Einhell GE-CL Li E Kit Cordless Leaf Blower Review

All of the other blowers I tested were extremely easy to assemble, so I expected the same of the Einhell. At first glance, this looked to be the case – all I needed to do was connect the nozzle to the main unit before inserting the battery. 

Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite as simple as it should have been. No matter how hard I pushed, I wasn’t able to click the nozzle into place. After several minutes of muscle and strength (not just from me but from others too), the nozzle was attached sturdily enough, but I could still see a gap of a couple of centimetres that prevented it from officially locking in. 

Still, that seemed to be as good as I was going to get, and at least the blower was usable. So, I then went ahead and inserted the battery to complete assembly.

With its red and black colouring combined with a simple design and easy-to-use features, this blower is quintessentially Einhell. It definitely looked much sleeker than most of the cordless leaf blowers I reviewed – it’s more curved and rounded than the Ryobi and Bosch, for example.

The tool has been designed with two main controls; a trigger to power the machine on and off, and a dial wheel for speed adjustment. There are six speeds to choose from, which is more than any of the other blowers I reviewed!

The nozzle seemed to be a good length (keeping in mind that my failure to properly assemble this product gave it an extra 2cm of length), and it was nicely tapered at the end to allow for better control. 

However, there’s one big design flaw that Einhell overlooked when creating this blower; the location of the trigger. When you first look at it, the trigger seems to be positioned in a natural place – you’re able to pull it while still comfortably holding the machine. However, try carrying the machine around your garden and it’s next-to-impossible to not hit the trigger, especially if you’re also holding other things. This meant that I ended up wasting precious battery power each time I moved to a different area on my farm, since the machine would inadvertently start blowing while I was walking around with it.

Dry Leaves

I started by testing the Einhell on the dried leaves around my chicken pen. It handled these well – I was able to quickly blow them into a relatively neat pile. I actually had to do this twice because I wasn’t quick enough in picking up the leaves – by the time I returned with my wheelbarrow, the birds had scattered everything back around. Fortunately, since the Einhell got the job done so well, this wasn’t too much of a bother!

I then moved on to the dried leaves around my field and, once again, I was able to clear these away in record time.

Wet Leaves

Sadly, this blower wasn’t quite so effective on heavier wet leaves. I tried it on some muddy leaves around the poultry pen and they barely shifted. I then moved onto wet leaves that had gotten caught up in long grass and my efforts were pretty much pointless – after ten minutes of blowing, the lawn didn’t actually look any clearer.

Hard Surfaces

Finally, I tackled my driveway, using the blower to clear away the garden debris that recent storms had dumped there. Some of this was damp and heavy while some was dry, but, surprisingly, the blower managed to move most of it – I’m guessing this was because there weren’t any long blades of grass stubbornly blocking the way. 

At 1.73kg, the Einhell GE-CL Cordless Blower was one of the lightest cordless leaf blowers I tested. It feels almost like a toy! It’s definitely light enough to be used with one hand, although I would still recommend using two hands for extra control. 

I did find the trigger a little limiting, especially compared to leaf blowers that have a dial wheel that doesn’t need to be constantly held down while the machine is in use. However, this wasn’t a major issue – it all comes down to personal preference. 

I appreciated that the battery had LED indicators displaying battery life. In my opinion, this always makes life much more convenient – there’s nothing quite as frustrating as getting started on clearing an area only for the blower battery to die when you’re halfway through.

As mentioned, the Einhell GE-CL Universal Blower offers a choice of six blow speeds, with the highest being 210km/h. This may sound like a lot but it’s actually on the lower end of the scale. As a comparison, the Ryobi ONE+ cordless blower gives you 241km/h, while the Bosch ALB 36 LI provides 250km/h. Granted, this isn’t a massive difference, but you can definitely feel that the Einhell isn’t as powerful as some of the others. 

I used a 2.0aH 18V battery with my Einhell blower, which gave me a continuous blow time of around 15 minutes when kept on its highest setting. This is actually pretty good – I used the same size battery with the Ryobi blower, yet only had a runtime of 8 minutes.

Cordless leaf blowers don’t really have many safety features. Just like the others that I reviewed, the Einhell came with a few safety stickers, although chances are that the majority of people won’t pay much attention to these. 

As I’ve already mentioned, there’s no way to carry this blower around by its handle without accidentally pressing the trigger. This could be considered a safety oversight, although, in my opinion, it’s not a major one – after all, nothing disastrous is going to happen if you unintentionally turn the blower on while you’re walking around with it.

This Einhell GE-CL cordless blower is one of the least expensive that I tested. It doesn’t require a significant initial investment, yet it’s versatile enough to be used around the garden throughout the year, rather than only a few times each autumn. 

For this reason, I would say that this blower offers good value for money. If you already own battery-powered Einhell tools, then you’ll be able to save even more by purchasing the unit on its own, without an additional battery or charger. That said, if you’d like more than 15 minutes runtime, it would be worth paying for a larger battery, or even just a spare of the same size.

If you have a large garden that ends up covered in a dense blanket of leaves each autumn, then this isn’t the blower for you – it really isn’t a heavy-duty machine. Instead, you’ll need something a little more powerful, like the Bosch or the Ryobi. The same applies to those of you who experience rainy autumns, since this model doesn’t cope well with wet leaves. 

However, if you have a small garden and only need to do some light clearing, then the Einhell GE-CL Cordless Leaf Blower is ideal. It’s well-designed, works beautifully on dry leaves, and is lightweight/comfortable to use. Even more importantly, it comes in at a much lower price than many of its competitors, making this tool great value for money.