Ryobi One+ HP Drill: Cheap Doesn't Mean Bad

Some tools live on the bench. Some live in the drawer. Ryobi One+ HP Drill earned bench duty fast — and then we kept testing it long enough to see whether it deserved to stay.

What we tested

We ran Ryobi One+ HP Drill: Cheap Doesn't Mean Bad through tested over 10 months · 2,400+ fasteners · same battery the whole time. The setup wasn’t lab conditions — it was real shop time, real homes, real failures. If you can hold a screwdriver, you can do this. Our goal wasn’t to confirm the marketing copy — it was to find the failure mode.

What we found

The headline is simple: brushless motor is a real upgrade over ryobi's older drills. The wrinkle is also simple: plastic gear case shows in the weight — feels less rugged than dewalt or milwaukee.

Digging in: across our test, the part of this that surprised us most was how predictable the results were once we got the technique dialed. The first attempt always took longer than the second. By the third repetition, the time-cost dropped by about a third. That’s the rhythm of every honest DIY project — the second one is always the cheap one.

Numbers we tracked, in case they help: time per attempt, parts per attempt, and rework events. Rework was where the budget went, not the part itself. For reference, model came in at PBLDD01K (kit).

What other reviewers got wrong (or right)

We read what we could before we started. Most reviews of this either hand-waved the trade-offs (every "top pick" article does this) or front-loaded the marketing claim and never got to the failure mode. Our take is the inverse — find the failure first, work backwards from there.

Where we agree with the consensus: this is in the right league for what it costs. Where we disagree: the consensus tends to assume best-case install conditions. Real homes have surprise studs at 17.5 inches, surprise galvanized supply lines, surprise aluminum branch wiring. The "easy install" gets harder the older the house.

The single thing that would change our verdict

If one variable changed, this becomes a different review. Specifically: plastic gear case shows in the weight — feels less rugged than dewalt or milwaukee. We saw that exact issue once during testing — and the fix took longer than the original install.

For anyone considering this: factor that one variable into your decision. If your situation triggers it, this isn’t the right buy. If it doesn’t, you’re fine.

Who should and who shouldn’t

The right reader for this tool is someone who: (a) has done at least one project in this category before, (b) has the right secondary tools on the bench (we list ours up top), and (c) is comfortable spending one extra trip to the home center mid-project. If any of those three are not true, this is the wrong week to start. Bookmark the article, do a smaller project first, and come back when the workshop is set.

If those three ARE true, the project is one of the higher-confidence ones in our recent log. Skill level: 1/5. Estimated time: —.

Closing

If you're starting a tool collection, this is the drill to start with. The Ryobi ecosystem is enormous, and the brushless HP versions actually work. $119 buys you a tool and a platform. If you’ve done this in your own shop, drop us a note in the comments — we read every one. Real-world results, especially the ones that contradict ours, are the whole reason this section exists.