10 best cordless sanders for smoother DIY projects

The Ryobi R18ROS is the ideal cordless sander for general DIY use, offering a perfect balance between sanding power, control and comfort. In our hands-on testing, this sander helped us achieve some of the smoothest and most even finishes we’ve managed with any cordless sander. The dust bag is fairly effective, but for the best extraction performance, we’d recommend fitting an industrial vacuum over the dust port instead.

Just remember that this sander requires a compatible 18V battery and charger (£79.95, Amazon.co.uk)

If you’re looking for a great value cordless sander that does a decent job without demanding a major investment, this bundle would be our recommendation. We’ve used the e-series 18V cordless sander for a variety of DIY and hobby projects, and have been consistently impressed with the smooth finish it achieves. This is not the most powerful of detail sanders, but you might actually find this a good thing, especially if you’re relatively inexperienced with cordless models and want a tool that’s easy to control.

This random orbital sander is a tour de force from DeWalt – the random action of the sanding component does an excellent job of creating a smooth, neutral finish, free of peaks and troughs, and you can easily adjust the speed setting with your forefinger while you work. Perhaps our favourite thing about this tool is that it’s wonderfully comfortable to hold – a godsend if you need to sand a large area such as a wall of plasterboard.

This sander requires a compatible 18V battery (£64.98, Screwfix.com) and charger (£59.98, Screwfix.com).

We were a little taken aback at the sanding power of this one – if you’re going to use this tool, be ready for it to sand off quite a lot of material from the surface you’re working on. For users who have lots of sanding work to do though, this could be a massive help, although the power does sometimes make this model tricky to control. One minor downside is its dust collection box, which isn’t very effective.

Having said that, there’s lots to love about this sander – its shape is really handy for getting into corners and sanding fine detail. It’s quite remarkable that Bosch has made such a powerful cordless sander available at such a reasonable price.

This one requires a compatible 18V battery (£39, B&Q.com) and charger (£16.95, Amazon.co.uk).

If you have a lot of sanding work to do, either professionally or as part of a home renovation project, you could benefit from using a model like this one. Built for tradespeople, from its comfortable handle to its highly effective dust-extraction system, this exhibits the high standards we’ve come to expect from DeWalt. It’s at its best when sanding large, flat surfaces, such as plaster walls that are being prepared for undercoating.

Requires a compatible 18V battery (£64.98, Screwfix.com) and charger (£59.98, Screwfix.com)

Black + Decker’s cordless mouse detail sander combines the comfort and user-friendliness of the classic, corded mouse sander with the convenience of a cordless operation. We found it particularly easy to control, and its handle has a really comfortable grip that suits a wide range of users. The small, neat footprint of the sanding component is also easy to work into tight corners. If your project involves delicate work and fine details, the cordless mouse would be a great choice.

This incredibly versatile tool comes with a selection of five sanding plates, so, depending on what job you need to do, you can use it as a finishing, orbital, finger, detail or curved area sander. In our testing, the WX820 sandeck performed superbly – switching between the tool’s various sanding plates was mercifully simple, and we were pleased with the finish achieved.

The only arguable downside is that it might offer more modes of use than some users really need. However, for those who have a variety of tasks to do, this sophisticated multi-sander could be a great buy.

Black + Decker’s cordless random orbital sander is a great-value-for-money tool, capable of achieving an even finish on all sorts of surfaces. We found this sander comfortable to grip and easy to use, however, our one complaint would be that the tool’s runtime on a single charge is relatively short, which might rule out use on more demanding projects. However, for quick and simple jobs, this would be a great choice.

Requires a compatible 18V battery and charger (£47.99, Amazon.co.uk)

Here’s a really effective detail sander from the ever-impressive Ryobi. The R18PS is very small, and its shape is especially angular, which makes it perfect for getting into really tight spaces and sanding the fine detail of woodwork. One downside, however, is that it isn’t the most comfortable to grip, especially for users with smaller hands. With that said, detail sanders like this are typically used for relatively quick jobs, and our reviewer found it comfy enough to use in short bursts.

This nifty detail sander from Wesco comes with everything you need all bundled in, including an 18V battery and charger and twelve sanding sheets in grits P60, P80 and P120. We were particularly impressed with this sander’s extendable finger pad, which you can use to create a very small sanding surface at the tip of the tool – perfect for tight spaces.

Our one criticism would be that it can become a little uncomfortable to hold during long periods of use. With that said, we were impressed with this tool’s performance and would recommend it in particular for sanding fine details on architraves, coving, skirting boards and furniture under restoration.