REASONS TO BUY
Great value
Solid drilling and driving performance
REASONS TO AVOID
So-so battery life
Could be more convenient
Ryobi P252 Review
This model delivered the most performance for the money
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
By David Wise ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ May 23, 2019
Contributions From: Austin Palmer
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Our Verdict
If you are looking for a good drill that isn't going to break the bank, then the Ryobi P252 is an excellent choice. This budget drill performed quite well in our drilling and driving tests, even handling some of the most difficult tasks without too much protesting. It is a little on the heavy side and its battery life leaves a bit to be desired, but the Ryobi is the perfect balance for anyone who is looking to save some cash and is looking at undertaking some moderate DIY projects. It isn't necessarily the best choice for a contractor or for a professional jobsite, but it has plenty of power for even the most ambitious weekend warrior DIYer or woodworker.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Ryobi finished roughly in the middle of the pack overall, just ahead of the Bosch GSR18V and behind the Ridgid R86009K. It's a decent drill, but it's more expensive than others that perform equally well.
Most cordless drills can handle the simple task of drilling through drywall.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Drilling
The Ryobi's performance when it comes to drilling holes was quite good overall, but it did struggle a bit with some of the more difficult tasks, namely working with a 1" paddle bit. It did pretty well in lower torque modes, but it definitely struggled when we swapped to its higher torque gear ratio.
The Ryobi made it through our spade bit test without much fuss.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
The P252 did a little better when drilling through a steel plate. It didn't struggle at all with the ¼" bit, punching through the 16-gauge steel sheet in about two seconds. However, it was a bit of a different story with the ½" bit. The drill did catch right towards the end and stalled, unable to finish drilling the hole until we shifted to the lower gear. It took about 10 seconds in total to make it through — not as fast or as graceful as the top-tier drills — but it got the job done.
The Ryobi isn't the best at drilling through our steel sheet, but it gets the job done without much of a hassle.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
For the final test of this metric, we used the Ryobi to drill a 5" hole through a solid door with a hole saw. It did surprisingly well, finishing with a strong performance.
This model performed in the middle of the pack for the 5" hole saw test.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
The P252 wasn't the fastest by any means, taking just less than a minute to make it to the full depth, but it didn't struggle until towards the end.
The Ryobi does a good job at driving in screws.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Driving
Moving on, the Ryobi delivered another good showing when driving fasteners — particularly for a budget option.
The Ryobi handled standard 3" wood screws with almost no issues at all, efficiently driving in and fully setting the heads of hundreds of wood screws in our tests. It never locked up when sinking screws into a 2x12 and allows you to set the countersunk head of each screw in a gentle and controlled way, even if you stop the drill with the screw short and need to restart to get it flush. It wasn't the fastest at this task, but it never faltered either.
This model had good control when you need to counter sink screws.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
However, the Ryobi P252 couldn't handle our harder driving test — a 5" long, ½" diameter lag bolt — with quite the same finesse.
The Ryobi completed the lag screw test, but not without some coaxing.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
It stalled out fairly frequently and didn't have the most driving force by far, but we were eventually able to drive the screw to its full depth with enough coaxing.
The Ryobi has average battery life with the included batteries.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Included Battery
The P252 fell in the middle of the pack, and was able to complete about half as much drilling and driving work as the top models we tested.
Alternating between drilling holes with a 1" paddle bit and driving screws into a 2x12, the Ryobi made it through almost 5 full cycles. It has a 1.3 Ah battery, which put it at a disadvantage compared to the more common 1.5 or 2 Ah batteries found on other drills.
However, it charges quite fast, taking only 56 minutes to completely fill up a dead battery, and it includes an extra battery.
This model doesn't have as many convenient features as the top performers in this metric.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Convenience
The Ryobi finished out with another middle-of-the-road showing, including only basic-level features.
Being a budget option, the P252 is missing a belt clip and a built-in battery level indicator. However, it does offer two different speed ranges and a chuck that can open up to ½".
The Ryobi's chuck is capable of opening to 1/2".
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
It also has an integrated light, but it is frustrating that it will only illuminate while the drill is rotating. This makes it almost impossible to use the light to line up the drill or driver bit in the correct location when using the drill in a dark spot without additional supplemental lighting.
This model's light only comes on when the trigger is depressed to start drilling/driving.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
The button to release the battery is quite easy to press and it doesn't require excessive force when installing or removing the battery, but we did find that this drill is on the hefty side for these products, weighing in at a little more than 3.5 lbs.
Value
If you are looking for the best balance of performance and a budget-conscious price tag, it is hard to find a better value than the Ryobi P252.
Conclusion
Earning the Best Buy award, the Ryobi P252 easily distinguished itself by being the best bang for the buck that you can get with these tools. It's an absolutely fantastic option for anyone who has ambitions of tackling DIY projects but wants to save some money to spend on those projects, rather than blowing it all buying tools.
—David Wise and Austin Palmer
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