Intrigued by this thread, I watched a you tube video yesterday of impact driver tests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvqar-4ZelA This was the skill builder guy, who seems pretty straightforward. There are lots of US videos too, which all end up with different winners.
In the UK, Makita, Milwaukee and Hilti did OK, but in the brute force test of driving timber fix he'd heads Ito hard oak, the surprise winner was the DeWalt, which did it in 17 second, or less than half the time of most of the rest.
My own view is that having had a few duff experiences, I avoid Aldi and Lidl power tools as in my experience they do not stand up to heavy work. Trade or DIY at trade level can put significant demands on tools and I doubt that any single brand is brilliant at everything.
There did seem to be some common themes from the reviews:
Single action chucks are much more convenient
Some brands are prone to chuck release failures (Milwaukee slated a couple of times)
Electronic push button speed controllers wear out quickly in trade hands
Brushless motors are more reliable
Very little difference between fluid drive and hammer drive performance in practice
The cheaper brands often failed on the heavy duty tasks
Triple piston hammers are a gimmick that doesn't work
Battery power and condition makes a stonking difference (amazing that)
And practically every tester said if you want to bang bolts on and off car wheels, use a compressor gun!
