The 4 Best Cordless Leaf Blowers to Get You Ready For Fall

Power: First and foremost, you want something that will get the job done, and be faster than doing it by hand. When it comes to power, it's easiest to look at maximum air speed. This is typically measured in MPH in the US and some of these go up to 200 MPH.

CFM: The other indicator of power is CFM or cubic feet per minute. This refers to the volume of the air blown, but is a good indicator of how strong a leaf blower is compared to others.

Battery life: For electric leaf blowers, the biggest downside is battery life. Many of these won't last longer than 20 minutes on high speeds or 90 minutes on the lowest setting. Some, like the ones we've selected, are better than others on this front.

Weight: Most leaf blowers require you to carry them in one hand. This means they should not only be light, but evenly balanced as well.

Noise level: dB (or decibles) is used to measure sound levels. 50-70 dB is pretty reasonable when it comes to leaf blowers. Anything above 100 and it's starting to get loud in here.

Ease of use: How many buttons does it have? Are they easy to push when you're also trying to blow leaves? Does it have dials as well? All things to look into when determining which leaf blower to buy. You want something you can pick up and start using, with little to no learning curve.

Gas or Electric: This is the ultimate question. Gas leaf blowers don't run into the same battery issue, so they are the more reliable choice for larger jobs. They also tend to be more powerful. Conversely, electric blowers are quieter and these days many of them rival the MPH and CFM of gas blowers. They are also more environmentally friendly. For these reasons, we tend to lean electric when talking consumer leaf blowers.