10 Cordless Leaf Blowers Tested: Which One Is Actually Worth Your Money

Introduction

Is an $80 leaf blower just as good as one that costs $329? To find out, ten cordless blowers from ten brands were put through the same battery of tests: measured air speed and CFM, a thrust comparison on a scale-based airflow rig, wood chip and leaf clearing trials, noise readings, ramp-up times, weight, balance, and run time as the battery drains. The results separated the field cleanly, and the price tags did not always line up with performance.

How We Compared Them

The core numbers were measured with fully charged batteries using a pitot-tube air meter, since the blowers were too powerful for a basic fan-blade meter. Air speed was tested with the best nozzle setup for each blower, and CFM was calculated from measured air velocity and tube diameter with the tapered nozzle removed.

A few notes up front: some kits include the battery and charger while others sell the bare tool, which changes the real cost dramatically. The Atlas, for example, is only $80 for the blower itself, and you will need an 80V battery and charger, pushing a full setup closer to $240.

Quick Specs at a Glance

Prices range from $99 all-in for the En Hulk kit to $329 for the Ryobi and EGO kits. Weights with batteries run from 7.3 lb for the Milwaukee M18 up to 11.7 lb for the Greenworks. Noise readings at roughly two feet ranged from 87.7 to 105.3 decibels, and the quietest and loudest machines also happened to be two of the most powerful.

Atlas 80V Leaf Blower

The Atlas, sold at Harbor Freight, costs $80 for the blower only; with a battery and charger the total comes to around $240. It uses a brushless motor with automatic speed control and a turbo button, and it is rated at 605 CFM and 150 mph. In testing it came very close on airflow at 598.8 CFM, though max air speed measured 125.2 mph with turbo activated.

It is a light, well-balanced tool at 7.67 lb with an 80V 2.5Ah battery, and its blower tube sits at a comfortable 25-degree angle. It is a little slow to get up to speed at 0.8 seconds, and at 101.9 decibels it is on the loud side. On the thrust rig it produced 6.3 lb, cleared 50 lb of wood chips in 26.3 seconds, and blew four buckets of leaves across the test area in 22 seconds. Battery output held up well, dropping only about 12% in the first ten minutes.

En Hulk 20V Leaf Blower

At $99 including a 20V 4Ah battery and charger, the En Hulk is the cheapest complete kit here. It is rated at 400 CFM and 90 mph with a brushless motor, and it actually beat its air speed claim at 93.9 mph, though measured CFM landed at 419.8.

It reacts quickly to the switch at 1.1 seconds to full speed, weighs 7.87 lb with the battery, and runs at 95.6 decibels. The trade-off is power: it produced 3.85 lb on the thrust rig and took 54 seconds to clear the wood chips, more than twice as long as the Atlas. At 90 mph it simply does not make enough air speed to work efficiently on leaves, finishing in 33 seconds. Run time is short, with the battery draining in under ten minutes.

DeWalt 20V Leaf Blower

The 20V DeWalt costs $159 for the bare tool. It is rated up to 450 CFM or 106 mph with the standard nozzle, or 338 CFM and 125 mph with the concentrator. Measured airflow came in at 431.5 CFM, and with the concentrator it managed 102.5 mph, short of the 125 mph claim.

It is made in Mexico, has a trigger switch plus speed lock lever, and weighs 8.7 lb with a 9Ah battery. Trigger response is a little slow at 1.2 seconds, and it is the quietest of the low-priced options at 94.5 decibels. It produced 3.78 lb on the thrust rig, slightly less than the cheaper En Hulk, and it finished behind both the Hulk and the Milwaukee in the clearing tests. With a 5Ah battery it held slightly better airflow than the Hulk for the first five minutes and lasted about three minutes longer.

Milwaukee 2724-20 (M18) Leaf Blower

At $200 for the tool, the M18 Milwaukee is rated at 450 CFM and 120 mph. Measured airflow was 446.8 CFM, essentially on target, though air speed reached only 99.4 mph with a fully charged high-output 8Ah battery, about 20 mph short of the rating.

Its standout trait is responsiveness: 0.45 seconds to full speed, the fastest in the entire test. It is also the lightest blower here at 7.3 lb with the battery, and at 99.7 decibels it is moderately loud. It produced 3.84 lb of thrust, matched the Makita almost exactly, and consistently finished behind the Atlas but ahead of the Hulk and DeWalt 20V in the clearing tests. With a 5Ah battery it starts slower than the Ryobi and Atlas but outperforms both by minute six, draining in under nine minutes.

Makita 36V Leaf Blower

The Makita kit costs $279 and includes two 5Ah 36V batteries, a dual-port charger, and the blower. It is rated at 473 CFM and 120 mph, and it measured 450 CFM and 119.1 mph, coming closest of anyone to its advertised air speed.

The trigger reacts very quickly, though ramp-up takes 0.8 seconds. At 9.1 lb it is one of the heavier tools, but it is very well balanced even with two batteries, and it is the second-quietest at 93.6 decibels. It produced 3.81 lb of thrust and delivered impressively steady output, maintaining around 450 CFM until the batteries are fully drained. It edged out the Milwaukee in the skateboard thrust test and ran strong in the leaf test, but the smaller air tube limits raw airflow.

Greenworks 80V Leaf Blower

The Greenworks kit is $298 with a 4Ah 80V battery and charger. Its 730 CFM and 170 mph claims are eye-catching, and while it came up short of both, it still measured 704 CFM and 142.3 mph, good enough for the CFM runner-up spot and third in air speed.

Controls include a trigger, turbo button, and cruise control, and it ramps up quickly after about half a second of trigger lag. The downsides are weight and noise: it is the heaviest blower tested at 11.7 lb and the loudest at 105.3 decibels, and the large heavy battery hurts the balance. Performance is undeniably strong though, with 8.13 lb of thrust, a 20.5-second wood chip time, and a field-best 14.5 seconds on the leaves.

DeWalt 60V Leaf Blower

This step-up DeWalt costs $299 with a battery and charger. The battery reads 9Ah at 20V but 3Ah at 60V, and the brushless blower is rated at 600 CFM and 125 mph. Measured results were 590 CFM and 112.5 mph, both a bit short of the claims.

Trigger response is immediate with 0.75 seconds to full speed, and it weighs 9.4 lb at 101 decibels. It placed third on the thrust rig behind the Atlas, and it was nearly as quick as the Atlas in the wood chip test at 30.3 seconds. Output tapers from 590 CFM to around 520 by minute eleven, which is a reasonable trajectory for this class.

Milwaukee 2824-20 (M18 36V) Leaf Blower

The larger dual-battery Milwaukee costs $300 for the bare tool and runs two 8Ah high-output batteries at 36V. It claims the highest constant power in the lineup, rated at 600 CFM and 145 mph. Measured airflow actually exceeded the rating at 606 CFM, though air speed topped out at 124.6 mph with the tapered nozzle.

It matches the smaller Milwaukee’s blistering 0.45-second ramp-up, weighs 10.8 lb with both batteries, and runs at 97.5 decibels. It produced 6.14 lb of thrust, fifth best overall, and delivered a very strong 14.7-minute run time at full throttle with the 8Ah batteries, third longest in the test.

Ryobi 40V Whisper Series Leaf Blower

At $329 with two 4Ah batteries and a charger, the Ryobi is the quietest blower in the test by a wide margin at just 87.7 decibels, fitting its Whisper Series billing. It is rated at 730 CFM and 190 mph, and measured 689.1 CFM and 143.3 mph with the tapered nozzle and turbo, short of the claims but still excellent.

It is a little slow to react to the trigger but ramps up in 0.95 seconds, weighs 9.17 lb, and includes a trigger, trigger lock, and turbo button. On the thrust rig it matched the Atlas and Greenworks at 2.07 seconds, cleared the wood chips in 21.5 seconds, and won the leaf test outright at 13.3 seconds. One caveat: it starts stronger than the Atlas on airflow but the two converge by minute six, and it drained about a minute sooner, though the kit includes a second battery.

EGO 56V Leaf Blower

Also $329 with a 56V 5Ah battery and charger, the EGO claims the highest CFM in the lineup at 765, and it delivered the best measured numbers across the board: 743.5 CFM, 155.7 mph air speed, and 9.1 lb on the thrust rig, the most powerful result in every headline metric.

It reacts quickly and reaches full speed in 0.75 seconds, weighs just over 9.5 lb, and is very well balanced. It also comes with a shoulder strap, an air speed trigger, a boost button, and a lock-on dial. It cleared the wood chips fastest at 16 seconds and had the longest run time at 15.6 minutes at maximum speed, though its output dips below the Greenworks by minute six before its longer run time pays off. Its only odd result was finishing a second behind the Ryobi on the leaves, likely down to operator variance.

Results Summary

On the thrust rig: EGO 9.1 lb, Greenworks 8.13, Ryobi 7.52, Atlas 6.3, Milwaukee 36V 6.14, with the DeWalt 60V next. On air speed: EGO 155.7 mph, Ryobi 143.3, Greenworks 142.3, Atlas 125.2, Milwaukee 36V 124.6. On CFM: EGO 743.5, Greenworks 704.1, Ryobi 689.1, Milwaukee 606, Atlas 598.8.

The thrust rig correctly predicted the top five finishers in the wood chip test, where EGO won in 16 seconds. In the leaf test, the Ryobi took first at 13.3 seconds, with the Greenworks and EGO close behind. On noise, the Ryobi’s 87.7 decibels makes it the clear pick for quiet operation, well ahead of the Makita at 93.6 and the loud Greenworks at 105.3.

Weight, Balance, and Noise

If tool weight matters, the Milwaukee 2724-20 is the lightest at 7.3 lb, followed by the Atlas at 7.7, the En Hulk at 7.9, the DeWalt 20V at 8.7, and the Makita at 9.1.

Balance affects comfort more than raw specs suggest. The Atlas is very well designed with its 25-degree tube angle, the Makita and both DeWalt and Milwaukee models balance nicely with a 5Ah battery, and the EGO is very well balanced too. The En Hulk is rear-heavy and takes more wrist effort to aim downward, and the Greenworks’ large battery hurts its balance. The Ryobi is pleasant to use, though a few rivals balance better.

At maximum speed, run time favors the EGO at 15.6 minutes, with the Greenworks at 14.9 and the 36V Milwaukee at 14.7 using 8Ah batteries.

Buying Advice: Which Blower Fits You

Taking price, weight, balance, and performance together, the EGO 56V is the strongest overall package, dominating with the best airflow, air speed, thrust, and run time. If you want most of that power for less money, the Greenworks is excellent but heavier, louder, and less well balanced.

The Ryobi is the smart pick if low noise matters, offering high power at by far the quietest output. The Atlas is the value hero: very light, well balanced, and surprisingly strong for $80. For light-duty yards, the En Hulk or the 20V DeWalt will get by, but expect much slower clearing. And if you are already invested in Milwaukee or Makita batteries, their mid-size blowers are responsive, well-built options that hold their own.

One thing worth noting: strapping all ten of these blowers to a bicycle for a thrust test is not recommended. The thrust-to-weight comparison on a skateboard was enough to settle that question.

Conclusion

The EGO 56V earns the top spot with an average finish of 1.4 across the tests, backed by the best measured CFM, air speed, thrust, and run time. The Greenworks follows at 2.4, and the Ryobi rounds out the podium by pairing serious power with the lowest noise in the field. Match the tool to your budget and battery ecosystem, and any of the top five will make quick work of fall cleanup.