Verdict

The Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change is cheap and easy-to-use, but it's only powerful enough for smaller jobs.

Pros

• Easy to use
• Light
• Fast charge time

Cons

• Low power

What is the Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change?

The Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change is a cheap and easy-to-use leaf blower. It isn’t the most powerful model I’ve tested, but as a simple tool for smaller gardens it does a good job. For tougher jobs or a larger area to cover, a more powerful model would prove a better choice.

Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change – Design and features

The Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change, with its distinctive Einhell red and black livery, has no on/off switch; there’s just a black trigger that you press. You can very the speed by using a wheel on the front of the casing. You can’t use your thumb for this; you’ll have to use a separate hand.

Although the trigger runs the whole length of the handle, you can hold the Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change without switching it on. This is because the trigger is hinged at the back, and you press at the very front to switch on the machine. So, if you do what comes naturally and hold it at the back of the handle, it can’t come on accidentally.

The thoughtful design extends to the rest of the machine: it’s solidly built and comfortable to hold via its soft-grip handle. There’s also plenty of room to get your hand round that handle, even if you’re wearing thick winter gardening gloves.

The Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change has a curved nozzle so you don’t have to stoop to sweep up leaves. The nozzle is removable, so you can store the machine in a small space, but I found this extremely difficult to do because the fitting was so tight and stiff.

I tried the Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change with the 2Ah battery, but you can go up to 4Ah to increase running time. The 18V lithium-ion battery has three red indicator lights. The Li-ion Power-X-charger has a light display panel indicating the level of charge and various likely faults. On a 40-minute charge, our battery ran for 11 minutes on full power.

Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change – Performance

The Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change is light and its controls are also very simple, and I didn’t find it annoying having to adjust the speed with my spare hand – although a thumbwheel would have been easier. Einhell says that this blower is easy to use with one hand and perfect for overhead work, and it’s light and well-balanced enough to do both.

The leaf blower is fine for clearing dry paths and patios. The variable speed means it’s gentle enough to sweep dust across a workshop floor. On its lowest setting, it easily floated two A4 sheets of paper.

It isn’t a powerful machine, however. It took a long 9 minutes to clear 40 square metres of damp leaves off grass and struggled to lift them off gravel and concrete, even with that useful curved nozzle. The blower was much happier moving dry leaves and grass clippings on a hard surface. It could shift a volume of those, but found it hard to blow them up in the air, so it took a lot of coaxing to get it to move dry leaves over the 4-inch kerb on my drive.

The Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change isn’t overly noisy, even on full power. On its lowest power setting, it’s barely audible; on the top one it simply sounds like a crazy hairdryer. This means it would be perfect if you didn’t want to disturb other people.

Why buy the Einhell GE-CL 18 Li E Solo Power X-Change?

If you just want to keep a garden clean and sweep leaves or light, dry debris then this is a good choice. Its controls are simple and it would be easy to use if you were small or physically weak. The low, hairdryer sound is a real plus if your neighbours are in close proximity. Anyone wanting a powerful leaf-blower would be better off with an alternative from our Best leaf blower guide.

Trusted Score