Bosch PS40-2A 12-Volt, This tool rocks!

Overall Rating3.673.673.673.673.67

This tool rocks!

Within 10 minutes this awesome little tool became my absolute favorite item in the shop. I do a lot of quick and dirty assembly of things out of 2×4s and 3″ drywall screws. Before I had this driver, I used a drill to drive those screws. Every time I did, by the time I was done my wrist would be killing me. Why? Because to drive a long phillips head screw through 2 2×4s you have to push really hard on the drill to keep it engaged with the head of the screw. And even then, it would often strip the screw head and/or fail to sink the screw all the way.

Now enter the ps40-2a. With this thing I can drive 3″ drywall screws all day long, and I can hold the tool with two fingertips when I do it. I’m not kidding. 2 fingertips and no pressure is all that’s required to hold this tool in place while it pounds your screws through the wood effortlessly.

It surprised me at first that this thing is slower than a drill. It is also quite loud when the hammer action engages (I use ear protection with it). But neither of those things is enough to dampen my 5 star rating. If you ever have to drive long screws into wood and know what I’m talking about with hurt wrists from pushing on your regular drill, then order this thing today. You’ll be so glad you did.

Update (5/18/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Bosch PS40-2A 12-Volt Max Lithium-Ion Impact Driver Tools & Hardware, was written by mix whit.

The average rating for this item is 3.7 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

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Reviews (3)

M. Killam

February 3rd, 2010 at 11:25 pm    


Overall Rating33333

Nice, but makes a lot of noise to make up for its lack of speed and power
I bought this for work, not just light weekend duty. I’m a bit disappointed with its lack of speed, power, and the amount of noise it makes. It has so little power that you can grip a normal bit driver chuck in your hand and it will begin to ratchet the impact drive. It won’t drive a 3″ screw fully into pressure treated framing lumber, at least not within a time span I was willing to wait. Plus, it’s not much lighter than a normal lithium ion makita 18v or panasonic 14.4v impact driver. With either of those a 3″ screw can usually be driven ~3/4 of the way in before it even starts to impact drive, and at probably twice the speed.

Another annoyance is the trigger, which binds up a bit if your finger is not square to it and if you don’t put pressure on it perfectly straight back. If your finger is just on the lower edge the trigger will twist a bit and bind up, not wanting to push in. This is particularly annoying when driving screws above your head or any odd angle where you’re not easily able to hold the driver with your hand/arm straight back. Also, the trigger/driver is not as sensitive as some other drivers I’ve used, especially panasonic’s. The trigger lightly depressed will turn on the LED lighting, but there’s no super slow speed which makes rotating your screwdriver bit to line up with a screw (especially slotted screws) a real pain.

Not to say this is a bad product, as overall it’s a nice little set. The size is nice and the battery life is pretty good and fast charging, plus the soft carrying case is small and handy. It’s also about half the cost as other drivers I’ve used. I just wish there had been a review where someone had compared this driver to a more serious product.


Seth Meyers

February 15th, 2010 at 8:16 am    


Overall Rating33333

Tries hard, finds subject difficult
I’m reluctantly posting a 3 star rating for this tool. I want to like it. I love my other Bosch tools cordless and corded alike — the ps30a driver drill is lovely for example.

But this impact driver is just not quite torquey enough to justify its existence.

I hate changing bits, so usually I set my drill up for pre-drilling and my impact driver up with a screw-bit.

I bought the impact driver because I wanted a better screwgun than the PS30a driver-drill — impact does a better job knocking in those 2 or 3″ screws. The impact feature should keep the bit in more reliably (which it does, actually), the quick release bit holder is nice, but the increased torque is the main factor.

And the torque is just not there.

My previous drill / impact driver setup was a NiMH 12v Makita combo They were awesome for what they were. I never really felt compelled to upgrade to the 14.4v or the 18v — I’d just move to a corded drill for those rare occasions that my 12v Makitas couldn’t hack it.

I had them for 8 years before the batteries and the battery terminal contacts started flaking out on me.

Given that the batteries are like 75% of the cost of the tool, I figured time to upgrade.

The Bosch ps30a driver drill is great as drill — the sharpness of your drillbits is as important that the actual torque of the drill and the 2-speed range usually takes care of business. I’d expect trouble with a hole-saw or a big spade-bit but other than that it hasn’t let me down. But the PS40a Impact driver is weak. Is this because it’s not really 12v (it’s really 10v?) while my old Makita NiMH was a legit 12v? I don’t know.

All I know is I am a little sad, because in all other ways, I like the Bosch. It’s a nice neat ergonomically decent package. The new LiOn batteries are tiny, last pretty well, recharge quickly. The tool is high quality all around, tight, well made, with that Bosch feel you have come to love. It’s very small, very light, lovely to hold and behold. The case is nice, for a soft-case, with intelligently designed elastic and velcro straps.

But there I was on Thursday morning, hacking together a quick bench for unexpected thanksgiving overflow, and I was struggling driving 2″ smooth-coated screws into spruce.

Now, I’m not going to move up to the Bosch 18v because it’s just too bulky and heavy for my preference. I may just get my Makita repaired, though.


mix whit

February 20th, 2010 at 4:23 pm    


Overall Rating55555

This tool rocks!
Rated 5 stars.


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