Bosch GDR 10.8 Review

Bosch GDR 10.8

I was confused initially to either buy a drill or impact driver or both, I did lot of research into this and finally came to a conclusion that the Impact driver would serve my requirements best. Having been using this tool for more than 2 years now i can say it was a good buying decision. This is my second most used tool after my table saw. Impact driver makes life very easy.

This is a very versatile tool, I use it for fastening screws, drilling holes, tightening nuts, changing wheels in car and also as polisher.

The tool comes with a storage box and has compartments to store everything. There is a small accessory compartment to store additional accessories.

An impact driver is designed especially to drive screws and excels in tasks that need high torque. The main benefit when compared to other electric screw driver is that it never gives a jerk which normal electric screw driver give when they are not able to torque the screw.
Three ringed LED light illuminate the work surface as soon as the trigger is pressed. Although when I use the driver with the chuck the LED cast a shadow on the work surface and are of no use.

Performance

This is the smallest and compactest Bosch impact driver available in the market, it is small but it offers a very powerful torque of 105 Nm. Till now I did not come across a task this driver could not perform. For any home woodworking tasks it packs enough power. I have even used it to unscrew the lug nuts on car wheels and it does that task effortlessly.
Unlike the drill driver the impact drivers do not have adjustable torque settings so one has to be careful when driving screws with impact driver as you can easily over torque a screw without knowing.
Also use good quality screws as the head of the cheap quality screws can easily snap. I never use slotted head screws with any electric screw driver as the screw driver can slip and will often damage the screw head. I always use Phillips or Torx head screws.

Build quality of the driver is good and feels sturdy. Although this tool is marked as professional but I don't think it will stand a proper professional use in a garage as the gearbox is not full metal construction. But for the price of around 9500 Rs I think it is a good tool. Makita also makes good impact driver but they are a bit pricey when compared to Bosch.
For some time now driver has started giving a mild burning smell when I extensively use it, nothing major though as this is a problem with brushed motor when strained.

To use it as a drill I have purchased a 1/4" hex chuck which converts the impact driver into a drill machine. The chuck that I have has a maximum opening of 7mm.

Battery Life

Bosch GDR 10.8 comes with two 1.3Ah battery. Although bigger battery capacity exists but they are not available locally. The capacity of the battery is small but for a small projects they pack plenty of power.
Normally I never run out of charge when using driver as a screwdriver or drill. The only time I feel the battery is draining a bit quickly is when I use the driver as a polisher, as the driver is running at high RPM it consumes battery quickly and also heats up. This Bosch GDR 10.8 has the Bosch electronic cell protection (ECP) which protects the battery under extreme cases and helps in extending the battery life.

1.3Ah Battery

There is a 3 level LED battery charge indicator on the driver. The last LED starts blinking when the battery is almost drained. Charging is very quick and the batteries are charged to 70% in 15 minutes and fully charged in about 30 minutes. So you can work uninterrupted by quickly charging with the spare battery.

Impact Wrench vs Hammer Drill

From the below image you can clearly see the difference between the working of Impact Wrench and Hammer Drill. The Impact driver has the hammer action along the direction of the rotation which helps in loosing/tightening the screws or nuts. On the other hand an Hammer/Impact drill has the hammer action in the direction of the drill which helps in breaking the surface.

Specification

The specifications are as below-

Description	Value
No-Load Speed	0-2600 rpm
Torque	105 Nm
Impact rate	0-3100 bpm
Bit Holder	1/4" Internal Hexagon
Battery Voltage	10.8 V
Battery capacity	1.3 Ah

Conclusion

Overall I feel Bosch GDR 10.8 is a good  tool with descent build quality and good value for money.
I would recommend an Impact driver to everyone these tools are very versatile tools and a must buy
for any DIY weekend warriors.