4 Ryobi Tools Buyers Say Are Surprisingly Useful

We've already covered the best-rated Ryobi tools available at Home Depot. However, since the list is made up of pretty popular Ryobi tools, there's a good chance you already have some of them in your collection, or they're products you were planning to buy anyway, like a pressure washer or a string trimmer. There are, however, many other Ryobi tools that don't get nearly as much rep, but when you do discover them, have such compelling reviews.

Beyond being affordable, most customers can't get over how surprisingly versatile they are. The question is, how do you even find them? There's the option to scroll through the entire catalog of Ryobi products on Home Depot, but that's over 1,000 products, last time we checked. And what even are the odds that a random pick would be something you actually need?

Most of the time, customers who find these tools often buy them, thinking they'll only use them once for a specific project. Soon enough, though, they find themselves reaching for them again and again, for things they'd never have thought to use them for in the first place. Now, we've done the scrolling for you, so here are the products we think you'll find useful.

The ONE+ 18V Dual Function Digital Inflator/Deflator initially comes off as one of those Ryobi products that's most useful in an emergency. You buy it in case of a flat tire, and it delivers pretty well for that. Many buyers have used it on RVs, riding mowers, ATVs, golf carts, and motorcycles with very little to complain about. However, beyond vehicles, it works on just about any inflatable, from air mattresses and pool floats to kayaks and towable tubes.

And because it deflates just as efficiently as it inflates, it becomes the thing you're glad you packed when you're trying to get a paddleboard back in the car at the end of a long day. That combination of modes is what makes it a gadget worth packing to the beach or keeping poolside all summer. It's also particularly handy for anyone who runs any kind of rental business, whether that's river tubes, bounce houses, or even balloon decorations.

It has a feature that lets you set a target PSI, and once it gets there, the tool shuts off automatically, so you can attach it and walk away while it does its thing. It also comes with a handful of attachments, including a high-pressure hose and a sports ball needle, so you can switch depending on what you need to pump. With the sweeper nozzle, it even doubles as a blower for clearing light dust or debris. The bare tool costs $69.97 and makes the most sense for people who are already in the Ryobi ONE+ 18V ecosystem.

Even if you've never used, let's say, a drill or a circular saw, you can infer from the name what it's for. With a name like oscillating multi-tool, it's not that easy to guess. You have to have used one to understand what it's actually for. And even that— what it's for— can be anything from cutting through drywall, trimming wood, sanding down surfaces, scraping old caulk or paint, and whatever clever use you can think of and get an attachment for. With the right accessory, you could even use it to remove grout in your bathroom.

But if we're keeping it a buck, it pretty much does everything a standard saw or utility knife can't do cleanly, and it gets into corners a bigger tool simply can't reach. Which is probably why, unassuming as it looks, Ryobi's ONE+ 18V Cordless Oscillating Multi-Tool has scored 4.4 out of 5 stars from more than 2,000 reviews on Home Depot. It oscillates at up to 20,000 OPM with the lowest vibration in its class, and you can dial the speed to whatever preset is more appropriate for the task at hand.

With the lock-on button, you don't have to hold the trigger down the whole time, which makes it easier on the wrist. Plus, since the multi-tool is compatible with many other third-party accessories, you're not locked into Ryobi blades when you eventually need something more specialized. The tool-only version used to retail at $79, but at the time of writing, the price has dropped to $49.

A lot of people's experience with a glue gun involves a cheap corded one that drips constantly, burns your fingers, and has exactly one temperature that's either not hot enough or slightly too hot for whatever you're working on. The ONE+ 18V Dual Temperature Glue Gun is Ryobi's attempt to fix that problem. It's cordless, runs on the same 18V ONE+ battery as the rest of your tools, and has two temperature settings: 248°F and 320°F.

Being able to switch as preferred on the same tool removes the need to buy different guns or burn through materials if you have to stick to one. It also comes with three interchangeable nozzles: a standard tip, a precision tip for tight spots, and a spreader tip for covering larger surfaces. And there's a drip tray attached to keep your workspace clean. You'll also get three glue sticks in the box.

For most people, the fact that it's cordless is their favorite part. It means they can move around easily or even work outside without having to look for an outlet or trip over a cord. On Ryobi's website, it retails for $59.97. Home Depot lists it at $61.44, and if you're buying from them, you get an extra 24 packs of glue sticks.

If you don't already own Ryobi's 18V batteries and don't plan on adding other tools from the lineup, it's hard to justify buying into the ecosystem, especially for a fan. Fortunately, Ryobi also offers the USB Lithium Clamp Fan Kit. Unlike the 18V version, this model charges via USB-C, and it is compact enough to toss into a purse, backpack, glove compartment, or workshop drawer. Although Home Depot lists this as a job-site fan, many customers have found creative ways to use it.

Because it comes with a swivel head and clamp, you can mount it just about anywhere with a ledge or rail. That could be a patio chair, a stroller, a golf cart, by your bedside, or even a treadmill handlebar at the gym. In the garage or workshop, it's useful for both staying comfortable and keeping smoke and fumes away from your face while you work. In the kitchen, it can help clear the air when things get smoky on the stove. And with the pivoting head, you can direct airflow wherever you need it.

Small as it is, it delivers up to 135 CFM on high. On the lowest setting, it runs for up to seven hours on a single charge, but just know that the higher the speed setting, the faster the battery drains. Even then, more people have been pleased with its performance than not, which is why it's scored 4.7 out of 5 stars from over 1,800 reviews on Home Depot and 4.9 stars on Ryobi's own website. With the 2.0 Ah battery and charging cable included, you can get it for $39.97.

Surprisingly useful is a tricky thing to define. Does it mean a tool that the buyer had such low expectations of that the performance blew their mind? Or one they expected to use just once for a particular project, only to find themselves reaching for it again and again for things they never anticipated? We tried to balance both perspectives and went searching on Reddit, one of the forums where most users tend to be honest and critical about their experiences with a product. After making a shortlist, we headed to Home Depot to see whether the tools that came up a lot in those threads had the reviews to back it up. For a tool to make the final cut, it had to have a rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars, over 200 reviews, and be either genuinely useful for more than the one thing most people would buy it for, or just more convenient than most people would expect.