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You'd do well asking for advice on r/DIYUK, a similar question was posed earlier this week.

I personally have found Erbauer's range of battery tools (Screwfix own brand) to be well made - I've not had to disassemble any yet to look inside but they've withstood a lot of abuse at my hand! They don't do a light drill driver type thing, only 18v an multidrill. For space saving you'll want to buy one tool in box with battery and charger, and then expand buying bare tools (and perhaps the occasional additional battery). The chargers are wall mountable (mine is inside the cupboard under the sink) which saves counter space.

Equally Aldi's Ferrex branded tools have stood up to similar abuse at the hands of my sister - they had a 9 month period of terrible battery availability (and online reviews tend to reflect that strongly), availability of specific tools is semi-seasonal but they've been online throughout the last year (possibly because of the lack of batteries meaning nobody was buying them).

Top advice - thank you!

I'd say that's quite impossible. These tools may be able to do many different things, but they never do as good as the dedicated tool. So I think there just isn't a market for such tools in the professional user community, so options will be limited to "Homeowner/Handyman" quality stuff.

Cosidering ur primary needs, I'd suggest maybe getting a Fein Multimaster or a similar oscillating multitool plus a small drill. If you get the 12V cordless Multimaster you could get a compact drill using the same battery (ASCM 12 QC for example)

Nothing wrong going with Bosch Professional variants instead, this would give you access to a wider selection of future tools.

The Multitool can be used for detail sanding, cutting wood/metal (small stuff) , scraping, tile cutting etc.

Ridgid (US - Home Depot) has a very good set that does this. They also sell a kit of dedicated tools. Both work very well.

Not sure about UK options.

Thanks, gives me hope.

+1 for the Erbauer EXT 18v range. Got several in the set now, the angle grinder definitely isn't as powerful as a wired tool but I've really been enjoying the jigsaw and multi tool, and plan to get circular saw soon. And when my existing tools die I'll probably get the EXT one.

Not to dash your hopes, but it doesn't look like they sell it any more. It's was called "Jobmax". Amazon still has it available.

However, dedicated tools are much better and don't cost any more. They take up a little more space, but I highly recommend the full-sized kit over the modular kits that all use the same "engine" to run the tools.

There are plenty of major players making quality products in this space (Dewalt, Milwaukee, Ridgid, Bosch, Makita, etc.). Here's an example of a decent kit.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-20-Volt-Max-Cordless-Combo-Kit-10-Tool-with-2-20-Volt-2-0Ah-Batteries-Charger-Bag-DCK1020D2/305019378

With Black Friday and holiday sales coming up, you can probably score an excellent deal.

I'd get the Bosch Professional (blue line, not green) of 12V tools (and in fact that's what I have). They all share the same batteries, and you have a wide variety of useful tools. Milwaukee's M12 system is also good, but harder to get in the UK.

There's only 4 cordless brands I would buy: Makita, Hikoki (used to be Hitachi), DeWalt or Milwaukee. They have extensive ranges that use the same batteries.

Black and Decker, Bosch etc are all fairly naff in comparison as their bearings, motors and gearboxes are known to wear out faster, but are still a step ahead of other brands.

Tbh no cordless tool is a 'Buy it for Life' but if you're willing to pay just a bit more you can have the best on the market that survive thousands of hours of use.

Stop being coy about a budget as it is fooling no one but yourself. If you want a BIFL multi-tool system, then https://www.hilti.com/ is it. Once you find out the cost and your nose stops bleeding, you have just learned the importance of a budget.

If you are a common man doing common task, you do not want/need to buy a true BIFL item. Explore the room...if the home improvement stores in your area or the website you like has a wide selection of Dewalt and Bosch, pick one brand and stay with it as most of the sunk cost is the charging/batteries and once you become a Bosch man, you should buy all things Bosch.

I chose Milwaukee. They have a 12v and 18v system. I'm not a professional, so I went with the 12v version of tools and have like 8 or so tools now due to impulse buying and sales and used market buys. Is it BIFL? I'm leaning towards no-ish, but they are premium mid tier and are overkill for the average homeowner and sheer amount of tools is mindblowing.

Hilti is top of the line, no question

There is a lot of great advice here. I just want to add that if you go with cordless, spend more for the "brushless" model.

thanks!

Thanks! Milwaukee's batteries look good

Thanks I think you (ho ho) hit the nail on the head - the one motor, n rotary gizmos 'thing' I'm looking for is never going to be BIFL, oh well - lesson learnt!

Thanks - I think you're right.

It may be that I end up trying something new and reporting back in 50 years!

Thanks guys, looked at Hilti, agreed, toppers stuff, but they seem more a battery platform than a battery-and-motor platform.

I think the plan will be to throw a few hundred quid at this and report back in a few decades. I will probs use something makita or milwaukee battery-compatible.

Thank you! This seems to be an option even at the cheapest level. Will heed this.

All the guys in the trades use Milwaukee. They also have some crazy specialized tools. It’s my preferred brand as well.

No such thing as a good all around multi tool. Get the specific tool you need for the specific job. Milwaukee, Dewalt, Ryobi are all good brands. Warranty is your best friend. Look on Facebook marketplace or other places where people sell/trade things for used tools.

Makita

Only in North America though. Everywhere else is split between bosch and makita, for tradesman, or hilti and festool for the high end installers