1. Makita DTD153 — the one most DIYers should buy
For most people reading this, the DTD153 is the one to buy. The DeWalt is the stronger tool taken on its own; the Makita is the better buy for a home shed, and here’s the case. It puts out 170Nm of torque — torque being the twisting force behind the bit — and in the shed that already drives batten screws into framing pine, sinks coach bolts, and handles what a house project throws up. It’s the lighter of the two at 0.9kg as a skin against the DeWalt’s 1.09kg, and two hundred grams stops being nothing the moment you’re driving screws overhead under a deck frame for an afternoon. At 126mm nose to tail it slips into the back corner of a cabinet where a drill jams against the side.
The reason it wins is the platform behind it. LXT runs past 300 tools and it’s the deepest serious cordless range going — every tool you add later runs off the battery you bought for this one, the DIY range around it is broad and easy to shop, and the DTD153 skin costs less up front than the DeWalt to begin with. Start fresh as a DIYer and that’s the cheaper, broader place to land. We’ve laid out the full platform argument — battery costs, warranties, who each suits — in our battery platform comparison, and it’s the first thing to read if you haven’t picked a side.
Two honest catches keep it from running away with the page. It’s a single-mode tool with no low-speed setting, so you ride the trigger to control it — fine most of the time, but it asks more of your hand on a small screw into soft material. And its light is one LED off to the side, which works but throws a shadow off the bit up close. (Matt: the driver’s a ten-year buy and the battery system’s a twenty-year one. For most people without a platform yet, LXT is the broader, cheaper bet, and the DTD153 is more driver than a home project needs.)
2. DeWalt DCF860N — the better tool, for heavy fastening or XR owners
Taken on its own the DCF860N is the stronger tool, and it lands just behind because it’s the pricier, more specialised buy. It puts out 282Nm against the Makita’s 170 — on paper a hammering, and in practice the headroom for the heavy stuff: big structural bolts, lag screws into hardwood, the fastening a renovation only occasionally reaches for. For most home use the Makita’s number is already past what you’ll spend; if you fasten heavy, this is the one with grunt to spare.
Its quieter advantage doesn’t shout from the box: three speeds where the Makita has one. A gentle 141Nm setting for small screws and soft material, a middle 242Nm step, and the full 282Nm when you want it. That low mode is the useful part — drive a small screw into a cabinet hinge on a single-speed impact and it’s easy to bury it or snap the head, and the DeWalt eases off so you don’t. The light is a clearer win too: a ring of three LEDs around the chuck, 82 lumens, laying even light around the bit with no hard shadow. It’s heavier at 1.09kg, and the XR platform is excellent gear that runs dearer across the board and leans professional rather than weekend-shed. (Joel: it’s the better tool and it’s not even my colour — three speeds, more torque and a better light. Put both in front of me with no batteries in the house and I’d take the DeWalt and use that low mode every day.)
One catch hits both the same way. The sharpest online prices on each are usually “plain packaging” parallel imports — stock brought in outside the official Australian channel — and those may carry no local warranty at all. Makita now covers its skin for five years if you register at MyMakita within 30 days (three if you don’t); DeWalt offers three with MyDEWALT inside four weeks — but either way that cover generally attaches to tools bought through authorised Australian sellers. Check who you’re buying from before you count the warranty as part of the deal.
The verdict
If you’re already on a platform, the choice is made for you. On Makita LXT, buy the DTD153 — a cracking driver running the same battery as the rest of your gear. On DeWalt XR, buy the DCF860N and enjoy the three speeds.
If you’re starting fresh and you’re a DIYer, we’d steer you to the Makita. It’s the lighter, cheaper tool, it’s got the grunt a home project needs, and LXT is the easier platform to live with and grow into.
If you fasten heavy, or you just want the strongest, most controllable driver here, the DeWalt earns its place. The extra torque, the three-speed control and that ring light make it the better tool in the hand, and on XR it’s the one to get.
Two good drivers. Buy the one whose battery you want in your shed for the next decade.
