REASONS TO BUY
Solid power
Good ergonomics
Quieter than average
REASONS TO AVOID
Moderate battery life
Has a high-pitched undertone
Pricey
Snapper 82-Volt Max Leaf Blower 1687879 Review
Performance here is adequate while also being far from leading the competition
The Snapper makes quick work of light debris.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
By Austin Palmer ⋅ Senior Review Analyst ⋅ October 26, 2021
Contributions From: David Wise & Jenna Ammerman
RELATED: The Best Leaf Blowers of 2025
Our Verdict
The Snapper 82-Volt Max is an all-around solid cordless leaf blower. This cordless blower packs quite a bunch, only falling short of the absolute top-tier products when it comes to moving leaves, pine needles, or dirt — all of which cost significantly more than the Snapper. This model is also decently quiet and comfortable to hold, although we only found its battery life to be so-so.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Snapper Max didn't disappoint in clearing debris.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Power
The Snapper did quite well in our sand tests — comparable to the top-tier blowers — moving sand almost 17 feet (202 inches) away.
The Snapper 82-Volt was able to move playground sand almost 17 feet away.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
It didn't do quite as well in our beach ball levitation test, only able to float the ball up to a height of 5.5 feet or so. This didn't quite match up with the top machines, which could get the beach ball to hover at up to 7 feet on their highest setting.
The Snapper keeping our beach ball levitating during testing.
Credit: Austin Palmer
This blower did an excellent job of blowing the debris around, even moving the clumped-up pine needles and small rocks rather easily. It was also quite good at loosening packed dirt from cracks in the pavement and blowing it away. However, it struggled a bit with the larger rocks, and if a huge number of pine needles were matted together.
Battery
The Snapper has one of the highest nominal operating voltages, running at 82 volts. However, the included battery only has a capacity of 2 amp hours, which didn't combine for a particularly impressive battery life for the Snapper. This leaf blower only lasted for a paltry 15 minutes and 17 seconds on its most powerful operating mode, which pales in comparison to the 30+ minutes many of the top blowers lasted for.
The battery on the Snapper 82V Max has an above average charging speed.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
The Snapper 82-Volt Max distinguished itself from the rest of the group in our recharge test by being one of the fastest of the entire group. Using the included charger, it only took about half an hour for the battery to completely refill.
Ergonomics
This cordless leaf blower is actually one of the more comfortable and ergonomic models we have tested — well, at least above average.
This cordless blower is approximately average when it comes to weight, weighing in at 8.7 lbs. with the battery installed.
Our testers found the 82-Volt Max to have great balance, holding itself at an acceptable angle to clear leaves and litter without too much effort on the operator's part. However, it is just a tad bit back heavy, and it can actually be a little fatiguing to hold for longer periods of time since the air leaving the nozzle has enough force when combined with its natural balance point to push your arm backward. Fortunately, this isn't too much of an overall issue, given that its battery only lasts for about 15 minutes at a time.
The grip location on the Snapper Max makes it really easy to press or move any levers.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
The grip is fine for most people, offering you easy access to the trigger controls, along with the cruise control lever on the side. The intake for the Snapper is on the back of the main module but it isn't shielded by the battery, so we did notice that this leaf blower would occasionally try and suck in whatever shirt we were wearing when switching hands.
The Snapper uses a cruise control lever that holds down the trigger at the set speed.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Noise
The sound level from the Snapper doesn't attenuate all that much, measuring in at 83.9 dBa for the operator and 83.3 dBa for the bystander.
While this isn't the loudest blower in terms of decibels by any means, we found the noise generated by this product to be quite annoying. It has a high-pitched undertone that can sometimes present itself as solidly irritating.
Value
The Snapper 82-Volt Max falls in the middle of the pack regarding performance, yet costs among the more expensive models. It's a fine tool, but there is better value to be found in other cordless leaf blowers.
Conclusion
The Snapper isn't our top recommendation if you are shopping on a tight budget, but it does perform reasonably well for most tasks. We recommend checking out a few other models, though, before deciding the Snapper is definitely your tool of choice.
—Austin Palmer, David Wise, and Jenna Ammerman
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