Our leaf blowers can be safely stored away in a garage or shed, ready for when the leaves start to fall in the autumn. Instead of having to rake them into piles by hand, our leaf blowers do the hard work for you, giving you more time to spend on other jobs and activities. 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. Mulching blades - Metal blades are tougher than plastic, as well as more durable, so are the preferable choice. The best way to position your leaf blower is at your side with the nozzle pointing at the ground. You want to chase the leaves firmly to the waste pile with slow side to side movements as you step forward.

Thanks to the design of the blower head, it’s possible to adjust the amount of air volume that is produced by this leaf blower. This means it works equally as well on large open spaces as it does in smaller areas. There are two speed settings available.

The best cordless leaf blowers you can buy in 2023

If you only want a leaf blower for blowing leaves, and want to be able to shift wet leaves from grass, you should look for a maximum air flow speed of around 250 km/h. This will be too powerful for clearing dust/debris from a workshop (it’ll go everywhere!) so make sure there are variable speed settings if you want to use the blower for different jobs. Turns out, the best cordless leaf blowers come in handy for loads of different jobs – not just clearing leaves (although they’re great at that too!). They’re a useful tool to have in the shed, and the fact that they don’t have any cables makes them easy to grab at any time. In terms of performance, this leaf 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. The only thing that put me off was it’s run time. 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. Through our testing, we discovered that the best cordless leaf blowers will achieve a run time of approximately 20 minutes when fitted with a 2.0 Ah battery. Look out for these, particularly if you have a larger garden. Many leaf blowers only achieve half this time, with the same size battery fitted.

Is it a still and sunny day? These are optimum conditions – choose a spot where you can gather your leaves and place a piece of tarp down/garden waste bags. The WORX WG543E.9 LEAFJET Cordless Leaf Blower is a particularly lightweight and manageable model. Measuring just 77 x 17 x 12 cm and weighing 1.05 kg (without the battery) this is one of the lightest and smallest leaf blowers featured here.

Banish leaves from every corner of your garden with our pick of the best cordless blowers and blower/vacuum combos

To give you more versatility, look for a leaf blower with multiple speed settings . Being able to switch to a less powerful setting (below 175 km/h) can help prolong battery life and will still move some dry leaves, dust and wood shavings. 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.

A leaf blower with an air flow speed of approximately 175 km/h will be powerful enough to remove most leaves from hard surfaces, although it may occasionally struggle with very wet leaves. Cordless leaf blowers with this level of airflow are normally more appropriate for clearing dust, dirt and debris from interior spaces. They’ll also work better for removing leaves from gravel without making the gravel go everywhere. Einhell’s power 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.Generally speaking, having a choice of air speeds makes leaf blowers more versatile; however, if you’re only interested in a very powerful leaf blower, changeable speeds won’t matter as much. 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. Some of the best cordless leaf blowers will have batteries that are interchangeable with other tools from the same brand. Many tool companies, such as Bosch, DEWALT and Ryobi use the same battery type for a range of tools – you may find you already have a compatible battery in your garage. Run time is one of the most important aspects to consider when buying a cordless leaf blower. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries can take 1 – 2 hours to recharge, so you’ll probably want to try to get all your leaf blowing done in one go. It’s sold as a bare unit and is compatible with 20 V Worx Power Share batteries. Therefore, if you have any other Worx tools, you won’t need to buy a battery or charger for this leaf blower. When used with a 2 Ah battery, it will run for approximately 10 minutes.

If you’re using a battery powered leaf blower to shift dust, use the same side-to-side technique, but on the lowest blow setting. Otherwise, it’ll create a choking dust storm. You may want to spray areas down with a little water to stop clouds of dust forming.

My Top Recommended Cordless Leaf Blowers

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 it’s one of the best cordless leaf blowers in terms of value for money. Nozzle size – in general, the narrower the better, as the air flow is more concentrated, giving more control when it comes to corralling the leaves into a pile. Cordless leaf blowers with one speed setting (particularly if the setting blasts out air at over 175 km/h) will likely have a much shorter run time than a less powerful model when used with the same battery. Performance: Focussed on the power and air flow control, plus run and charge time (where applicable).