Let’s dive into a series of blenders, each with its own unique features and quirks. Whether you’re looking for a premium option or a budget-friendly choice, there’s something for everyone.
Vitamix 5200 Blender
Pros:
The Vitamix 5200 blends ingredients seamlessly, producing smooth and velvety results. Its 15-second cleaning cycle is convenient, and it offers a variable speed control to match different blending needs. With a 10-year warranty, it’s designed to last.
Cons:
However, the Vitamix 5200 can be a bit tricky to use. The lid must be perfectly aligned, or it won’t turn on. The blade can’t be removed for easy cleaning, but given its powerful blading capabilities, this is a minor inconvenience. The smoothie results are excellent, but the cleaning routine and lid alignment issues need to be taken into account.
Specifications:
- Power: 1,400 watts
- Speeds: 12 settings
- Capacity: 64 ounces
- Included: Motor base, blending pitcher, lid, tamper
- Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty
Best Budget Blender: Oster Original 3-Speed Chrome Blender
What We Love:
The Oster Original 3-Speed Chrome Blender exudes a retro charm and offers excellent blending power. Its 700-watt motor and stainless-steel blades effectively crush ice and integrate ingredients. The 1.5-liter glass pitcher comes with gently sloped corners, ensuring that ingredients are redirected into the blade’s vortex. The removable blade for easy cleaning and dishwasher-safe jar are added bonuses. Additionally, the blender’s simplicity is a breath of fresh air in today’s world of complex gadgets.
What We Leave:
While the 50-ounce capacity is sufficient for many, it’s 10-15 ounces smaller than standard modern blenders. Overblending can make smoothies warm, so pay attention to blending times. Be prepared for some noise, especially at the highest speed.
Specifications:
- Power: 700 watts
- Speeds: 3
- Capacity: 1.5L/50 ounces
- Included: Chrome motor base, glass pitcher with lid, blade
- Warranty: Limited 1-year warranty
Best Personal Blender: Nutribullet Ultra
What We Love:
The Nutribullet Ultra offers nearly surprising power despite its size. Its 1200-watt motor pushes closer to Vitamix levels, providing smoothie results that rival good full-sized blenders. The 24 and 32-ounce blending cups with sippable lids make it incredibly convenient. Robust suction cup feet keep the base stable, and the automatic shut-off during blending makes multitasking a breeze.
What We Leave:
While powerful for a personal blender, it can’t perform all tasks of a full-sized blender. Be sure to set your expectations accordingly: large amounts of ice-crushing and nut butter-making are best left to bigger models.
Specifications:
- Power: 1,200 watts
- Speeds: 1
- Capacity: 24 or 32 oz.
- Included: 32-oz. cup, 24-oz. cup, 24-oz. handled cup, 2 to-go lids
- Warranty: 1-year limited (5-year limited for blade)
How We Tested Blenders
Our extensive testing involved reviewing a multitude of full-size, personal, and immersion blenders. We conducted numerous trials, including crushing ice and blending smoothies, pesto, and soup. Detailed evaluations involved blending whole almonds with oat milk to gauge efficiency and blending raw kale to assess blade performance. Before cleaning, we ran blenders with warm water and soap to ensure easy blade cleaning. Sample voltages ranged from 700 watts for the budget-friendly Oster to 1,800 watts for the commercial-grade Hurom blender.
Other Blenders We’ve Tested
Cuisinart Hurricane Pro: This high-performance model performed similarly to the Vitamix 5200 but with a more challenging interface. It offers a bit more affordability but is still large, heavy, and noticeable noisy.
Beast Mega 1200 Blender: The Beast Mega 1200 successfully crushed ice and delivered smooth smoothies with adequate blending time. Its versatility comes from multiple jars and lids but is slightly confusing to use and can heat ingredients without frozen goods.
Vitamix X5: Released in 2024, the X5 boasts tech upgrades like preset programs and tamper notifications. While it’s top-tier for those seeking a comprehensive blender, it may be overkill for basic smoothie enthusiasts. It’s great for ingredient diversity but might be too much for everyday use.
Vitamix A3500 Ascent Series Smart Blender: Offers slightly better performance than the 5200 but not enough to justify the price bump. Features like preset functions and touchscreen interface add flair but may be unnecessary for everyday blenders. Its large jar size can be unwieldy for small tasks, making it less suitable for daily use.
Breville Fresh and Furious Blender: Designed for smaller kitchens, this compact blender blends powerfully and efficiently. Despite its sleek design, it struggles to match Vitamix’s smooth results.
Vitamix Explorian 310: A more budget-friendly alternative to Vitamix’s offerings and functions quite similarly to the Vitamix 5200. The key difference is the smaller pitcher size and slightly louder operation.
Hurom Hexa Power High-Speed Blender: Although decent in performance, it cannot match our top picks. Its tricky speed adjustment and lack of super-smooth blender results keep it from reaching top-tier status.
Wolf Gourmet High-Performance Blender: Despite the powerful motor, this blender falls short in ice-crushing and overall performance compared to similarly priced models. While its stainless-steel base is appealing, it lacks the essential blending performance to make it a standout option.
Magic Bullet Combo Blender: Offers a 48-ounce pitcher and a tall cup for personal smoothies. The 600-watt motor delivers decent performance but feels cheap. Though versatile, it involves many parts that can be cumbersome to store.
Nutribullet Full-Size Combo Blender: This blender offers a 1,200-watt motor, which is quite strong for nut butter-mashing and ice-crushing. It comes with various parts, including a travel mug and tamper, but storing them all can be a hassle.
Blendtec Classic 575 Blender: While it has a professional appearance, the smoothies it produced were thick and fibrous. It is quite noisy, and the LED display felt flashy and unnecessary given the price point.
Breville Super Q Blender: Powerful, with an excellent ice-crushing capability, but smoothie results needed multiple blending cycles. Labeled as quiet, our testing found it to be fairly loud.
Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender: A sub-$50 option that performed as expected with chunky smoothies. The lightweight build made it feel fragile, detracting from its overall appeal.
KitchenAid 3-Speed Ice Crushing Blender: A simple and easy-to-use blender with three speeds and a pulse setting. It performed admirably with basic smoothies and ice but struggled with harder and fibrous ingredients.
KitchenAid High-Performance Blender: Offers some improvements over the basic 3-speed model but doesn’t justify the price difference. The 3-speed model often performed just as well or better in testing.
Cleanblend Commercial Blender: Delivers adequate power and ease of use but lacks the smoothie quality of higher-end models. The grainy smoothie results and lower price point keep it from being our top pick.
Smeg Professional Blender: Looks great but fell short in performance. Presets for tasks like smoothies and ice crushing produced underwhelming results.
Cuisinart Soho Blender: A basic blender with blend and pulse settings, it made decent smoothies but took longer than some competitive models. It’s not the most feature-rich blender but offers decent performance at an affordable price.
Vitamix Venturist Pro: A Costco-exclusive model comparable to the 5200 in performance and functionality. It includes added features like a built-in timer but has a larger base, which might be overkill for blending smaller quantities.
These blenders offer a range of benefits and drawbacks, tailored to different kitchen needs and budgets. Whether you’re blending smoothies, making soups, or simply crushing ice, there’s a blender designed to meet your specific requirements.