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Trees are glorious things to have in your garden, providing shelter, shade and a habitat for wildlife. Right up until the moment when their leaves start to fall off, that is, and you’re left with the annoying autumnal job of clearing up.
Traditionally, we’d just use a rake for this job, and perhaps a good pair of leaf grabbers to help transfer them to the compost or a recycling bag (see below for our gardening expert Matt Collins’ advice on what to do with your leaves afterwards). If your leaf drop isn’t particularly heavy, these remain perfectly adequate tools for the job.
If you have more leaves to clear than time in your life, however, help is at hand. Wave these 10 cordless blowers in the vicinity of your leaves and they’ll lift and blow them into piles, significantly reducing all that raking. Some of them also convert into garden vacuums, which can suck as well as blow, drawing your leaves into a handy collection bag ready to turn into precious mulch.
At a glance
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Best leaf blower overall:
Milwaukee M18 Fuel Blower FBLG3-802
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Best garden vacuum overall:
Stihl SHA 56
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Best budget leaf blower:
Worx 20V PowerShare Cordless LeafJet Blower WG543E
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Best combined leaf blower/garden vacuum:
Einhell Venturro 36/240
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Best leaf blower for small gardens:
Bosch Universal Leaf Blower 18V-130
Why you should trust me
Leaf blowers and garden vacuums are the latest in a line of outdoor tools that I’ve reviewed for the Filter, after my pieces on electric lawnmowers and pressure washers. I’ve been reviewing labour-saving gardening tools for five years, and have been a professional product reviewer in other sectors (mainly technology) for more than three decades.
My garden isn’t particularly large, but it’s surrounded by a beech hedge and mature trees that mostly belong to my neighbours, but seem prone to dropping their leaves on my side of the fence. As a result, I do more than my fair share of collecting and picking up leaves and hedge trimmings.
In the past I’ve relied on rakes, leaf grabbers, shredders and reluctant (but short on cash) teenage family members to tidy leaves and branches, but as my nest empties and my enthusiasm for manual labour wanes, I’m ready to reduce the effort and go electric.
How I tested
The first problem I encountered during testing was a distinct absence of leaves. I requested the 10 leaf blowers and garden vacuums from their manufacturers towards the end of the summer, but at the time, all leaves were still on trees. I was considering going through the recycling and tearing up scrap paper, raiding my local beech woods (because beech leaves appear to last for ever), and asking neighbours to save their hedge trimmings.
In the meantime, I tested the batteries by timing how long each device could run for, both at full power and at a lower power. I used an air speed of about 45mph (measured with an anemometer) as a minimum for the low setting, as some of the variable blowers can be set so low that they’d struggle to budge the lightest of leaves.
In the end, autumn came a bit early for the horse chestnuts on a nearby avenue, so I collected a good haul of their leaves in a large garden sack. From there, it was plain sailing. For each blower, I used a 14-litre builders’ bucket full of leaves, tipped out in front of a wooden marker. I took a few steps back and with the blower set to full power, I approached the marker, pointing the wind blast at the leaves.
When the end of the funnel arrived at the mark, I measured how far the farthest leaf was blown, but also how large the clear area (in the centre of the spread of leaves) was, measuring the distance and the width of the cleared area.
If the blower also had a garden vacuum mode, I used that to clear up the mess afterwards, noting how well it performed the job and inspecting the contents of the collection bag to see how well the leaves were chopped. I also measured how noisy the blowers were at head height when being used, using the Decibel X app on my phone.
Most of the devices I’ve tested were supplied by the manufacturers on a loan basis and will be returned when testing is concluded. Any that aren’t will be donated to the British Heart Foundation.
The best leaf blowers and garden vacuums in 2025
Best leaf blower overall:
Milwaukee M18 Fuel Blower FBLG3-802
Milwaukee is best known as a trade brand rather than a consumer name, but it’s worth seeking out this powerful, long-lasting blower if you have a lot of leaves to tidy.
Why we love it
The Milwaukee M18 Fuel Blower only takes a single 18V battery, but you can buy it with two long-lasting 8Ah units – enough to keep it blowing for more than an hour, or more than 24 minutes on full blast.
It has a simple dual-control system, so you use either a variable trigger, which produces more power the harder you pull it, or a slider that locks the trigger in a particular place. Pull the trigger hard, and the force of air that comes out of the blower will cause the end to leap about – it’s that powerful. That’s partly because it’s also remarkably light, so I didn’t need to keep putting it down to rest my arms.
In my tests, the Milwaukee blew leaves further than any other, with the most distant moving 3.4 metres into the distance. More importantly, the clear area created in front of the blower measured 100cm wide and 170cm deep, also the best performance in this group test.
It’s a shame that … it’s expensive. Note that the two 8Ah batteries that come in the kit cost more than £200 each if bought separately, however, which makes the kit look like better value for money.
Type: leaf blower
Airflow volume: 852m3/h
Airflow speed: 120mph
Weight: 3.3kg
Number of speeds: variable
Tested noise: 98.5dB
Tested battery life (full/low power): 12mins 40secs/35mins 58secs
Best garden vacuum overall:
Stihl SHA 56
Blowing leaves into piles is all well and good, but if you don’t want to bend down and pick them up, you need a garden vacuum to suck them into a collection bag. The Stihl SHA 56 can do it all, with both blowing and vacuuming functions in one.
Why we love it
While most of the multifunctional devices I tested aren’t as good at blowing as the dedicated models, the Stihl SHA 56 was the best. It created a clear space measuring 120cm long and 80cm wide. It also pushed leaves the farthest, with the most distant transported 3.3 metres away.
It takes a bit of converting to get from blower to vacuum; you can’t just flip from one job to another at the flick of a switch. Instead, you have to remove and replace various bits and rotate the handle through 180 degrees.
In vacuum mode, its suck feels less powerful than its blow, and I had to keep the nozzle close to the ground to capture the leaves. It comes with a comfy padded shoulder strap, though, to make it easier to hold in position, and a good-sized 40-litre collection bag.
It’s a shame that … operation is a bit fiddly, with a three-way switch and a variable trigger that can’t be locked into a particular position, so I could only test the battery at full power.
Type: leaf blower and garden vacuum
Airflow volume: 560m3/h
Airflow speed: 136mph
Weight: 5.7kg
Number of speeds: variable
Tested noise at head height: 90dB
Collection bag size: 40 litres
Tested battery life (full/low power): 39mins 20secs/unable to test
The Worx WG543E is an affordable magic wand that you can wave in front of your garden’s scattered leaves to blow them into more organised mounds for easy collection.
Why we love it
It’s the easiest of the leaf blowers I’ve reviewed in this test, with a very simple dual-power setting. A rolling switch under the thumb lets you choose between its three settings – off, on and boost.
This isn’t the cheapest leaf blower I tested – that honour goes to the Titan – but it’s terrific value for money. At full power, it blew a 110 x 65cm hole into the middle of my leaf pile, and pushed some of the leaves a distance of 2.2 metres.
In use, the handle is comfortable to hold and the whole unit is light and easy to wave around, with the weight of the battery counterbalancing the comparatively light motor. The battery life is reasonable too, lasting 25mins 45secs on its standard setting, or 15mins 46secs when switched up to full blast.
It’s a shame that … at 2hrs 10mins, the battery takes quite a long time to charge, so those with more leaves to blow may want to invest in a second battery.
Type: leaf blower
Airflow volume: 696m3/h
Airflow speed: 130mph
Weight: 1.7kg
Number of speeds: two
Tested noise: 96dB
Tested battery life (full/low power): 15mins 46secs/25mins 45secs
Best combined leaf blower/garden vacuum:
Einhell Venturro 36/240
The Einhell Venturro 36/240 isn’t quite the cheapest combination leaf blower and garden vacuum that I tested, but if this is a garden chore that you don’t want to spend a fortune on, it’s a sensible choice.
Why we love it
Eyeballing the Venturro in a shop, you’d be hard pressed to work out why it’s available at such a reasonable price. It has the largest collection bag at 45 litres, and it has a handy window in it so you can see it filling up.
Out in the garden, its limitations started to show next to more expensive models, though it still did the job. It blew a 140 x 55cm hole in my leaf pile test, with the farthest blown leaf reaching 2.7 metres. That doesn’t match the width of the Stihl, so you’ll spend more time covering the same ground, but it’s a great effort for the price.
It’s a shame that … we had to keep it on full blast to get much done with it. That limited the battery life to 17mins 53secs during testing, using the two 4Ah batteries supplied.
Type: leaf blower and garden vacuum
Airflow volume: 740m3/h
Airflow speed: 149mph
Weight: 5.3kg
Number of speeds: five
Tested noise: 94dB
Collection bag size: 45 litres
Tested battery life (full power/low power): 51mins 17secs/17mins 53secs
Best leaf blower for small gardens:
Bosch Universal Leaf Blower 18V-130
Most of the leaf blowers I tested are large, making them cumbersome to hold and difficult to store. Bosch’s compact Universal Leaf Blower 18V-130 challenges this, being small and easy to use, and still providing enough power to clear a small garden of leaves.
Why we love it
There’s nothing fancy about this device, which has a long, narrow blower tube attached to a small motor unit. It takes a single 18V battery that’s compatible with the Power For All Alliance system, which makes it interchangeable with a selection of other 18V power tools from Bosch and a handful of other brands, including Flymo, Gardena and Husqvarna. The blower is easy to operate with a choice of two power settings. At low power, the battery took 22mins 18secs to drain, while at full power it lasted 14 minutes.
At full blast, the Bosch cleared a 95 x 30cm hole in my leaf pile, blowing the most distant leaves 2.3 metres forward. That makes it the weakest of the dedicated blowers I tested, but it’s still very capable of pushing leaves around.
Usefully, the package also comes with a set of inflation nozzles to blow up balls, paddling pools and rubber dinghies, so you can put the blower to use even when there are no leaves to blow. Storage is also straightforward, with the device packing down small enough to store in a small carrier bag or tuck away in a cupboard.
It’s a shame that … it’s only a little bit cheaper than the Worx LeafJet, which does a better job of blowing leaves around. The Worx isn’t as small and compact for off-season storage, however.
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Type: leaf blower
Airflow volume: not stated
Airflow speed: 245mph
Weight: 1.5kg
Number of speeds: two
Tested noise at head height: 92dB
Tested battery life (full/low power): 22mins 18secs/14mins
The best of the rest
Worx 40V WG583E leaf blower and vacuum
Best for: mid-range value
The Worx WG583E came close to knocking the cheaper Einhell from its best budget position, offering a step up in power without costing that much more. If you can afford that increase, it’s good value for money.
It’s a bit more of a faff to convert from a blower to a vacuum, as you have to switch tubes and attach the bag, but it performed strongly, pushing leaves up to 3.2 metres away. It vacuumed leaves well and shreds them as it goes – the horse chestnut leaves I tested it on ended up a mixture of dust and larger pieces.
It didn’t make the final cut because … competition proved tight. It’s not as powerful as the best and not as affordable as the cheapest.
Type: leaf blower and garden vacuum; airflow volume: 575m3/h; airflow speed: 208mph; weight: 5.3kg; number of speeds: two; tested noise: 95dB; collection bag size: 35 litres; tested battery life (full/low power): 39mins 23secs/17mins 17secs
Makita Blower LXT DUB187
Best for: easy switching between functions
This Makita blower was the weakest blower of the lot. However, it still managed to shift leaves around, and did a good job of collecting them when I’d finished the blowing tests.
It has the smallest leaf collection bag of this group at just 25 litres, which is a bit on the small side and means you’ll need to empty it more often. Still, I liked the fact that there’s no conversion necessary when switching between blowing and vacuuming – just a large lever on the side that you shift from one position to the other.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it proved less powerful in blowing tests than the other combination blowers and garden vacuums.
Type: leaf blower and garden vacuum; airflow volume: 252m3/h; airflow speed: 143mph; weight: 4kg; number of speeds: variable; tested noise: 88dB; collection bag size: 25 litres; tested battery life (full/low power): 27mins 23secs/11mins 29secs
Ego LB6704E
Best for: long-lasting battery
The Ego LB6704E is aimed at pro gardeners, but anyone with a lot of leaves will appreciate the huge 56V, 5Ah battery. It occupies the entire back end of the blower under the handle, and provided the device with enough power to last 20 minutes on full blast during my tests, and almost two hours with the power dialled down.
The downside is the noise (98dB, which was the loudest I tested) and the weight. At 4.4kg, it’s the heaviest model that didn’t include a shoulder strap in the box, though there is a clip for a strap on its left-hand side, and you can buy one as an optional accessory. I tried the shoulder straps provided by other manufacturers (Ego shoulder straps are an optional extra), and it worked with them all.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it matched the lighter Milwaukee blower for blowing performance and can outlast it, but it’s heavier and more cumbersome to use.
Type: leaf blower; airflow volume: 1,138m3/h; airflow speed: 159mph; weight: 4.4kg; number of speeds: variable; tested noise: 98.5dB; tested battery life (full/low power): 1hr 56mins 16secs/20mins 3secs
Flymo 18V EasiBlowVac
Best for: a shared battery system
The Flymo 18V EasiBlowVac doesn’t need any converting to transition between use as a leaf blower and a garden vacuum, so you can easily switch to clearing leaves while you’re still tidying with the blower. It operates reasonably well in either mode, although I had to use the higher power settings to get much blowing done.
This isn’t ideal because the battery life was the weakest when turned right up, lasting only 10mins 45secs at full power. It lasted a more reasonable 34mins 48secs on its most economical setting, though that’s only good enough for light dry leaves.
A good thing about the battery is that Flymo uses the 18V Power for All Alliance system, meaning it’s interchangeable with other 18V tools, such as drills, screwdrivers, shearers, grass trimmers, hedge cutters and pressure washers, from Flymo, Bosch, Gardena and Husqvarna.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s reasonably priced for what you get, but the Einhell outperformed it for only a few more pounds.
Type: leaf blower and garden vacuum; airflow volume: not supplied; airflow speed: 155mph; weight: 4.2kg; number of speeds: four; tested noise at head height: 86dB; collection bag size: 30 litres; tested battery life (full/low power): 34mins 48secs/10mins 45secs
Titan TTI931BVC 18V TXP cordless blower
Best for: lowest price
If you’re tempted by a leaf blower but suspect it won’t see a lot of action, you can save some money by opting for the Titan TTI931BVC. This Screwfix brand pulls the blower back to its bare essentials, including a 2Ah battery that lasted only about 15 minutes in my tests. It managed a decent-sized hole in my pile of leaves, measuring 120 x 60cm, but it only launched them a distance of 2.4 metres.
Operation is kept simple, too, with a trigger to control the blower’s variable speed and a locking switch to keep it in a place of your choosing.
It didn’t make the final cut because … although it might be good enough for a casual user, spending a bit more will get you more power and a longer use time.
Type: leaf blower; airflow volume: 492m3/h; airflow speed: 67mph; weight: 2.2kg; number of speeds: variable; tested noise: 89dB; tested battery life (full/low power): 15mins 37secs/12mins 13secs
What you need to know
What should I look for in a leaf blower?
The two key specs are the air speed and the air volume. Air speed is measured in miles per hour (mph) and is indicative of how much power the blower can muster; a higher number will help you punch through harder tasks, such as piles of wet leaves. The air volume is how much air the device pushes out. A higher number here means a leaf blower should be able to cover more ground more quickly.
All the leaf blowers I tested are battery-operated, but there are also leaf blowers that plug into the mains with a cable. You have to manage the cable while blowing leaves and stay within reach of the mains, but that may not be a problem in a smaller garden. The benefit is that it will never run out of power.
If buying a battery blower with a battery included, take note of its Ah (amp hours) rating. The higher this is, the longer the battery will last.
What’s better, a leaf blower or a garden vacuum?
It depends. In my tests, I found the leaf blowers to be more powerful. If you just want to move a lot of leaves from one place to another, and don’t mind picking them up when you’ve gathered them into a pile, then a leaf blower will do the job well.
However, while you may spend longer blowing with a combination device, it will make comparatively short work of sucking the leaves off the floor and collecting them in a bag. That makes it much easier to empty into your compost or into a larger bag for taking to the tip.
Can I convert a leaf blower into a vacuum?
Only if it’s designed to do both jobs. Some combination leaf blower and vacuums, such as the Flymo and Makita models I’ve reviewed, convert by simply flipping a switch on the side. Others, such as the Worx and Stihl units, require components to be added or removed to switch between the functions.
What should I do with my collected leaves?
Matt Collins, gardening expert and head gardener at London’s Garden Museum, writes:
In nature’s annual cycle, decomposing leaves are a valuable source of renewal and regeneration. That said, within domestic gardens, leaves do not always fall where they’re wanted: they clog drains, cover lawns and can make hard surfaces slippery – ample cause to reach for a leaf blower or garden vacuum. However, once gathered, fallen leaves needn’t be disposed of: here are five ways of putting them to effective use, for the benefit of your garden, its plants and its resident wildlife.
Tree and border mulching
By either raking gathered leaves or blowing them directly into a circle around a tree trunk, you’ll provide that tree with a nutritious, nurturing and water-retentive mulch. Similarly, leaves – particularly lighter-weight species such as beech, birch, oak and cherry – can be spread by hand through herbaceous plantings to the same end.
Make leaf mould
As a soil conditioner, mulch or potting compost additive, homemade leaf mould is useful and surprisingly easy to produce. Pack your leaves into a polythene bag (preferably one being reused), dampen with water, and tie off the bag. Puncture with holes for airflow and place it somewhere out of the way. In one to two years you’ll have wonderfully crumbly, lightweight leaf mould.
Shred and add to the lawn
Leaves left lying on top of a lawn can lead to patchy dieback, but when finely shredded and lightly distributed as a top-dressing, they can actually feed the grass as they break down. Use a lawnmower on a mid- to high-level setting to mow over a light volume of leaves (either while cutting the grass in autumn or specifically for this purpose), and distribute the clippings afterwards with a lawn rake.
Add straight to the compost bin
The best homemade compost is produced by mixing “browns” (small twigs, wood chippings, cardboard, etc) and “greens” (grass, vegetable and green plant clippings). Dry, fallen leaves are an excellent form of brown material, breaking down slowly when added to a modular or closed-lid composter. Thicker leaves are best shredded first.
For more ways to give your outdoor space a glow up:
The best pressure washers, tested
Expert tips to get your garden ready for autumn
How to create a more eco-friendly lawn
Andy Shaw is a consumer and technology journalist who has reviewed tech, home and garden gadgets professionally for more than 30 years. He loves testing and comparing things. His greatest weakness is that he never, ever remembers how products came out of their packaging, so they rarely fit back in again when it’s time to return them
