Kobalt 80V Review

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Kobalt 80V Review

How do you feel about battery powered OPE (Outdoor Power Equipment)?  Are you sold or just skeptical? For me, I am sold.  Ask me about 5 years ago and I fell into the skeptical bag.  How can battery power be superior to gas power?  Well, let me tell you as a believer, there is no comparison, battery-powered all the way.  I love the power, I love not having to deal with running to the gas station and buying gas, changing a spark plug or moving around a gas can.  So how does the Kobalt stack up?  Let’s check out the Kobalt 80V review and see.

Kobalt 80V Review Overview

So here is the deal.  We have tested Kobalt in the past.  While it was decent, it definitely wasn’t the top performer.  However they are a very popular brand, we wanted to give their new stuff a try and find out for ourselves if they are a player in this market or just another name.

Kobalt 80V Review Features

Kobalt 80V Review

While Kobalt has other OPE tools in their line up, these are the three most common that we will take a look at today, the mower, the blower, and the string trimmer.

These tools run off the Kobalt 80V line.  In this line, you can use either a 2.5Ah battery, a 5Ah battery or 6Ah battery.

Kobalt 80V Review

The self-propelled mower has a run time of about 80 minutes with a 6Ah battery but that will vary on how tall your grass is during the mow. You can use the self-propelled feature without having the mower blades engaged, which is very cool if you are walking from the front to back yard.

The front of the mower features a plastic over-mold to help protect the front when you bump into things. The rest of the deck is steel for durability.

This mower can either mulch, bag or side discharge debris.

Kobalt 80V Review

One cool feature is the ability to raise or lower all four wheels at once with a single lever.

Kobalt 80V Review

One huge feature that we noticed from the previous model was the handle.  This handle is much better than their older model that felt flimsy.

Kobalt 80V Review

On top of the handle, you can easily start the mower and control the speed.

Kobalt 80V Review

No need to open the door and see the battery gauge.  Kobalt designed this with a battery fuel gauge on the handle so you can see your status.

Kobalt 80V Review

The 80V blower runs up to 75 minutes with a 2.5Ah battery. The blower produces up to 630 CFM and 140 MPH.

Kobalt 80V Review

On top of the handle, there is a turbo button.  While this will increase the power, it will also lower the run time.  But this is great for those times you need a little extra power to move larger debris.

Kobalt 80V Review

On the side, there is a cruise control to set and forget the speed so you don’t have to hold the trigger down all the time.

Kobalt 80V Review

The battery sits on the back of the blower which does provide good balance with the front nozzle being longer.

Kobalt 80V Review

The intake is located on the back of the blower which means it won’t try and suck your pants in and cause loss of air.

Kobalt 80V Review

The string trimmer has a 60 minute run time with a 2.5Ah battery but again it depends upon how thick and heavy the grass is that you are cutting.

Kobalt 80V Review

There are two triggers located on the trimmer, the safety and the power.

Kobalt 80V Review

The trimmer features two speeds, high and low which can be adjusted from the top of the trimmer handle. The high speed (Speed 2) is your normal everyday use. Speed 1 is great for when you are around flower beds or other areas you don’t want the grass flying around. The string doesn’t spin as fast with speed 1 and will also increase the run time of the trimmer.

Kobalt 80V Review

The head uses a bump feed system to let out more line.

Kobalt 80V Review Performance

The mower is awesome and a top performer.  I love the cut quality, the run time and the power.  This is one of the only mowers on the market that is battery powered and actually cuts all the grass.  I can’t tell you how many mowers we have tried out and while they cut grass, they definitely leave a lot to be desired.

With the Kobalt mower, it not only cuts all the grass (even thick grass) the self-propelled system is also great.  I love how easy it is to operate and change the speed without having to take your hands off the handle.

Speaking of the handle, the quality as a whole has really improved with this mower.  The handle is no longer a cheap handle, it’s solid and feels like a quality mower.

So from the mower standpoint, this is a huge jump forward for Kobalt and is one of the top performers in the market for battery-powered mowers.

I love the string trimmer but it did take a while to get used to.  The balance is great and the ease of use couldn’t be better.  What took me a while to get used to was the sound or the power.

I am used to string trimmers going all out, being loud and feeling that power.  With the Kobalt, I am not seeing it or feeling it.  So for me, I felt like it was under powered when I first used it.  However, it was doing everything I was asking.  It would cut thick grass and powered through it.  So I know the power is there, it just has a different feeling.

So while I like this string trimmer, it did take me a while to realize that it has the power to do what I need it to do.  So I am starting to think about the other string trimmers on the market.  Do they really need to be that fast and power all the time when I am trimming simple areas?

The blower is also powerful. It will easily blow off walks, driveways, gutters and more.  The one thing I did like was the force.  When on full speed, I didn’t have the feeling of having to fight the blower.  It was easy to work with and move around.

Kobalt 80V Review Value

As far as pricing, the mower runs about $550 at Lowes, the string trimmer runs about $230 with a battery and charger and the blower is also $230 with battery and charger.  I think the mower is easily worth the $550 as it’s quality and produces results.  If you look at the blower and the trimmer, you might think it’s a lot, which it is.  But if you consider you get a battery and charger with each, the price is reasonable.

For the quality of all three and what comes with the OPE tools, I think Kobalt priced these right and is a good deal for homeowners.

Kobalt 80V Review Final Thoughts

Overall, Kobalt make a big jump forward with quality.  While I wasn’t a huge fan of their OPE tools in the past, I am sold on them now.  While the field is getting larger with more and more OPE manufacturers entering the market, I think Kobalt is one of the top because of their performance, quality, and price.

15 COMMENTS

  1. i bought the Kobalt 80v battery operated and looking at comparisons it’s fantastic! I’m 66 yr women with a torn rotator cuff and it is super easy to handle, really nice cut, no stragglers left behind. I have an acre so I purchased another battery on Ebay. Looking forward to purchasing the snowblower!

  2. To Sally Heller:
    Hi, I like Kobalt’s battery powered equipment too but I bought the snowblower and do not recommend it unless you have a very small, very level (tar or concrete) area to blow, and very shallow depths of light snow. The blower is not self-propelled and it requires a good deal of strength to push it through the snow. I was advised by a friend of all of this but unfortunately didn’t listen and had to learn the hard way. My sister has an injury similar to yours and she is unable to use the blower. I fight through it but it almost is not worth even trying to use it. If Kobalt could design a self-propelled model with bigger, better wheels I would be interested but until then I don’t recommend it.

  3. Hello. Great review. I have been considering this mower for awhile. I have the blower and trimmer. In a pinch, would the 2.5 battery power the mower for a period of time? Thank you.

    • I am not 100% sure but I don’t think you would get the power to do any good. I would image if you had very short grass and you are doing a small run it might work

    • Hi John. I recently bought the self propelled mower, and already had an older model of the blower. The first test I did was to cut my front yard, which is a typical size for a 1700 Sq. Ft. home in a residential neighborhood. I’m not sure of the exact size of the yard. I used my old 2.0 amp/hour blower battery, fully charged, for the first part of my test. Employing the self propelled function and the old battery, I was able to cut between 1/3 and 1/2 of the front yard before the battery gave out. I finished the yard with the 6.0 amp/hour battery that comes with the mower, and once done, all the LEDs on the battery were still lit.

  4. Is the battery universal for all products? I can cut my yard with 3/4 battery left, so I’m considering a purchase of the weed trimmer without a battery and use the remainder of the battery to complete my trimming before recharging. Two batteries for my yard seems overkill, so My ask is to save money on a second battery. Thank y’all.

  5. I bought the 80V chainsaw with the 5.0Ah battery and was looking for a second battery for backup. The blower with the 80V 2.5Ah battery is the less than another battery, but will the 2.5 run the chainsaw?

  6. Have an 80v blower that keeps stopping. Have to keep popping g battery out and put back in. Any suggestions

  7. All of the Kobalt 80 volt (not the 40 volt) batteries will work in all of the Kobalt 80 volt tools. The power is the same in all of them, so a 2.0 or 2.5 amp/hr battery will work fine in the mower; the only difference is how long it will run it, so the smaller batteries will only last maybe 20-30 minutes in the mower. However, the charger is a rapid charger and has a fan as well as a fan in the battery so the smaller batteries will charge completely in about 30 minutes. The 5 or 6 amp/hr batteries will also work in the trimmer and other tools but are quite a bit heavier.

  8. I love my 80 Volt MAX mower (powerful but yet I can hear the birds while I mow) and I am thinking of getting the Cordless Blower – Tool Only – and plan to use my KOBALT KB 680-06 6 Ah battery in it.

  9. I really like my Kobalt mower, weed trimmer and blower, I love that I can interchange the battery. If I am finishing up the back yard mowing and the battery dies I can pull the battery out of the blower or trimmer and finish up. That is great, however! I saw something over the weekend that may make me switch. A friend has a Ryobi brand with the same set up only thing different, his charging cradle can also be used as a 110 converter. We were up in the mountains and he plugged his cpap machine into his Ryobi charging station and had power for several days!!! I have searched for the same for Kobalt, for my wife’s sake, I hope the same exists or will soon, very soon, exist for Kobalt.

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