Bosch IXO 7 Cordless Screwdriver
Bosch's pocket-size 3.6V screwdriver, seventh generation - the flat-pack assembly tool for renters who move often and own no toolbox.
Strengths
- Perfect torque band for furniture assembly - powered convenience without the strip-a-thread risk of a full drill-driver
- Genuinely pocketable and light at 0.32 kg, with a 360-degree LED ring lighting the screw
- 2.0 Ah battery is rated for about 190 screws per charge - months of casual use
Watch outs
- Still charges over dated micro-USB rather than USB-C
- Variable speed control from the IXO 6 was dropped on this generation
- 5.5 Nm is deliberately modest - it will not drill or shift seized fixings
- Voltage 3.6 V lithium-ion (integrated battery)
- Battery capacity 2.0 Ah - rated for up to 190 screws per charge
- Max torque 5.5 Nm (hard) / 3 Nm (soft applications)
- No-load speed 235 rpm
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What is the Bosch IXO 7 for?
The IXO 7 is a driver, not a drill. Bosch rates it at 3 Nm on soft materials and 5.5 Nm on hard ones, with a fixed 235 rpm and a maximum screw diameter of 5 mm. That torque band is the whole story. Torque (the rotational force a tool applies to a fastener) is what decides whether a screwdriver is right for a job, and 5.5 Nm is enough to drive and remove the cam-lock bolts, confirmat screws and machine screws that hold flat-pack furniture together without stripping the soft chipboard threads they bite into.
Jobs that sit inside that band include assembling and dismantling flat-pack furniture, adjusting cabinet hinges that have dropped, fitting a curtain pole bracket into wall plugs that are already there, swapping a light switch faceplate, and opening the screwed battery compartments on toys, remotes and smoke alarms.
Why does a cordless screwdriver suit renters?
Most jobs in a rented flat are driving jobs, not drilling jobs. Fixing anything new to a wall usually needs the landlord's permission, so the work that actually comes up is furniture that arrives flat, furniture that has to come apart again at the end of a tenancy, and fittings that are already installed and only need tightening or swapping. A 5.5 Nm driver covers all of that without ever making a hole.
Size matters more in a flat than in a house with a garage. At 147 x 46 x 120 mm and 0.32 kg the IXO 7 lives in a kitchen drawer rather than a toolbox, and because it charges over a standard USB cable there is no proprietary charging dock to find space for. If you are setting a place up without making holes, it pairs with the approach in our no-drill smart home setup guide and the fixings covered in securing a rented flat without drilling.
What can the IXO 7 not do?
It cannot drill. There is no chuck. The tool takes hexagonal-shank bits in a magnetic holder, so it will not accept a twist drill or a masonry bit and cannot make a hole in anything. If a job starts with "drill a pilot hole", this is not the tool for that step.
It also will not shift fixings that have seized, rusted or been painted over, and it sits well below a cordless drill-driver, which typically offers several times the torque. Bosch positions the IXO range explicitly for light assembly and repair rather than construction work, so the published 5.5 Nm figure is the honest limit to plan around rather than a conservative one to push past.
How long does the battery last?
Bosch quotes up to 190 screws from a full charge of the 2.0 Ah lithium-ion cell, and a charging time of about three hours over the supplied micro-USB cable. For context, a typical flat-pack wardrobe uses well under a hundred fixings, so one charge covers a normal assembly session with room to spare.
The battery is integrated rather than removable, which has one practical consequence worth planning around: there is no spare to swap in, so a flat tool means a three-hour wait rather than a ten-second battery change. Charging it the night before a move-in day is the sensible habit. The port is micro-USB rather than USB-C, so it will not share a cable with a recent phone or laptop.
What changed between the IXO 6 and the IXO 7?
Three things, on Bosch's own published figures. The battery grew from 1.5 Ah to 2.0 Ah, which is what lifts the quoted runtime to 190 screws. The motor is stronger, described by Bosch as around 20 per cent more power with a higher no-load speed, now 235 rpm. And the work light became a 360 degree ring rather than a single forward-facing LED, so the screw head stays lit whichever way the tool is turned.
One feature went the other way. The IXO 6 had a variable-speed trigger that ran faster the harder it was pressed, while the IXO 7 is single speed. If fine speed control matters to you more than runtime, that is the one genuine reason to prefer the older generation.
Is the Bosch IXO 7 powerful enough for flat-pack furniture?
Can the Bosch IXO 7 drill holes?
Does the Bosch IXO 7 charge over USB-C?
Can you replace the battery in a Bosch IXO 7?
Should you upgrade from the IXO 6 to the IXO 7?
- Voltage
- 3.6 V lithium-ion (integrated battery)
- Battery capacity
- 2.0 Ah - rated for up to 190 screws per charge
- Max torque
- 5.5 Nm (hard) / 3 Nm (soft applications)
- No-load speed
- 235 rpm
- Max screw diameter
- 5 mm
- Charging
- Micro-USB cable, about 3 hours
- Bit holder
- Magnetic, hexagonal shank; compatible with all IXO Collection attachments
- Light
- LED 360-degree light ring for shadow-free working
- Dimensions
- 147 x 46 x 120 mm
- Weight
- 0.32 kg