Manual wenches are so yesteryear, with the autowrench you still have to use a bit of manual elbow grease to do the loosening or tightening, however it can automatically resize the jaws to fit the nut.

The area where this wrench really shines is in hard-to-reach spots where mobility is obscured, such as under sinks. A typical situation where the Auto Wrench would help might be one in which you’re awkwardly reaching for a nut underneath the kitchen faucet. With a comparable manual wrench, it’s conceivable you would fumble around with the adjusting mechanism for minutes on end, and then toss a fit. With the Auto Wrench, you’d simply press a button (positioned where you rest your thumb) and the jaws would open or close to your specifications.

We were a bit sceptical when we learned the Auto Wrench takes AA batteries and doesn’t include a rechargeable battery. This means you’ll need to keep some extra batteries around the house – or buy some rechargeable batteries — if you use it frequently. However, the wrench isn’t a power hog by any means. Black & Decker says you can get 650 cycles out of two AA batteries, which should be plenty for most people.

The Auto Wrench is for sale at Amazon for $28.40.