These days, there’s no reason to suffer through chunky smoothies or subpar soups. Today’s blenders deliver powerful motors and finely tuned vortex action, able to crush ice, liquify hot soups to velvety perfection, pulverize tough greens and whole almonds with ease, and make ice cold smoothies without overheating. But the best blender for you depends on how you’ll use it—as well as how much you’re willing to spend.
Our top picks
- Best blender overall: Vitamix VX1
- A high-performing, cheap blender: Nutribullet Power Core
- The best Vitamix for low cabinets: Vitamix Ascent X2
- A compact, full-size blender: Chefman Obliterator
- The best personal blender: Nutribullet Ultra
For more than half a decade, my fellow BA product testers and I have reviewed over three dozen full-size blenders (and even more personal and immersion blenders), giving them increasingly difficult assignments designed to weed out subpar models. We’ve found impressively powerful and practical models at a variety of price points. That’s important because while you will never go wrong with a classic Vitamix blender, you will spend several hundred dollars. And for folks just getting into cooking or working on tighter budgets, that can be disqualifying.
New in this update: I re-tested our top pick, the Vitamix VX1, alongside four additional models from Vitamix, Ninja, Chefman, and Mackenzie-Childs. I added new categories and picks for best countertop-compatible Vitamix; best compact, full-size blender; and the best personal blender.
The best blender overall: Vitamix VX1
Pros:
- Simple, intuitive controls
- Powerful motor
- Lower price than most Vitamixes
Cons:
- Soft lid doesn’t always feel secure
- Smoothie came out warmer than models with presets
Power: 1440 watts
Speeds: 10
Capacity: 64 oz.
Included: Motor base, 64-oz. pitcher, tamper stick
Warranty: 5 years, limited
What we love: We have been recommending Vitamix blenders for years, always with the understanding that their high price point is a bit of a barrier for many home cooks. But Vitamix has done its part to try and meet the market where it’s at, offering models at a variety of price points. That now includes the VX1, a less-expensive, slightly more powerful, but otherwise nearly identical counterpart to the 5200. And we’re thrilled to say our initial testing of this model met our high Vitamix expectations.
With a 1440-watt motor, the VX1 technically packs a bit more oomph than the 1380-watt 5200, while offering the same capacity and only slight concessions on features. The tactile controls (no touch screens here) feature manual on/off and pulse switches, and a variable speed setting dial, which ranges from one to 10, as well as a cleaning setting. When starting with the speed on the lowest setting, the blade doesn’t jolt into action, tossing ingredients all over the pitcher, helping everything incorporate evenly. The standard 64-oz. pitcher is the same you’d find on the 5200, but we also like that this model is compatible with Vitamix’s (optional) 48-ounce pitcher and personal blending cups, meaning for some added investment you can tailor your blending to a variety of sizes and needs. And while no blender is whisper-quiet, this one isn’t the loudest by any stretch while still pulverizing everything effectively and efficiently.
It comes with a tamper stick, but in our relatively chunky smoothie and soup tests, we never had to reach for it, and everything turned out smooth and silky. At $120 less than the 5200, we’re calling this our new, go-to Vitamix pick for the average user and first-time Vitamix buyers.
NOTE: You may still find a 5200 cheaper than the list price of the VX1 during the big sales events around Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday.
What we’d leave: As we have noted/complained about with other Vitamix models, the one “fail” we’d claim is that our smoothie was warmer than we would have liked, especially when compared head-to-head with other blenders on this list. (Though, in fairness, that’s probably as much a function of us learning not to overblend as it is due to a warm motor base.) The lid snaps on with two tabs, but it is a soft plastic material that also doesn’t feel like it’s completely sealed when compared with some other models that lock in or have rubber gaskets. And at about 19.5″ tall, it’s shorter than the 5200, but you still may run into some storage issues under especially low cabinets.
The best cheap blender: Nutribullet Power Core
Pros:
- Powerful enough for smoothies
- Easy to use
- Easy to clean
- Retro look
- Affordable
Cons:
- Loud
- No presets
- Smaller pitcher than Vitamix and Zwilling
- Sometimes hard to find
Power: 700 watts
Speeds: 3
Capacity: 1.5L/50 oz.
Included: Chrome motor base, glass pitcher with lid, blade
Warranty: Limited 1-year warranty
What we love: Nutribullet might be best known for its personal smoothie blenders, but the brand recently debuted its full-size Power Core model with a whopping 72-oz. capacity and 1400 watts of peak power, which is our favorite cheap blender. The six-point stainless-steel blade effectively smoothed out leafy greens and chunky almonds, and I was able to get a creamy, cool, and ice-chunk-free smoothie out of it. Compared with the other top picks, the pitcher is spacious, with a 72-oz. capacity, and I liked that the flat-profile lid fit snugly inside like a plug. The whole assembly is only 17.5″ high, making it very countertop/cabinet friendly. Plus, the pitcher and lid components are all dishwasher-safe. All that for under $100 isn’t too shabby, especially if your blender only makes occasional appearances in your culinary repertoire.
What we’d leave: With only three speeds, your fine-tuning options are limited, and I was left with quite a few unblended bits flung around the top of the pitcher and into the nooks and crannies of the lid. The interface is a touch screen, which is always less desirable with wet or messy hands and occasionally took a couple of presses to react. It’s a bit loud and whiny, but that’s also the norm with lower-priced blenders.
Speaking of the low price, there’s not much that feels especially premium, including the lightweight base that uses suction cups for stability (which in this case is a necessary feature to keep it from bouncing around), and the plastic pitcher, which we’d worry about dropping and cracking. Also, though I didn’t dock any points for this, it’s odd that Nutribullet didn’t opt to make this one compatible with its smoothie cups given its pedigree there.
In the long run: “For being a mere $100, I was immediately surprised by how high quality the Nutribullet Power Core felt: weighty, with a slim profile, and a satisfyingly firm ‘click’ letting you know everything is locked into place. Given the price, I wasn’t sure how it would handle my favorite combination of frozen fruit, Greek yogurt, and kale (I’d been disappointed by more expensive models in the past), but it blends even the stiffest greens without issue.” —Megan Paetzhold, visuals director
Emma Jacobson
The best Vitamix for low cabinets: Vitamix Ascent X2
Pros:
- Compact base and short blending vessel
- Tactile knob control
- Powerful
Cons:
- Wide pitcher base makes blending small quantities a bit tricky
- Smaller pitcher volume
Power: 1500 watts
Speeds: 10
Capacity: 48 ounces
Dimensions: 9.75″ L x 7.75″ W x 17″ H
Included: Motor base, 48-ounce pitcher, tamper with holder
Warranty: 10-year, limited
What we love: If you’re looking for a Vitamix that will fit on your counter, the Ascent X2 does pretty much everything the VX1 does (plus a few presets for soups, smoothies, and frozen drinks and a handy timer display), but comes with a smaller, 48-ounce pitcher and an upper cabinet-friendly 17-inch height. It has the tactile, manual knob controls I like, and a slightly more powerful 1500W motor. It’s also compatible with Vitamix’s smoothie cup system and a larger, low-profile 64-ounce pitcher accessory, which adds capacity without any vertical inches.
What we’d leave: The one caveat to this is that, in my testing, the less-tapered design of these squat pitchers doesn’t yield the same full incorporation of ingredients that the taller 64-ounce pitcher offers with its narrower bottom, which more effectively funnels everything to the blades.
A compact, full-size blender: Chefman Obliterator
Pros:
- Compact base
- Tactile knob control
- Attractive matte finish
Cons:
- A bit noisy
- Warmed smoothie
Power: 1380 watts
Speeds: 5
Capacity: 48 ounces
Included: Motor base, 48-ounce pitcher, tamper stick with scraper
Warranty: 1 year, limited
What we love: Chefman’s “Obliterator” sounds intimidating but is in fact a sleek and simple-to-use blender that surprised me in its ability to keep pace with more powerful (and more costly) competitors. My soup came out creamy and thick without too much air in the mix, and my smoothie ingredients were pretty much, well, obliterated. The large front knob has satisfying clicks on all five speeds — and even has three points of graduation between each number, giving some added precision control. While not a rainbow of available colors, the Midnight Black and Concrete in matte finishes are attractive and worthy of a spot on your countertop. Speaking of which, I’m recommending this as a compact blender because of its 7.1-inch by 7.3-inch base and 16-inch height, thanks to its smaller pitcher and low-profile, inset lid. Despite its size, it has a solid, weighty (but not heavy) base and rubberized feet that keep it in place. Plus, an upgraded package offers a smoothie jar with lid and separate blade attachment for just $10 more.
What we’d leave: My first kale smoothie came out warmer than some other blenders I’ve tested (both in the likes and dislikes categories), and thus there was a bit of an off-putting flavor as it very nearly approached room temperature. A second smoothie test with a bit more ice yielded better results, so a learning curve (as we’ve found even with Vitamix) is necessary when it comes to ice ratios and blend times to avoid overheating your drink. And when the soups and smoothies were tasted side by side with Vitamix, there’s a distinct difference in texture, but if we’re grading on a curve, Chefman finds itself more toward the top of the class. The lid clips on in two corners and has a gasket that holds well, but when trying to remove it quickly, it was a little too sticky at times and required some worrisome effort with a pitcher full of hot soup.
The best personal blender: Nutribullet Ultra
Nutribullet
Ultra Personal Blender
Pros
- Powerful
- Improved blade design
Cons
- Has the size limitations of all personal blenders
Power: 1,200 watts
Capacity: 24 or 32 oz.
Warranty: 1-year limited (5-year limited for blade)
Included: 32-oz. cup, 24-oz. cup, 24-oz. handled cup, 2 to-go lids
We won’t go into too much detail here because we’ve tested and written about a bunch of personal blenders. But the condensed version is that if you’re looking for just a smoothie-making machine, the Nutribullet Ultra is the perfect, pitcher-less mix of power, performance, and personal-sized cups.
How we tested blenders
For this review I’m mainly focused on full-size blenders with large pitchers—the tool you need for your Thanksgiving soups and your frozen margaritas. Our main focus has been on each blender’s ability to crush ice, evenly obliterate hard or fibrous ingredients, and blend soups without whipping or aerating them. To accomplish this, we made batches of butternut squash soup to see how they handled blending hot food and smoothies with challenging ingredients like crunchy almonds, sticky dates, and raw kale.
We also cleaned each blender we tested, both by hand-washing and by filling them with warm water and dish soap and running the blender on its preset cleaning cycle or on low speed for about 30 seconds to clean the blade.
What we looked for in the best blenders
I looked for powerful blenders that could make smooth smoothies without big chunks of anything—nuts, fibrous greens, ice—and do it efficiently enough not to make the smoothie too warm.
I looked for blenders with intuitive control panels that were easy to use. If a blender had presets or special features, I considered whether they felt useful or unnecessary. I also noted how easy or complicated it was to attach and detach parts for use and cleaning.
Understanding that not everyone needs a big Vitamix blender, and that a personal or portable blender might be too small for others, I considered the footprint and height of each blender base and pitcher and whether it would fit under a standard kitchen cabinet (18″).
I paid special attention to the materials of the base and the pitchers (and any accessories, if included) and noted whether they felt durable and sturdy, or cheap and flimsy.
I hand-washed each blender to gauge how easy it was to clean both the pitcher and the blades, as well as any accessories. Blenders with dishwasher-safe parts got bonus points.
Other blenders we liked
Vitamix 5200
We’ve been recommending the Vitamix 5200 blender for years—a recommendation that comes both from our product testers and test kitchen editors who have used it weekly since the 2010s. And you will not catch any of us saying a bad word about it. The VX1 just did everything the 5200 could with a lower price tag.
The 5200 has reliably made velvety soups, delicious smoothies, and pulverized solid ingredients like it’s no big deal. Though the BPA-free plastic blending jar is large (64 oz.), this blender can make a single-serve smoothie without issue, and because you can so easily control the speed, it will even emulsify mayonnaise, a task full-sized blenders can struggle with because the ingredients get stuck on the sides of the jar. A simple dial has 10 variable speed settings, or you can flip a switch to blend on high. Another switch turns the motor on and off. Other than that, there are no bells, whistles, buttons, or lights to clog up the control panel. While you can’t remove the blade for cleaning and it lacks a dedicated cleaning cycle, you can rig up your own“self-cleaning” function by just adding some warm water and dish soap to the pitcher and running it on low or medium speed to dislodge anything stuck in or under the blade. As food director Chris Morocco has previously said, “If you get anything other than a Vitamix 5200, price better be the only reason.” And while we still think it’s an exceptional blender, the introduction of the less expensive and slightly more powerful VX1 bumped this from its forever spot as our top pick. But there’s also size to consider. This is a bulky blender, and the pitcher alone is too tall for some cabinet shelves. So if you’re short on counter or storage space you might want to take some measurements before adding it to your cart, or opt for the VX1 which accommodates a smaller 48 oz. pitcher.
Oster Extreme Mix Blender
Oster Extreme Mix Blender with 8-Cup Glass Jar and Blend-N-Go Cup
The Extreme Mix Blender from Oster has a lot going for it, including a 1600-watt motor and a 10-point titanium-coated blade system that was able to blend everything tester Emily Farris threw at it. She was a little surprised there was no tamper in the box, but the motor (all-metal drive) reverses on the auto settings/presets, which so far (as promised) has eliminated the need for tamping or mixing mid-blend. The blade detaches from the sturdy glass (dishwasher-safe) pitcher for easy cleaning. This blender also comes with a smaller Blend-N-Go travel tumbler for single-serve smoothies. It has five speeds and three presets/iBlend settings. Overall, this is a solid blender and a great value for the price (especially when it’s on sale). Unfortunately, it’s very loud (not entirely surprising given the 1600-watt motor), and we really wish it had a knob or somewhat more manual adjustments than the buttons on the control panel.
Cuisinart Hurricane Pro
The high-performance Cuisinart Hurricane Pro is a great full-size blender that performed nearly as well as the Vitamix 5200 in our testing. It crushes ice with ease and makes smooth and airy smoothies. The interface comes with a bit of a learning curve, but the presets (which include smoothies, ice crushing, soup, and cleaning) are helpful. It’s big and heavy and only a little less expensive than our top pick, but if you want to save a little money, this powerful blender gets the job done.
Breville Fresh and Furious Blender
Breville Fresh and Furious Blender
The compact Breville Fresh and Furious Blender is a good option for those with smaller kitchens. The 50-oz. pitcher feels generous for such a compact machine. It blends powerfully and efficiently, and the intuitive control panel has nine one-touch presets. While the 1100-watt motor can blend frozen fruit and ice, it’s still no Vitamix, and in our testing, it didn’t produce the same silky smoothie texture the Vitamix 5200 did.
Nutribullet Full-Size Blender
Nutribullet
Full Size Blender
The Nutribullet Full-Size Blender has a 1200-watt motor and three speeds plus a pulse and extract function. According to the manual, the latter is the smoothie preset (not a juicer function, sorry). This blender crushed ice better than the Magic Bullet Combo blender and did a nice job breaking down rough kale stems in a smoothie. The motor base has a nice matte finish and suction cups to keep it planted on the counter, but the round plastic 64-oz. pitcher felt both flimsy and bulky. It was also tricky to get on and off of the motor base. We actually tested a combo version of this blender, which offers more versatility for not a lot more money. But the extra parts (personal blending cup, travel mug with a handle, travel lids, and tamper, plus an included recipe book) are a lot to keep track of and store. If you’re looking for power and don’t want to spend a lot of money, this is a good option at a good price point, and if we had to choose between this blender and the Magic Bullet above, we’d choose this. It just doesn’t feel like something that’s made to last.
Oster Original 3-Speed Chrome Blender
Oster Original 3-Speed Chrome Blender
If the Oster Original 3-Speed Chrome Blender looks like something your grandma used back in the day, that’s because it kind of is. Oster was one of the first brands to make blenders for home cooks, and this three-speed blender is a contemporary take on the brand’s original single-speed beehive blender—but has some very useful updates. A sturdy chrome base houses a 700-watt motor that, combined with the stainless-steel blades, can crush ice as well as many higher-priced blenders, though not quite as well as a Vitamix. At its highest speed, this blender quickly and easily incorporated almonds and kale into a smooth smoothie, though it wasn’t as velvety as what we got from the Vitamix 5200. The 1.5-liter glass pitcher (about 50 oz.) is square-ish, a departure from the original round one, with gently sloped corners, and those four straight sides that make it so ingredients get thrown back into the blade’s vortex. The blade base unscrews from the pitcher for easy cleaning. And because the pitcher body is all glass, it can go in the dishwasher. But glass blenders jars are a mixed bag. When filled high with hot ingredients (like if you’re blending a soup) there is a risk the pressure will make it crack or, in a worst-case scenario, explode. So while this Oster is a good value, we won’t make it a top pick.
The motor is also loud, especially when operating at the highest speed, and compared to the hum of the Vitamix motor, this one is a bit more piercing.
KitchenAid 3-Speed Ice Crushing Blender
KitchenAid 3-Speed Ice Crushing Blender
The KitchenAid 3-Speed Ice Crushing Blender (K150) is basic and easy-to-use: Its dial has just three speeds and a pulse setting, with no preset programs as you find on some pricier blenders. During testing, the KitchenAid crushed ice cubes and blended basic smoothies better than some of the high-performance, higher-priced competitors. It did struggle with very hard ingredients, though, like nuts, and fibrous ones, like raw kale.
Vitamix Ascent X5
The Vitamix X5 is the top-of-the-line version of Vitamix’s Ascent line, a few steps up from our winner, the X2. For $250 more, you get a touchscreen instead of physical buttons and six presets beyond the X2’s clean, smoothie, frozen dessert, and soup settings, including ones for nut butters, frozen cocktails, and ground spices. Other helpful features: a tamper notification that tells you when to push ingredients down, and a one-touch option to extend any preset by 15 seconds. It’s a premium pick for anyone who wants to do everything with a blender, but it has the exact same motor and design as the X2, and we think it’s more than what most people need. Read our deeper dive on the X5 here.
Oster Vortex Plus Glass Blender
Oster
Vortex Plus Glass Blender
At 1200 watts, this relatively mighty blender has a lot going for it, namely on the price tag at just under $90 (and there’s a less powerful 800-watt plastic model at just $50). The glass pitcher feels and is a bit old-school, with a screw-on blade assembly that comes completely apart for cleaning the individual components (something the modern crop of fixed-blade blenders avoid with their preset cleaning cycles, which the user guide says you can do on this blender, too). But the interface and matte finish look modern, with a 4-speed dial control that also has a few presets for ice crushing, smoothies, and dips or sauces. It performed moderately in the soup and smoothie tests; both came out smooth and not too aerated but still subject to a few plant fibers or chunks here and there. Another minor hiccup was in blending batches of soup: the machine would turn “off” (meaning I had to tap the power button on again) before I could get around to the next batch. But I tried a few other features, including the preset ice function, and got a pretty snow-cone-like texture. So, if you’re not super exacting (or willing to strain your soup) and simply won’t spend hundreds on a Vitamix, this blender works, just not as impressively.
Blenders we don’t recommend
Ninja makes a version of just about every appliance for your kitchen, and our testing generally reveals that the brand’s products are “fine” (with some exceptional exceptions like their air fryers), and that’s the case here. The Ninja Detect is an affordable blender that also comes as part of a “kitchen system” which includes a food processor attachment, as well as some models that include individual smoothie cups. Like a food processor, it features blades on a spindle that you drop into the pitcher, meaning you get slicing action much higher up than a bottom-mounted blade assembly. The blades are sharp. So sharp, in fact that I cut my finger on them and another colleague had a near miss while disassembling. That should be a good thing, however while soft, simmered soup ingredients were well blended, the attempted smoothie had found many more flecks of kale and grainy chunks of fruit than other blenders. We also found the multiple sets of blades whipped more air into the mixture, a noticeable textural difference in both a creamy soup and icy smoothie. Other features include a locking base and locking lid, both of which need to be in the correct position and locked for the blender to run (good for safety), but the lid’s lack of an access cap mean you can’t drop ingredients in during blending. The base isn’t as beefy as a Vitamix, but it does have suction cups on the bottom to keep it sturdy on smooth counters.
Let’s make one thing clear: This is a more-than-decent blender. The C2 Blender from the makers of our favorite juicer provides solid vortex action, and the dial offers both presets and manual speed controls, as well as a cleaning function. It also comes with a tamper stick and cleaning brush. The lid snaps into place and includes a very secure gasket, though I found it took a lot of effort to remove it. The unit won’t operate unless the blender pitcher is properly installed onto the motor base (though it doesn’t lock into place). And the motor base was a fair bit noisier and whinier than most of our Vitamixes.
But the one aspect that stuck out, and I thought disqualified it from a top spot for a home kitchen, was its size. The entire assembly with the blender pitcher on top is 21″ tall, which is not as under-cabinet friendly as other models, and the base itself is a good inch taller than the Vitamix.
The reason to get this blender is that you can use the base for with a nama juicer as well. But for most people in the market for a blender, at the C2’s nearly $1,000 you could also just buy the standalone Nama juicer and a really nice Vitamix.
The Tribest Backspin Contra-Rotating Impact Blender doesn’t look like a regular blender because it’s not. Inner and outer pitchers create a vacuum to reduce oxidation, and the pitcher spins opposite the blade to eliminate tamping. “I really wanted to love it, but after my initial testing, I don’t,” says tester Emily Farris. The marketing promises hands-free almond butter, but her first attempt left a donut of almond meal glued to the pitcher wall, and the butter near the blade came out hot to the touch. Green smoothies went better with liquid added from the start, though the missing pour spout and the gap between chambers make pouring awkward. The pitcher parts also aren’t dishwasher safe.
The 1200-watt Beast Mega 1200 Blender did a great job crushing ice, and with enough blending time, it made smooth smoothies. Because it comes with three different jars (16, 34, and 40 oz.) plus lids for storage and travel, among other accessories, it’s also very versatile. But given its capacity and power, it’s frustrating that the Beast still functions like a personal blender. This means the blade base is also the lid of the blending jar, so after adding the ingredients, you screw on the blade/cap then turn everything over and put it on the motorized base to blend. Perhaps it was the order in which we added ingredients, but with repeat smoothie making, testers found that if we were blending fibrous or tough ingredients like kale stems and raw almonds without adding any frozen ingredients, the smoothie would be noticeably warm. The same thing happened when putting hard ingredients in the Beast Mighty 850 personal blender we tested. A colleague’s test had even worse results—though with long-term testing we’ve both found the smaller 850 to be a convenient little blender for “easy” smoothie jobs. So if you end up using a Beast blender to make a smoothie and you’re not using any frozen fruit, it’s a good idea to add a handful of ice to the mix. Finally, while the different jars and lids (and straws and cleaning brushes) make this blender very versatile, they also make a lot of parts to keep track of.
Like all of Smeg’s 50s-inspired kitchen appliances, the Smeg Professional Blender looks great on the countertop (if a retro look is your thing, that is). But also like many of the brand’s offerings, its performance fell short of justifying its price—especially when used side-by-side with comparably priced products. It does have presets for things like smoothies and ice crushing, but the results were underwhelming. The ice, specifically, was far from evenly crushed and we ended up with big chunks.
With an 1800-watt motor, the Breville Super Q blender delivers in the power department (it excelled at crushing ice), but we had to run the smoothie preset twice to fully incorporate almonds in our smoothie test. The brand promotes this as a “super-quiet” blender (presumably “Q” is for “quiet”) but in our testing, we found it to be pretty loud, and not that pleasant to use. In 2020, we also tried it with Breville’s add-on Vac Q tool, which is supposed to remove air from the pitcher for a smoother blend. While it’s an interesting concept, it just makes something that should be simple even more complicated (and expensive!) than it needs to be.
The commercial-grade Breville Super Q Pro blender is an advanced version of the Super Q above. It’s also the fussiest blender we’ve tested. The speed settings on the control panel were confusing, and it took longer than it should have to get a super-smooth smoothie.
We approached the Cleanblend Commercial Blender with skepticism. Sure, it has an 1800-watt motor, but it also costs less than half the price of a good Vitamix blender—and our testing has shown us that this is a category where you really get what you pay for. Overall, this is a decent blender. It’s powerful and easy to use, but, disappointingly (though not entirely surprisingly) the smoothie we made in testing was grainy.
The Blendtec Classic 575 Blender has a professional look and feel, but in our testing, the smoothies were a bit too thick and more fibrous than we’d like. It’s also pretty loud and while the presets are nice, the LED display feels flashy and unnecessary. For the price (which approaches Vitamix levels) it’s just not something we recommend.
The Hurom Hexa Power Blender is fine, but it can’t compete with any of our top picks. The speed dial is tricky to adjust (if you stop blending, the knob needs to be set back to neutral before you can adjust the speed and if you skip this step and try to power it back on, it won’t start). It also doesn’t deliver super-smooth smoothies.
Cuisinart’s small appliances are really a mixed bag in terms of quality and performance, but we were intrigued by the Soho line, which offers stylish, compact options for small kitchens, including the Cuisinart Soho Blender. This is very much a basic blender. Beyond blend and pulse there are no other settings (it’s billed as a 2-speed blender but it’s really just those two settings). It made a decent smoothie, but it took a while to get there. If you’re looking for something compact in this price range, the a personal blender is a better option.
There’s nothing powerful or elite about the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender. It performed about as well as we expected a sub-$50 blender to perform. The smoothie we made in it during testing was chunky, with unblended bits of almond and kale fibers—even with an extra minute of blending time. It was also so lightweight it felt flimsy.
This affordable, versatile Magic Bullet Combo Blender has a 48-oz. pitcher and a tall cup to use for single-serve smoothies. The stainless steel blade attaches to both and sits on the compact base, which houses a 600-watt motor. The lightweight base has two speeds and a pulse function, and suction cup feet are a nice touch to keep it firmly in place on a countertop, especially when blending large batches of smoothies. It did a pretty good job blending kale and almonds—especially for something at this price point—but overall the materials felt cheap and flimsy. And unless you really need both the pitcher and the personal blending cup (which comes with a solid lid for storage and travel) there are a lot of parts to keep track of. For a very cheap blender, it’s fine, but you’re getting what you pay for, and there are better cheap blenders including the Nutribullet below.
Sometimes your choice of appliances might come down to design aesthetics as much as under-the-hood specs. If the cute, checkered collection of kitchenware from Mackenzie-Childs has caught your eye, I’d caution against including the blender in your carefully curated countertop tableau. Aside from its middling (but acceptable) blending results, the user interface is confusing, clunky, and allows for zero actual manual controls of the blending process. The “Manual” mode requires setting a timer first, a speed second, and then you can’t adjust either without requiring a full stop and restart. Even “pulse” requires multiple taps of the single front knob/button. If you only intend to trust the presets for soups and smoothies and other uses, then maybe the looks are worth the lack of user-friendliness.
This blender system comes with a dedicated smoothie cup and blade, as well as a food processor bowl and blades with tons of uses including shredding and dicing. Despite all those features (and accessories that need storage), the blender itself suffers from the same problems as other Ninja blenders on this list. Its multi-tiered blade spindle whips too much air into the mix, and that, combined with the rectangular pitcher design, doesn’t adequately draw in and pulverize the ingredients, leaving us with foamy soups and kale-flecked smoothies that taste of individual ingredients rather than smoothly incorporated liquids.
Discontinued blenders we’ve tested
Nothing lasts forever, and these blenders didn’t. We’re leaving our reviews here in case you find a used Vitamix 750 or Instant Ace that looks interesting to you and you’re in need of an unbiased opinion on what you’ll get.
- Vitamix Explorian 310: Formerly the least expensive Vitamix, the Explorian 310 performed and functioned much like our favorite 5200, though it was smaller and squatter with a 48-ounce pitcher. Now, a worthy replacement is the Vitamix Ascent X2.
- Vitamix A3500: The Vitamix A3500 had a wide, 64-oz. jar that felt too big for small smoothies and ingredients. It had loads of presets, but most people won’t end up using them.
- Vitamix Venturist Pro: This Costco-exclusive Vitamix was very similar to the 5200, but with a few added features, including a built-in timer. However, the pitcher base was wider, making it harder to blend small quantities of anything. If you often blend big batches of soups, smoothies, or frozen drinks (as one who shops regularly at Costco might), this could be a really good blender for you, but overall, it just felt like too much blender for most people.
- Zwilling Enfinigy Power Blender: This 1400-watt blender was previously one of our top picks for its power, automatic speed adjustment, and smart pitcher design—sort of a square base with rounded corners and vertical ribbing on the interior—that efficiently tossed ingredients back into the blade’s Vortex. In addition to pulse, it had six variable mixing speeds and four blending presets (ice cube, ice cream, cocktails, smoothie), and a cleaning setting.
- Vitamix Professional Series 750: We’ve previously recommended this blender for its wide container, powerful motor, and ease of use. It offered programmed settings for making smoothies, frozen desserts, soups, and purées in addition to the standard 10-speed options—all manually selected by turning a simple knob. The containers for the 5200 and 750 Professional blenders hold the same volume, but the 750’s is wider and shorter; a style that Vitamix calls “low-profile.” However, in 2024, Vitamix began phasing out many of its blenders, including its Legacy Series, which includes this model.
- Vitamix One: Released in 2021, the Vitamix One was Vitamix’s most affordable model. It had a very pared-down control panel (a single knob), less power than pricier models, and a smaller pitcher. Because it had less power than other Vitamix blenders, it wasn’t great at crushing ice, but it did make nice soups and smoothies.
- Ninja Professional Blender (BL621): This blender didn’t impress in our tests, especially when it came to ice-crushing. It did “crush” the ice, but the result was an uneven mess. The smoothies from this Ninja blender were thick and clumpy too, compared to what we got from similarly-priced blenders.
- Oster Blender Pro 1200: The Oster Blender Pro 1200 featured a push-button interface that’s less flexible than the dial controls of other blenders, limiting your ability to adjust power mid-blend. The smoothie it made was slightly grainy, and while it technically doubles as a food processor, we found that dedicated machines for both tasks performed better.
- Oster Versa Blender: The Oster Versa Blender pretty much failed our ice test but did make pretty decent smoothies. And the preset functions were helpful with specific tasks like making dips and soups.
- Instant Pot Ace Blender: It was powerful and versatile, and a great value for the price. The biggest drawback was the heavy glass pitcher, which may be a dealbreaker for anyone who wants something lightweight and durable.
- Hamilton Beach Professional: The Hamilton Beach Professional blender is a higher-end Hamilton Beach blender that performed much better than the cheaper Power Elite. In our testing, it produced evenly crushed ice and smoothies without chunks (though it still wasn’t easily drinkable with a straw). The smoothie was also a little warm, which leads us to believe the motor had to work overtime just to blend.
- Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender: Though it has a 1545-watt motor, it fell short in our ice test and overall it just didn’t perform quite as well as comparably-priced Vitamix models.
