LAOA Hex Screwdriver Set 5pc Hex or 7pc Ball End Allen

The Allen key that reaches around the corner.

Hex socket screws never sit where you can get at them. They are down inside a recess, behind a bracket, or on the underside of something you cannot get your head under. The folded key in your kit gives you about a thumb's width of leverage, no way to hold it square, and nothing to push with.

So you cam out. The socket rounds off. Now you are drilling a screw out of a machine that was working ten minutes ago, and the job that was twenty minutes is a morning.

These are hex keys with a proper screwdriver handle on the end of them. You get grip, you get axial push, and on the seven-piece set you get a ball end that engages the socket off-square so you can drive a screw you cannot get in front of. Two options: a five-piece plain hex set from 1.5 mm to 4 mm, and a seven-piece ball end set from 1.5 mm to 6 mm.

What It Does

• Drives hex socket screws: metric sizes from 1.5 mm up, the fasteners on machinery, bike components, furniture, brackets and control panels.
• Reaches on the angle: the ball end on the seven-piece set turns a screw you cannot line up with, instead of one you can.
• Gives you push, not just twist: a handle lets you load the tip into the socket while you turn, which is what stops the cam-out in the first place.
• Holds the screw on the tip: the supplier states a magnetic tip and shows a machine screw hanging off the blade. Handy one-handed, overhead or down a hole.
• Sorts by size on sight: every blade is laser marked with its size and shank length, so you are not eyeballing a 2.5 against a 3.

What You Get

Pick one of the two sets from the drop-down. Every piece is listed here — there is no case, stand or roll shown anywhere in the supplier's images, so assume loose drivers.

That is 5 pieces in the five-piece set and 7 in the seven-piece set, counted against the supplier's own labelled artwork. The sizes, blade lengths, overall lengths and weights above come straight off the supplier's specification panel and off the laser marking on the blades themselves. The 6 mm ball end is the one gap: its blade is marked 6.0X100mm S2 on the tool, but it falls below the bottom edge of the supplier's specification panel, so its model code, overall length and weight are not published. The panel's weight column is printed without a unit; the figures are consistent with grams and are quoted that way.

Key Features

• Ball end on the seven-piece: rounded tip engages a socket head off-axis, for screws you cannot approach square on.
• Plain hex on the five-piece: full flat contact on all six faces, which is what you want for the final nip up.
• S2 alloy steel blades: stated on the supplier's own panel, together with a hardness of HRC 58 to 62. Every blade also carries an S2 laser mark.
• Screwdriver handle: two-material moulded grip with a swollen palm end, so you can lean on it instead of pinching a folded key.
• Size marked on every blade: laser etched as size by length, for example 6.0X100mm S2, so a driver returned to the wrong slot still identifies itself.
• Hanging hole in each handle: a moulded through-hole in the butt for a hook, a lanyard or a shadow board.
• Longer blades on the big sizes: the 4 mm, 5 mm and 6 mm ball ends run a 100 mm blade rather than 75 mm, for depth into a recess.
• Chrome finished shanks: bright plated blades, easier to spot in a dark engine bay or the bottom of a toolbox.
• Metric range 1.5 mm to 6 mm: the sizes that actually turn up on machinery, bikes, drones, flat-pack and control gear.

Limits

What these will not do, plainly.

• They are not insulated: the blade is bare steel from the tip to inside the handle, and nothing on the tool is marked to any voltage standard. Do not use them on live electrical work. LAOA build a separate 1000 V range for that job and this is not it.
• No certification sighted: no standard number is printed on these drivers and no test certificate was provided. The HRC 58 to 62 hardness is the supplier's stated figure, not an independently verified one.
• A ball end trades torque for angle: it only touches the socket on the ball, so it will round a tight screw faster than a plain hex will. Break it loose with the flat, or with a T-handle, then run it out with the ball.
• Not something to hit: no impact rating is published and these are hand drivers with a moulded handle. They do not belong in an impact driver and they are not a substitute for a punch.
• Metric only: no imperial or SAE sizes in either set. Forcing a near-enough metric key into an imperial socket is how sockets get rounded.
• The five-piece stops at 4 mm: if you need 5 mm or 6 mm, the seven-piece ball end set is the one that covers them.
• No case and no stand: nothing in the supplier's images shows a holder, roll or rack. Plan on finding them a home in your own kit.
• A seized fastener beats them: a properly rusted-in socket screw wants heat, penetrating oil and a T-handle or socket, not a screwdriver-handled key.

Q & A

What does the ball end actually buy me?

Reach. The rounded tip stays engaged when the driver is not lined up with the screw, so you can turn a fastener you cannot get in front of — behind a bracket, inside a frame, under a bench. The supplier does not publish a maximum working angle, so treat it as enough to clear an obstruction rather than a set number.

Can I use these on live electrical work?

No. These are not insulated and carry no voltage marking. The steel runs continuously from the tip into the handle. Isolate the circuit first, and if you need to work live, buy tools that are individually tested and marked for it.

Which set should I pick?

If your work is small and you can get square on it — electronics, bike components, small brackets — the five-piece plain hex set covers 1.5 mm to 4 mm and gives you the best grip on the socket. If you are working on machinery, engine bays or anything with a cover in the way, take the seven-piece ball end set: it adds 5 mm and 6 mm, and the ball end is what gets you into the awkward ones.

How strong is the magnet?

Not published. The supplier states a magnetic tip and their photographs show a machine screw hanging off the blade. That is enough to stop a small screw dropping down a hole; it is not enough to hang a heavy bolt from overhead. Treat it as a convenience, not a feature to plan around.

Will they fit imperial fasteners?

No. Both sets are metric only. Some metric and imperial hex sizes sit within a hair of each other, and that hair is exactly what rounds a socket out. If the screw is imperial, use an imperial key.

How long will delivery take?

Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to three weeks to regional and remote addresses. Delivery is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs