Tools Soko has been testing power tools, hand tools and site safety equipment since 2021. Every figure we publish is measured on our own bench, and no manufacturer has ever had approval over a score.
| Published reviews | 9 |
| Buying guides | 4 |
| Tools tested | 405+ |
| Paid placements | 0 |
How We Test
We do not publish manufacturer figures. Every performance number here comes from our own testing, run to a fixed protocol so a drill tested two years ago is comparable with one tested this month.
1. We buy the tool
Most tools on this site were bought at retail with our own money. Where a manufacturer supplies a sample, the review says so in the first paragraph.
2. Bench measurement
Torque on a brake dynamometer at the chuck. Runtime against a fixed workload, not a stopwatch. Brake stop times from high-speed video at 240 fps.
3. Four weeks on site
Bench data tells you what a tool can do. A month on a real job tells you what it is like to live with — which switches clog, which grips blister, which cases break.
4. Scored against the category
A score is relative to what else you could buy today. When a better tool arrives, older scores get revisited rather than left to drift.
The Team
Three people test everything on this site. Between them they have spent more than thirty years on the tools before they ever wrote about them.
Kepha Olwal
Editor-in-Chief
Time-served carpenter turned tool tester. Kepha has run Tools Soko’s test bench since 2021 and has put more than 400 tools through it.
Grace Wanjiru
Senior Test Engineer
Mechanical engineer who designs our torque, runtime and vibration protocols. Previously QA on a commercial fit-out crew.
Daniel Otieno
Site Editor
Electrician of 14 years. Daniel covers cordless platforms, jobsite safety and everything that has to survive a Nairobi site.
Affiliate Disclosure
Tools Soko earns a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never changes what we recommend, and it never changes the price you pay.
When you follow a “Check Price” or “View Deal” link from this site to a retailer such as Amazon or Jumia and go on to buy something, we receive a small commission from that retailer. You pay exactly the same price you would have paid going there directly.
That commission funds the tools we buy and the bench we test them on. It does not buy influence over what we recommend. We regularly rank tools we earn nothing from above tools we do, and where the tool we make money on is worse, we say so in plain language.
What we will never do: accept payment for a review, accept payment for a ranking position, or publish a review a manufacturer has been allowed to read in advance.
Privacy
We collect the minimum needed to run the site: anonymous analytics on which pages get read, and — if you subscribe — your email address.
We do not sell or share your email with anyone. Every newsletter carries a one-click unsubscribe, and unsubscribing removes your address entirely rather than suppressing it.
Terms of Use
Content on this site is published for general information. Tool testing involves conditions we control; your results will vary. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and your local safety regulations. We are not liable for outcomes arising from use of the tools we cover.
Contact
| Reason | Address |
|---|---|
| Editorial — corrections, tip-offs, review requests | editor@toolsoko.com |
| Manufacturers — test samples and briefings | bench@toolsoko.com |
| Test workshop | Industrial Area, Nairobi, Kenya |