The UK's bestCordless Leaf Blowers2022 Review

A brand that most people already know and love, Bosch produces a wide range of home appliances and garden tools. I’m already familiar with the brand’s consistency when it comes to unique design and high-end performance. As a result, I was excited to see what their ALB 36 LI Cordless Leaf Blower brought to the table – and the many mature trees on my farm gave me plenty of opportunities to test it out. 

It takes less than a minute to assemble this leaf blower. All you need to do is click the nozzle into place and then slide the battery in (remember to charge it first!). 

You can tell that this is a Bosch product just from looking at it, with its trademark colour scheme and stylish finish, which, in my opinion, is a good thing. The brand has a reputation for being professional and high-end, and this leaf blower certainly looks the part. It may seem simple, but the design is clever. Both the power and speed are controlled by a single dial wheel, and its detachable nozzle makes storage easy.

After using the blower to clear my lawn of dry leaves, I was even more impressed – it took far less time than I had anticipated. I then moved on to wet leaves. On my driveway, it handled these just as easy as the dry ones; however, it struggled to shift wet leaves that had gotten tangled in long grass. It still got the job done, but it took a little longer. 

In terms of power, this Bosch blower sits above much of its competitors. With a blow-speed range of 170 – 250 km/h, it’s the most powerful of all the cordless leaf blowers I tested. Its 2.0 Ah battery offered the longest blow time too.

20 minutes may not seem like much if you have a large garden, but that’s double what you’d get from some other brands. Even better, this was the quietest of all the leaf blowers I tested – it’s ideal for those of you with nearby neighbours, sleeping babies, or just a sensitivity to loud noise!

As you can see, there are quite a few features that set this leaf blower above the rest, which is why the higher price tag is to be expected. If you have a small garden and won’t be using your leaf blower much, then you could probably get away with a cheaper budget model.

However, this is the best model overall. If you have a medium or large garden, or even a small garden that requires regular use of a leaf blower, the Bosch will get things done significantly faster than the rest, making it worth the extra initial investment.

When it comes to powerful garden tools, Ryobi is a go-to brand for many. They’ve built their reputation on being innovative and reliable, whilst still producing products that are more affordable than many alternatives. I found this to be the case with the other Ryobi tools that I recently tested and reviewed, so I expected the ONE+ Cordless Blower to be just as impressive.

Although this tool was primarily designed for hard surface sweeping, it certainly looked more than capable of tackling garden debris and blowing leaves too.

If you already own a few Ryobi tools, this one will fit right in to the collection. It only takes a minute to assemble and it sports the brand’s signature green and black colour palette – something you’ll either love or hate. Either way, looks aren’t important when it comes to leaf blowers; you want a product that has been thoughtfully designed and made, and that’s exactly what this one offers. Its design is simple – it boasts a long, narrow nozzle and a single button to turn the machine on and off. 

Some may be put off by the fact that the model only offers one air speed.

Many other machines, such as the Bosch and the Einhell, give you multiple speeds to choose from. However, this didn’t impact performance in a negative way – the 241km/h blow speed was enough to shift both dry and wet leaves, even from long grass, which many of the other leaf blowers struggled with.

It was able to quickly and easily clear leaves from my driveway too, without sending stones flying through the air. I can easily see how multi-functional this tool could be as well; it would be extremely useful in the summer after strimming or scarifying. It’s powerful enough to quickly clear away all of that debris, saving you from having to rake or mow.

Even better, at just 1.6 kg, the Ryobi ONE+ Cordless Blower is light enough to be used with just one hand. Its narrow nozzle gives you more control compared to more commonly-found wider nozzles – you’ll end up with a much neater leaf pile by the time you’re done.

The only thing that put me off was battery life. To be fair, Ryobi recommends using a 4.0 Ah or a 5.0 Ah battery with this blower. Unfortunately, I didn’t have either, so I ended up using a 2.0 Ah, which gave me a continuous blow time of just 8 minutes. There was still some life left in the battery after the initial 8 minutes (the LED indicator showed one bar), but, for some reason, each time I pressed the button, the blower would burst into life for two seconds, before cutting out.

Compared to the other leaf blowers I tested, this one sits at a mid-range price. However, considering that it was powerful enough to cope with both dry and wet leaves, which the other blowers weren’t really able to do, I would say that this one offers fantastic value for money. It’s one of the best cordless leaf blowers to buy on a budget.

In my opinion, this blower is powerful enough to tackle both small and large gardens, so long as you use a battery size that’s suitable for the size of garden you’re clearing. This may require more of an initial investment, but don’t forget that you can use the ONE+ batteries interchangeably across different Ryobi products.

In return, you’ll be getting a versatile garden tool that you’ll be able to use for various tasks around your garden throughout the year, rather than solely for leaf blowing in the autumn.

VonHaus is a popular brand, especially among those who need new garden tools or machinery but don’t want to spend a fortune. Their G-Series Cordless Leaf Blower fits this criteria – it’s much more affordable than many of the others on the market, but how does it compare when it comes to performance? 

Let’s start with assembly, which something that only took about 30 seconds. Even if you’ve never used a leaf blower before, this one is easy to put together – you likely won’t even need the instructions. 

In terms of design, this leaf blower isn’t as sleek or modern as some of the others out there (such as the Einhell model on this page). However, I appreciated its simplicity. It has an easily-accessible switch that turns the machine on and off, and just a single blow speed. 

At 209 km/h, the blowing power works well on dry leaves, but it isn’t quite as capable on wet/heavy leaves. Although, to be fair, most of the blowers that I tested struggled to shift wet leaves.

Even though I wouldn’t turn to the VonHaus if I needed to move large quantities of heavy leaves, I’d still say it actually did a better overall job than some of the higher-end and more powerful models. 

At 1.85 kg, this is a very lightweight tool. Using two hands gives you more control, but the option of going one-handed means that you’ll be able to access hard-to-reach spots around your garden. The LED indicators on the battery are also handy, especially if you have several areas to clear.

Speaking of the battery, I used a 1.5 Ah 20 V battery with this blower, and it gave me a total run time of just under 10 minutes. This is similar to the Ryobi blower on this page, even though the Ryobi made use of a larger 2.0 Ah battery. 

Unfortunately, I do have to say that even though this leaf blower isn’t as powerful as some of the others, it’s definitely noisier. This was the loudest blower that I tested, so it’s probably not a good option for those of you with nearby neighbours. It shouldn’t cause an issue if you’re only using it occasionally, but it’s something worth thinking about if you plan on using your blower for various garden tasks throughout the year. 

When it comes to price, this blower is very reasonable. The low price reflects the tool’s simplicity – you may only be getting one blow speed, but if this is all you need, then why pay more for a machine with unnecessary settings? 

It should be noted though, that if I needed to clear a large garden this wouldn’t be my tool of choice. Even if I had a larger battery for it, it’s not quite powerful enough to cope with big quantities of leaves.

However, I would say this is one of the best cordless leaf blowers for smaller gardens. If you have a small garden and you’re able to wait until your leaves are dry before attempting to clear them, then the VonHaus G-Series Cordless Leaf Blower should do everything that you need it to. 

Loved for their powerful yet budget-friendly home and garden tools, Einhell is a German company that has now made a name for itself all over the world. I’m pretty familiar with the brand, so was excited to put their Einhell GE-CL Li E Kit Cordless Leaf Blower to work.

Unlike some of the other blowers that I tested, which were designed solely for leaves, this one was also created to clear dirt and dust from hard surfaces.

Most leaf blowers require minimal assembly – once you’ve dealt with any frustrating packaging, you can have them up and running in under a minute. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case with the Einhell. Sliding the nozzle onto the main unit wasn’t an easy task. I gave up once my arms started to ache, so even though the blower was assembled enough to be used, the nozzle never properly clicked into place.

In terms of aesthetics, Einhell’s blower is definitely a sleek and modern tool – in my opinion, it’s one of the best-looking blowers that I tested. Its design incorporates two controls: a trigger for powering up the machine, and a dial wheel that allows you to choose between six different blow speeds.

Unfortunately, the positioning of the trigger was a little annoying – if you try holding the blower by its handle and carrying it around the garden, you’ll likely end up accidentally hitting the trigger several times. Although not a huge deal, this did end up wasting a fair bit of precious battery life.

In terms of performance, this blower excels when dealing with dry leaves. It was also able to shift heavier and wetter garden debris from my driveway. However, it struggled with damp leaves on grass, barely moving these at all. 

Still, I appreciated how lightweight (1.73 kg) and manoeuvrable this tool was. It could easily be used with one hand, although I tended to keep both hands on the machine to give me better control. 

When it comes to power, this blower offers a maximum blow speed of 210 km/h. This made it one of the least powerful blowers that I tested, which possibly explains its ineffectiveness when used on damp leaves around my lawn. However, considering that I was only using a 2.0 Ah battery, the 15 minute runtime was pretty impressive (and that was keeping it on its highest setting too).

Einhell’s garden tools are generally quite affordable, and this blower is no exception. It’s priced much lower than many of its competitors, especially considering a battery and charger come included.

In my opinion, its price is very fair. Yes, you could pay more for a more powerful, heavier-duty blower, but this would be a waste of money if you only need to clear a light scattering of leaves and debris from a small garden. Comparing run time and great value, it ones of the best leaf blowers on a budget.

Overall, it wouldn’t be my top choice for medium or large gardens, but, for smaller spaces, Einhell’s Cordless Blower is really all you’ll need. 

Straight off the bat, I had high hopes for the Makita DUB185Z Cordless Blower; unlike the other leaf blowers I tested, this one looked pretty unique right from the get-go. 

Assembling this blower is a simple task that takes no more than 30 seconds. Simply twist the nozzle onto the main unit, insert the (charged) battery, and you’re good to go! 

The first thing that stood out to me about this blower was its size – it’s about half that of the other standard leaf blowers out there. However, it still looked professional and sturdy, and its overall aesthetic is in-keeping with Makita’s branding. 

Another feature offered by this Makita leaf blower, which most other cordless models lack, is a vacuum function. However, don’t get too excited because there’s a bit of a catch…

Whilst a dust bag does come included, for some reason it isn’t actually designed for this model – the bag is the wrong size and can’t be attached to the main unit. Instead, if you want to use the vacuum function, you’ll need to either purchase a separate dust bag, or buy some dust-bag adaptors to make the one you’ve got fit the machine. This seemed very strange to me, but other reviews online confirm it isn’t just a one-off error.

Vacuum function aside, the design of this compact blower is impressive. It boasts a small trigger to turn the machine on, along with a switch dial next to the trigger to control the air speed. 

There are three speed settings to choose from, although, when using the blower outside on leaves, I ended up keeping it on its highest setting. With a top speed of 245 km/h, the Makita Cordless Blower made light work of the dry leaves around my lawn, enabling me to quickly blow them underneath mature shrubs, where they’ll be left all winter to act as a mulch. Unfortunately, the blower wasn’t quite as effective on wet leaves – you’d be faster raking them up. 

Once I was done testing the blower outdoors, I moved to the new shed that I’m building. Makita clearly states that this blower is primarily designed for use in workshops and garages, so I was hoping that it would clear all of my work surfaces of built-up dust. As I thought, it did a fantastic job at this, even on its lowest speed. Seeing how the blower performed in the shed gave me lots of other ideas for using this blower in the future, from cleaning out the car to clearing dried grass from my lawn mowers. 

At 1 kg, this is a very lightweight tool. Its soft-grip handle is designed to make it comfortable to use, but I have to admit that I found this blower a little awkward to handle, purely because of its size. While I could stand up straight to use the blower in my shed, I had to stoop to almost ground level when trying to blow leaves outside. If you have mobility issues that prevent you from bending over, then this isn’t the blower for you. 

The blower’s runtime was a little disappointing too, offering just 10 minutes of continuous blowing time. Of course, if you invested in a larger battery (I was using a 18 V 3.0 Ah), then you’d be able to use the blower for longer (but you’d probably get tired of stooping).

When it comes to price, this blower is pretty affordable for a Makita product. In my opinion, it offers good value for money, even when you take into account the fact that the vacuum function can’t be used unless you’re willing to spend a little more.

When it comes down to it, if leaf blowing is your main focus and you have a large garden to cover, then you’d be better off with a dedicated leaf blower that has a longer nozzle. However, if you’d like a tool that you can use throughout the year, rather than just a few times each autumn, then the Makita Cordless Blower is worth considering for small or medium gardens.

It’s built with versatility in mind (you can even purchase extra accessories to make the blower more multi-functional), and, even after just one use, you can clearly see that this is a product that prioritises quality and durability.

I’d say it’s one of the best cordless leaf blowers if you’re looking for something small and versatile – it has the potential to be a good ‘Jack of all trades’ and comes a reasonable price.