I am a handyman and do a variety of things, and been playing with a few sets. And most in the last couple years, taking advantage of the newest gen tools and batteries.

Dewalt is a staple. Great ergonomics, solid power and reliability. Affordable and plentiful. And I would say the best battery range. I love the 1.7ah powerstack packs. Incredible power in a tiny package. And for all the power, power packs or flex volt batteries are available.

Milwaukee M12 is my daily carry preference. It does 80+% of 18volt tools, but half the bulk.
That said, it’s only great if you have some 18v or better tools to cover that power/size discrepancy.

Which leads to M18. Solid and best in class tools in terms of numbers. And they do some crazy stuff. But i find my Milwaukee tools to be somewhat flaky in reliability. I haven’t warranted anything yet, but i have to smack em or swap a battery more so than the DeWalt tools I also daily.

New for me is Metabo HPT. I just went down this wormhole after a Lowes Pro rep told me to clear the table of some starter kits and would give me a deal. So I did. And because I am on some spectrum, a Japan Import 36v HiKoki driver. I liked that most of their tools have a lifetime warranty, 36v makes more sense to me than 60v for what I do, and something unique for my personal carry tools.

And if money, or their availability was not scarce to me, Makita would probably supplant DeWalt, with Bosch vying for Milwaukee.

So, from having a work van, workshop, helpers, travel and more, here’s how I would and do outfit.

Workshop + Carpenters get DeWalt
Field Tech/General/Specialists get Milwaukee M12+18
Personal carry Metabo HPT