Side by Side Comparison of: Black & Decker vs BLACK+DECKER vs General Tools

This is a most amazing little power screwdriver (and drill) It fits in small places, has enough power and charge to put together pieces of furniture or do home projects and has a wonderful charging station that also holds its many screwdriver tips. Of all of the small units like this, I feel this one is the best (and I have looked). I give this as a house warming gift and am always hugely thanked by the homeowner once they need to use it.My favorite experience is when I had a major renovation of my office. The contractor came with their larger drills/drivers. He teased me about my "mini me" until he saw how I could keep up and get into tighter places. He ended up asking if he could borrow it for those tight places and said he planned to get one for his own use.As an extra bonus as a present I often supplement it with a set of hex shank drill bit tips such asBastex, 13pc 1/4" Hex Shank Titanium Coated...

I originally purchased this same tool a couple of years ago for my brother as a Christmas gift. He used it daily. It's great for any "around the house" work and he also used it for larger projects. Just to be clear, it was in HEAVY use daily. It stopped charging after about a year so that's when I bought this one. Works as it should and I'm sure he will get another couple of years out of this one. This is a good tool for anyone who doesn't want to carry anything super heavy. The light and guide makes it worth the money!!!

Great for little jobs around the house, surprisingly powerful torque. The magnetic screw holder is way more useful than I thought it was going to be and it holds large and small screws evenly. LED light is blue for some strange reason, I would have preferred just a regular white LED, but it gets the job done

Handy tool to have! I am not a fan of the time it takes to use a manual screwdriver on delicate items or projects or when using wall anchors and this solved my conundrum. It has enough power for tough items like wall anchors yet it is delicate enough to use on projects needing a light touch like an outlet cover. It is extremely easy to use and is a great product for the inexpensive cost. With the brand name of Black + Decker I wouldn’t expect any less. It is very easy to switch bits and the charger can sit on a surface or be hung on the wall. I cannot find any cons for this screwdriver. If you are looking for a small tool that has the power of a drill, this is not what you are looking for; it is to be used as a replacement for a manual screwdriver.

I love this handy little screwdriver, which I have had for a few months now! I am a real girly girl so for me saying this means a lot. I have used it for many things - putting up curtains, putting furniture together, hanging up décor, etc. It's charge holds up pretty well and I enjoy using this! It beats the manual screwdriver. I would definitely recommend! Comes with basic bits and pieces which all fit my needs. Also comes with its own charger.

Super handy little screwdriver! I'm a female with small hands, with a husband with much larger hands, and it works well for both of us. It's not overly heavy, charges well, and does a really great job for all the honey-do's around the house. The LED light is very handy and a smart addition to the screwdriver. I really wanted a cordless screwdriver that had a reasonable amount of power, and the Black and Decker Lithium Ion Screwdriver is exactly that. It has plenty of torque for household jobs, so I'm not sure why other reviewers have complained that it isn't strong enough.

I like the style of this tool. I do not like the pistol grip type. I feel I get a better grip on the screw when I use this straight tool. It is easy to lock the blade and use hand power to turn if need be. I like replaceable batteries as I have thrown away appliances because a battery will not hold a charge and that does not seem right. I can use alkaline batteries if I want or I can get Ni-cad , or NIMH if I want. I can get Lithium if I want to. the choice is mine to make depending on my needs and my willingness to part with cash. For most screws it is power enough. If I need a Torque Wrench that is a different tool for a different need. I won't break off screws like my driver drill does with this and It will be handy in more times and more places. Oh and the price is right.

Lightweight, easy to use, convenient, comes with Phillips and Slotted tips plus 4 Alkaline batteries installed at the lowest price I could find anywhere. It's not the most powerful tool out there, but then it's designed to be a better screwdriver, not a drill or screwgun. I have used it on my scooter and around the house and I like the fact that it does not spin too fast, so that I don't over tighten and strip screws out like I did with my screwgun.

My husband had a set of B&D screw bits but the original handle would not hold the tips in place. Hated to waste all those different sizes and kinds so I purchased this cordless model and it works great with all the bits.

This is great I have rechargeable AA batteries if I did not have rechargeable batteries I would not like it batteries are expensive it is good for all those household jobs to get screws in without turning by hand, and finish by hand with screw driver.

Black & Decker AS6NG Alkaline Cordless Screwdriver has plenty of torque to screw or unscrew most anything I need as my loss of hand co-ordination has made that very difficult and this driver does good and even 'LOCKS' for the really tough jobs. I use ENELOOP rechargeable cells to run this cool tool.

Nice in the hand and comes with a semi-handy charging base. I wish the cord could unplug, then i could carry the base with its embedded bits along. The direction switch is so loose that you must check every time to make sure it will turn and turn in the right direction.When you pull the trigger, a blue LED comes on -- too late to actually see to get the bit on targer in a dark spot.

The product seems to perform as described. Unfortunately, I also purchased the Black & Decker Double Ended Bits only to discover in the instruction manual that double ended screwdriver bits are not to be used. Advertising and/or product/quality control seem to increasingly be a problem with Amazon.

I am not going to soft soap the readers or Black and Decker. There is a lot more market out there for the strong, lighter, and portable drills such as this product. It will not help to get the lug nuts off your flat tire,or many other force driven tasks in daily life. The things you can use it for around the house or home, even in hobbies is numerous. It is quieter, smaller, lighter, easier to manipulate in tight places. This product was used this week end to hang a couple of florescent lights, drill holes for Molly's, and adorned with buffing and steel wire brushes to clean up a stove.not a complaint no burning armature smell, amble room in the provided case. The screw holder attachment worked well as did the tool's versatility. The price was less than many of the behemoth herculean drills, but as in this case, bigger is not always better, and sometimes you need only enough force to do a job.Sincerely, Bruce Puckett

I am giving this 3 stars even though I haven't used it yet due to lack of info on the drill bits and misrepresentation from Amazon on ones to use. Amazon shows that others when purchasing this item purchased the double ended bits...well after reading the instructions with screwdriver it says NOT TO USE DOUBLE ENDED BITS. So just wanted to give a heads up about this.Addition as of 5/13...Now that I have used it, I am very pleased with how it works for my arthritic hands. Except for the drill bit info above, it is a good little cordless driver.

I purchased this drill based on the other reviews. We needed something that was compact to have in our RV for those little things that need repair. It works perfectly for this. Thought purchased here at Amazon, you can see it in person at some Wally World stores. The only complaint I can find is that its NOT a variable speed drill. Pull the trigger and it spins in one speed. Has a great light for those dark areas you drill, like inside cabinets, etc. Worth the money if not used daily. Not sure how much abuse it can take.

Though i bought this item long ago over 6 months now) I waited to write a review since I did not put it to use until recent. The product is good for its ratings torque and battery back up) but the screw holder is not much of use. It is good for normal house hold DIY but does not have much torque. Also remember: the Li battery does not give you an indication of decreasing battery power but just goes dead almost instantaneously. It is normal for Li battery. Overall product is not bad for the price. It is light, quick charging and handy.

This little puppy is actually better than I thought it would be. It has enough power to impress me, that is with batteries at full charge. I replaced some screws that were longer and this little thing pushed them through the wood pretty good. I really like the collar lock which locks it so it can be used as a regular screwdriver to finish the last little bit. I have to take a star off because why would they not find someway to include a place for the other bit! I am using rubber bands to attach the second drill bit and it looks kind of crummy and is inconvenient. I also do not see any place on Amazon where I can get additional drill bits in this size. But all in all this is a pretty good tool.

I'm happy with this product. The best feature is the AA battery power source instead of using a rechargeable one. I don't like to leave a power tool plugged in at all time for many reasons and if I don't, I risk a possibility of low-power battery when I need it. The driving power is adequate and the batteries do last quite a long time. I gave it it a 4-star instead of 5 because there is room for improvement such as magnetized bit holder and or including a long bit.

The old "kitchen" version of this tool had a much longer socket, so that the one bit was a reversible slotted and Philips screwdriver blade. This tool has a much shorter socket, so the reversible blade wobbles badly, and there is no way to store or attach the second (slotted or Philips) blade, ensuring it will get lost. That's really just bad product design. The good news is that it still works well--as long as you can find the right bits for it and keep them attached somehow.

This is a great tool. Got one many years ago as a gift from my (then) little girls. Since I do a lot of building, repair and maintenance, I use a lot of bigger and more powerful tools so, although I really appreciated the thought, I didn't think much of the tool. After a couple of months I used it and since that time it's become a staple I've used for years for handling small jobs. I love the tool. Alas, the girls are both juniors in college and I brought the screwdriver up to campus to do some fixing. Ended up leaving it with one of them and it was only a short time later that I really missed it. I bought another one and used it only a few days later. I had to laugh at some of the reviews criticizing the tool by those who probably don't use it properly for light work. Use it for light jobs and it's a great tool, just don't expect to drive screws through two by fours. I also love the fact that it's not tied to a charger so I can just keep it in my tool kit and use it whenever needed. As to battery life, I've got no complaints.

The speed of this screwdriver is fine. It even came loaded with batteries. The chuck lock is good when you need more torque than the motor can provide, or if the batteries just run out while you're working. The controls are clear. Can't tell yet about the battery life, but using alkalines will solve one problem--NiCads and NiMH batteries discharging in storage.

Only one thing I would change to get this a five-star rating. Either find a place to store the second bit on the screwdriver, or include, instead of two bits, a reversable bit that can be kept in the chuck all the time. I had one like that on a Skill screwdriver about 25 years ago. Can't find it now, though.

I am on my second LI4000. The first one failed, failing to hold a charge after 2 years. The device is not designed to be disassembled and uses a modified 18650 battery that cannot be replaced. It's a shame. They could have designed it to take 18650's from the start, with little change to the handle, and made it a much more useful tool. I purchased the LI4000 along with the WEN 49036 and I prefer to use the LI4000 because the torque range is a little more sane. I also prefer the charging stand to the barrel adapter used in the WEN. I find the blue LED and the magnetic holder useless. They would have done better to provide a white LED and a charge indicator like the WEN has.I also really despise the plastic packaging used by the B+D. The WEN comes in a basic cardboard box. Perfect. The plastic packaging is horrible stuff.

It does the job, but awkward to use in tight places. Magnetic screw holder good for flat wall application.

Handy for some applications but don't bother buying bits for it- no chuck/way to use anything other than screwdriver bits...

This is a handy screwdriver and the screw holder is very helpful especially when driving screws into small, tight places. It has a good lasting battery and good torque for its size. The annoying art is that every time you lay it on its side the button that controls turn direction (forward or back) pushes itself to the middle so it won't turn unless you push the button to the direction you want.

I very much liked the concept and when it was new it was great. I've had it for a little over a year for computer work as I knew it was to used be for light duty work. All tolled, I've probably used it 100 times in this time period for several minutes with no high torque demands. It's extremely disappointing that with such little use and always on the charging cradle when not in use, I now barely have enough battery life to remove 4 screws from a computer HDD or power supply. I've always been impressed with Black and Decker products but I'm very disappointed and displeased with this one. Adding insult to injury, Black and Decker will not respond to my request for help with the product.

Got this to use when working on smaller projects. My regular cordless drill/driver is a monster compared to this. But this one is ideal for the little stuff around the house. It even has a blue "headlight" and a cool little arm that comes out to hold screws while you, well, screw them! :p Nice little selection of bits, too, mounted on the charger.UPDATE: (Bought this in April 2014. It quit around Nov/Dec 2015. Didn't bother with any warranty, as those usually cost you as much in shipping as a new unit.) Originally gave it 5 stars. Now I feel I'm generous at 3 stars.Like many of the others who have reviewed this product, the battery or charger stopped working very well. I actually took mine apart and put a new 3.7 v battery in it. But the problem in my case is the charger. So... I could maybe find another charger for almost as much as the whole kit, buy another LI4000 complete, or just get something else. I'm thinking... something else.

exactly what its meant for. Its a screwdriver - it functions as one. Cons - no rechargeable battery pack you can purchase, its very loud for what it is, and a bit bulky/heavy (again, for what it is). Other than that - its worth $8.

If I could just get a bit more torque and a quality gear set, I would gladly pay a couple dollars more. This thing died within the first use trying to break a screw loose on a computer motherboard post mount (ie, didn't need a lot of torque to break loose, but it still shredded the gearset inside), now it has 0 torque to break any bit loose, but it will still work if you break the screw loose manually, which is still really handy.

Powerful motor. I'm accustomed to a pistol grip from a discontinued screwdriver. It's very bulky and heavy... not for tight places. It does come with batteries... that's great. That it doesn't have to be recharged is a blessing for people who use it only occasionally. Forget to put it back on the charger and you're up the creek! The AA cells work out very well and they last.

The thing I REALLY don't like is that there is no place to store an extra bit. Most often I have to switch from a blade bit to a Philips bit and back. Putting a bit in your pocket is OK for people with good memories, but my bit will end up in the dryer or washer. A slight gripping indentation on the case could easily solve the problem.

The 10-piece bit set they group with this screwdriver as "Frequently Bought Together" do not fit the screwdriver! And the bits they DO include with the screwdriver are on the large size, too large for the smaller sizes of screws you would expect to be the target for a screwdriver this size.
03/27/2015 - I can't find anywhere, even on the B&D website, where you can order other sizes of driver bits. And as I see on other reviews, it would have been nice to provide some kind of dock holes in the handle to keep the bits in, but no... oh well... whaddya want, for $10 ?

I bought this from Amazon ($9) back during the holidays to help me with assembling a kidcraft children's play kitchen. Did a great job with this assembly. The nice thing about this screw driver was that it came with batteries and was able to perform as described - screwing in screws that don't require alot of torque. It also offered the option to lock the screwdriver so that it can be used manually.

Fast forward 3 months - purchased a toddler bed and went to drawer for the black n decker to assist. This time around, the job proved too much for the rotund orange and black power tool. The torque was more than the tool could handle. After setting it to go manual, I had put her back into the drawer and replaced it with my old fashioned handy craftsman screwdriver to finish the job.

A little disappointed, but I think you'd be ok if you don't have high expectations.

This showed a lot of promise - the size was perfect for tight spots, the light was neat. Points I thought were stupid - different settings for screw length that didn't do anything useful, the screw holder that doesn't hold screws quite enough to work well. Reason mine is going in the trash today - the battery holds enough charge for about 15 seconds of light work, after extremely rare use over two years. It's junk without power.

UPDATE 3/17: Battery completely died after 16 months

I bought this September 2014 and now (December 2016) it will not hold a charge. I was able to pry it open but the battery was not a standard battery. So I am tossing it. I have a Black & Decker AS6NG Alkaline Cordless Screwdriver and I used rechargeable batteries in it. So if the batteries die during a project, I just replace them. With this model, if the batteries die during a project, this is not available until it can be recharged. Other than the battery issue (a serious one, since without the batteries, it does not work) it's was a good design. I only used this for occasional projects around my house.

This is very easy to use and works well until you've had it for a few months and the battery stops holding a charge. We have used it very infrequently, keeping it on the charger all of the time. However, after less than two years it only holds enough charge to maybe put in one screw.

This smaller Lithium powered version promises much but does not deliver. Battery life is horrible, after screwing in less than a dozen screws it is exhausted. Left on the charger cradle, the battery soon began losing capacity to the point it will no longer even drive in one screw. The (admittedly larger, similarly priced) previous generation Ni-cad unit could easily handle 10 times as many screws, had much more torque, and removed from the charger after recharges lasted several years. Wish I could buy another of the older generation. This one's prime usage seems to be someone with a small hand who just needs to do a couple of screws occasionally and throws it in a drawer til exhausted - which won't be long... :(

I had an old True Value brand electric screwdriver and it was time to replace it so I bought the B&D LI4000. It has features that are important to me that other electric screwdrivers don't have. I like the increased torque and magnetic screw guide/holder. But the most important thing to me is the wall mountable tool holder / charging unit. I like having everything together and not having to search the house for all the bits & parts.UPDATEIt is now almost two years since I bought this driver and now even when fully charged there isn't enough power to change out license plates on the car. With just 4 short screws to run out and in it barely managed to do three. I had to finish the job with my old True Value screwdriver. I'm not at all happy with this cuz I expected way better performance from a Li Ion powered tool. Wrong!

I like a lot of things about it, and it seemed rugged. Perhaps I took things a little too far trying to tighten some 3/8" bolts with it. In either case, it appears that some gear or something inside must have stripped. It has absolutely no torque anymore, and it just slips ineffectually at the first sign of resistance.

I ran it with Eneloop rechargeable batteries and it worked fine. I would return it, but I guess it was sort of my fault that it's broken considering the larger hardware I was trying to use it on. Either way, I'm slightly less than impressed with it.

As others have said, this comes with 2 short stubby bits, with no place to store the one not in use, so it's never there when you need it.

And the hole where you insert the bit isn't deep enough to be able to use any 2-sided bits. UNBELIEVABLY STUPID DESIGN!

I do like the idea of using AA batteries, as the rechargeable batteries have always failed on other B&D screwdrivers I've used. All they had to do was make the bit hole 1/8" longer. How is it possible that no one realized this during product development?

I love this product. The only issue I had was that the double drill bits that are suggested to purchase with this do not fit. The bits for this are PH-1. The double sided bits in the multi pack are PH-2. I have tried every which way to get these to fit. They will not. So not buy the double sided bits suggested by Amazon.

Very disappointed with Amazon on its handing of selling of this item and not so happy with the item itself. Saw this product while searching for small powered screwdrivers on Amazon listed for $9.73 sold by Amazon, figured 10 dollars not a bad deal, put it in the shopping cart. Came back a couple of days later to finish my shopping order and price went up to $14.48. Not noticing that the seller was switched on me, I completed my purchase and received the product today.
Looking at the poor construction of the item (next paragraph) I went to the Amazon product page and there was the item selling for $9.73 which I paid $14.48 for????? Very disappointed with Amazon on this, but you live and learn that you have to constantly watch what you do.
The screwdriver is not comfortable in the hand despite what another reviewer ay have said and I am a male with large hands. I can hardly believe the picture of the woman using it whose hands are smaller than mine. There is no lock on the drive, you have to constantly keep pressure on the drive button to power the screw driver.
The outer holder where you insert the battery compartment is extremely poorly made and came apart on me when I removed the battery compartment and I had to super glue and pressure the casing together to be able to reinsert the battery compartment. Of course in the doing of this the inner lip of the softer plastic outer casing was caught in the re-insertion of the battery compartment and a piece was hanging out. Getting out the file I had to smooth this down to get the battery compartment to fit properly.
Comment made about the bits being loose and easy to lose was very appropriate.

I had this for about a day and a half. I figured oh nice! At first. After using it in the inside of my car I switched it to manual mode to lock a screw in tight. Applied a little force and pop. There went the locking mechanism. Figured oh well I can't use it in locked mode I'll just use it in the powered mode. Which it did work for about another 20 min when from there once the screw was in with a little resistance, You could hear the motor but the tip wouldn't screw it was almost as if the teeth that grab the rotating tip were too weak to handle the pressure (which was hardly anything). Fortunately I got a refund. As it's completely useless now. So it may work but make sure that you only use it for very very light projects. Not even semi hard ones.

The charging dock that came with the drill was damaged. The cord was detached from the charging dock.

No power compacompared to other black and Decker electric screwdriver. This is best for very small projects that do now need long screws like mini blinds.

This barely has the power to do anything, even putting together furniture was a slog. I should really have known but I wanted something light and easy to use. The pilot hole attachment was the worst, when reversing the drill bit the attachment kept coming loose of the drill, leaving me to take it out myself. So sorry I didn't return. Also the drill attachments the amazon 'suggests' you bundle this with don't fit.

I'm so disappointed. I bought this to install blinds but it is absolutely useless. I was really happy that it's very compact and light but I guess that also meant weak motor. I screwed in by hand. It was tough but it was doable and I'm a girl. I would return it if i hadn't thrown away the package it came with. It had really good review so I didn't think twice about it. I don't know what I'm gonna do with it... sigh..

Bought this item beginning of August and just got the chance to use it recently. It was a hassle to take it out of the packaging. Waited a while for it to charge.When I tried it, surprise! The switch is broken. So now it's always on and spinning and the only way to make it stop is to lock the rotation. If you buy this, make sure to check that it's working properly. I should have checked this a lot sooner

I returned this. Don't know if I had a defective product, or this is as the product is, but it didn't have any power to it. It worked fine for a simple screwjob, which we could easily have done by hand with a screwdriver. When attemtping to hang a floating shelf onto the wall, this electric screwdriver didn't have enough power.It's worth purchasing something more powerful.I returned it.

There isn't enough tork to be useful. The collet unscrews itself again moderate friction. I used it on ceder, a soft wood, and any knots were an obstruction to this weak tork

Had one years ago was great until my son borrowed it. But this one broke first time using it. Was replacing my license plate cover when it was to tough for the power so I locked it and one twist pop no more lock and lack of power pretty much useless.

Broke after a few uses, can't set it to be fixed screwdriver anymore and the motor turning setting doesn't work anymore either.

When it did work it worked very weakly and slowly, and couldn't handle much. I always wanted to take out my corded drill instead, and only used this when it would be inconvenient to keep switching drill bits.

As this screwdriver is past the date for a refund, very dissatisfied.

Beware this item doesn't come with a charger. Also when I purchased it there was no indication that a charger is bought with it. I bought it in online to save time and ended up with a product I need to spend some time figuring out how to charge it. Hopefully it's easy!

this thing is so terrible it came with a drill tool and screw set in that order.It did not do a great job for me. This drill is battery operated so please do not buy this drill because it will not put up curtains, It will not drill like you want it, it will unscrew not all things, it will not basically do the great work for you .a waste of time placing the order for this during drill