The Best Rotary Hammer Drills for Concrete and Masonry Work

While a standard hammer drill and a masonry bit can handle a few small concrete or masonry holes, you probably want to get a rotary hammer drill for larger and more intensive jobs. These drills use an air-powered piston to supplement their drilling mode—think of hitting the back of the drill with a hammer while you’re drilling—which creates a powerful impact per blow, and makes them extremely effective at heavy-duty tasks. They’re heavier and bulkier than standard hammer drills, but their added efficiency is usually worth the extra weight, completing tasks in seconds that would take lighter-duty drills several minutes.

What to Consider

Although most rotary hammer drills look similar, there are features that make some more useful than others. For example, although all our options will have a primary mode for hammer drilling, some will also have a hammer-only mode that does not rotate the bit. This will allow you to use the drill with a chisel bit, which is essential for most demolition tasks. Other models may have a drill-only mode that disengages the hammer mechanism, which is necessary for core drilling.

The overall power of the rotary hammer drill is another factor to consider, and can be assessed by looking at their impact energy—which is measured in joules (J). The higher the joules, the more energy the drill will transfer into the workpiece, and the faster it will finish the job. Higher joules usually means a heavier drill though, so keep that in mind.

Cordless versus corded power is something else to consider. While cordless drills are convenient for their portability and lack of extension cord, you are limited by their battery runtime. On the other hand, corded drills offer unlimited running time, but they do require you to have an outlet nearby, and introduce power cords that can be frustrating to wrangle and add a tripping hazard to your job site.

How We Selected

I've used my personal experience using rotary hammer drills in the past—as well as extensive online research—to put together this list of the best options. Since different users will be using their drills for a range of applications, I did my best to include varying levels of power, with options that deliver 1 all the way up to 6.8 joules. Also, since rotary hammer drills are likely going to be used frequently, I made sure to only include trusted, well-known brands, and excluded any obscure options that, even though they’re a bit cheaper, just aren’t worth the risk of not being durable enough to do the job.