5 Ryobi Tools That Make Their Smallest 18V Batteries Seem Practical

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If you're thinking of building a cordless tool collection, or even considering adding to an existing inventory, Ryobi is a solid, cheap entry-level option. There's a whole host of equipment to choose from, and the ONE+ lineup is at the forefront of the company's offerings. In fact, Ryobi adds new options to its extensive listings regularly, and we've recently covered 15 new ones for you. We're focusing on their 18V tools for this article, a lineup powered by a wide range of lithium batteries going from 1.5 Ah to 12 Ah, all interchangeable.

Now, with this in mind, you might decide to just use the batteries with higher capacity, and you might even be skeptical about whether the 1.5 Ah-rated batteries can do the job. Your reasoning would be right on the first count, but the appeal of the 1.5 Ah is in the weight and the cost savings.

For the second point, if you're a DIY beginner or looking to perform a few simple side projects around the house, odds are the smaller battery would serve you just fine — you don't always need a big battery pack to complete your projects. We've put together a list of some 1.5 Ah-rated tools, in case you were wondering how to put Ryobi's smallest batteries to good use.

This Ryobi Compact Glue Gun comes bare tool, with the 1.5AH battery attaching to the heating base station. This is unlike its predecessor, the P305, on which the battery slotted into the glue gun itself. As such, the new compact glue gun is exceptionally light — which makes it better for tasks where you need precision. The station comes with a drip tray to keep your workbench clean; You'd need it because the P306 drips far more than the older glue gun, as claimed in a review by Doresoom Tool Reviews on YouTube.

According to Ryobi, you can use the glue gun away from the heating station for up to five minutes. To conceptualize its working capacity, when heated, the glue gun can melt a four-inch glue stick and then some before the temperature drops below working level, after which you'd have to reheat it on the base station. It takes approximately four minutes to heat up to its maximum of 365 degrees Fahrenheit.

The glue gun excels in small household repairs and crafts — situations that require you to set the gun down periodically. A glue gun's pretty useful, and we have a list of helpful uses for it around your home. The P306 is priced at $34.97 at Home Depot.

The Ryobi 18V One+ Brushless Cordless Compact Cut-Off Tool is designed to be a nimble one-handed solution for making quick plunge cuts in tight spaces. Since power and performance are directly related to battery size, you'd expect one of Ryobi's HP (high performance) products to use a higher-grade battery. The tool is sold in a kit with a 1.5 Ah battery, however, all for the price of $179. The cut-off tool comes with a brushless motor capable of producing up to 19,500 RPM through the variable speed trigger — a mark high enough to cut through materials like metal, plastic, and tile, amongst others. 

Like many products in the Ryobi 18V lineup, it features a dual LED to illuminate your working surface while making forward and reverse cuts. The LED lights also serve as a warning system. If your power is running low, or you're applying too much force in your cuts, or the temperature suddenly spikes, they'll flash to alert you. 

The cut-off tool also ships with ⅜-inch and 7/16-inch arbors, a metal cutting wheel, an abrasive blade, a diamond tile blade, and an onboard hex key for changing the cut-off wheel. Besides being lightweight, you can also adjust the tool's head to turn awkward angles into workable ones.

Ryobi's hammer drills, like the PBLHM101K kit, come with a 4.0AH battery packaged to power the high-performance needs of users. However, the PSBHM02K1, an addition to Ryobi's set of hammer drills priced at $159, shows that a 1.5AH battery can also punch above its weight. 

It's a tool that delivers up to 450 in-lbs of torque in a package that the company describes as the "most compact and lightest weight hammer drill" in their lineup. Despite its small footprint, its brushless motor provides enough power to be classified as an HP tool — in this case, it means it can drill through materials such as concrete.

It also features a two-speed gearbox, as we have come to expect in Ryobi hammer drills, going from zero to 450 rpm on low and up to 1,700 rpm on high. The 24-position clutch in hammer mode also ensures maximum control over your operations when drilling and driving. The ½-inch sleeve ratchet's good grip design enables easy bit changes when working. And if this isn't the drilling solution you were looking for, we've ranked of every cordless drill brand for you to look through.

The Ryobi PCL280 is a multi-size ratchet compatible with socket sizes that work with ¼, ⅜, and ½-inch drives. By replacing the handle on the socket, the ratchet becomes very versatile, and can be used in automotive applications, small-scale installation projects, and assembly/disassembly. The ½-inch anvil also contains a ¼-inch hex driver for attaching screwdriver or torx bits, meaning the tool can double as an electric screwdriver when needed.

With a torque rating of 35 lb-ft and a variable-speed trigger that delivers up to 260 rpm, this ratchet is aimed at DIYers and beginner mechanics who don't want to break the bank to get some work done — and it's priced accordingly, at $158.75. Ryobi also offers a USB-powered lithium battery lineup of ratchets for users who do not need a lot of torque and prefer a truly lightweight tool.

The ratchet's head can also be rotated to four positions by 90 degrees to account for situations where the battery sticking out the back causes a major inconvenience. The 1.5 Ah battery also powers dual on-board LED work lights, which can help illuminate your workspace and light up even the deepest bowels of automotive compartments.

Speaking of low-power tools, the ¼-inch Hex Screwdriver Kit will feel right at home on this list, since you don't need a big battery to assemble furniture and do other simple tasks. This screwdriver kit is one of the more budget-friendly options on the market, with the 1.5 Ah battery likely contributing to its affordability. Although the tool may sound like a drill when used, don't be mistaken. Ryobi mainly markets this as an assembly and disassembly tool used to drive bolts and fasteners.

There are no dedicated speed controls, and the advertised 600 rpm is the upper limit when the variable speed trigger is engaged. The lightweight battery also complements the screwdriver, which weighs in at less than 2.5 lbs. That means you can quickly zip cabinets together and mount outlet covers without putting too much strain on your arm. The downside? You should remember exactly what this tool is built for. It's different from a standard drill, as it barely delivers the torque to drive anything substantial; like, say, a three-inch deck screw. You can get your hands on this tool for $59.97 at Home Depot.

The 1.5 Ah battery should work with any tool in Ryobi's 18V One+ lineup — at least according to Ryobi's claims of compatibility. However, when compiling this list, ergonomics, practicality, and the battery's specific energy output were matched against the tool's intended use case. We placed use case at the core of our selection criterias because high-draw tools demand larger batteries for peak performance.

Once we narrowed down the tools, we looked for instances where reducing the weight and footprint by using a 1.5 Ah pack preserved the DIY experience. The resulting list was then whittled down to the five tools with the most practical uses for DIYers who run rather small side projects around the home or workshop. You could still use these tools for more demanding and complex projects, but it might be worth looking for more powerful equipment.