 Newton meters. On top of that, the pricing on the Bosch coming in at just over 1,000 Rand, very close to the Inco. I do think this is actually a fantastic option and something that you should definitely consider if you're looking at impact wrenches. With that, if you've got the Bosch platform, buy this unit. It will get the job done. If you have Inco already, get the Inco. If you've got a DeWalt system, I think I would consider maybe switching over to either one of these two brands, and particularly Inco, if I were you. That's just my personal opinion. Come and fight me down in the comments down below. Now, we did play around with the tools a little bit off camera, particularly with the AI mode on the Inco, and we were told from Inco that when you loosen the fastener, let's say it's torqued down to 300 Newton meters, you loosen it, when you fasten it again, it will fasten to that same torque. We found that it didn't matter what we torqued our fastener to, the machine always refastened it to about 180 Newton meters, so not that full torque that we were expecting to see. They call it AI. I think it's just a little bit of a buzzword that they're using at the moment, in my opinion. Still, nonetheless, a great tool. If you know how to work with it, I think you'll be more than happy with this particular tool. So guys, if there's anything we've missed, please hit us up in the comments. I know there'll be one or two little small details here and there. We have tried our very best to provide as much information and as good a recommendation as we can to you guys, but if there is something that you think we've missed, or if you have any suggestions, hit us up in the comment section down below. If you would like to see more specifications or learn more about these tools, head over to the links down below. You'll see all of these tools are available online and in store, so if you would like to come in store and have a look at them, feel them in person, you're more than welcome to, or just simply order online from us. The links are down below. Don't forget to hit that like and subscribe button, guys, and I hope you've enjoyed today's video. It was a great day and we really, really enjoyed making this particular video. So with that, guys, I'll catch you again next week for another exciting review.