The product is made of steel and from all the tests I did, it appeared sturdy. Its coating is nice, although it won’t last long.

After several tests, I found two problems, one with this specific auger and one more general.

Firstly, the auger drilled easily for the first 15-20 centimeters and then stopped and spun without advancing. This happened because if it hits a stone in the center at the tip, there’s no way to remove it since the shaft of the tool is unnecessarily large (about 3cm as you can see in the photos) and the cone at the front doesn’t have any cutting edge! It should have something to cut there or be of a smaller diameter so it can penetrate more easily.

The second problem, which does not concern only this specific auger but generally those with the same geometry, is that it requires enormous torque! In soft soil, it drills easily but as soon as it hits a stone or a root, it stops abruptly with the risk of breaking something or the drill flying out of your hands. Well, in my case, the battery drill I was using had such high torque (and I had to apply it because in ratchet mode it kept stopping) that at some point it hit something and broke the drill in half!

If an 8cm auger faces such great strain when it encounters roots/stones that it caused this, I don’t know how it could be useful to anyone (unless they only want it for soft and "clean" soil) and I probably should have gotten one of smaller diameter to handle less strain! In any case, the hole comes out much larger than the nominal diameter so you don’t need a bigger one for small plants