It looks more like a fancy desk accessory than a precision hand tool you can use to fiddle with electronics and other small items. However, driving screws is exactly what the Kinetic Driver does best. Unlike your standard precision screwdriver, though, the darn thing will open up laptops, fix jewelry, and work on all sorts of small fasteners with a whole load of style.
Billed tongue-in-cheek as “the screwdriver you don’t need,” the tool combines a curvy shape and a polished metal finish with a bit holder at the tip, allowing you to pop in any of the two dozen included bits for driving screws of varying types and sizes. Basically, it’s a precision screwdriver with an excessively elegant design, allowing you to perform jewelry and electronic repairs with the fanciest tool at your disposal.
The Kinetic Driver has a unique shape that combines a shank with a bit holder on one end and a ceramic bearing on the other, with a large brass cylinder, a knurled grip, and an hourglass-shaped stem between them. If that sounds like too much for a small screwdriver, well, it is. And that’s the whole point – it’s a precision driver that puts way too much value on aesthetics, making it a unique hand tool for folks who like fancy stuff in their arsenal.
The brass cylinder is weighted, so the whole thing produces a lot more pressure than a standard precision driver, allowing you to rely on the weight to drive down screws with little effort, while the knurled patterns ensures a satisfying grip that stays in your hand and keeps you in control the whole time. The hourglass-shaped stem is meant to accommodate the fingers that are not being used to turn the driver, so they don’t have to exert any effort gripping.
The Kinetic Driver is made from stainless steel (except the brass part, of course) with a passivation finish, which gives it a protective oxide layer that leaves the tool immune to corrosion, so this thing should stay looking good even when you end up leaving it in a bag for the next two years before digging it up again like your other precision drivers. Do note, the brass will probably patina over time, so it won’t exactly look the same for the foreseeable future (not that it’s a bad thing). It measures 5.5 x 1 inches (length x diameter).
It comes with 24 microbits, so you get a good selection of driving tips for carrying out repairs and fixes, with a mix of Phillips, Torx, slotted, pentalobe, Y-Type, hex, and U-bit tips. That means, you can go to work on a whole lot of stuff using this thing. And yes, they use standard 4mm precision bits, too, so any precision bits you currently have in your stash will fit right in to fill any gaps in the selection. It comes with a case that has designated slots for the driver and all two dozen bits.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Kinetic Driver. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at €75.