We tested 27 electric leaf blowers in our Lab and evaluated them on their effectiveness, battery life, ease of use, portability, noise level, and value. For expert insight, we spoke to Gary McCoy, Lowe’s store manager. “An electric leaf blower is a low-maintenance machine that is both lighter and quieter than gas-powered models,” says McCoy. Our top pick for the best electric leaf blower is the Ryobi 18V One+ 280 CFM Jet Fan Blower because it’s lightweight and easy to handle, while still providing lots of leaf blowing power. Plus, it’s very reasonably priced. Here are the best electric leaf blowers for every task.
Our Top Picks
Best Overall Electric Leaf Blower: Ryobi 18V One+ 280 CFM Jet Fan Blower Best Budget Electric Leaf Blower: Toro Power Sweep Best Splurge Electric Leaf Blower: Ego Power+ 600 CFM Backpack Blower Best Cordless Electric Leaf Blower: Dewalt 20V MAX* XR Brushless Cordless Handheld Blower Best Lightweight Electric Leaf Blower: Greenworks 7 Amp 150 CFM Corded Leaf Blower Best Backpack Electric Leaf Blower: Greenworks Pro 80V Cordless Brushless 580 CFM Backpack Blower Best Electric Leaf Blower With Adjustable Speed: Makita 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Blower Best Quiet Electric Leaf Blower: Ryobi 40V HP Brushless Whisper Series 730 CFM Blower
Who it isn’t for: People with large yards who want a leaf blower with a long runtime. This compact electric leaf blower moves leaves—even matted, wet leaves—with serious force, clearing everything in its path and earning five out of five stars for effectiveness in our testing. This is particularly impressive given that the Ryobi 18V One+ 280 CFM Jet Fan Blower is a handheld cordless model that weighs just under six pounds: “I felt in control of this leaf blower and it was easy to maneuver and use,” says one tester. “It was very easy to handle with one hand.” The variable speed trigger gives you maximum control over the airflow, allowing you to adjust based on the task at hand. It also comes with a hanging hook for easy storage and a debris scraper for loosening stubborn dirt and leaves. This blower is part of Ryobi’s One+ system, meaning once you purchase the 18V One+ battery, you can use it with any of Ryobi’s over 225 compatible cordless tools. Given its size, testers did find this blower to be a bit loud, although this might not be an issue because you won’t be using it for long periods of time—the battery life is only 30 minutes with a two to three hour charge time. Thus, those looking for a leaf blower that can tackle a large yard in one charge will want to look elsewhere. But for quick porch, sidewalk, or driveway jobs, this lightweight electric leaf blower will tackle even wet leaves with a fury. Price at time of publish: $149
Power: 18-volt lithium-ion battery, cordlessWeight: 5.9 pounds Maximum Airspeed: 100 MPHMaximum Air Volume: 280 CFM Real Simple / Rachel Marek
Who it’s for: People who want a lightweight electric leaf blower for clearing sidewalks, decks, driveways, and other small areas. Who it isn’t for: People who don’t want to be tethered to an outlet. This no-frills, corded leaf blower delivers sufficient force for clearing small areas, such as front porches, sidewalks, decks, driveways, garages, etc. Unlike battery-powered blowers, corded models have unlimited runtimes, so long as you stay near an outlet. Our testers found this blower to clear all the leaves in its path, including both wet and dry leaves and piles of various weights. One tester says it “has a lot of power with little kick back,” and found it easy to control for precise blowing. The Toro Power Sweep comes with just two speed settings: high and low. The latter is best for navigating around obstacles, while the former is best for clearing out open spaces. Note that this is a corded model, which limits your mobility somewhat. If you’re looking for a leaf blower for whole-yard use, this is not the best choice. However, it’s a great option for clearing out small spaces where you have access to an outlet—and it’s a great value, to boot. Price at time of publish: $37
Power: 7-amp corded electric Weight: 4.6 pounds Maximum Airspeed: 160 MPH Maximum Air Volume: 155 CFM Real Simple / Rachel Marek
Who it isn’t for: People who are not in a position to spend a lot on an electric leaf blower. Electric leaf blowers get a bad rap for being weak compared to gas-powered blowers—but the Ego Power+ 600 CFM Backpack Blower is giving gas-powered blowers a run for their money. In our testing, it was able to clear all the leaves—including wet and dry leaves on grass and concrete surfaces—in under 20 seconds. In fact, one tester described the experience of using this blower as “fast, effective, and fun.” This blower has a variable-speed dial that allows you to turn the power to as low as 260 CFM or as high as 600 CFM without having to hold down a trigger the entire time. The backpack design makes it so that you can more easily tackle a large yard without tiring out your arm, and testers say the backpack is comfortable and not overly heavy. The tube length is adjustable, too. Much like the Ryobi 18V One+ 280 CFM Jet Fan Blower, once you purchase the Ego+ universal battery, you can use it with over 60 compatible power tools. This is certainly one of the pricier electric leaf blowers we tested, but given that its power rivals that of gas-powered models and it offers the convenience of a backpack design, it’s well worth the splurge for those who need to clear large areas. Price at time of publish: $419
Power: 56-volt lithium-ion battery, cordless Weight: 16.2 pounds Maximum Airspeed: 145 MPH Maximum Air Volume: 600 CFM
RELATED: The Best Lawn Mowers for Every Type of Yard Who it’s for: People who want a lightweight and precise leaf blower for navigating around flower beds or other obstacles. Who it isn’t for: People who want the longer runtime that comes with a corded model. At just under seven pounds, this lightweight and handheld cordless leaf blower is easy to pick up and go for small to medium sized jobs, such as clearing the porch, walkway, or a small garden. In our testing, it was able to clear the leaves and fishing weights with relative ease and control. In fact, we found it easy to navigate around the delicate plants and other obstacles in the flower bed—it even comes with a removable concentrator nozzle for extra-precise blowing. Additionally, our testers appreciated the adjustable speed trigger that comes with a speed lock so you can keep it set at whatever airflow you prefer, as high as 450 CFM. The ergonomic design and lightweight construction makes it easy to handle, too. Given that this is a small, battery-powered leaf blower, it’s best to reserve for small jobs, as opposed to a marathon leaf cleanup. Price at time of publish: $219
Power: 20-volt lithium-ion battery, cordless Weight: 6.7 pounds Maximum Airspeed: 125 MPH Maximum Air Volume: 450 CFM
RELATED: The 6 Best Weed Killers to Keep Your Lawn and Garden Tidy Who it’s for: People with limited grip-strength who need a lighter leaf blower. Who it isn’t for: People who want a leaf blower that can move heavier objects. Greenworks is a highly trusted name in outdoor tools, and this corded leaf blower lives up to the brand’s reputation. The blower is well suited for clearing leaves from small areas or for doing other small tasks like clearing rain gutters, dusting, drying surfaces, and more. It’s the lightest of all the leaf blowers on our list at just 4.5 pounds, making it a great option for anyone with limited grip strengths who might not be able to use a heavier leaf blower. In our testing, we found that it was able to clear the leaves with relative ease, and it was able to move the 0.25-ounce and 0.5-ounce fishing weights into the chalk-outlined box—but it did struggle a bit with the 1-ounce weight. This is a corded model, so it doesn’t allow for quite the same mobility as its cordless counterparts. However, the Greenworks 7 Amp 150 CFM Corded Leaf Blower comes with an ingenious solution for one of the most frustrating aspects of using a corded appliance: a cord lock to prevent accidental unplugging. Given its small stature, we did find it to be a bit loud, but for many people this is a small trade-off for the price and simplicity. Price at time of publish: $50
Power: 7-amp corded electric Weight: 4.5 pounds Maximum Airspeed: 160 MPH Maximum Air Volume: 150 CFM
RELATED: The 7 Best Garden Hoses, Tested in Our Lab Who it’s for: People who want a backpack leaf blower with an ergonomic design. Who it isn’t for: People who have difficulty assembling tools or people who want to clear leaves from a yard greater than one acre. The ergonomic design of this backpack leaf blower makes it comfortable to carry around the yard without fussing over a cord or wearing your arm out holding a handheld blower. Our testers found this blower easy to use and carry, although one tester—who is 5 feet 4 inches tall—did find the tube a bit unwieldy, so keep this in mind if you’re below this height. Our favorite part about this leaf blower is the control you have over its output: It comes with a variable speed trigger, a cruise control function, and a turbo button for maximum power. “I think this is worth it because of the control I had over the power,” says one tester. “It would make doing yard work more fun and certainly quick!” We found it to move all the leaves and fishing weights with ease. Testers did note that the assembly process was a little more involved than competitor models. And another thing to keep in mind if you have a large yard: The manufacturer claims that on the highest speed setting, this blower can run for 18 minutes on full charge and recommends it for yards up to one acre. Price at time of publish: $350
Power: 80-volt lithium-ion battery, cordless Weight: 14 pounds Maximum Airspeed: 180 MPH Maximum Air Volume: 610 CFM Real Simple / Rachel Marek
Who it’s for: People who want a lightweight leaf blower with easy-to-adjust speed settings. Who it isn’t for: People who want a leaf blower with an extra-long runtime. Testers note that the light weight of this leaf blower—just 4.7 pounds—makes it extremely easy to carry with one hand and use the other hand to adjust the lever to your desired speed. It comes with a variable speed trigger that can be used for more power while the cruise control lock is engaged, so you can get a bit of a boost as needed. In our testing, it had no problem clearing wet and dry leaves on all surfaces, and it pushed the fishing weights into the chalk-outlined box with ease. Like some of the other battery-operated leaf blowers on our list, the runtime is not very long at full speed, but fortunately the variable speed setting allows you to lower it so you can get more use out of one charge. And once you purchase the included lithium-ion battery and charger, you can use it with any of Makita’s cordless products. Price at time of publish: $179
Power: 18-volt lithium-ion battery, cordless Weight: 4.7 pounds Maximum Airspeed: 116 MPH Maximum Air Volume: 459 CFM
RELATED: The 5 Best Pressure Washers for Quick and Easy Outdoor Cleaning Who it isn’t for: People who want an ultra-lightweight leaf blower. Although electric leaf blowers are quieter than their gas counterparts, they’re certainly not noiseless. Many cities regulate the use of leaf blowers to certain times of the day and/or place limits on the decibel level. If you check with your local city council and find this to be the case where you live, you might consider the Ryobi 40V HP Brushless Whisper Series 730 CFM Blower, which, according to the manufacturer, is one of the industry’s quietest handheld blowers at only 57 decibels. We can confirm that this leaf blower was the quietest out of all 27 leaf blowers we tested. But this doesn’t mean you have to compromise blowing power: The blower cleared almost all of the areas in our testing, including the fishing weights. Our testers found it easy to handle, and while it’s not the lightest out of all those we tested (it’s over double the weight of our lightweight pick), it is by no means cumbersome or unwieldy to use. It also comes with a variable speed trigger and a turbo button for maximum power. And both the battery and the tool are compatible with Ryobi’s 40V system of cordless tools. We tested the previous version of this blower—the 40V Brushless Whisper Series 550 CFM Jet Fan Blower—which has since been discontinued and upgraded to the 40V HP Brushless Whisper Series 730 CFM Blower. The two models are similar, however the new version has a faster airspeed, a higher air volume, a quieter operation, and is 0.3 pounds lighter, to make it more ergonomically balanced. Price at time of publish: $329
Power: 40-volt lithium-ion battery, cordless Weight: 9.7 pounds Maximum Airspeed: 190 MPH Maximum Air Volume: 730 CFM
Our Testing Process
We tested 27 electric leaf blowers in our Lab, 10 of which were corded models while the other 17 were cordless models. This was a blind test, meaning testers did not receive the product name or price until after the testing, in order to eliminate bias. Note that for battery-powered models, we used a stopwatch for the duration of our testing to monitor the runtime of each. To test the effectiveness, battery life, ease of use, portability, and noise level of each electric leaf blower, we set up three different testing stations: one for assembly and decibel testing, one for grass and garden testing, and one for concrete testing. During our assembly and decibel testing, we timed how long it took to get the leaf blower ready for use (excluding the battery charge time—we fully charged all of the batteries prior to testing). Once assembled, we weighed the leaf blower with and without the battery, where applicable. Finally, we turned the leaf blower on and cycled through the various speeds, recording the noise level for each using a decibel meter. During this testing we also assessed how easy it was to hold the leaf blower with one hand at all the different speeds. Next was our grass and garden testing. First, we tested the blower’s ability to clear debris from a large area by timing how long it took to clear 0.75 pounds of dry leaves from a 10-by-10-foot grassy patch while set to its highest speed. We repeated this test with wet leaves. To test the blower’s ability to clear debris with greater precision, we spread dry leaves in a garden bed under and around plants, and assessed whether the blower could clear the leaves on its lowest setting without pushing around mulch or damaging plants. Finally, we tested each blower on a concrete surface. Just like in our grass testing, we timed how long it took to clear 0.75 pounds of dry leaves from a 10-by-10-foot area while at its highest speed, but this time on concrete. To assess the precision and power of the leaf blower, we attempted to blow leaves into a 6-by-6-inch chalk square, using whichever speeds or nozzle attachments were most suitable. We repeated this test with fishing line weights (0.25-ounce, 0.5-ounce, and 1-ounce), too. After completing the tests, our testers received the retail price of each blower, and were asked to score its overall value considering its performance.
How to Shop for Electric Leaf Blowers Like a Pro
Corded vs. Cordless
Electric leaf blowers can be broken down into two major categories: corded and cordless. Corded leaf blowers are lightweight (since they don’t require batteries), inexpensive, and have an unlimited runtime. However, keep in mind that they do need to be tethered to an outlet while in use. For this reason, battery-powered, cordless models have come to dominate the market. These models offer excellent mobility, although they do have a finite runtime and require periodic charging. According to McCoy, “you can mitigate the shorter runtime by having extra batteries that are charged and ready to go.” Most battery-powered blowers use lithium-ion batteries, which, according to McCoy, can store more energy in a lighter battery pack. All of the battery-powered leaf blowers on our list use lithium-ion batteries.
Size and Weight
Cordless models can be broken down even further into handheld and backpack models: “Many battery-powered leaf blowers are handheld, but a backpack design is a feature that gives you a powerful battery leaf blower that’s easier to manage than a handheld machine,” says McCoy. Generally, handheld leaf blowers tend to be smaller and lighter weight than backpack leaf blowers, given they require you to maneuver them with one hand. For example, our best backpack pick, the Greenworks Pro 80V Cordless Brushless 580 CFM Backpack Blower, weighed 14 pounds in our testing, while our lightweight pick, the Greenworks 7 Amp 150 CFM Corded Leaf Blower, is a corded model that weighed just 4.5 pounds.
Power
There are two ratings used to evaluate the power of an electric leaf blower: miles per hour (MPH) and cubic feet per minute (CFM). McCoy says these metrics both serve a distinct but important purpose, and should be considered together: “MPH ratings indicate a blower’s power to clear an area while CFM ratings are a measure of how much material it can move,” says McCoy. “With a high leaf blower CFM, you can clear a large area but not blow the leaves as far. With a high MPH leaf blower, you can push a pile of leaves far away, but the pile will be smaller.” The MPH of a leaf blower generally ranges from 100 to 250 MPH, and McCoy says, “a good handheld blower can have anywhere from 70-700 CFM while a backpack model should have 580-900 CFM.”
Speed Settings
The most basic electric leaf blowers feature just one operating speed setting, but more and more manufacturers are offering blowers with variable-speed settings. These allow you to control the amount of airflow, so you can increase the power for heavy, wet leaves, or bring it down when blowing around delicate plants.
Noise
According to Leaf Blowers Direct, over 400 cities in the U.S. currently ban or regulate the use of leaf blowers due to the amount of noise they produce. McCoy says that although electric leaf blowers are more quiet than their gas-powered counterparts, “you can’t necessarily call them ‘quiet.’” The average electric leaf blower produces noise at about 65 decibels, although this can vary widely depending on the speed setting. Our quiet pick, the Ryobi 40V HP Brushless Whisper Series 730 CFM Blower, measured the lowest in our testing.
More Electric Leaf Blowers to Consider
Worx 40V Power Share Turbine Cordless Leaf Blower: This is a very effective leaf blower with three different speed settings. We like that it has an on-board battery gauge that lets you know how much power you have remaining. However, it uses two 20-volt batteries at the same time, which makes it a bit heavier to use once the batteries are installed. Avid Power AVB326 Electric Leaf Blower: This blower is an excellent value given the price, power, and maneuverability. However, we did fit it a bit noisy for its size.
Questions You Might Ask
What’s the difference between an electric leaf blower and a gas-powered leaf blower?
Gas-powered leaf blowers are more powerful than electric leaf blowers, so they may be the better option for commercial work or those with large yards. And compared to battery-powered electric leaf blowers, gas blowers have a longer runtime. However, electric leaf blowers have many advantages over gas blowers which may make them more appealing to the average user: They’re lightweight, less expensive, less noisy, and don’t emit smoke into the air like gas blowers.
Can you use a leaf blower on wet leaves?
While we did test each leaf blower’s ability to blow wet leaves, in general you’ll want to give leaves time to dry when possible. If you have leaves that are soaked through and need to be removed immediately, McCoy says a rake is going to be most effective. But if you’d rather move wet leaves without a sore back, look for a blower with a high CFM that can handle matted clumps of wet leaves. Note: Be careful when using a vacuum or mulching function on wet leaves, as this can clog up the unit.
Take Our Word for It
This article was written by Melanie Fincher, associate commerce editor for Real Simple with three years of experience writing product reviews and lifestyle content. To come up with our list, we tested 27 electric leaf blowers in our Lab and evaluated them on their effectiveness, battery life, ease of use, portability, noise level, and value. For expert insight on electric leaf blowers, we tapped Gary McCoy, Lowe’s store manager.
What Is Real Simple Selects?
Next to each product on this list, you may have noticed a Real Simple Selects seal of approval. Any product appearing alongside that seal has been vetted by our team—put through tests and graded on its performance to earn a spot on our list. Although we buy most of the products we test, sometimes we do get samples from companies if purchasing a product ourselves isn’t an option. If that’s the case, we test the product just like we test anything we buy, but we also disclose that we received it for free to be as transparent with you as possible. Love our recommendations? Check out more products that have earned the Real Simple Selects, from humidifiers to cordless vacuums.
