Evolution SDS4-800 650W 4-Function SDS Hammer Drill

The Evolution Power Tools SDS4-800 is a corded SDS hammer drill with four functions — drill, chisel, rotation and hammer — sold at £71.98 with a stack of attachments in the box: 10 mm, 8 mm and 6 mm SDS drills, a 250 mm flat chisel, a 250 mm pointed chisel, a depth stop and the manual. It sits at number 8 in this guide, rated 4.3 out of 5 from 495 ratings.

On this one, the electrical figures very nearly meet. The listing gives 230 volts and 3 amps, which works out at 690 watts, against a stated maximum power of 650 watts — a gap of roughly 6 per cent. Set that beside the Makita HR2630 in this guide, which lists 18 amps at 240 volts (4,320 watts on the calculator) two lines above a 450-watt maximum, or the Scheppach AB1600's 16 amps at 230 volts (3,680 watts) against 1,600 watts, and the difference in what these sheets are worth becomes obvious. Not everything here closes, though. A field labelled "Number of Speeds" reads 4, but the bullet above it promises variable speed control from 0 to 1100 rpm, and the four things the listing actually counts are functions — drill, chisel, rotation, hammer — not fixed speeds. The 20.5 Nm torque figure is unusual for a mains SDS drill and appears twice, under both "Torque" and "Maximum Torque". Drilling capacity is given as 10 mm for wood and 10 mm for metal, the same number for both. The impact energy is stated plainly at 1.6 J, which is a modest figure and sits in a different class from the 20 J and 50 J claims on other tools in this round-up. The star breakdown adds up to exactly 100 across its five bands, so it reads as percentages of a sample rather than counts spread over all 495 ratings. Every figure and every customer comment on this page comes from the Amazon listing; we have not tested the SDS4-800 ourselves.