Hitachi DH24DVA SDS-Plus Drill (4.1kg)

The DH24DVA was one of the tools that proved cordless SDS drilling could work on site. Built around Hitachi's 24v battery system of the mid-2000s, it offered genuine rotary-hammer performance without a lead, at a time when most cordless drills could barely mark concrete. The price of that freedom was weight: at roughly 4.1kg with battery it was a hefty tool for overhead work, and early battery chemistry meant runtime needed managing.

It earned its keep with electricians and plumbers drilling fixing holes on first fix, where trailing leads and transformers cost more time than battery swaps.

What to buy instead today

A modern 18v brushless SDS-Plus drill outperforms the DH24DVA in every way: more impact energy, half the weight in some cases, and lithium batteries that run several times longer. Hitachi's direct successors sell under the HiKOKI name, and the equivalent machines from Makita, DeWalt, Bosch and Milwaukee are all compared in our cordless SDS-Plus category.