Best Cordless Leaf Blower Reviews 2022: Fall Update

The battery-powered blower landscape sure has changed since we did our first head-to-head review several years ago. There are a lot more options and the performance is leaps and bounds ahead. So who makes the best cordless leaf blower in 2022?

Best Cordless Leaf Blower Power

EGO 765 CFM Battery-Powered Blower

We had blowers from EGO, Ryobi, and Stihl all hitting more than 21 Newtons. But that was then and this is now. EGO’s 765 CFM blower is redefining the landscape by hitting more than 25 Newtons with its stock 5.0Ah battery. It touched 26 Newtons using a high-capacity pack. That’s legit backpack blower territory!

Price: $329.00 with a 5.0Ah battery and charger

More Heavy Hitters

With a standard loadout, few cordless blowers hit as high a Newton force as Ryobi’s 40V HP 730 CFM model. With its base configuration, we measured 20.0 N. But cut one notch back on the flexible nozzle (it’s designed to be cut based on your preference) and we measured an impressive 21.7 N!

Price: $229.00 bare, $329.00 with two 4.0Ah batteries and charger

Making the case for Stihl’s premium BGA 200, it hit an impressive 21.3 Newtons with both the AP3000 backpack battery and the 6.3Ah AP300 battery pack. Between the performance level and the extended runtime a backpack battery offers, there’s little doubt this is the best cordless blower for performance-minded Pros.

Price: $449.99 bare

EGO’s 650 CFM blower earns the brand a second mention in this list. With the 5.0Ah battery it comes with, we hit 20.3 Newtons. It was a little higher with a 7.5Ah battery. However, we held 23.2 Newtons with a fully charged 10.0Ah battery. Unless you have the backpack holster, we don’t recommend using this configuration because of the weight. However, that does make EGO’s 650 the second strongest cordless blower we’ve tested to date, sitting only behind… EGO.

Price: $219.00 bare, $279.00 with 5.0Ah battery and charger

Quietest Cordless Leaf Blower

As battery-powered blowers have increased in power, their noise levels have crept up along with it. Reversing that trend, Ryobi’s 40V HP Brushless 730 CFM leaf blower crushed it in our Newton force test by hitting 21.7 N. But instead of producing the 85–88 decibels most high-performance blowers do, it’s just 72 decibels in high and 76 decibels in Turbo measuring from our operator’s ear.

Let’s put that in perspective. The SPL (decibel) scale shows that a drop of just 3 decibels is half the sound pressure level. However, a drop of 10 decibels sounds half as loud. For Ryobi, running in Turbo mode hits your unprotected ear with roughly 8x lower SPL and half the perceived loudness. It’s incredibly impressive when you’re using it side-by-side with other cordless blowers.

Though it’s a few decibels louder, the Stihl BGA 200 is another model that’s quieter than most.

Price: $229.00 bare, $329.00 with two 4.0Ah batteries and charger

Best Cordless Leaf Blower Vac

Ryobi shook things up with the launch of its 40V HP Brushless blower vac. Other designs have a somewhat awkward side intake method of switching the nozzle around between blowing and vacuuming modes. Ryobi keeps everything in line and eliminates the nozzle switch. Instead, you just attach the bag, flip the switch from blow to vacuum, and you’re on your way.

It’s no slouch in the performance department, with the brushless motor delivering 600 CFM and 100 MPH. While that is a little low on the airspeed side, it’s plenty to handle the blowing and collection of fall leaves that’s the primary goal of this design. It’s also a solid mulcher, with a metal impeller reducing those leaves down at a 20:1 ratio.

Note that this blower vac launches in November 2022.

Price: $369 bare, $469 with two 4.0Ah batteries and a rapid charger

Best Cordless Backpack Blower

Stihl BGA 200 Leaf Blower

Cordless backpack blowers differ significantly from gas backpack blowers. Rather than moving air from the backpack through the nozzle, they typically maintain the same efficient inline design and simply use a tether to shift the weight of the battery to your back.

With that as the standard, it’s hard to argue with the Stihl BGA 200 as our top pick. It has the performance to hit one of the highest blower forces we’ve tested (21.3 N) and the runtime of a 42.3Ah (1522Wh) backpack power source. It’s expensive, though. The whole package including the backpack battery runs north of $1700.

Price: $449.99 bare

Best Cordless Leaf Blower Value

Getting the most bang for your buck doesn’t mean dropping completely away from excellent performance. Greenworks’ Pro 60V 610 CFM blower offers the best value in our opinion. It pairs a top blower force of 19.7 N with a $199 price tag that includes a 2.5Ah battery and charger. While you can find cheaper battery-powered blower kits, you’ll have a hard time finding one at that price that pushes this much air.

Price: $199.00 with 2.5Ah battery and charger

Best Budget Cordless Leaf Blower

If you’re on a tighter budget, check out the Skil PWRCore 40 leaf blower. For $159.00, you get a brushless blower with 500 CFM and 120 MPH top airspeed that hit 12.0 N in our testing. The kit comes with a 2.5Ah battery and PWRJump quick charger.

Price: $159.00 with 2.5Ah battery and charger

More Best Cordless Leaf Blower Options From Brands We Trust

Best DeWalt Battery-Powered Leaf Blower

DeWalt moved to an inline design with the latest version of their FlexVolt blower and hit 17.0 N in our testing. The downside is that it’s loud—91 decibels at our operator’s ear. We also thought the tone of that sound was somewhat irritating. With a 9.0/3.0Ah battery, it ran for 12:12 in our tests.

The bare tool runs $229 and the kit with a 9.0/3.0Ah battery is only $70 more—not bad for a battery that retails for $239 on its own. Plus the battery works with DeWalt’s 20V Max and 60V Max lines of power tools and lawn care equipment.

Price: $229.00 bare, $299.00 with 9.0/3.0Ah battery and charger

HART upped its blower game this year with several new battery-powered leaf blower options. That includes a couple that move into much higher-performance classes. The top of the line is the 650 CFM brushless blower. Combined with up to 160 MPH of airspeed and hitting 17.1 Newtons in our tests, it’s also part of HART’s Ultra-Quiet Series. It lets you balance excellent performance while keeping the noise levels down.

Price: $258.00 with 5.0Ah battery and charger

Greenworks joins the 700 Club as one of the few battery-powered blowers to reach the 700 CFM rating. As the top-performing leaf blower on Greenworks’ Pro 60V line, it’s capable of 170 MPH top speed and is one of the elite blowers to hit 20.0 N in our testing.

Price: $299.99 with 5.0Ah battery and charger

We love the Makita XBU03 blower as a lightweight blower for quickly cleaning off hard surfaces. If it’s the highest performance you’re looking for, though, check out Makita’s ConnectX system. Using a 1200Wh backpack battery as an energy source, it tethers to the CBU01 blower and produces up to 622 CFM and 157 MPH. It’s part of a Pro-level system aiming to help commercial crews make a seamless transition from gas to battery power.

Price: $449.00 bare

Milwaukee’s leaf blower resume` got a big boost with the launch of the 2824. It boasts 600 CFM and 145 MPH. Using two batteries for power, the brushless motor hit an excellent 18.0 Newtons in our testing—much better than the 11.2 Newtons from the previous model. Dropping the ambidextrous cruise control slider to deliver 12N (the high end of handheld gas blowers), we were able to run continuously for more than 30 minutes. Designed for professionals, this one runs $299.00 as a bare tool.

Price: $299.00

Toro has quietly produced an excellent line of cordless OPE and their top brushless blower is worth considering. Maxing out at 605 CFM and 115 MPH, we measured 19.0 N in our testing. Dropping down just a notch from the highest-performing battery-powered blowers, this Toro 60V blower earns a solid value score. The bare tool runs just $149.99 and you can get the kit for $219.99 which includes a 2.5Ah battery and charger. Plus, it’s Made in the USA.

Price: $149.99 bare, $219.99 with 2.5Ah battery and charger

You can pick up the Masterforce 20V brushless 400 CFM leaf blower at Menards. It does a fine job considering it hits up to 100 mph and runs on just a single 20V battery. We find it to be a good fit for smaller lawns that mainly require hard surface cleanup after mowing and light fall leaf collection. If that sounds like your lawn and you’re looking for a lightweight alternative to gas or corded leaf blowers, this is for you.

Price: $139.99 with 4Ah FlexPower battery and charger

Cordless Blower Buying Guide | What We Look For

Blowing Force

How much blowing force a cordless blower has makes a big difference in how you’re going to use it. Some might be great for helping you with fall leaves, others might be good for light sweeping only. Air value (CFM) and airspeed (MPH) are helpful, but the numbers we see on the box are best-case scenario, sometimes with different nozzles.

We measure Newton force to get a single number that describes how much force is actually coming from the blower. At the end of the day, that’s the best way to compare the work a blower does.

Runtime

Runtime is another important area to consider. You might have less than 10 minutes of actual trigger time when you clean the driveway and sidewalk after mowing. But your fall leaf management might require 20 or 30. Understanding how much work you have helps you determine whether a blower meets your needs. Most people buy multiple tools that work on the same battery and having extra batteries extends how much work you can get done.

Noise Level

Cordless blowers are quieter than gas models, but that doesn’t mean that all of them are quiet. ANSI standards rate blower noise levels from 50 feet away to consider the hearing safety of bystanders. We measure from our operator’s ear so you know how much noise you have to deal with as the user.

Weight and Balance

Because most cordless blowers are handheld models, it’s good to know how much weight you’re going to muscle around. The balance is important, too. A well-balanced blower points down naturally at wide open throttle so you don’t have to work as hard to keep the nozzle at the best working angle.

Features and Design

Blowers are fairly simple compared to some of the tools we review. Here are some of the features that make using them easier or improve the performance:

• Brushless motor
• Cruise control
• Turbo mode
• Inline design
• Multiple nozzles
• Shoulder strap
• Rapid charger

In addition to the features themselves, we also look for things you might like or dislike while you’re using the blower such as uncomfortable seams or better grip.

Value

At Pro Tool Reviews, we know price is important. Most of us have some kind of budget we’re working under, but value is more than just an inexpensive price tag. Sometimes, the most expensive option is so far ahead or solves such a big problem that it’s also a great value. Other times, one of the best budget picks presents itself as the best value. Often, it’s something in between. Wherever it is, we want to help you get the most bang for your buck

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