The other day, I needed a new set of allen key wrenches. Specifically, I needed the type with the ball end that allows the wrench to access awkward fasteners on one of my 3D printers. I have a set or two (or three) of allen wrenches as part of my toolkit, but I wanted this set to live with my off-site 3D printer, so I went online to see what I could buy.

I ended up choosing a 26-piece set that caters to metric and imperial fasteners. And the brand might surprise you — Amazon Basics.

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I’ve been buying quite a lot of Amazon Basics tools recently, from a measuring tape to drill bits. This decision is partly due to many people asking me if this brand is any good, and partly because I don’t want to spend big bucks on tools that will only be used occasionally.

However, the more I’ve been buying and using Amazon Basics tools, the more impressed I am. In fact, I’m so delighted that I’d go as far as to recommend them.

If I go back a few decades, you could choose between cheap and nasty tools that were likely broken before you used them, super-expensive tools that you’d pass down to your kids or grandkids, and loads of tools in between that were good enough for the DIYer or a tradesperson starting their work. 

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Nowadays, the middle ground has been squeezed to the point that it’s hard to find good tools at a decent price. You can find stuff, but it takes a lot of trial and error to sort the wheat from the chaff.

But Amazon Basics tools seem to take the guesswork out of getting decent tools for a decent price. They fall into that “good enough” category.

Take my allen wrenches. I got a 26-piece set for about $12.50. I also have a 9-piece Wera set — Wera, for those who aren’t unremitting tool nerds, is a company that makes high-quality tools — that was $16. A 13-piece set of imperial allen wrenches, half the tools present in my Amazon Basics set, was $35.

So, there’s a significant price difference, but there’s also a quality difference. The machining and fit and finish of the Wera set leaves the cheaper Amazon Basics set in its wake. As a tool nerd, I love the quality that Wera tools offer.

But the Amazon Basics allen wrenches work just fine.

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If, like me, you’re a total tool nerd and you have the spare cash, or you’re someone who works with their tools day in day out, then there’s a case for getting the best tools you can afford. 

However, the Amazon Basics tools that I’ve been using fall into the “good enough” category. And with these sets, you can build your toolkit for a lot less.