What does RYOBI's Noise Rating measure?
RYOBI's Noise Rating is a specification row on its US blower pages holding one decibel value, with no distance, weighting, blower setting or test standard attached to it anywhere on the page.
Even the label wanders. Most pages call the row "Noise Rating". The 18V PBLLB01 tool-only page calls it "Noise", the 40V RY40LB01 page calls it "Decibels", and the P21011 kit page drops the unit entirely, printing a bare "65".
Precision shifts too. Older WHISPER SERIES models carry whole numbers such as 57 dB, while the 800 CFM RY40HPLB01, the 850 CFM backpack and the 475 CFM RY40LB02 carry a decimal: 58.8, 59.7 and 58.9 dB. RYOBI never says whether its method changed between those launches.
Across roughly 320 RYOBI outdoor pages, we found no ANSI B175.2 citation and no 50 foot distance tied to a blower figure. The rows can order RYOBI blowers against one another, if one method sits behind them all, but they cannot stand beside another maker's rating taken under a published standard.
Which RYOBI 40V blower is the quietest?
The quietest RYOBI 40V blower is the 600 CFM RY404013 at 55 dB, now sold only in a combo kit. Sold on their own, the 650 CFM RY404014 and 730 CFM RY404010 share the lowest row, 57 dB.
RYOBI's 40V handheld rows, lowest first:
- RY404013, 600 CFM, 155 MPH, in the RY40960 kit: 55 dB
- RY404014, 650 CFM, 160 MPH: 57 dB
- RY404010, 730 CFM, 190 MPH: 57 dB
- RY40LB01, 550 CFM, 120 MPH: 58dB
- RY40HPLB01, 800 CFM, 180 MPH: 58.8 dB
- RY40LB02, 475 CFM, 120 MPH: 58.9 dB
Airflow does not track the figures neatly. The 730 CFM RY404010 rates below the 475 CFM RY40LB02, so on RYOBI's numbers a bigger WHISPER SERIES blower with dampening foam can come out under a smaller plain one. The whole 40V spread is under four decibels.
The 55 dB blower has a tangled paper trail. Its standalone RY404013BTL page still shows the figure under a "Discontinued" notice. Inside the RY40960 kit, the spec group calls it RY404130, the includes list calls it RY404013BTLVNM, and the description calls it both "85% quieter than gas" and "89% quieter than gas".
Weights wander as well. RYOBI lists the RY404014 at 10.35 lbs. on its tool-only page, 9.60 lbs. in the RY404014K kit and 6.5 lbs. in the RY40HPCK201K combo, each beside the same 57 dB row. Blowers from other makers appear in quiet leaf blowers.
How loud are RYOBI's 18V ONE+ blowers?
RYOBI's 18V ONE+ blowers list 57 to 65 dB. The brushless PBLLB01 and P21014 both list 57 dB, the compact PSBLB01 shows 59 dB on one limited edition kit, and the basic P21011 lists 65 dB.
The 18V rows, lowest first:
- PBLLB01, 510 CFM, 130 MPH, 5.15 lbs.: 57dB
- P21014 jet fan, 450 CFM, 130 MPH, 7 lbs.: 57 dB
- PSBLB01 compact, 220 CFM, 140 MPH: 59 dB
- P21011, 250 CFM, 90 MPH, 4.6 lbs.: 65dB
Of the two 57 dB models, the PBLLB01 weighs less and moves more air, which leaves price as the jet fan's main argument. On October 24, 2026, its P21140 kit with a 4Ah battery and charger cost $149, ten dollars below the P21014 bare tool.
The compact PSBLB01 is a puzzle. Its standard tool-only and kit pages list air volume, speed, weight and warranty, yet leave the noise row out. Only the $129 limited edition PSBLB01KSB30 kit adds "Noise Rating" 59 dB, which leaves open whether the regular version was ever rated.
The P21011 is the only rated RYOBI blower above 60 dB. It is a 250 CFM sidewalk blower without the WHISPER SERIES badge, rated for 10 minutes on a 2Ah battery, and it sold for $54.97 bare after a markdown from $69.97.
How loud is a RYOBI backpack blower?
RYOBI's two battery backpack blowers list 59 dB for the 730 CFM RY404170 kit and 59.7 dB for the 850 CFM RY40HPLB02. Neither row says which mode the blower ran in or where the reading was taken.
The newer RY40HPLB02 gives up 0.7 dB for 120 more CFM and, in RYOBI's words, is "40% lighter weight than the previous model". Its pages print 13.1 lbs bare and 21.4 lbs. as a kit with two 8Ah batteries, while the RY404170 kit lists its blower at 21.2 lbs.
Prices moved more than the ratings. The RY40HPLB02 cost $429 bare or $629 as a kit on October 24, 2026. The RY404170 kit, with two 6Ah batteries, had climbed from $429 on October 4 to $519.09. Other brands' backpacks are in quiet backpack leaf blowers.
Does the WHISPER SERIES name guarantee 57 dB?
No. RYOBI's WHISPER SERIES badge covers blowers rated 55, 57, 58.8, 59 and 59.7 dB, along with mowers, trimmers and snow blowers that have no decibel figure at all.
RYOBI's Whisper Series article pins the family to a single number, saying its most powerful Whisper Series blower "runs at just 57 dB". Current product pages disagree: the 800 CFM RY40HPLB01 and 850 CFM RY40HPLB02, both badged WHISPER SERIES, list 58.8 and 59.7 dB. The article carries no date that would explain the gap.
Two plain 40V blowers without the badge, the RY40LB01 at 58dB and the RY40LB02 at 58.9 dB, rate no higher than the 800 CFM WHISPER SERIES model. On RYOBI's own rows, the badge signals dampening foam and a product family more than a fixed level.
How many decibels is a RYOBI lawn mower?
RYOBI publishes no decibel figure for any current US lawn mower. Its WHISPER SERIES mowers advertise percentages instead, from "60% Quieter Than Gas" on the 18V P11100 to "85% Quieter Than Gas" on the 40V RY401210.
The 80V RYPM8010 30 inch self-propelled mower lands between them at "70% Quieter Than Gas". Each of those pages adds "even quieter than other cordless mowers" without naming a rival. The rest of the range, from the 13 inch 18V P1108 to the ZR3 and R1 80V riding mowers, makes no noise claim.
The same habit runs across the yard. String trimmers claim 28% (P20019), 72% (RY402011), 86% (RY40HPST02) and 89% (PBLST01) quieter than gas. The RY40606 hedge trimmer claims 72%, the RY40306 pressure washer 81%, the RY40730 tiller 94%, and the two-stage snow blowers 44% and 35%.
None of those percentages names a gas model or a measurement. RYOBI's chainsaws, pole saws and pruning saws carry neither a decibel row nor a percentage on the pages we opened. Mowers whose makers do print figures are in quiet battery lawn mowers.
No. RYOBI Europe declares sound power and sound pressure for its 18V and 36V blowers, but none of those models shares a number or a printed specification with a US blower, so no European value carries over.
The European declarations are detailed. The 36V RY36BLXC lists 74.6 dB(A) of sound pressure (LpA), give or take 3.0 dB(A), alongside 92.3 dB(A) of sound power as measured and 94 dB(A) as guaranteed. That guaranteed value is a ceiling RYOBI commits to under EU outdoor equipment rules, not a typical reading.
The RY36BLXC is also the nearest European cousin of the US 40V RY40HPLB01, and it still fails the match. Europe prints 36V, 22.7 m³/min, 289.7 km/h and 2.9 kg without battery; the US page prints 40V, 800 CFM, 180 MPH and 10.6 lbs. Pairing them would take unit conversion and an ignored weight gap.
European 18V blowers such as the RY18BLXD and RY18BLCXA hit the same wall: metric airflow, unrelated model numbers and no RYOBI document tying them to the P21014 or PSBLB01. Figures for two other battery brands sit on the EGO and Greenworks pages.
