Lowe’s has added a bunch of more new Kobalt 24V and 48V Max cordless power tools to their online catalog, and it’s starting to seem like this revamp is a big deal.
To start, Kobalt has new USB-chargeable 24V cordless power tool batteries, plus power adapters to go along with them. Yes, there are multiple batteries, as their new 24V x2 cordless blower kit shows us.
They teased that new tools would be coming – 24V and 48V Max, featuring brushless motors.
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Indeed, that’s what we have here – a new Kobalt 24V x2 cordless blower kit. It’s effectively a 48V cordless power tool, as both batteries are required for its operation.
The price is $179 for the kit, which comes with the tool, 2x batteries, a 140W multi-power USB charger, and 2x 100W charging cables. Lowe’s also says it comes with a 24V charging adapter, so that you can use the same wall power adapter to recharge Kobalt 24V non-USB batteries via USB-C.
Her are some features and specs from the Kobalt listing:
- 600 CFM max air flow
- 150 MPH max air speed
- Up to 90 minutes of average runtime
- 65 dB for lower noise operation
- Batteries feature bi-directional USB-C charging
Bi-directional charging means that you can use the batteries as power banks to recharge other devices.
It looks like Lowe’s and Kobalt are getting serious and turning things up a notch.
I haven’t been able to find anyone at Lowe’s or Kobalt who’s able to comment about this new expansion.
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ebt
So related, whom here also uses EGO cordless tools like the blower?
Do you find it heavy over time?
The bigger battery also creates more fatigue?
I ask because with Kobalt, and others, that when I had a gas-powered, backpack blower, I could use all day, will two top offs of fuel. Even the corded blower I had before, I was limited to extension cord length. But its weight was not significant. Where as with last leaf blower, an EGO+ 765CFM, its runtime barely lasts a 1/4acre of leaves (2 batteries used), or one battery to blow off grass from drive/sidewalks. And too heavy with “stubby car snout” to dry off a car for more than 10 mins. (you do not want to ding a car while blow drying it!).
When I get a new home, I’ll think about a backpack cordless option. Or, workout more 🙂
Andy
I have the Ego 765 CFM blower. I routinely use it with a 10ah battery for better runtime at full power than the kitted 5ah battery. I use it that way both for clearing snow off my cars, and for cleaning up leaves in my yard (2/3rd acre lot) every fall.
The 10ah battery is heavy, no question. It doesn’t bother me too badly while using it since it’s not my primary method of clearing leaves. If one arm does get tired, I typically switch hands.
If I was concerned about the battery weight or was dealing with a larger property, I’d buy the Ego BH1001 backpack battery attachment to decouple the battery from the leafblower.
IndianaJonesy (Matt J.)
I had the 80v Kobalt handheld blower and ended up selling it and getting the backpack version. The balance and weight were really fatiguing over time. The backpack holds two 5ah batteries and ups the power over the handheld as well, so I’ve had no issues doing my entire yard with it. Not sure if EGO has similar, but was well worth the upgrade.
Stuart
There’s a significant difference in weight that you’ll notice immediately when going back and forth between OPE (e.g. EGO) and power tool (e.g. Kobalt 24V, Milwaukee M18) battery systems.
TomD
Weight and balance also matters, I find that the Milwaukee blower (for example) really works better with the larger batteries because it’s more balanced at the handle; I tried using it with a small battery to finish something up and it was really snout-heavy; made it annoying to use.
Scott F
Agree with this, the ergonomics are significantly improved with the 8-9Ah battery size.
12Ah feels a bit too heavy in the hand, and 5Ah doesn’t offset the nose weight enough to feel right.
Jim
I have two Ego blowers. I find the 765cfm blower to be heavier and I think Ego really dropped the ball when they designed the trigger UI. There are times when I don’t want turbo mode and making the trigger engage turbo makes it very difficult to use the blower with gloves.
My go-to blower is the older 530 cfm model. Lighter and the trigger mechanism is better thought-out.
Re: fatigue. Part of the problem is weight. The 5Ah battery isn’t light and sweeping it back and forth will make your forearms burn after a while. The other part of the problem is you’re fighting the “thrust” of the blower. The 765 is noticeably more thrust-y than the 530, especially at higher speeds.
ebt
OMG the design is horrible on the Turbo button.
fred
I have several blowers at 2 properties. My cordless ones (Milwaukee M18 and Makita XGT) are my choice for quick jobs. The M18 (older model 2728-20) runs through batteries and is so-so on effectiveness. It’s now located at my second home. Both it and the XGT model quickly become heavy in in my octogenarian hands. But my old Echo backpack gas-engine blower still works way better than either cordless, and my shoulders don’t seem to mind the weight. Makita’s backpack battery power supply would seem like a better idea – but seems way too pricey to try on a whim.
Evan
EGO makes a backpack adapter for their OPE lineup. I don’t have EGO tools but I remember seeing that and thinking it seemed like a sensible idea.
https://egopowerplus.com/backpack-link/
Robert
The EGO battery will show fatigue well before you do.
Saulac
As a tinkerer, I like the 12/24/48v as they may match the voltage of non tools things such automotive, boat, outdoor lights, wheelchairs…also I recently learned that true USB-C PD can work at much higher voltage than the typical 5v (?). So with the correct adapter, you can use old laptop chargers (typically 18v) to charge your devices. The devices being charged will adjust the voltage to the max voltage that they can handle.
Robert
You might have an issue when you find out that they’re actually 10.8v, 21.6v and 43.2v.
MM
When I first saw that teaser image I thought it included a dual-battery radio, and was wondering if someone had kicked off a power war of jobsite boom-boxes, but I assume it’s just a single-battery tool.
Mark M.
This makes me wonder if/how the Kobalt cordless expansion relates to the Flex exit (they are gone, right?). Like maybe keeping the Flex line wouldn’t have left enough market for Kobalt, and safe to assume Lowes’ margin on Kobalt is higher than what it would have been on Flex. IDK, just thinking out loud.
I have very limited exposure to Kobalt but to be fair, what I do have has never let me down. If I was starting over they wouldn’t be top on my list, but I would at least consider it.
Mark S
I have also thought this…..Lowe’s killed off Flex just to give the other brands a bit more breathing room. Particularly with Kobalt. It does make sense.
I did drop Stuart a line about my theories on the removal of Flex from stores, and noted that in several of my stores the Dewalt section is now doubled in size. So all of this in theory is all inter-related, but who knows.
Also, Lowes kicking Skil to the curb is also in the same vein. The USB C capability was cool, but now that Kobalt can do it, they dont want Skil to steal the thunder.
In any event, Kobalt has been decent in quality in my eyes and experience, and to add this USB C capability is another plus.
We shall see what happens!
Stuart
I haven’t been able to check my store yet; increased Dewalt visibility could be temporary or permanent.
It all comes down to sales. Were Flex tools bringing customers to Lowe’s? No? Goodbye. Skil? Same thing.
Lowe’s likely doesn’t care if Flex takes sales away from Dewalt. I’d say what they care about is winning sales over Home Depot and Amazon. It seems Flex and Skil weren’t measurably contributing to that.
Bill
I have seen many backpack style leaf blowers in use by local ground maintenance crews. But, with leaf blowers in general being some of the loudest, if not the loudest, type of lawn equipment, I just can’t see wanting to strap a gas engine powered leaf blower to my back within such close proximity to my ears. Not to mention having a gas tank back there as well. I’ll stick with my EGO handheld battery powered leaf blowers and just deal with the weight over the noise and other issues that the gas engine brings.
Robert
There’s a massive difference in CFM and RPM. We wouldn’t be able to use something like an ECHO 9010 in the form of a handheld. Maybe Lou Ferrigno could? The loudness is negated by the 31dB noise reduction provided by the 3M Peltor earmuffs. I’ll be the first to say that gas equipment sucks. But those loud and inefficient smog machines are the only realistic option right now. The battery handheld units are great though. If that’s all someone needs, by all means. All of my other OPE is battery powered.
Mike V
I bought a Milwaukee (Model # 3017-20) leaf blower about 3 months ago. I had resisted them because of the noise. Milwaukee’s is supposedly 40% quieter than competitors at 54 dB (65 db Kobalt). It is amazing! I got the tool only for like $170 sale.
Kobalt comes with 2 batteries!
Milwaukee weight is 5.10 lbs vs Kobalt 9.9 lbs
Fyrfytr998
This is what I was hoping Craftsman would start doing with their leaf blowers and chainsaws. The ability is there as shown by their 20×2 mowers. Wound up adopting 40v Ryobi for OPE.