DEWALT 20V Max DCD771C2 Review: a no-nonsense cordless drill that just works

I’ve been using the DEWALT 20V Max DCD771C2 around the house and on a couple of small jobs for a few weeks now. I’m not a contractor, but I do a decent amount of DIY: shelves, assembling furniture, light framing, and the usual “can you fix this?” stuff from friends and family. I bought this kit because it came with two batteries, a charger, and a bag, and I wanted something simple that I could just toss in the car and go.

First impression: it feels like a straightforward, no-drama tool. It’s not tiny, but it’s compact enough that I can get into corners in cabinets and work one-handed on a ladder without feeling like I’m wrestling a brick. The 20V battery system is already pretty common, so if you’re in the DEWALT ecosystem, it fits right in. If you’re not, this kit is kind of a starter pack.

In practice, I used it for a few typical jobs: drilling pilot holes in studs for shelves, driving 3" screws into 2x4s, putting together flat-pack furniture, and drilling through some thin metal brackets. It handled all of that without drama. You can tell it’s not a heavy-duty construction drill, but for home and light jobsite stuff, it has enough power. I never felt like it was struggling on normal tasks.

It’s not perfect though. The included 1.3 Ah batteries are on the small side, the chuck is fine but not fancy, and there’s no belt hook or built-in bit storage in this kit. But overall, for the price and what it’s meant to do, it’s a pretty solid, practical drill that gets the job done without fuss.

In terms of value, this kit lands in a good spot. For the price, you’re getting the drill, two batteries, a charger, and a bag. If you try to piece that together separately—tool-only, plus two batteries, plus a charger—you usually end up paying more. So as an entry into the DEWALT 20V ecosystem or as a backup/house drill, it makes financial sense.

Compared to cheaper off-brand drills, you’re paying a bit more, but you’re getting better build quality, a more established battery platform, and easier compatibility if you add more tools later. Compared to higher-end DEWALT models with brushless motors and bigger batteries, you’re obviously saving money but losing some runtime and extra features. Honestly, for someone who just wants to tackle normal home projects and occasional heavier tasks, this balance is pretty fair.

The main place where the value takes a small hit is the 1.3 Ah batteries. They work, but they’re clearly the budget option in the 20V lineup. If DEWALT had included 2.0 Ah packs, this kit would be a no-brainer. That said, having two smaller batteries is still better than one bigger one if you don’t like downtime. And you can always upgrade to higher-capacity packs later while keeping these as backups.

Overall, I’d call the value good, not mind-blowing. You’re paying for a known brand, a reliable tool, and a complete ready-to-go package. If you’re just hanging a few pictures a year, it’s probably overkill. But if you’re regularly doing small projects, helping friends move and assemble furniture, or slowly upgrading your house, this kit gives you a dependable drill without feeling like you overspent on pro-level gear you’ll never fully use.

Design-wise, the DCD771C2 is pretty straightforward. It has the typical DEWALT yellow and black look, so nothing fancy or new there. The size is compact without being tiny. At around 3.6 pounds, it’s light enough for most people to use one-handed, but it still feels solid. I used it overhead for drywall anchors and on a ladder installing a curtain rod, and my arm didn’t feel cooked after a few minutes, which is already a win.

The handle shape is comfortable for my medium-sized hands. The rubber overmold has enough grip that it doesn’t feel slippery even if your hands are a bit sweaty or dusty. The forward/reverse switch is easy to hit with your thumb or index finger, and you can change direction with one hand while still holding the drill in place. That’s handy when you’re driving a screw and realize you went in crooked and want to back it out quickly.

The 1/2" keyless chuck tightens easily by hand; I never had a bit slip on me during regular work. It’s not the smoothest or most premium chuck I’ve used, but it does what it should. There’s a built-in LED work light above the trigger which helps in dim corners, like under a sink or inside a cabinet. It’s not super bright, but it’s enough to see your screw head or drill mark.

On the downside, there’s no belt clip included in this kit, and no magnetic bit holder or onboard bit storage. If you’re used to drills with a place to stash a couple of bits, you’ll miss that. Also, the drill is slightly nose-heavy with the smaller 1.3 Ah battery, which is not terrible but noticeable if you’re picky about balance. Still, for a basic design, it’s functional and easy to live with, with more focus on practicality than fancy features.

The kit comes with two 1.3 Ah 20V Max batteries, and this is where you need to be realistic. Each individual battery is on the small side compared to the newer 2.0 Ah or 4.0 Ah packs you see now. On a single 1.3 Ah battery, doing mixed work (some drilling, lots of screw driving), I was getting around 30–40 minutes of active use before it started to slow down. That’s not 40 minutes on the clock, that’s 40 minutes of actual trigger time spread over maybe a couple of hours.

The saving grace is that you get two batteries. In real use, I’d run one battery down while assembling furniture and hanging shelves, toss it on the charger, and swap to the second one. By the time the second one was low, the first was usually charged again or close to it. For home projects, that rotation works fine. For a full day on a jobsite, you’d probably want higher-capacity packs or extra spares.

The charger itself is basic but does the job. No fancy display, just a status light. Charge time for a dead 1.3 Ah battery is roughly under an hour in my experience, which is acceptable. The batteries clip in and out of the drill and charger smoothly; I never had to wrestle with them. They also hold their charge well when left unused. I left one sitting in the bag for over a week, and it still performed like normal when I picked it up.

If you already own other DEWALT 20V Max tools with bigger batteries, you’ll be happier using those on this drill for longer sessions. But even with the included 1.3 Ah packs, for typical home use—weekend projects, occasional repairs, quick jobs here and there—the overall battery setup is workable. It’s not impressive, but with two packs in the box, it’s practical and better than the single-battery kits at a similar price.

Build quality feels pretty solid for the price point. The drill housing is mostly tough plastic with rubber overmold in the right spots. I’ve already knocked it off a step (about 3–4 feet) onto a concrete garage floor by accident. It picked up a couple of scuffs but kept working exactly the same, no weird noises, no wobble in the chuck. That’s usually my unofficial durability test: if it survives my clumsiness, it’s fine.

The chuck still runs true after several uses with both small and larger bits. No noticeable wobble or looseness. The gear selector for the two speeds still clicks positively into place, and the clutch ring hasn’t gotten sloppy. Those are usually the first things that feel cheap on lower-end drills, and here they seem reasonably sturdy. The LED still works, trigger is smooth, no sticking or dead spots after repeated use.

The batteries and contacts also seem robust. I’ve swapped batteries a bunch of times, and nothing feels loose or fragile. The pack casing is hard plastic; I wouldn’t throw them across a jobsite, but they feel like they can handle normal use and the occasional drop. DEWALT gives a 3-year limited warranty, which at least tells me they expect these to last more than a season.

I wouldn’t call this a heavy-duty, abuse-all-day-on-a-commercial-site drill, but for homeowners, DIYers, and light professional tasks, it feels up to the job. If you take basic care of it—don’t leave it out in the rain, don’t use it as a hammer, don’t store it with metal shavings jammed in the chuck—it should easily last several years. So far, nothing about it feels fragile or cheap, just straightforward and work-ready.

In terms of raw performance, this drill sits in a sweet spot for what most people actually do. I used it for driving 3" wood screws into 2x4 studs when putting up a small storage shelf in the garage. On low speed with the clutch set high, it drove them in cleanly without bogging down. I didn’t have to pre-drill every hole, though for cleaner work I still prefer to. For furniture assembly (Ikea-style stuff and some Amazon cabinets), it was almost overkill, so I dropped the clutch way down to avoid stripping screws.

Drilling-wise, I tested it on wood, drywall, and thin metal. In wood, using spade bits up to about 1" and standard twist bits, it handled everything fine. In drywall, it’s obviously easy. In thin metal brackets, I just used a bit of cutting oil and took my time; the drill didn’t complain. I wouldn’t use this as a dedicated metalworking drill, but for brackets, shelves, and hardware, it’s totally fine.

The two-speed transmission actually matters here: low speed (0–450 RPM) gives you more control and torque for driving screws, and high speed (up to 1,500 RPM) is better for drilling. The trigger is easy to modulate, so you can start slowly and ramp up. I never felt like the drill was fighting me or jumping around. Noise level is reasonable for a cordless drill; it’s not quiet, but it’s not painfully loud either. You can talk over it.

Where it shows its limits is in heavier tasks. If you try to sink big lag screws into dense lumber all day or drill large holes with hole saws non-stop, you’re going to feel it working hard, and the small batteries won’t last long. For normal home use, though—shelves, TV mounts, cabinets, light framing, basic repairs—the performance is more than enough and feels dependable. It’s basically a solid, honest mid-range drill that covers 90% of what the average person needs.

This kit is pretty simple: you get the DCD771 20V Max drill/driver, two 20V Max 1.3 Ah lithium-ion batteries, a basic DEWALT charger, and a soft zippered bag. No drill bits, no fancy accessories, just the core stuff you actually need to start working. The bag is not rigid, more like a tough fabric tool bag. It fits the drill, both batteries, the charger, and a small box of bits if you want to throw that in too.

The drill itself has a 1/2-inch keyless chuck, which is nice because you can use bigger bits when needed. It’s got a two-speed gearbox (0–450 RPM and 0–1,500 RPM), and a typical 16-position clutch plus drill mode. The trigger is variable speed, so you can feather it for delicate work like starting screws in soft wood or tightening cabinet hardware without stripping it.

One thing to be clear about: this is a basic drill/driver, not a hammer drill. If you plan to drill into concrete or brick regularly, this isn’t the right tool. It’s meant for wood, drywall, plastics, and light metal, and in that range it’s comfortable. The listed power is 300 UWO and up to around 530–650 in-lbs of torque depending on whose numbers you look at, which is plenty for most home tasks but not for serious structural lag bolts all day long.

Overall, the kit feels like a starter or backup setup. You get enough to actually work right away, but you’ll still need to buy your own bit set. For someone equipping a first house, or as a general-purpose drill you keep in the car or at a second property, this package makes sense and stays reasonably priced compared to buying the tool, batteries, and charger separately.