I see the term variable speed and think ....  squeeze the trigger slightly and the bit rotates slowly.  Squeeze a tad more and the bit's rotation increases ... and so on.  I can cause the bit to rotate anywhere from min to max.

I see many drills called 2-speed or 3-speed rather than variable speed, which leads me to believe that the slightest squeeze on the trigger causes the bit's rotation to jump from zero to 400 rpm.  A little more squeenze and rpm jumps another whack, say up to 800 rpm.

Do I understand things correctly?

I own a Craftsman corded 3/8" variable-speed drill.  It behaves as in para 1 above.  I want a cordless drill that operates the same way .... bit speed increases incrementally as trigger squeeze is increased incrementally.

Does such a cordless drill exist?

Variable speed is as you stated. 2-speed is a "transmission selection" button that allows you to use the variable speed in either a high-torque/low speed or low torque/high speed setting.

Rich

Richard,

You are correct sir.

Angelo