5 Of The Best Power Tool Starter Kits You Can Buy

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Everyone has to start somewhere. When it comes to engaging in DIY upgrades around the house or getting into woodworking as a hobby to keep your mind and hands nimble, this means buying a few key tools. Tools are great, cool, and exciting, but they can also be difficult for new users to evaluate. There's the question of what brand to buy (these hand tool brands are some of the best on the market, as a good place to start), and then considerations for the specific use case you'll be focusing on. DIY mechanics target certain tool brands and equipment, while woodworkers or building-focused renovators demand other solutions.

No matter your focus, a starter kit is the perfect option to get your repair, renovation, or maintenance journey underway with little hassle or holdup. Power tools come in corded and cordless options, but most users these days want the mobility that comes from battery-powered solutions. This means you'll need to select a tool platform to invest in. Buying batteries and chargers for a range of different brands can quickly balloon the price of your purchasing needs, unless you're willing to shop around for discount offers to get into a few different brands' systems. These five kits each bring their own unique flair to the table, and all come from different brands. This makes them a quality cross-section of functionality that a wide variety of users looking for specific outcomes can gain something from.

The following list was crafted by the writer using a carefully-assembled set of metrics and personal-use experience. See the final section of this article (Methodology) to learn more.

Craftsman features as a consistently strong asset for DIY enthusiasts. Craftsman began life as a hand tool brand almost a century ago and rose to prominence as a mainstay in Sears locations. The iconic toolmaker is well known for its lifetime warranty offers, and warranty coverage remains a crucial element across Craftsman's catalog today. Users report a drop off in overall quality compared to vintage equipment, perhaps starting in the 1990s or early 2000s, when the brand increasingly outsourced its production. However, this doesn't mean the Craftsman has become a brand to avoid. The tool manufacturer still makes competent tools at a seriously budget-friendly price point. Home improvers and maintainers who want the most bang for their buck without sacrificing their ability to actually get the job done can find plenty of value in Craftsman equipment.

Perhaps the best example of this blending of functional value and favorable pricing can be found in Craftsman's 20V Max 6-Tool Combo Kit. This bundle can be purchased at Lowe's for $299. In this bundle, you'll find a reciprocating saw that's ideal for demolition and rough cutout requirements, a circular saw, an impact driver and drill, an oscillating multitool that's ideal for finish carpentry work during renovations, and a handheld work light. To finish off the package, this bundle comes with two batteries and a charger as well as a soft case. This purchase delivers some of the best value for money you'll find anywhere in the tool market. For new users looking to establish a power tool collection, it's hard to go wrong with this option.

DeWalt is an iconic toolmaker. The brand makes some of the best impact drivers on the market, and it features as a competitive solution across many other power tool varieties as well. DeWalt is often found as a staple in professional tool users' collections because the brand meshes power and speed alongside feature-rich tool design and a track record of solid performance.

Tool users who have the basics in their garage or workshop already might be looking for specialized upgrade opportunities. The DeWalt 20V Max 3-Tool Woodworking Combo Kit is a potential solution for a number of reasons, and it functions as a good augmentation option for those who already have a few important pieces of equipment in their possession. The circular saw is something that most beginner tool users will prioritize as they launch a toolbox, but jigsaws can easily be overlooked until a definitive need arises. The jigsaw doesn't cut straight lines nearly as well as many other power tools. But this solution plays an important role in renovating and woodworking circles.

In addition to a jigsaw, this toolkit comes with a handheld router and an orbital sander. Sanding tools aren't typically something that users put on the back burner, but because of the dusty demands, replacing a sander will often happen more frequently than your other powered equipment. This kit, therefore, can offer an important replacement opportunity, the addition of a jigsaw to your generalist toolkit, and access to a router that is critical to treating board edges and performing nuanced woodworking tasks. To complete the picture, you'll get two batteries, a charger, and a soft case.

A two-tool bundle might not sound very impressive, but the Metabo HPT 18V 2-Piece Combo Kit isn't the standard tool bundle. This collection of equipment features an impact driver and an 18-gauge brad nailer. The kit also includes two batteries, a charger, and a soft case to store your equipment. Most small tool bundles focus on genuine beginner requirements.

This bundle is geared toward renovators who already have the basics under control and need to add intermediate coverage options to their collection. A brad nailer is ideal for all kinds of finish carpentry tasks. Nailers more broadly feature as an important tool when building stud walls, installing door frames, and performing many other tasks. They're also great for plenty of outdoor projects and temporary workpiece holding requirements. This tool can replace the mechanical action of hammering in nails slowly and methodically in many situations. The impact driver operates as a highly potent screw fastening solution. Therefore, this combo kit essentially works as an upgrade for your drill when it comes to driving fasteners and a handheld hammer for speeding through nailing operations.

Milwaukee is a name that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone reading this list. Milwaukee makes great equipment and offers a variety of subcategories within its overall power tool offerings. There's much to be learned about the difference between the standard M18 range and Milwaukee M18 Fuel ranges, but what the Fuel moniker really comes down to is an improved, brushless motor that extends performance and helps deliver a greater user experience on the whole.

The fuel range isn't just contained to the full-sized M18 segment of Milwaukee's catalog, however. Listed for an astronomically valuable price at Walmart of $170, the Milwaukee M12 Fuel Combo Kit offers a great starter bundle at an amazing price. The kit comes with both Milwaukee's hammer drill and impact driver in the scaled-down yet still powerful M12 Fuel range, and it's rounded out by two batteries, a charger, and a soft carrying case. 

These tools are designed for individuals who require more than enough power to complete tasks without needing to lug around heavy, full-sized equipment. These tools can be useful for mobile toolkits kept in the trunk of a car or as a primary means of tackling jobs around the house when that house doesn't include ample storage space (in an apartment or condo, for instance).

The final toolkit on this list is the most expensive, but that price buys a different kind of experience. The Makita 40V Max XGT 4-Piece Combo Kit is available at Acme Tools with a $100 discount code applied at checkout. This brings the total price of the kit down to $639. In addition, when buying with the current deal,  you'll get a free promotional 40V XGT Work Light (listed at $239), added into the bundle. This effectively makes the purchase a five-piece kit that's rounded out with the typical charger, two batteries, and a soft carrying case.

Unlike the typical 18- or 20-volt power systems that underpin most consumer tool lineups, Makita's included, this 40V platform is designed with high-intensity workplace demands in mind. XGT tools are Makita's most powerful solution and stand ready to tackle the most demanding requirements you have for the equipment. The brushless motors found within these power tools are built specifically to work at increasing power levels with the help of specially engineered rare earth magnets and an overwound copper wire design. Microchips built into both the tools and batteries, alongside other battery-specific enhancements, make for a highly responsive power tool solution that goes above and beyond.

Makita is well-known as an innovator in the tool production space, and the XGT platform is more of what users have come to expect from the Japanese toolmaker. The kit itself is an ideal starting place for those looking to upgrade what they already have or begin with tools at the very pinnacle of their game. It features a hammer driver-drill, an impact driver, a circular saw, and a handheld LED flashlight.

Each of the kits featured brings something unique, yet important to the toolbox of a DIYer or trade professional. They come from five separate brands to cover a range of tool families that users might prefer and seek out, as well. 

Some are ideal for homeowners looking to bring light-duty maintenance and upgrade capabilities into their garage (like the Craftsman kit), and others, such as Metabo HPT's carpentry essentials and DeWalt's woodworking kit fall into specific niches. The Makita gear and Milwaukee selection bring sizing preferences to the table. Makita's kit runs on the brand's high powered 40V system for extra heft while the Milwaukee kit is part of its M12 system that scaled down the tools for greater flexibility.