A useful screwdriver for every small situation: it is the definition that best suits Xiaomi Wowstick, a tool tested by our editorial staff in recent weeks that uses a really substantial kit of interchangeable tips and an electric motor hidden in the handle which makes screwing and removing screws a quick and affordable operation.
By design it is very similar to the ifu D1 electric screwdriver we tried a few weeks ago, but it is much better in several aspects that we will talk about in the course of this review.
How it is made
Aesthetically they are almost identical: it has a cylindrical shape but, instead of polycarbonate, the outer shell is made of brushed 6063 aluminum which gives it a premium appearance and also makes it more resistant to wear.
It is approximately as long as a pencil (15.8 cm) but is much thicker (1.6 cm) because it must accommodate two AAA batteries (which you will have to buy separately because they are not supplied) to power the engine.
Two black buttons are positioned along the external profile, made of polycarbonate and slightly protruding, which control the movement of the head in one direction or the other to allow the screws to be screwed or unscrewed.
Head that is made of steel, apparently very sturdy and capable of resisting the twisting to which it is constantly subjected during the use of the screwdriver. It is also accompanied by a magnetic system that allows you to keep the various tips firmly in place, which can be interchanged during use to use it with a long list of different screws.
Unfortunately, as in the ifu D1, a rubber handle is missing that would have improved its grip while changing the system for inserting and removing the screws: instead of a simple cap to unscrew with the fingers there is a polycarbonate cover that can only be rotated with a coin (or a paper clip or other flat-sided tool you have on hand), making battery replacement less easy. The housing for the batteries, however, has that extra millimeter that allows them to be inserted and removed without problems and with extreme ease.
The tips
In the package there is another transparent plastic cylinder inside which the 20 tips supplied are collected. They are made of S2 alloy steel and are locked in groups of four on a rubber skeleton accompanied by a weak magnetic system which, combined with the housings built millimetrically tailored to the various tips, keep them firmly and in position, avoiding that they can fall and disperse inside the package.
This tip holder is quite handy because in addition to being transparent and thus allowing you to quickly view the various tips available, it has the symbols and the relative initials printed along the external surface, very useful if you are proceeding with the maintenance of an electronic system. whose guide lists the names of the tools necessary to carry it out successfully.
There are roughly the most used tips in electronic devices on the market: we go from the classic slotted and cross tips in various sizes to the star ones used for example by Apple on the iPhone. Below is the complete list:
The cylindrical bit holder is very compact and highly pocketable especially because, due to its shape, it can easily be slipped into the pocket of an apron together with the screwdriver.
However, if you use continuity, perhaps on a workbench, perhaps a traditional-shaped case could be more convenient, such as a box where you can insert the various tips into special housings with the relative label for a faster tracing of the individual tips. available.
How is it going
In practical use there is no difference with the ifu D1 and probably with many of the other commercially available electric screwdrivers. The rotation of the head, as we said controlled in one direction or the other through the prolonged pressure of the respective button, is fast enough to ensure a quick removal or equally quick tightening of the screws.
It is able to maintain speed even at the end of the stroke and for this reason it is important to dose the rotation, perhaps with small taps, to prevent excessive tightening from compromising the stability of the screws in the most fragile components. On the contrary, if the screw is too tight it may not have sufficient strength to release it: you will therefore have to proceed manually, turning the screwdriver to lighten the grip and then complete the extraction of the screw with the electrical system.
For this reason, the use of batteries is not mandatory: the screwdriver works very well even if you decide to rotate it manually and, in this sense, the cylindrical shape – especially because, as explained above, a rubber handle is missing – does not help. One or two slightly flattened sides, even better if they were all leveled like those of a classic pencil, would in fact have offered better handling, clearly in the face of a slightly bulkier body but which in this case we would have been ready to welcome with open arms.
Finally, we would like to point out that usually the choice between a screwdriver and the other falls mainly on the quality of the tips. The cheaper ones tend to wear out before the others or lose their thread after a few uses: our tests stop at one or two tests on some electronic device in the house and on a couple of screws of the LED system in the kitchen sub-cabinet, so do not we can guarantee the duration over time of the tips supplied.
Conclusions
The use that can and must be done with this screwdriver is underlined by the size of the bits supplied, which never exceeds 3 mm. In fact, the power of the motor is not enough to allow you to remove or adequately tighten screws to larger objects such as an IKEA piece of furniture but also trunks or small wooden chests that use screws larger than those compatible with the tips you find. in pack.
The use of this screwdriver is in fact indicated mainly for those who repair small electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, computers or the like. If, on the other hand, you are willing to use it without batteries, i.e. by rotating the handle with the strength of your hands, then the only limit will be dictated by the compatibility of the tips with the screws to be tightened / removed.
Retail price
What should make you rush to buy one is the price: at the time of writing it is on sale on GearBest for only about 12 euros, (using the discount code GBAFF081212 ) that is much less than what you would normally spend for buy even just two or three of the traditional screwdrivers with the same tips supplied in the kit which, we remind you, are 20 and fully usable through a practical motorized handle.
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