Bosch sent over their 18V Profactor cordless blower (GBL18V-450N) for review consideration, and I put it to regular use over the summer and throughout the fall.
It’s going to be a while until I’ll be able to use it again to clear leaves and other sidewalk and driveway debris, and so I thought I’d provide a summary of my feelings before passing it along locally for further testing.
The blower delivers up to 123 mph air speed and 450 CFM volume. It has an axial-style blower fan, meaning the design is compact and inline.
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Bosch says it delivers low noise levels, up to 64 dB.
Bosch GBL18V-450N Features and Specs
- 123 MPH max air speed
- 450 CFM max air volume
- 64 dB noise level
- Brushless motor
- Trigger switch with lock-on
- Speed control dial
- Hanger slot for wall mounted storage
What to Expect
Mid-level blowing and ground clearing performance in a relatively compact and lightweight package. If you need more power, such as to clear a driveway full of wet and clumpy leaves, look elsewhere.
Competition Rundown
Competing models include:
- Milwaukee M18 Fuel 2724
- 450 CFM, 120 MPH
- Milwaukee M18 Fuel 3017
- 500 CFM, 120 MPH
- Dewalt 20V Max DCBL722
- 450 CFM, 125 MPH with concentrator nozzle
- Makita 18V XBU03
- 459 CFM, 116 MPH
- Ryobi 18V HP P21120
- 350 CFM, 110 MPH
Summary: Bosch’s GBL18V-450N performance specs (450 CFM, 123 MPH) are inline with that of other pro brands’ 18V compact blowers with brushless motors.
Testing Experience
I liked the controls. I thought the performance was pretty good, and it even worked well with compact batteries as shown in the image above.
It assembled easily, with a twist-and-click nozzle that can be removed for storage.
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Bosch isn’t known for their cordless battery-powered lawn and garden tools, at least not in the USA.
Frankly speaking, as spelled out in the title of the post, I feel that the blower delivered flawless performance.
It won’t win any “best in class” awards, or at least I don’t think so. There are smaller and lighter blowers, more powerful blowers, more versatile blowers, and so forth.
There’s a trigger switch, lock-on button, and a control dial for speed/volume control.
It did take a few uses to get accustomed to the speed control, as the other blowers I use or have been testing have variable speed triggers. The Bosch blower works a little differently, but that’s not a flaw or downside in my book. It didn’t slow me down.
If this was my first-ever cordless blower, I would have found the controls to be intuitive.
Summary
The Bosch 18V cordless blower delivered a headache-free experience.
I will miss its comfortable balance between size, weight, and blowing performance. While not quiet, it sounded quieter than some others I’ve tested.
There could be other cordless blowers I might pick to better suit my needs, wants, and battery platform preferences.
But if the question “would I buy this cordless blower?” is boiled down to yes or no, the answer is yes.
I could find nothing wrong with it, and have absolutely nothing to complain about. If you anyone is disappointed with its performance, that’s really a matter of expectations and suitability.
For the max air speed and volume that Bosch claims the blower can deliver, its performance was adequate.
If this represents Bosch’s best effort at cordless outdoor power tools, I’m excited to see what comes next.
There have been steady promos where you buy the tool-only blower and get a free starter kit with Bosch 18V Core18V battery and charger. Acme Tools has a promo like that happening right now, where $219 buys you the blower, a charger, and 8Ah battery.
Thank you to Bosch for providing the test sample.
Matt_T
Would be good to know what batteries you tested it with. Looks like a 4.0 core at most in the picture.
I also wonder whether this is intended as a first step into OPE or just a jobsite blower?
Stuart
I believe the one in the photo was a Core18V 4Ah. I also used 8Ah batteries. I might have grabbed an older 10-cell battery as well. For testing where I was taking notes, it was a 4Ah and 8Ah.
This can be used as a jobsite blower, but they are getting back into pro cordless OPE.
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/bosch-cordless-outdoor-power-tools-blower-launch-2024/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
They’ve been in this space before. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/bosch-cordless-lawn-mower/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
JR Ramos
I’m still thinking about getting this one myself…haven’t yet tried or seen the newer M18 version but I was pretty underwhelmed with the previous one and both DeWalts that I used briefly. Did you get to use an 8Ah battery with this in your testing or just the 4Ah shown in the photo? What did you think about the in-hand balance and swinging compared to others? Sameish?
Weeding through the chaff of seed/vine reviews for this one (a lot of people disappointed that they had to buy a battery and charger…) it seems that most were very happy with it for wet and dry leaves and clippings, some even liking it better than the other power tool brands, but it seems like Ego and Stihl and Toro were compared as superior (higher voltage, not surprising). I don’t know how many amps these blowers can ask for but with other high-drain tools like grinders the performance jump from 4Ah to 8Ah is significant especially after the charge sloughs off a bit in the first minute of use.
Stuart
If I recall correctly, it didn’t come with a battery, so I started testing it with whatever Bosch 18V battery I had. Either an 8Ah battery arrived with later samples, or I found one in a drawer.
Regarding balance, it felt comparable to other compact blowers, but I’d say better than the average ones I’ve tested before. The ergonomics were well done, where the blower drops into near-perfect position. Blowers in this class are less fatiguing than more powerful and heavier blowers.
The 8Ah battery is a great pairing. I grabbed the 4Ah in a pinch, and it was usable.
In my experience, it did not perform as well as larger blowers, such as from EGO. But, it’s smaller and lighter, and more comfortable in my opinion.
I think that this class of blowers are the sweet spot for casual light to medium-duty use. It lacks the muscle of larger, heavier, more powerful blowers, and there’s no doubt about that. But even when I have higher powered blowers available, I grab a compact sample 9 times out of 10. I recently ditched the last of my EGO blower test samples.
$219 for a blower without a battery and charger is a lot in my opinion. $219 with bonus battery and charger is much better. You can get higher powered OPE brand blowers for less, and so that’s something to consider.
Mike McFalls
I’m confused by the intro:. “I put it to regular use over the summer and throughout the fall.
It’s going to be a while until I’ll be able to test it on real-life leaves and other sidewalk and driveway debris”
Over the summer did you use it to dust off patio furniture, sideways and dry your freshly washed car? The fall seems like it would’ve brought plenty of time to test it out on leaves, no?
Bill
Funny, I saw the contradictions in this as well.
Stuart
Sorry, it’ll be a while until I can use it *again* on more leaves and to clear the drive or walkways.
In the summer I clear my planters, the deck, drive, of some leaves, twigs, tree seed pods, dust, pine needles, etc, and for clearing out the garage.
In the fall I push mounds of leaves around, usually dry, sometimes wet and clumpy.
Everything is wet and frozen right now, and I figure it’ll be maybe another 3-5 months until there are further testing opportunities. As I don’t see myself being able to learn anything new until late spring, it didn’t make sense to hold off until then. I’m pretty satisfied with the build quality, comfort, and performance.
The real-life leaves was a slip because I was thinking about the fake ones usually used in media event demos.
Ken
Thanks for this review. A lot of the reviews I’ve seen are “sponsored” and are merely photos of the blower (sometimes in the box) with some vaguely worded endorsement that suggests the blower was never actually used. I suspect these reviewers are just going through the motions before selling the free sample product.
I’ve had this blower on my mind since it was released. The price is a bit high for me, even with a “free” battery. I have used a Kobalt 24V blower for the last couple years that was promo priced at $59 and it works surprisingly well IMO.
Bosch needs to release their tabless batteries in the US because they are perfect for high-draw tools like this blower. I wonder how your experience would have changed if they had also sent you a tabless 8Ah battery. Their promotional material explicitly calls out the blower as performing substantially better with a tabless battery.
I saw on Reddit a couple months back that Bosch has already designed a replacement for this blower (GBL18V-780 is the EU model number). I would love to think that they are trying to move toward a “continuous improvement” release schedule instead of a decennial one.
Ken
Just did a search and it looks like the actual model number of the new model is GBL18V-800. It is now listed on Bosch’s German website but not for sale anywhere yet. Looks like they also updated one of their string trimmers and have two new hedge trimmers.
Stuart
Many if not most tools from a lot of brands perform better with tabless batteries. I can’t test tools with batteries I don’t have.
Josh
Where is the blower made?
Jorn
Thanks for the review.
+$200 is a bit steep for me but if/when it goes on sale I’ll try to snag one. I already have way too many Bosch batteries to justify another ‘free battery’ deal.
Stephen
Bosch is behind the curve as usual. Except for the adjustable throttle lock, in specifications this very closely resembles Milwaukee’s previous blower (2824). Compared to the Bosch blower, Milwaukee’s newest M18 blower (3017) is superior in a few ways – lower price, 50 more CFM, 9dB quieter, and nozzle attachment capability.
Stuart
Yes. (Thanks, I meant to add that one to the competitive list.)
The 2724 was decent, the newer 3017 is better. The 3017 is also less expensive – you can get it with a 2-battery starter kit for $199 right now at Home Depot, as part of the ongoing holiday season sale.
On paper, the Milwaukee M18 Fuel 3017 is better. In use, personal preferences aside, the Bosch was still plenty capable.
If I had to choose one over the other, it would be the 3017, but I liked a lot about the Bosch as well.
Stephen
I have the 2724 and yeah, it is thoroughly decent. The lack of a throttle “cruise control” slider is a big miss.
OldDominionDIYer
They (Bosch) don’t have much (if any) 18V OPE and there are so many better options at lower prices that I would be surprised if it sells very well. Perhaps for the 6 people that already have Bosch 18V batteries I suppose, but even then, it is lack luster. Maybe they can hire a WWE wrestler look alike to advertise for them, that should help…
Jim Felt
I bought my wife the previous Bosch 18V version and it’s performed relatively quietly for nearly 10 years. Light weight and plenty of power for her mostly deck related usage.
This version looks a tad bigger and I’m not sure she’d like that.
I use the bigger M18 Milwaukee versions but they’re simply too bulky as well as noisy for her liking.
Ken
I think this new blower is way bigger and heavier than the “duster” you already own. That older, small Bosch blower is only like 70cfm, but it is very small and light.
Peter in Denver
Like Jim F, i bought the smaller Bosch 18v blower years ago for my wife for light yard work. We both use it all the time. I was told the small Bosch blower was made for fabrication shops to clear off machine tables, etc.
Like Jim’s, ours has been working flawlessly for years, if you use it for dry leaves on decks, sidewalks and garage, and sawdust. We have a 125 year old massive Oak tree that sheds leaves almost 24/7. Ours gets used every other day or so — so you can see the walkways. And i use it for clearing sheet goods after cutting, etc. And for driving of water from car after washing. Its light weight and nimbleness is perfect when you do not need a behemoth. I agree with Jim about the usefulness of the small Bosch, and that bigger is not always better.
But, as a bonafide toolaholic, I just ordered the big one.
Peter in Denver
Got it, wife loves it. Especially the speed control. And it’s balance. And the free 8ah battery promotion from Acme was fantastic.
Dre
Not sure what blows more, this thing, or the paltry product offering.
Oarman
I understand the listed competition is for ’18V compact blowers’ but $220 is up with the 40+ volt ‘full size’ OPE competition. My Egopower was not much more (admittedly BF pricing) and has near to double the CFM etc.
I guess I can see this as a handy jobsite blower where you have lots of 18v handheld gear already, and it makes sense for Bosch to offer, but for home and certainly commercial OPE use the market seems to be going to bigger higher volt power.
Luis
Dedicated OPE manufacturers will always have the upper hand on capability because they usually run 40V and above. Bosch also sells an 18V string trimmer and a hedge trimmer.
But for a diversified tool manufacturer like Bosch it works more than fine while not needing an entire new battery platform.
I don’t think these are geared towards existing loyal OPE users but more for those existing Bosch users that look for balanced performance and lightness while not wanting to get into a new battery platform for just 1 or 2 OPEs.
But I agree if you’re looking forward for the best performance and runtime you’ll be better served by a dedicated OPE brand or a Makita 40V / Dewalt Flexvolt tool. Maybe that’s why the Bosch lawnmower is their only OPE that needs 2 x 18V batteries, that’s the only application I can think of where the added weight would be irrelevant.
Bruce
I just received my new blower yesterday as a gift so I can’t say how much we paid for it.
We’ve had quite a bit of snow here so I thought it would be good to test out how well it worked on blowing snow off the sidewalks and driveway. Unfortunately the blowers powers off when any amount of snow is ingested into the air intake. The blowers will quickly reset and then continue to function but is completely useless for this purpose. Have any other users experienced the same issue as I? The blowers likely has a moisture sensor that cuts power if event trace amounts of moisture enters the air intake.
Stuart
Blowers should NOT be used where snow, rain, or moisture can find its way into the air intake.
If blown snow creates a snow cloud, back up and maintain proper distance.
JR Ramos
Not sure how long the deal will last but Amazon is listing this at $149 right now. That’s a heck of a price.
https://www.amazon.com/BOSCH-GBL18V-450N-PROFACTORTM-Blower-Bare/dp/B0D2YFTBDM
LE
$129 deal of the day today at lowes but already sold out :/. That’s alright I bet we’ll see it at $129-149 with a bogo battery deal of some sort within a year or so.