Makita was always the highest regarded - assumed they were still a group-brand though, interesting to see them and Hilti are basically their own companies.
I own a good number of power tools, mostly DeWalt, though I usually check Consumer Reports and other reviews and have bought from other companies when the DeWalt option didn't look like it was holding up well. If I could verify that a homeowner-oriented brand (as opposed to a tradesman-oriented brand) like Black and Decker was literally just re-skinning a higher-end tool and selling it for less, I'd happily take the cost savings, though.
I'll backtrack then and say "it's as good as the offering from their much more expensive stable mate, to the extent my daily use with it was exactly the same". Their QA might be lower then, so not sure whether it's a glowing recommendation of all their units, or just I won the drill-lottery.
Will caveat and say this wasn't a bog-standard entry level drill - it was pretty much B&D's top of the line from their offering at the time.
* Better quality housing materials (better grade plastics, more glass fiber reinforcement, etc)
* Better motor (higher power, more efficient)
* Upgraded electronics (soft-start, closed-loop speed control, etc)
* Higher quality metal bits (better/more expensive designs, better quality materials, better machining)
Whether or not these differences are worth the cost delta for each tool and for each tool user is up to the user. Check through some tool teardowns and you'll see what's happening here. Typically it's not the exact same tool from the same factory line with a new label.
Especially if you're starting out with your own firm, having to interact with other types of trades regularly you want to have the look of a pro. B&D doesn't inspire confidence to those in the know as much as Makita or DeWalt.
It's like, people can invent a reason for anything, and either convince themselves their reason is the higher probability cause, or disregard probability entirely.
Honestly, what do you think is more probable: That professionals throw away thousands of dollars buying conspicuous tools every year, or that equipment used in high impact, mechanically challenging situations for 8 hours a day is designed to a different standard than equipment for homeowners who might use it a couple times a month?
My mind rebels so hard against internalizing how people make up so much illogical stuff to suite their preconceptions. I don't want to learn the lesson, but everywhere I look I'm being taught it over and over again.
> That professionals throw away thousands of dollars buying conspicuous tools every year
That's exactly what I'm saying in my experience with general construction tradesmen. Now, the argument isn't that a crappy little 9v drill from Amazon will work the same as a proper engineered brand for specialised equipment, but that I have actual real-world experience of a whole number of pros who have explicitly told me they buy light, named gear for visual purposes more than it being better than some homebrand kit for their needs.
We're talking drills, mixers, planes, sanders etc...