SnapFresh Cordless Leaf Blower review

REVIEW – We recently purchased an inflatable hot tub and put it in the back yard.  Eventually we might tile in everything, but for now it’s just sitting in the grass.  This means we’re forever tracking grass onto the back deck and then into the house.  I find myself needing to regularly blow off the deck, and I think a battery-powered leaf blower would be the perfect tool for the job.  This is why I’m testing SnapFresh’s Cordless Leaf Blower.

What is it?

The Cordless Leaf Blower (model BBT-YOR01) is a lightweight, battery-powered blower from SnapFresh.

What’s in the box?

A bright green box from SnapFresh arrived that contains:

• The blower (two tubes and a motor housing)
• A battery and charger
• A manual with 15 pages of English instruction

Hardware specs

• Two speeds, low and high
• 20V/2.0 Ah lithium-ion battery
• 1 hour to charge, 30 minutes use on low, 15 on high
• 2.7 pounds

Design and features

When the box arrived, my first impression was “Holy Moly!” that little box has a leaf blower in it!?  The box is only 16 inches wide and 6.5 inches tall.  It just didn’t look big enough, and even when fully-assembled the leaf blower is only 35 inches long.  Once I put it together, my second impression was that the Snapfish is light and bright!   The color of the motor housing is even brighter than the box, a cheerful neon-lime-yellow color.  At 2.7 pounds, it’s really light.  I think a 5-year old kid could easily handle and use this blower.  The design is thin and sleek, not at all unpleasant, but it does make me wonder how powerful it is.

Installation and setup

The SnapFresh comes with a manual, but unless you’re really OCD about reading manuals, you can just leave it in the box, as assembly could not be easier.  First, snap the lower tube onto the upper tube, and then the upper onto the motor housing.

Second, pop the battery into the charger and give it an hour to charge.  There are two LEDs on the charger; when the red one is on, it’s charging, and when the green one is on, it’s full charged.

Third, once the battery was fully charged, slip the battery into the slot under the handle, and you’re ready to go!

Performance

First things first!  I took the SnapFresh blower onto the back deck for its first test.  It has two speeds; I tried low first, and I have to admit that I was underwhelmed.  There’s really not much power on this speed, nor does it blow very hard.  I suppose this might be handy if I have a small, delicate job, but I never found a reason to use it.  Thankfully, there’s also a high speed, and it’s much more satisfying.  There’s certainly plenty of power (for its size) here and in just a couple minutes my back deck had been blown clean of grass.

The SnapFresh is very light and well-balanced.  I can easily hold it in one hand and direct it to wherever I want it to blow.  The tip of the blower is narrow, about 2 inches wide and 1 inch tall.  This is a very small area, which necessary due to the small size of the motor.

The SnapFresh is great for light jobs, like blowing dust off the porch or sawdust out of my garage.  It’s less helpful, however, for heavier jobs.  My front lawn is a mix of Bermuda and crabgrass, and after mowing one afternoon I had grass all over my driveway.  While the blower had no problem blowing the lighter Bermuda, it struggled to blow the heavier crabgrass.  I eventually gave up and had to use my electric Black & Decker blower.  I know that the SnapFresh has “Leaf Blower” in its name, but I doubt that it’s powerful enough to blow leaves, unless they’re very small, like crepe myrtle leaves.

I think the SnapFresh would be perfect for someone who lives in a condo and only has a small front and back porch and a driveway to blow off; they could probably do everything in a single charge. I think it would make a good choice for someone who is elderly and needs a blower that is easy to manage; it would also be a great gift for a child who wants to “be like Daddy” and help him as he blows leaves around the yard.  For people who live in a bigger house or yard, I think it’s a nice complement to a more powerful blower, much like a hand vacuum is a nice complement to an upright vacuum.

The manual says that the blower can run for 15 minutes on high.  In my testing, I found that the battery almost lives up to that, lasting 13 minutes.  Still, that’s more than enough time for me to blow off my back deck, front porch, sidewalk, and driveway.

Extra Features

There’re really no extra features for this blower.  It doesn’t vacuum leaves or anything like that; it’s just for blowing things.  You can buy a spare battery for an extra $30.  Given the short run time of the SnapFresh, it might be nice to have a second battery ready to go.

At the time of writing, I was unable to find a website for SnapFresh, which is quite rather strange in this day.  The blower comes with a one-year warranty; if you should need support for any reason, the manual says you can email support@babytechnical.com, and their Amazon page says you can contact them via Amazon Message.

What I like

• Light weight
• Powerful enough for smaller jobs

What I’d change

• Not a thing

Final thoughts

The SnapFresh Cordless Leaf Blower is small, thin, and light and can be handled easily with one hand.  Its battery lasts for around 13 minutes and takes an hour to recharge.  While it’s not powerful enough to handle big jobs, like blowing piles of leaves in the yard, it’s just right for smaller jobs around the house, like blowing off the front and back porches along with the driveway.  I like this blower, and I find myself grabbing it every 2 or 3 days to do a quick sweep outside.

Price:  $69.99
Where to buy:  Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by SnapFresh, a brand owned by Ningbo Babytec.