Head-to-Head: Snow Joe 18″ iON Hybrid vs. 21″ iON PRO

What a weird winter this has been. The first snowstorm in mid-November was a bad one – around a foot of snow here in the far northern suburbs of Chicago, but a mess that quickly melted and was periodically replaced by on-and-off dustings. By January, we had ice on top of more ice… then some snow, then more ice. And then, cold. I was ill-prepared for this season, coming off of sharing a snowbird neighbor’s gas-powered snow blower and teetering about making the switch to electric. When we last spoke about the winter weather, I stated that, despite it being late in the season, I’m now more prepared than ever to deal with a snowstorm – the new owner of a Snow Joe iON PRO Series 21-Inch Cordless Single Stage Brushless Snow Blower (iON21SB-PRO) that I bought from Amazon, and the new 18″ iON Hybrid (available at The Home Depot) – the first snow blower that allows AC/DC operation, with users able to switch between corded and cordless use, that machine sent to me by Snow Joe as part of a Brand Ambassador deal. As I sit here today, there is no snow outside – and spring temperatures have already popped-up for a few days, but there was a storm I was able to tackle to put these to the test. But, in the new reality that is Chicago-area weather in 2016, it’s already melted, and tomorrow is set to bring perhaps one of the messiest winter storms of the season. That’s before we hit the 50’s again this weekend.  So how do these to blowers stack-up?

So here’s the thing – they’re both great, and it’s almost not fair to call this a “VS.” battle, even though that’s what I’m doing. The Hybrid is unique because it can operate cordless, or plugged in, so if the going gets tough and the battery runs out, you can plug right in to continue the job. It can handle up to 500lbs of light & fluffy snow per minute, and comes in nearly $100 cheaper than the iON PRO, should you find a deal out there. But the iON PRO – I bought that for a reason… it’s the top dog! The 21″ model cuts down on the amount of passes needed to clear the snow against the 18″ model, and the powerful unit can handle up to 660lbs of light & fluffy snow per minute. With up to 65 minutes of runtime, I can probably do our house, the sidewalk, and probably bang out a neighbor’s driveway (or two) if need be.

Based on the most recent snow here, performance on both units was great – and really comparable, sans the size. For the amount of space we have, I’m really happy with our purchase of the iON PRO, but we also have the perfect job for our 18″ iON Hybrid (aside from “his and hers” action out front)… our massive deck. I’m sure doing a wooden deck is an “at your own risk” type of affair, but we have a really sizable and flat deck, and the 18″ Snow Joe is perfect for clearing it without causing any damage (it’s 25 years old and wood, so there’s already wear there).

If the snow comes tomorrow, I’m more than ready – day or night!

Check out SnowJoe.com to see the full line of Snow Joe + Sun Joe products for all-seasons of use.

And PS:  That new illum-n-broom LED-lighted 4-in-1 snow and ice scraper works really well, too…