Last year I picked up the EGO POWER+ lawnmower and decided to review it on the site. I was more than thoroughly impressed with the mower’s performance considering it was electric. Having only ever owned these types of devices in gas/oil form, I was very skeptical of their performance.
The EGO POWER+ mower impressed me so much I was keen on trying the snow blower. I contacted EGO and they had already caught wind of my mower review and were happy to send me their snow blower for review. So read on for the full review of the EGO POWER+ snow blower and find out why it earns a Techaeris Top Pick for 2018!
Specifications
The EGO POWER+ Snow Blower has the following features and specifications:
- Peak Power technology combines the power of 2 EGO POWER+ 56-volt batteries
- Hi-efficiency brushless motor
- 21-inch clearing width
- Up to 35 feet snow throwing distance
- Push-button start
- Variable-speed control
- LED headlights
- Quick-fold handle for compact storage
- Weather-resistant (ipx4)
- Robust Steel Construction
- 5 Year Warranty
What’s In The Box
- EGO POWER+ Snow Blower
- Manual and Documentation
- Charger
- Batteries are shipped separately
Design
Much like the mower, the POWER+ Snow Blower is mostly constructed of plastics, some metals, and rubber. This isn’t at all a bad thing as the plastics used are rugged and high-quality as are all of the other materials. When I first opened the POWER+ mower, I was worried about how well it would hold up. I’m happy to report, after a season of use with the mower, it’s held up very well. So I expect the POWER+ snow blower to be about the same.
There really isn’t much to this snow blower, and EGO has kept it dead simple. There are two nuts and clamps at the bottom of the handle enabling the ability to fold the handle down for better storage. Further up the handle are your controls. The center green power button, the flip handle that engages the power, the throttle, and the chute control. That’s it, basic and simple.
Further down on the actual machine itself are the battery compartment and chute. The chute has a manual handle that allows you to angle the direction of the throw which is a feature most blowers have. The battery compartment is also located here and has a clear plastic cover. I felt the chute and battery cover could have been made with a bit higher quality material. I don’t foresee them breaking, but they don’t look and feel as premium as the rest of the machine.
In the front of the machine are your headlights and of course the auger. I never did use the headlights, but they do light up, which is essential if you are going to use them earlier in the morning or later at night. The auger is made of metal and dense rubber. I think the rubber design helps to keep this machine quiet when in operation. The wheels are also plastic and I think, a bit small. I would have liked to see slightly larger wheels.
Overall, this is a nicely built machine. While there is a lot of plastic, it all feels solid. I think EGO understands the need for a rugged machine but knows how to deliver rugged with lighter materials.
Ease of Use
The EGO POWER+ Snow Blower is super easy to setup and start using almost right away. I’d suggest you charge your batteries first. The machine comes fully assembled except for the chute. You will have to mount and secure the chute and I suggest using a hand screwdriver. Using a power tool could torque the screw too much and result in a cracked chute.
You can order the EGO POWER+ with either one or two batteries. I suggest you get the two batteries as it will provide more power and a longer run time. Once you have the batteries charged and the chute in place, you’re basically ready to go.
Flip the handle up, adjust the plastic nuts and clamp the handle in place. Then push the green power button in and pull the top handle back and the machine will fire up. This thing is ultra-quiet when it’s not pushing snow, and still relatively quiet when it is pushing snow.
Once you have the thing running you will see your throttle on the left. This increases and decreases the power to the auger. Use less power for lighter and less deep snow and more power for heavier and deeper snow. You’ll figure out quickly how much power you’ll need.
On the right, you’ll find your chute director. This moves the chute left and right so you can throw the snow where you like. I suggest you set the chute’s up and down throw before you start. You’ll have to do that manually with the handle on the chute.
Once you have everything set up, you can start throwing snow. Pushing the EGO POWER+ Snow Blower is fairly easy. Be careful of raised and uneven surface and cracks. The scraper at the bottom can tend to catch those things so you don’t want to be pushing too hard and fast to minimize damage to that.
Overall, the EGO POWER+ Snow Blower is super simple to setup and just as simple to operate.
Performance
I admit I had my doubts about the performance of the EGO lawn mower, but those vanished quickly. I had no doubts about the performance of the EGO POWER+ snow blower. After seeing what the mower could do, I was confident the blower would not be a disappointment — and I was right.
The 21″ inch intake plows through 6-8″ of snow without an issue. When you get to the deeper and heavier stuff it does just as well, you just need to go slower and allow the auger to plow through it. I had zero issues moving 16″ of heavy wet snow at the end of my driveway that the snowplow pushed up. This snow also contained road salt, brine, rocks and was very heavy. It took a few pushes to get through all of it but the snowblower made quick work of it.
With both batteries in the snowblower, you get more power and longer run time. This is why it is important to bite the bullet and buy two batteries. I was thoroughly impressed with what the EGO POWER+ snow blower could handle.
Overall, this thing performs just as well if not better than most single-stage gas snow blowers. With the benefit of not having to deal with gas, oil, maintenance, and everything else you need to put into a gas blower. One thing of note, the POWER+ does have wearable parts like the paddles, belt, and scraper. These are pretty inexpensive to replace.
Battery Life
Battery life is going to vary on how much snow you’re throwing. I’ve had the batteries last three rounds of driveway and sidewalks with light snow below 3″. This past week we had a heavy snow and over 12″. The batteries only lasted one round of driveway and sidewalk throws. This is most likely due to the heavy snowplow snow I had to throw multiple times on that one run. Still, these batteries charge up quickly, within 45 minutes, so if you have to do multiple runs in a day. You can make one run, charge the batteries, then make another run later. Overall, battery life is great in my opinion.
Price/Value
The EGO POWER+ Snow Blower with 2 5.0Ah batteries and one charger is priced at $599USD. From looking around the internet, this price is along the same price of a gas powered single-stage blower. As such, this snowblower is priced competitively and you don’t have nearly as much maintenance as a gas powered blower. The batteries are also swappable with other EGO products. Basically, if you have an EGO mower already, you can use that battery in the snow blower too. Not to mention, it’s better for the environment. For whatever reason, the EGO POWER+ snow blower is much more expensive on Amazon, I’d steer clear of that.
Wrap Up
If you’re looking to ditch gas power in favor of electric, EGO is the way to go. Both their mower and this snow blower are high-quality and they perform just as well if not better than their gas counterparts. I have no issue recommending EGO products at this point, they are phenomenal and I’m looking forward to replacing more of my gas powered yard tools with EGO products.
2019 EGO POWER+ Snow Blower UPDATE
I’ve been using the EGO POWER+ snow blower now for a few seasons and it is holding up really well! We’ve relocated from the Chicago area to Iowa and our driveway is now concreate and not asphalt. That has added some interesting dynamics to using the blower for me. Our new driveway also has some curvature to it and concreate seams. So I am finding myself getting caught on the surface more often than I used to.
This doesn’t make the EGO POWER+ snow blower any worse, most of it is learning how to deal with new materials and new surface grades. I do think the front scraper is most-likely going to need to be replaced this season. I will try and update this post next year around this time for 2020.
*We were sent a review unit of the EGO POWER+ snow blower for the purposes of this review.
Last Updated on October 16, 2019.
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