Makita's DDF491 swaps four heads on one 18V LXT body and lists three torque numbers. What each means, the conversions, and how it stacks up against DeWalt's Atomic.
Makita’s new DDF491 is a multi-head drill driver that swaps a keyless chuck, a hex bit chuck, an offset head and a right-angle head onto one 18V LXT body. Its spec sheet lists three torque numbers, 27, 50 and 65 N·m, and they describe three different things. The honest reading is that 27 and 50 are fastening figures for soft and hard joints, while 65 is a maximum that tells you little about everyday work. The tool has launched in Europe and other regions, and Makita has not given US availability.
What the DDF491 is
ToolGuyd reported the launch on September 18, 2026, describing it as essentially an 18V LXT 1/4-inch hex screwdriver with a tool head interface. It has a brushless motor and a two-speed mechanical gearbox, and it takes four heads: a 13 mm keyless drill chuck, a quick-release 1/4-inch hex chuck, an offset adapter that carries a hex chuck, and a right-angle adapter. According to the same report, the right-angle head has its own interface so it can be used with the other chucks.
Makita’s regional product page (the New Zealand listing) confirms the heads change without tools and adds a hook and a Phillips bit to the box. It also notes XPT protection against dust and water. The tool is sold bare, so a battery and charger are separate unless you buy a kit.
The idea is not new. DeWalt launched its Atomic 20V MAX multi-head drill, the DCD803, in 2025, and Pro Tool Reviews described that tool as built more for control than peak output. Makita is entering a category that already has a template, and the useful question is how the numbers compare.
Three torque numbers, three meanings
Makita’s Hong Kong product page lists a maximum torque of 65 N·m, and maximum fastening torque of 50 N·m (hard) and 27 N·m (soft), with 20 clutch settings. Stuart at ToolGuyd explained the vocabulary in a comment on his launch post, and it matches how manufacturers generally use the terms.
- Hard torque: fastening into metal, where the screw goes from snug to tight in a very short turn.
- Soft torque: fastening into wood, where the same change takes more rotation.
- Stall torque: the force at which the motor stops. Most brands advertise it as max torque, and it is the least practical of the three.
ToolGuyd says the 65 N·m figure is likely a stall value, though Makita does not label it that way, so that is an inference. If it is right, the number you should plan around for driving screws is the 27 to 50 N·m range. We covered the same split between fastening and breakaway figures in our explainer on reading torque ratings on an impact wrench.
The conversions
US readers think in inch-pounds, and the conversion is a single multiplication: one newton metre equals about 8.85 inch-pounds. The arithmetic is below.
| Rating | N·m | In-lb (N·m x 8.85) |
|---|---|---|
| Fastening, soft | 27 | about 239 |
| Fastening, hard | 50 | about 443 |
| Maximum | 65 | about 575 |
The Hong Kong page’s title rounds the maximum to 580 in-lb, so you may see either figure. The gap is rounding, not a different spec.
How it compares with the DeWalt Atomic
The table sets Makita’s published figures beside the DCD803 numbers from Pro Tool Reviews. The DeWalt review was published in September 2025, and it lists a power rating of 569 MWO (maximum watts out) in the torque row. That is a different unit from newton metres, so the two tools cannot be ranked on torque from published data.
| Spec | Makita DDF491 | DeWalt DCD803 |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | 18V LXT | 20V MAX |
| Speed, low and high (RPM) | 0-500 and 0-1,900 | 0-450 and 0-1,650 |
| Clutch positions | 20 | 15 plus drill setting |
| Chuck capacity | 13 mm (1/2 in) | 1/2 in |
| Torque stated | 27 / 50 / 65 N·m | 569 MWO (a power figure) |
| Price | Not announced for the US | $229 bare (review) |
On paper the Makita runs a little faster in both gears and offers more clutch steps. The speed gap is easy to quantify: 1,900 divided by 1,650 is about 1.15, so roughly 15 percent faster in high gear, and 500 divided by 450 is about 1.11, or 11 percent faster in low. No-load speed is a ceiling, though, and bits slow down under load. Neither fact says which drill finishes a cabinet install more comfortably. Weight, balance and head play decide that, and we have no hands-on testing.
What the weight figures tell you
Published weights do not agree. ToolGuyd gives a range of 1.2 to 2.1 kg with battery, depending on the head. The New Zealand page lists 1.1 kg for the tool without battery with a chuck fitted, and the Hong Kong page lists 1.8 kg including a BL1850B battery. Those can all be right if they refer to different heads and packs, but the sources do not say. Check the figure for your configuration rather than quoting one number.
Capacity figures also differ. The New Zealand page lists 13 mm in steel, 38 mm in wood and 51 mm with a holesaw, while the Hong Kong page lists 20 mm in wood with a drill bit. Likely they refer to different bit types, but that is our guess. For comparison, DeWalt’s reviewed tool lists the chuck as its only head for larger bits, with the other heads limited to driving screws.
Which head for which job
Reading across the specs, a sensible split looks like this. Use the drill chuck for holes up to the 13 mm steel limit. Use the hex chuck for driving, with a lower clutch setting for wood and a higher one for metal. Use the offset head for screws against a wall or inside a cabinet. Use the right-angle head where there is no straight access at all.
Each added head lengthens the tool and pushes the load further from your hand. That is why multi-head tools lean on lower torque targets. Treat the 50 N·m hard-joint figure as the ceiling for the straight-on configurations and expect less when working through an offset or angle head. Makita does not publish per-head torque, so this is cautious reasoning, not a stated limit.
A simple torque check you can do
If you want to see what a drill delivers, torque equals force times distance. Clamp a 0.3 m bar to the chuck, let the tool stall against a force gauge, and read the force. A reading of 90 N at 0.3 m is 27 N·m. This is a rough bench method and should be done carefully, away from your hands and face. Stall readings also vary with battery charge, so repeat with a full pack and average three runs. Do the same on the soft and hard clutch settings if you want to see how the clutch behaves, and keep the tool’s speed selector in the low gear, where the torque is highest.
Why a multi-head tool exists at all
A conventional drill driver is a long object. The motor, gearbox and chuck sit in a line, and the whole thing needs room in front of the work. Cabinet interiors, the space between studs and the underside of a shelf rarely offer that room. A head that bolts on at an angle or offset shortens the reach, which is the entire pitch. You give up some power and a little rigidity in exchange for access.
The trade shows in the spec sheet. Makita lists a length of 186 mm with the drill chuck fitted, and a weight that, depending on the source, falls between 1.1 and 2.1 kg. For comparison, the DeWalt review reports 4.8 inches of head length bare, with the longest attachment adding 2.5 inches. Both are short by the standards of a full-size hammer drill, which is the point.
A buyer’s checklist
- Confirm the kit. The tool is sold bare in the listings we saw, with battery and charger as options, so price a complete setup rather than the headline.
- Check your battery stock. The tool takes 18V LXT packs, and the New Zealand page lists 1.5 Ah through 6 Ah as compatible.
- Ask whether you need the extra heads. If you only drill and drive straight on, a normal compact drill is lighter and usually cheaper.
- Look for the warranty. The reviewed DeWalt carries a 3-year limited warranty; we found no Makita warranty term for the US, because the tool is not on sale there yet.
- Wait for hands-on testing. Nobody we cited has published independent torque or runtime results for the DDF491, so claims remain the maker’s.
Price and availability, as of launch
ToolGuyd states plainly that US availability details are not available. No US price has been announced in the sources we could read. Readers in the comments mentioned UK and AliExpress prices, but those are unverified and we have not repeated them. If you are in the US, expect to wait, and watch Makita USA’s announcements rather than grey-market listings that may not carry a warranty.
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