Nitecore's BabyBlower 21 is Cheaper and Lighter But Blows Just as Hard

Sep 23, 2023

Nitecore has been iterating on its BlowerBaby electronic camera sensor blower since it first came to market last spring and the new BlowerBaby 21 is designed to keep the same blowing power but make it easier and faster to use.

The company was the first to launch an electronic camera blower last year and followed it up with a sequel in the BlowerBaby 2 (BB2) just six months later. Today it has introduced the BB21, a follow-up that is based on the BB2 but focuses on making the whole system simpler without compromising sheer blowing strength.

The BB21 maintains a 33.6-watt high-power brushless motor found in the BB2 (which is 51% more power than the first generation blower) that sends air through an optimized air duct and impeller that Nitecore says reduces wind resistance while also improving power. The result is a handheld blower that has 2.7kPa of dust removal wind pressure, which is more than a conventional squeeze-blower that has 1.5kPa of wind pressure. It is also more consistent than a typical blower, which has to pause to pull air back in before it can expel again.

A conventional blower maxes out at about 21.7 miles per hour of wind speed while the BB2 and BB21 reach 49.7 miles per hour.

Where the BB21 starts to separate itself from the BB2 is in how it is used. Nitecore reduced or changed some of the modes and reconfigured it to operate with only one button, making it easier to start and stop. Basically, Nitecore determined that the dial control on the BB2 was too complicated and unnecessary for a product with such a simple purpose, so it did away with that and replaced it with a much simpler two-button interface.

One button changes among three blowing modes: turbo (for the most the BB21 can give), optical (which is for cleaning a camera sensor), and silent (which has less than 55 decibels of noise). The BB21 also retains the ability to magnetically attach brushes and a quick release system that hides that currently attached brush inside the body of the blower. The BB2 has an LED light on the tip that the BB21 does not have, however.

Perhaps the biggest change between the BB2 and BB21 is Nitecore swapped out the aluminum alloy body casing of the BB2 for a fully plastic body on the BB21, which reduces the weight from 210 grams to 204 grams. The BB21 is still charged via USB-C.

The BlowerBaby 21 is available starting today for $69.95, a $20 price reduction compared to the BB2.

Image credits: Nitecore