Even if you’re highly motivated, doing jobs around the home can be a bit of a pain, especially if you’re working with an age-old rusty toolkit and having to do everything manually.

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Well, there’s good news here – more tools than you might think can now be reliably motorised to take a load off your back, including a wide range of excellent electric screwdrivers. These great little tools aren’t too high-powered but can save you loads of time as you work, so if you’re looking to pick up a great one, look no further: we’ve gathered the very best.

Best electric screwdriver: Our top picks

We’ve used Bosch’s sixth-generation IXO extensively and have found it to be a reliable and convenient companion for a variety of household tasks. It’s one of the nicest-looking electric screwdrivers around, too, if you care about such things.

A built-in light makes things easier when working in tight spaces, and an array of the most common bits is included in the box. Recharging is handled by micro USB, which keeps things simple, although USB-C would have made things feel a little more modern.

It can be used with a variety of optional attachments, which can add drilling and torque setting functionality or even allow it to be used as a corkscrew or spice mill – it doesn’t get much more versatile than that.

Skil’s screwdriver is another great option, reasonably priced and with a bunch of smart design decisions that mean you won’t feel like you’re cutting too many corners by saving some money.

It’s gun-shaped for easy handling, and it’s got great torque. This screwdriver from Skil should get you through a whole bunch of screws on a charge, making it a great fit for any DIY jobs you plan. If you know and trust Skil’s other products, this is a great addition to the roster.

Letting you hold it in either a straight grip or pistol orientation, this is a great screwdriver from the distinctive design minds at DeWalt, with some smart touches that make it great to use. These include an LED to illuminate your target, a battery life indicator to make sure you’re not caught out, and variable speed control.

That said, it’s also a pretty pricey model, so you might find that if you’re only planning the odd job, it’s not a completely necessary expense.

On the very simple and very cheap end of the spectrum is this little electric screwdriver from Black + Decker, which pares back some of the bells and whistles of other models to just give you an assist when you’re screwing things in.

It’s nicely priced and a great option for most people who don’t do much DIY; plus, you still get some useful features like the extension shaft you can see on it above and an LED to help guide you. For the price, it’s hard to beat this.

Of course, you might want a more complicated device, and this Worx screwdriver is impressive for how much it adds without going crazy on the price. One such addition is a screw holder attachment that can help if you find yourself slipping off your screw as you work – it’ll hold it in place for you.

That makes it super easy to use one-handed, while it’s also got more bits stored in the barrel and a battery that should last you through all but the most complicated and long-term of jobs. Plus, while it’s stored, it should stay charged for up to 18 months, meaning you can forget about it and still rely on it having power.

The bottom line: What is the best electric screwdriver?

We can’t see past the Bosch IXO 6 for most people, which is why it’s come out on top of our list – this is a great, modern little screwdriver that looks sleek and impressive, but also has the power to be genuinely useful. Still, the option we’ve included from Skil holds its own, too – for one major reason: value. There’s a lot to be said for offering most of the features at a lower price, and it’s great to see that this is an option in the electric screwdriver market.

How did we pick these electric screwdrivers?

There’s no substitute for using a tool to see how good it is, and wherever possible, we’ve tried out these screwdrivers to see how they stand up to each other – although comparing power levels and user reviews is also a really great way to get a sense for their relative merits. While design isn’t that important when you’re talking about something utilitarian, like a screwdriver, it’s still a bonus if the unit looks nice while it’s being stored, too.

What should you know before buying an electric screwdriver?

So many tool brands now use unified batteries and chargers across their whole ranges, so if you’re already a big fan of a certain toolmaker, we’d start by recommending you check out its own electric screwdriver in the first instance. If it doesn’t make one, our list is a great place to start checking out alternatives.

Make sure you know what screw heads the driver will come with since that could leave you scuppered if it’s not quite the selection you were expecting, and having a good sense of its power levels will help to avoid any burnouts with screws that are just too tight for it to extract (which should be rare!).