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We evaluated over 120 different blenders to find the best, then bought the top 16 blenders available today. We tested all of these blenders side-by-side, subjecting them to a battery of 21 performance tests. We directly compare popular tasks like making smoothies and blended margaritas, crushing ice, pureeing soups, grating hard cheeses, and even making nut butter and milling flour. We closely examined the design of every model, also scoring each blender on ease of cleaning and ease of use.
This review covers the best full-sized blenders, but we have also extensively tested the best portable blenders available. While smaller blenders don't offer the power and versatility of full-sized models, they take up less space, are more affordable, and may cover all your blending needs. If you mainly want to blend soups and dressings, consider an immersion hand blender, which has minimal parts to clean and fits in a drawer. If you specialize in smoothies, we recommend considering a bullet blender for increased convenience. And if you are curious about other top kitchen appliances, we have expert recommendations to make your decisions easier.
Editor's Note: We updated our blender review on June 4, 2024, to add and retest models from Blendtec, KitchenAid, Ninja, Hamilton Beach, Cuisinart, and Nutribullet.
Breville's the Super Q is a versatile, premium option that's worth every penny. The combination of thoughtfully designed presets, a modern yet intuitive interface, and convenient accessories makes this a nearly perfect blender — not to mention a fantastic substitute for a food processor. Whether you want to make a perfectly blended green smoothie in the personal blender cup for a convenient breakfast on the go or to whip up a steaming batch of homemade soup for dinner, the five user-friendly presets offer the full gamut of options. In addition to the preset programs, there are also six manual settings to choose from that allow you to mill, puree, blend, chop, mix, or stir with complete control over the speed settings and timing. The buttons are well-labeled in plain language, and this capability is controlled from a large, easy-to-read digital screen.
We were, of course, supremely impressed with the Super Q's ability to blend top-notch smoothies, both simple, berry-based recipes and more notoriously thick breakfast blends. However, it's the Super Q's versatility that really stands out, particularly its ability to puree, grind, and mill, in addition to its inherent blending capabilities. This premium model produced some of the smoothest, creamiest nut butter of any blender we tested. Using the Soup preset, this blender turned out a batch of homemade tomato soup in under six minutes, heating the family-sized batch to a steamy 145 °F — we were able to serve the soup straight from the blender jar. Though less common than blending soup, the Super Q is also more than capable of milling fluffy powdered sugar, next-to-perfect corn flour, or restaurant-quality ground parmesan.
The wide mouth of the Super Q's 68-ounce jug makes it easy to load up on fresh ingredients.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
All of this capability, of course, comes at a price, as the Super Q carries a premium price tag. We fully recognize the expense associated with this blender. Yet, mainly due to its versatility, we firmly stand behind our assertion that this blender is worth every penny. Particularly for folks who are looking to simplify their kitchen with a versatile appliance that, for all intents and purposes, can pull double duty as a food processor, the Super Q is a worthwhile investment. For others who simply want the best blender that money can buy, the Super Q is a no-brainer.
Aside from any expense-related pitfalls, our criticisms of the Super Q are relatively minor. Even though its lowest scoring metric is Convenience, this blender still notched one of the highest scores in our test. If we were going to get really nit-picky, despite the fact that Breville claims this blender features “noise suppression technology,” an average decibel reading of 82.4 dB puts it on par with other blenders we tested — which is to say, we could hardly tell a difference. If you'd rather have a bit more control over the blending process, we suggest directly comparing the Super Q against the similarly rated — and equally expensive — Vitamix A2500. While the Breville blender is a bit more user-friendly, the Vitamix edges it out slightly in terms of superior smoothie and soup consistency. Although we freely admit that you really can't go wrong with either of these premium blenders.
A futuristic vision of a modern classic, the Vitamix A2500 Ascent Series is a premium blender whose high-performance capabilities are only matched by its time-tested durability. It's difficult not to highlight the A2500 when, time and again, this blender continues to impress us in nearly every way. This top-quality blender tops the charts in nearly every meaningful metric, and thanks to many years of testing and retesting this blender, we feel sufficiently experienced to speak on the A2500's durability and the worthwhile investment of this admittedly expensive appliance. The A2500 turns out some of the creamiest smoothies and perfectly blended margaritas, and of course, lives up to the Vitamix reputation of processing a steaming batch of homemade soup in mere minutes. Add a smart base — with wireless connectivity — that will automatically adjust program settings depending on the size of the container, and you have a blender that will tackle any daily tasks with grace and efficiency.
Even though other premium models performed admirably in our pureeing tests, no other option could quite compare with the performance of the A2500. Vitamix blenders are famously known for their ability to blend soup, which is one of the main reasons home cooks and professional chefs have turned to these versatile, high-end blenders for years. The powerful motor base and sheer speed of the blades blended a homemade batch of tomato soup in less than six minutes, simultaneously heating it to an ideal temperature of 153 °F so that you can serve it right out of the pitcher. Notably, the A2500 pureed fresh soup ingredients down to a near-perfect consistency — we were able to pour the extent of the pitcher through a sieve without catching even the smallest chunk.
Thanks to the 64-ounce pitcher of the A2500, large smoothies and margaritas can be made in one batch.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Like other comparable options, we fully acknowledge that the A2500 is expensive. Similar to its direct competitors, the A2500 is versatile both as a blender and a serviceable substitute for other food processing tasks — more so soup-making and pureeing than grinding and milling, but it still excels in the later tasks. This makes it a utilitarian workhorse for any kitchen, making it a worthwhile investment. But even among other award-winning blenders, the A2500 stands out for its durability. We were amazed that even after a battery of difficult tasks, this burly appliance showed practically no signs of wear and tear. If you're planning to use a blender daily, the A2500 offers exceptional performance and long-lasting value.
While other top-tier blenders we tested are nearly perfect, the A2500 is not without its faults. One key criticism that separates this model from the similarly performing Breville the Super Q is that the A2500 doesn't feature as many user-friendly presets. While the variable speed dial offers more nuanced control over the blending process, you're relegated to only three presets: Smoothies, Hot Soups, and Frozen Desserts. We admit that these three presets alone cover most of your bases, and combined with a digital timer to assist with manual processing, you will probably never want for other fine-tuned programs. However, if you're a “set it and forget it” type of person who greatly favors a more hands-off experience, we suggest considering the Super Q — or even the equally convenient and markedly less expensive Cuisinart Hurricane Pro 3.5 — over the Vitamix A2500.
If the price of the top-tier models is well outside your budget, it's well worth considering the Nutribullet Combo. Surpassing its more accessible price point, this workhorse of a blender puts up numbers in key metrics that are competitive among even the best blenders in our lineup. The interface is straightforward, with three speed settings, a pulse feature, and a single preset — the Extract program is specifically designed to efficiently process fresh fruit and vegetables. While this preset does a fine job of transforming these ingredients into a serviceable green shake, it works incredibly well for blending more simple berry-based recipes. We were also happily surprised by this blender's versatility. Unlike other price-point models, the Combo holds its own during non-traditional tasks like pureeing and grinding, which is certainly an improvement upon the performance of the previously tested NutriBullet Blender.
The Combo's ability to puree soup was particularly impressive, especially considering the stiff competition. To a certain degree, we expected this versatile performance from other premium models we tested. But the fact that the Combo blender was able to process a batch of homemade soup in the same amount of time and to the same relative temperatures as other Vitamix blenders — which are renowned for their puree capabilities — captured our attention. This level of versatility only adds to the already exceptional value of this affordable blender.
The value of the nutribullet Combo is only bolstered by the additional 24 oz to-go cup and pop-top lid.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
What truly sets this blender apart from other award-winning options is the price tag—the Combo offers nearly the same level of overall performance as blenders that cost two to three times as much. Considering what you're already purchasing in terms of smoothie production, the versatility of its non-traditional capabilities is almost an added bonus. While you may not be getting top-tier performance in every metric, there is no denying the balance of price and performance.
While we have mostly rave reviews for the Combo, the substantial price difference between this blender and the top-tier options comes with some inherent compromises. Many of the features you will choose to forego are convenience-related. For instance, the Combo doesn't include nearly as many user-friendly presets, nor is it quite as easy to break down and clean as other models we tested. It also greatly suffers in its ability to crush ice for frozen beverages. If these qualities are important to your purchase, then we highly suggest that you check out the KitchenAid K400, which just so happens to improve upon these areas in particular.
While it may not be quite as strong as the top contenders, we were nonetheless impressed with the Combo's ability to blend our notoriously thick fruit, nut, and oat smoothie.
We fully recognize that the three-figure price points of the blenders in this review are a bit intimidating. We sure were surprised by how much a premium blender can cost for a seemingly simple appliance. For folks shopping on a tight budget, the Ninja Professional BL610 is an affordable alternative with impressive capabilities. The BL610 has a simple interface compared to the top-tier models, but its single Auto IQ Smoothie preset produces a well-blended, albeit thick, smoothie in only one minute. Even though it lacks the versatility of other models we tested, as a standalone blender, this model is a serviceable option.
The BL610 should certainly be on the radar of any blended cocktail enthusiasts. With a powerful pulse feature, this blender easily pulverizes ice into snow. The smoothie preset whips up batches of creamy, blended margaritas in no time, and the oversized 72-ounce pitcher means you'll have enough on hand to serve the whole party. While the consistency isn't quite as immaculate as those produced by higher-end blenders, frozen beverages are frosty and enjoyable. The key with all the recipes blended by the BL610 is that they contain plenty of liquid. Otherwise, things can get a bit sticky.
With an oversized pitcher and impressive ice crushing capability, the Ninja BL610 is a perfect option for making party-sized batches of blended margaritas.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Despite its difficulty blending thicker smoothies, the BL610 turned out to be surprisingly high-quality nut butter. Even though it required significantly more oil and a bit more mixing than other models we tested, the results were impressive considering the relative size of the 1000-watt motor compared to other premium blenders twice its size. That was not the case, however, when we tried to puree soup — the final product was gritty and lukewarm. Attempts at grinding and milling were even less successful.
To its benefit, the BL610 is not designed as a versatile substitute for a food processor; it's designed as a blender, and in that regard, this model is well worth your consideration. It is simple to use, easy to clean, and capable of producing delicious smoothies and frozen cocktails. Of course, you'll earn significantly better performance by stepping up to a model like the Nutribullet Combo, our top choice for its balance of price and performance. However, for anyone shopping on a particularly tight budget, the Ninja BL610 should be at the top of your shortlist.
We recognize that many of the best blenders in our lineup are expensive, and with such a substantial purchase, you want to know that your investment is going to stand the test of time. Through multiple cycles of in-house testing and many years of use as one of our tester's personal blenders, we're confident in highlighting the Blendtec Total Classic as a blender that's built to last. This small but mighty blender sits upon a 1560-watt motor base that provides ample power for everything from blending hearty breakfast smoothies to pulverizing ice for frozen beverages. The wide variety of presets this blender offers — Smoothie, Whole Juice, Ice Cream, Ice Crush, Hot Soup, and Batters — speaks to its utilitarian design and versatility. Blendtec is known for its high-quality, commercial-grade blenders, and the Total Classic brings that same level of performance to your home kitchen.
Where even some premium blenders struggled to get through the more difficult tasks, the Total Classic excelled. The uniquely blunted blades crush ice cubes to snow in mere seconds, turning out creamy blended margaritas in a fraction of the time it took other blenders. While it was more of an extended process and required a bit more oil than others we tested, this blender processed a nut butter that was a fan-favorite among our testers for its full-bodied flavor and velvety consistency. We have no doubt that these exceptional results stem from the nuanced design differences in the blades, which seem to pulverize chunky ingredients a bit better than otherwise directly comparable blenders.
The Total Classic's unique jug design flairs at the top, which is particularly useful for adding loads of fresh fruits and veggies.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
The flip side to the benefits of a blunted blade is that, despite what the marketing materials may suggest, the Total Classic is not “especially good for grinding grains.” While it still did an above-average job of processing powdered sugar and grinding parmesan into a perfectly powdery blend, it did a particularly poor job of milling corn flour. Just like small berry seeds that made it through into our smoothies, the Total Classic isn't quite as capable of capturing and slicing through small bits without a sharp-tipped blade.
This is really where the difference arises between the Total Classic and some of the other premium models we tested. If you're expecting a perfectly creamy smoothie from your new high-end blender, then it's worth considering the extra investment in a model like the Vitamix A2500. But we'll even admit that our assessment of this blender's pureeing and grinding abilities may be a bit hypercritical. If you're in the market for a workhorse blender for regular heavy-duty tasks, our top choice is still the Total Classic for its durability and dependability.
Whether it's non-traditional tasks like grinding or blending up pitchers of frozen beverages, the Total Classic is up for all of the tough tasks you throw its way.
In some instances, style means everything. In the case of the KitchenAid K400, this blender doesn't just look good; it backs up its style with premium performance. Unlike other modern blenders that are fronted by a prominent LCD screen, the retro-styled K400 is controlled from a single dial. But don't let the simple interface mislead you — this blender features many of the same user-friendly presets as its direct competitors. Behind its sleek design lie five variable speed settings, a pulse feature, and four convenient preset functions. KitchenAid's proprietary Intelli-Speed Motor Control automatically adjusts the speed of the blades based on the size of the container and the hardness of the ingredients being blended, making it easier for this blender to work through a variety of recipes. We love that all of these capabilities lie hidden behind the no-frills facade of the K400, a blender that is sure to impress with its performance-backed style.
The optimized Ice Crush program crushes ice cubes into a powdery, snow-like consistency in a mere 30 seconds, while the Icy Drink preset makes similarly quick work of blended, frozen beverages. The batch of frozen margaritas we made was perfectly creamy, with an even consistency throughout the blender jar. There are very few premium blenders in our lineup that earned perfect scores in this difficult test, and all of them cost significantly more than the reasonably priced K400.
Clean and elegant, the K400's single dial still includes all of the settings you need to blend, chop, and grind.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
This blender should certainly be on the radar of anyone who enjoys a well-blended margarita, but it impressed in more ways than one. Considering price versus performance, this blender stands among some of the best options in our lineup, yet costs half as much. Not only is this a workhorse of a blender, but if you haven't already picked up on our many hints, we love its retro style. This is one of the few blenders on the market that comes in a variety of fun colors that are sure to brighten up any kitchen.
While the K400 stands out for its overall performance at this price point, there are, of course, areas where this blender falls short. Even though it did an exceptional job of chopping ice and impressed us with its ability to mill dry ingredients, surprisingly, the K400 struggled to blend heartier smoothies and puree nut butter. If you're aiming to purchase a blender that is also a viable substitute for a food processor, it's worth considering a slightly more expensive model like the Blendtec Total Classic for its versatility. But money can't buy style, and the style of the KitchenAid K400 is as much about appearances as it is about straightforward functionality.
Although it tends to chop a bit more than some sharper-bladed competitors (resulting in a less-appetizing green smoothie), the K400 is nonetheless powerful and versatile.
An amalgamation of a blender and a juicer, the 3X Bluicer from Breville holds a unique position in our lineup. While it's not quite on par with other dedicated models we tested in our review of the best juicers, its performance as a blender is notable. With three user-friendly presets, the Bluicer is easy to operate even in its most basic operation as a standalone blender. Despite its dual-functionality, it's actually not quite as utilitarian as other premium blenders we tested. However, it does deserve some particular praise, especially for folks who like to use fresh fruit juice as the base of their smoothies.
This is the standout design feature of the Bluicer — the ability to spin juice straight into the blender jug, which you then swap out for the juicer attachment to blend your smoothie. The result is an incomparably fresh-tasting smoothie. For folks who regularly make smoothies and juices, the ability to do both with a single appliance is undoubtedly enticing. But even in the other meaningful ways that we assessed the convenience of blenders — design, interface, functionality, and cleaning — the Bluicer scored above average in our tests. Like nearly all Breville products, this model is thoughtfully designed. It includes three blender presets, five juice settings, and an auto-clean function, all of which combined make for a user-friendly appliance.
The Bluicer offers additional versatility to its performance with the ability to double as a juicer.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw,Genaveve Bradshaw
It's important that we highlight the specificity of the Bluicer and remind you that a jack-of-all-trades appliance isn't always the most convenient. This model doesn't juice as well as other dedicated juicers we've tested nor does it blend quite as well as other dedicated blenders in this lineup. However, as we've already noted, if you regularly swap between these two tasks — say, on a daily basis — then the Bluicer is likely the best option to suit your bevy of beverage needs.
But this is far from the best blender we tested. While it is certainly capable of turning out above-average smoothies, they don't have the same velvety-rich texture of those produced by directly comparable — or comparably expensive — blenders in our lineup. Considering the expense of this appliance, if you're aiming to invest in a purpose-built blender, we suggest comparing the Bluicer directly against the Breville Fresh & Furious. Although the Fresh & Furious can't juice like the Bluicer, it does offer improved capabilities as far as pureeing and grinding are concerned, two specific kitchen tasks that we will often look to a versatile blender to tackle.
Fresh fruit margaritas, anyone? While our standard recipe called for frozen juice concentrate, the Bluicer is uniquely poised to juice fresh fruit to add to any frozen cocktail.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
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Using the Smoothie preset, the BL610 blended an Oreo milkshake that was on the thicker side, but still enjoyable to drink.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
How We Test Blenders
Since we first began testing blenders in 2016, we've purchased and tested more than 55 of the best blenders on the market. Our testing protocol for blenders is extensive — we perform a barrage of 21 individual tests on each model. To test their capabilities to blend smoothies, we make and taste four distinct kinds of smoothies with each model, noting the time and effort required and the quality of the outcome. To assure a statistically fair comparison, we use the same smoothie recipes for each blender: a berry smoothie, a green shake, a fruit, nut, and oat smoothie, and an Oreo malt. We also use each blender for less common but more demanding tasks, like milling corn flour and pureeing nut butter. This helps us better judge each model's versatility, as well as gives us a good idea of their power and durability.
Blender testing is divided across five rating metrics:
Smoothies (30% of total score weighting)
Convenience (25% weighting)
Ice (20% weighting)
Pureeing (15% weighting)
Grinding (10% weighting)
Each metric is designed to be mutually exclusive and comprehensively exhaustive, and each metric's contribution to the overall score is weighted based on how important it is to most people's purchasing decisions. Our tests prove that blenders vary widely in their performance and best application, and break down each individual metric to help you better understand those parts which are most important for your ultimate decision.
Using an SPL meter to record how loud each blender is in decibels.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Why Trust GearLab
Our blender review team is headed up by Genaveve Bradshaw, a review editor, detail-obsessed product analyst, and a foodie at heart. The foundation of this review was laid by Austin Palmer, David Wise, and Hayley Thomas. Between them, our team has tested more than 500 kitchen appliances, spent countless hours researching and discussing their details, and many more hundreds of hours testing and examining them in our lab.
Over the years of testing, this team has conducted more than 1,100 individual tests on the best blenders on the market. This volume of experience is what enables them to dissect the nuanced differences between each product, and offer expert-level advice on which blender is the best fit based on your needs and budget.
All of the tools and ingredients used in our blender testing.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
How to Pick the Best Blender
Blenders are a specialty kitchen appliance — you don't need one to complete most kitchen tasks. The essential job of a blender is to thoroughly mix ingredients with speed and efficiency, saving you time and energy to devote to other points of meal preparation. While you can use a blender to process many different recipes — from sauces to soups — they have become culturally tied to a single recipe: smoothies. That is because smoothies and other blended beverages are incredibly difficult to make without the support of a blender.
We subjected every blender to 21 individual performance tests. Milling popcorn into cornmeal is a tough challenge that separates the best from the rest.
Credit: Austin Palmer
The Differences Between a Blender and a Food Processor
Even though blenders and food processors both have quickly spinning blades at their bases, traditionally, they're used for different purposes. While the best food processors come with an array of attachments, at their core, they're great at “dry” processing — like chopping and grating — because the ingredients bounce around in the oversized container. Blenders, on the other hand, excel at “wet” processing — like emulsifying or pureeing — because of the vortex that the blades create. While there is some overlap between the two — especially when it comes to processing dry ingredients, like nuts, into an emulsified mix, like nut butter — it's important to understand that for working with liquid-based recipes, a blender is the better choice.
What Types of Beverages Do You Want to Make?
A primary reason for most people to buy a blender is an affinity for making smoothies at home, which is why we devote our most heavily weighted metric to that process alone. While you can use a blender to make a variety of treats — from milkshakes to agua frescas to classic cocktails — the same design principles that make a great smoothie translate well to making other high-quality blended beverages. The notable exception is that if you thoroughly enjoy blended cocktails, it's important to focus on the scores in the Ice metric as well because this is where we investigated a blender's ability to crush and blend ice.
How Involved Do You Want to Be?
Do you want to be an integral part of the process? Or would you rather set a blender to work and walk away? Even among high-end models we tested, the operation of a blender greatly varies. If you want to have total control over blending, then we suggest considering blenders with variable speed dials. If you're in the latter category and would rather have a more “hands-off” experience, consider the number and type of presets a blender features and whether or not it includes a digital countdown timer.
How Versatile Do You Expect a Blender to Be?
As we noted before, blenders excel at efficiently processing liquid-based recipes, including soups. With improved motor power and increased blade speed, many premium blenders are able to take fresh vegetables, turn them into soup, and then through friction, heat that soup to where you can serve it steaming straight from the pitcher.
But in recent years, the line between blender and food processor has, for lack of a better term, blended even more. In many cases — especially among higher-end models — blenders are a reasonable substitute for food processors. While pureeing soup is a more traditional task, the heavy-duty process of emulsifying nut butter goes beyond the capabilities of many basic blenders, as does more non-traditional tasks like grinding cheese or milling flour. Although they're significantly more expensive, it's worth considering investing in a blender that can tackle all of the above, as it may save you from having to purchase an additional appliance down the road.
The intuitive interface and overall versatility made the Hurricane Pro 3.5 one of our favorite blenders for nearly any task.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Analysis and Test Results
The following sections detail the results of our review, where we note which blenders stood out for their performance — both the good and the bad — in each of our tests. We've identified the most important characteristics of a great blender, and break down each metric individually to dissect the nitty-gritty differences between each product. It's important to note that we compared and ranked these blenders relative to one another. Additionally, we chose to purchase only the best blenders on the market for this review, which means there is some stiff competition. So, it's worthwhile to point out that even low-scoring models are still worthy of your consideration.
Value
Premium blenders like the Breville Super Q, Cuisinart Hurricane Pro 3.5, and the Vitamix A2500, come with a premium price tag to match. But try not to be discouraged by the expense of the top models — there are plenty of options in our review that offer a more reasonable balance of price and performance. The Nutribullet Combo is an excellent all-around option that retails for a fraction of the cost while still holding its own against premium models like Hurricane Pro 3.5. It makes delicious smoothies, can process and heat homemade soups, and offers plenty of power to make nut butter or mill corn flour. Even though it lacks many of the presets that make those premium models more convenient, the Combo still represents an incredible value.
As a premium option, the Hurricane Pro 3.5 costs substantially less than the other blenders in its performance bracket.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Smoothies
It's tough to think of the word “blender” without thinking of the word “smoothie” immediately afterward. This cultural association is why Smoothie performance ranks as the most important metric in our testing. To assess their capabilities, we challenge each model to a series of tests blending three popular types of smoothies and one milkshake:
Berry smoothie (30% of Smoothie score weighting)
Green smoothie (30% weighting)
Fruit, Nut & Oat smoothie (25% weighting)
Oreo milkshake (15% weighting)
We followed the manufacturer's recommended instructions for blending a smoothie with each machine, considering the ease with which they're able to blend each recipe and how much time it takes. Points are subtracted from the total Smoothie score if it takes more than one cycle or if the process is particularly difficult. For the sake of consistency, our lead tester tastes each smoothie immediately after making it — just as you would at home — judging the consistency, texture, and anything that is remarkably outstanding or off-putting about each blend.
This chart compares the highest and lowest scoring blenders for the Smoothie metric.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
It shouldn't be much of a surprise that the models that produce the most delicious smoothies tend to be some of the best blenders in our lineup. The most impressive scores in this metric come from the Vitamix A2500 and Vitamix Pro 750, closely followed by the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro 3.5 and Breville the Super Q. Any of these five models produce exceptional smoothies, but it's worth noting that Vitamix blenders particularly stand out in this regard, with the Explorian E310 and Vitamix 5200 scoring top marks.
The best blender for making smoothies, like the Explorian E310, quickly chop frozen fruit and incorporate the bits into a vortex for efficient blending.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Berry Smoothie Test
This is the most straightforward recipe, and represents what is perhaps the most common blend of ingredients for a simple berry smoothie: mixed frozen berries, plain greek yogurt, and orange juice. We ensure that the berry mix includes strawberries, and strain the final mixture to check if a blender can successfully destroy those small and notoriously difficult to blend seeds — an ideal smoothie is smooth, creamy, and seed-free.
The Vitamix products are just amazing in this test. While the pricier A2500, Pro 750, and 5200 produced perfectly creamy smoothies and obliterated any semblance of seeds, we noticed that the less-expensive Explorian E310 regularly left a few seeds unblended. This may be a bit hypercritical, however, because the existence of seeds doesn't add any graininess to the texture of its smoothies.
Just a touch of a preset away from an ultra-smooth berry smoothie with the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro 3.5.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Other top models like the Super Q and Hurricane Pro 3.5 cruise effortlessly through this test, with robustly blended ingredients and creamy textures thanks to their optimized Smoothie presets. We were surprised when the powerful Blendtec Total Classic got off to a slow start, but its Smoothie preset is designed to pulse for a few moments to better develop an efficient vortex. Even though the KitchenAid K400 has a Smoothie preset, we had better success with a manual increase in speed — the result was a smoothie with a thin, velvety texture and a colorful flavor profile.
The Pro 750 makes easy work of all the berry seeds, as evidenced by the lack of leftovers after pouring the smoothie through a fine-mesh sieve.
Credit: Austin Palmer
Green Smoothie Test
A level up in challenge, we evaluate how a blender handles a combination of frozen and fresh fruits and vegetables — frozen mixed berries plus a handful of kale and spinach — to produce a green smoothie. We examine how well each model broke down the ingredients and then strain the mixture to verify consistency.
This test is a close evaluation of blending efficiency based on blade speed, as the potently earthy flavor and fibrous makeup of kale is a proven challenge for many blenders. Top-scoring blenders produce a smooth, uniformly liquid smoothie with no discernable flakes of greens or chunks of fruit, with an enjoyably fresh flavor profile where no one ingredient is too prominent. Smoothies from poorly performing blenders have an inconsistent, chewable texture, a wildly unbalanced flavor profile, or, at their worst, both.
The Super Q only took 45 seconds to completely blend our green smoothie.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Once again, all of the Vitamix blenders produce nearly perfect green smoothies — the A2500 and Pro 750 feature Smoothie presets, while manual speed control of the 5200 and Explorian E310 closely mimics the results of the preset functions. Even though the E310 requires a bit more “babysitting” for its manual control, the green smoothies we turned out from this blender were remarkably creamy, with what one tester noted was “an almost fluffy texture.”
The Vitamix A2500 powers through green smoothies, leaving hardly anything behind in the sieve.
Credit: Austin Palmer
We attribute the perfect scores of the Super Q and Hurricane Pro 3.5 to their optimized Green Smoothie presets, which run for 45 seconds and 90 seconds, respectively — though the Hurricane Pro performed so well using the 45-second Smoothie preset that we deemed the Green Smoothie preset superfluous. Even though it doesn't include a specific preset for this type of smoothie, the Blendtec Total Classic produced one of the most uniformly blended green shakes in our test. Blending a green smoothie with no foam and zero separation is truly a feat, and we were blown away by the texture of this smoothie.
Color was an important indicator of green smoothie quality: the more vibrant the shade of green, the brighter and better balanced the flavors tended to be.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
While we expect this level of performance from top-tier models, we were also pleasantly surprised by the performance of the more reasonably priced Breville Fresh & Furious. Featuring a Green Smoothie preset like its more powerful cousin, the Super Q, the Fresh & Furious produced green shakes with a fresh flavor and consistent texture, with the exception of a few tiny flecks of kale.
Even though it wasn't one of the best overall blenders, the Breville Fresh & Furious lives up to its name by producing one mean green shake.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
The even more affordable Nutribullet Combo produced respectable numbers for smoothie production across the board, but we were particularly impressed with its ability to blend a green shake. Using the 60-second Extract preset, this powerful blender chewed through all of the fresh greens to produce an incredibly smooth green smoothie. Although the hearty flavor of the greens dominated the flavor profile, and there was a bit of foamy separation, this is extraordinary considering the price point of this blender.
If you don't mind putting in a little work, the Explorian E310 whips up a deliciously smooth green smoothie.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Fruit, Nut, and Oat Smoothie Test
This test represents the pinnacle of difficulty in this metric — can a blender handle a blend of fresh and frozen fruit, raw almonds and oats, and yogurt without any additional liquid? The best blenders achieved a smooth, creamy texture that toed the melt-freeze line between perfectly pourable and refreshingly frozen. Mediocre blenders produced a thick, grainy drink, and we needed to scrape the worst results from the walls of the pitcher.
The award-winning Super Q, A2500, and Hurricane Pro 3.5 all seemingly plowed through this recipe using their Smoothie preset. Although they took more time and a decent amount of coaxing with the tamper to force an efficient blend, other Vitamix models like the Explorian E310 and Pro 750 eventually turned out a consistently blended smoothie, even if the final mix was a bit on the grainy side. The Blendtec Total Classic was slow to start, but once it developed a vortex to swirl the ingredients, it had little difficulty producing a smoothie with a more drinkable consistency than the others.
Prepped up for the fruit and nut smoothie challenge. This particularly thick recipe was difficult to blend because of the lack of liquid.
Credit: Austin Palmer
Some truly surprising results came from models that were otherwise middle-of-the-road performers in our other smoothie tests. Using the Smoothie preset, the Breville 3X Bluicer and Fast & Furious blenders struggled initially but were both able to overcome any difficulties on their own to turn out pourable beverages on par with the smoothie quality of the Total Classic. But the true anomaly of this test was the Cleanblend Commercial Blender. While this blender struggled in the other smoothie tests, it seemed to do just fine with this recipe, producing a breakfast smoothie that was cool and consistent, even if it was a little more grainy than that from the other top-quality blenders.
The Super Q makes a mean fruit, oat, and nut smoothie, even in the smaller personal cup.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Oreo Milkshake Test
Arguably just as popular a reason to own a blender, it's important to assess each blender's ability to make a high-quality milkshake. With a simple recipe of ice cream, some Oreo cookies, milk, and a few spoonfuls of malt powder, you'd expect this would be a softball for most blenders. But while some models blended every ingredient efficiently and effortlessly, others required us to repeatedly stop the process to scrape the sides of the pitcher.
It should come as no surprise by now that the blenders that produce the smoothest smoothies also create the creamiest milkshakes. The Vitamix Pro 750 and Explorian E310, as well as the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro 3.5, all delivered a flawless performance, spinning a perfect malted milkshake without any additional effort on our part. Of course, the award-winning Breville Super Q and Vitamix A2500 did well, though oddly enough, both turned out shakes with small clumps of unblended Oreo chunks.
Our mouths watered as we watched the Explorian E310 blend up a perfect milkshake.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
One of the standout performers was the KitchenAid K400, which turned out one of the smoothest milkshakes in this test by cycling speeds with its manual control dial. The Blendtec Total Classic also did remarkably well, producing a thick, creamy milkshake. But this shake was noticeably more chocolatey than those from other blenders — we hypothesized that the blunted blades pulverized the Oreos to create more of a chocolate than a cookies-n'-cream style milkshake.
The Ninja BL610 produced one of the richest, most chocolatey shakes in our tests, even if it was a bit on the thick side.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
The more affordable Ninja models — both the Professional BL610 and the Processional Plus BN701 — lean on their 60-second Smoothie settings to produce wonderful milkshakes without any assistance from us. The shake from the Professional Plus was super smooth and evenly blended, while the Professional BL610 produced a similar quality milkshake with a slightly thicker texture. If you have more affinity for milkshakes than smoothies, then both of these blenders should be on your shortlist.
The Hurricane Pro 3.5 turned out one of the best milkshakes of any blender we tested, with a consistent, velvety texture.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Convenience
These tests evaluate how much effort it takes to use each product — or rather, how easy it is to use each of these blenders — and we scored convenience based on nine different factors. Ease of washing is the most heavily weighted factor, considering the difficulty of hand-washing, whether or not parts are dishwasher safe, and if there is a self-cleaning function (or if you can use a preset as such.)
Most of the blenders we tested are either entirely, or for the most part, dishwasher-safe. Some user manuals indicate that parts should be placed on the top rack only, so it's important to take note of the specifics of the blender you're considering. Even though dishwashing is an option, our favorite cleaning method is either using an auto-clean function or a similarly timed preset to let the blender clean itself.
Ease of cleaning is a big part of our convenience test. Many of our blenders are dishwasher safe and a few of them, like the Bluicer, even have a cleaning preset.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The three Breville models — the Super Q, the Fresh & Furious, and the 3X Bluicer — all feature auto-clean functions, as do the Hurricane Pro 3.5, KitchenAid K400, and the Vitamix Pro 750. But even if a blender doesn't include a specific auto-clean function, any timed preset works just as well.
Cleaning blenders can be a nuisance, and after lots of it, you can rest assured that our advice is spot on.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
If the auto-clean cycle doesn't do the trick, there are a few blenders that are particularly easy to hand wash. In particular, the Blendtec models — the Total Classic and the Designer 650 — are easier and feel safer to clean than most, thanks to their uniquely dulled blades. On the other end of that spectrum are the Ninja Professional BL610 and Professional Plus BN701. Both of these blenders tend to accumulate gunk in hard-to-reach areas, and although their blades are removable, pulling the central blade stack out of the blender jug can feel precarious.
You'll need to take great care when hand-washing these blades on Ninja blenders. They're easy to remove and extra sharp!
The uniquely blunted blades on the Blendtec Total Classic make us feel better about hand-washing.
For those who are hygienically minded, like we are, we also considered how easy it is to dry a pitcher to avoid mold. Is it possible to dry the assembled pitcher on the motor base, or do you need to lay out all the components on a drying rack? If you're working with limited counter space, the design of the Hurricane Pro 3.5 and KitchenAid K400 allow you to place the blender jug at an angle that is both sturdy and allows for adequate airflow on the underside of the pitcher. The top-scoring Super Q, of course, features the same handy design, though we were surprised that the otherwise low-scoring Cleanblend did as well.
Different designs make hand-washing some lids easier than others. While the straightforward designs of the Breville Bluicer and Vitamix Explorian are super easy to clean, the gasket on the nutribullet Combo and smaller openings on the Hamilton Beach Power Elite require closer attention.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Aside from ease of cleaning, we also assessed the user-friendliness of each blender. We considered the design of the front panel, whether or not the labeling is clear, and if it includes a digital timer. We considered the pragmatism of the preset programs, whether they're intuitive to use, and whether or not included accessories add to the overall convenience of each blender.
A clean interface, with easy-to-understand buttons and a display screen make the Super Q one of the most convenient blenders we tested.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Interestingly, not all of the top-performing blenders scored highly in this regard. While uber-convenient models like the Super Q and Hurricane Pro 3.5 tick all of the boxes — intuitive labeling, a digital timer, and a variety of useful preset programs — other blenders with overall high scores in our review don't. Some workhorse models like the Blendtec Total Classic and the KitchenAid K400 offer many of the same features but with a more simplified interface. Other otherwise high-performing models, notably the Explorian E310, include little more than a variable speed dial. This offers an unmatched level of precision blending, yet it offers little in the way of an objectively more convenient, “hands-off” approach.
The workhorse Explorian E310 might not offer the same presets as other premium blenders, but the variable speed dial allows you to make micro-adjustments to the blade speed.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Noise Level
We used a sound meter to measure the decibel level of each blender, but interestingly, that test did not prove useful in differentiating between models. On average, the blenders we reviewed produced between 82 dBa and 88 dBa.
We took decibel readings for making smoothies and milling flour to better understand each blender's volume while in use. This chart includes decibel readings taken while making a basic berry smoothie with the simplest product in our line-up as well as the most complex and powerful models available.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Regardless of the numbers, that is quite loud — louder than most garbage disposals and only slightly less noisy than a gas-powered lawn mower. Despite a few outliers on either side of that spectrum, we've concluded that all of the blenders we tested are noisy — the slightly more powerful ones, unsurprisingly, are a bit more so.
We used a SPL meter to assign a decibel level to each blender. Obviously some tasks, like blending corn flour, were louder than others.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Ice
While we love a nutritious smoothie before work, we want to ensure that a blender can satisfy the craving for a blended cocktail after a long week. And it's convenient that a blender's ability to effectively crush ice translates well to creating other delicious frozen beverages, too. For this metric, we compare how well each machine crushes ice cubes, as well as the quality of that ice for making a popular cocktail like a blended margarita.
More than a few of our favorite blenders earned perfect scores in this metric. The Super Q, Vitamix A2500 and Pro 750, as well as the KitchenAid K400 not only excel thanks to powerful motors, but their optimized ice crush or frozen drink presets perfectly pulverize ice cubes into powder snow. Any of these models should be at the top of the list for the blended cocktail enthusiast.
As light and fluffy as powder snow! The K400 is one of the best blenders we tested for pulverizing ice.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
While one might reasonably assume the similarities between models that excel at chopping up ice are exceptionally powerful motors and sharp blades, you'd be surprised to find out that those specs for such blenders are all over the map. Case in-point is the Blendtec Total Classic — despite its uniquely blunted blades, this blender received perfect scores for ice crushing and blended one of the best margaritas of any model in our lineup.
While the Explorian E310 scored similarly overall in this metric, unlike the Total Classic, it does not feature a dedicated Ice Crush preset. However, adjusting the variable speed dial based on appearance, in less than 15 seconds, this blender turned out to be one of the creamiest blended margaritas we've ever enjoyed. Of course, the other blenders with perfect scores in this metric also produced velvety-smooth blended margaritas. We assessed each cocktail for uniformity of texture and subtracted points for any flecks of ice shards or, dare we say, large chunks of ice.
With the exception of the Breville Fast & Furious — whose blended marg was more slurpee-like than any other — the other low-scoring models produced cocktails with more of a slushy-like consistency than the creamy perfection of the highest-scoring blenders. The two surprise standouts in this metric were the Ninja Professional BL610 and Professional Plus BN701. The central blade stack pulverized ice cubes into snow with little effort, and although they were a tad on the slushy side, the blended margaritas were smooth and creamy. Considering their oversized, 72-ounce pitchers, if you like to entertain parties with frozen cocktails, these models should also be at the top of your list.
The Hurricane Pro 3.5 made a delicious blended margarita with a smooth, creamy texture.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Pureeing
When you think about a blender, making frozen beverages, like smoothies, is the first task that likely comes to mind for most people. But for folks who do a lot of prep cooking, like chefs, pureeing is likely not far behind. A puree, by definition, is, “a smooth, creamy substance made of liquidized or crushed fruit or vegetables,” which sure sounds like exactly what a blender is designed to do! Even though it may be secondary, the ability to puree efficiently plays an important role in a blender's versatility.
Our rankings for this metric come from two very different tests. It wouldn't be very worthwhile to give these blenders a softball of a test, so to best challenge their capabilities, each test is difficult for a particular reason. Turning dry almonds, roasted peanuts, and a minimal amount of additional oil into a palatable nut butter is a great way to test each blender's power for chopping and mixing — two essential actions of making a puree.
We used an infrared camera to test the heat of the soup while it was being pureed. (The temperature, Fahrenheit, is on the left.) While some blenders can bring a soup up to the ideal serving temperature, others leave it a bit too cool to serve straight from the pitcher.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
The two most powerful Vitamix models, the A2500 and the Pro 750, earned perfect scores in our nut butter test. Both turned out perfectly creamy nut butter after eight minutes of processing, and even though the Pro 750 features a Puree preset, we had the best success with manually running these blenders at higher speeds.
While a few other models came close in terms of nut butter quality — notably the blunted-blade Blendtec Designer 650 and Total Classic — no other blender could match the efficiency of the Super Q. This top-tier model turned out a delectable nut butter in a remarkable 90 seconds, with only a minimal amount of tamping required.
The Vitamix Pro 750's powerful motor easily churned these nuts into butter with little to no additional oil.
While the Hurricane Pro 3.5 needed a lot of oil and some substantial help, the resulting nut butter was pourable and easily spreadable.
The second half of our test focused on the much more common task of pureeing a batch of homemade tomato soup from whole, fresh ingredients. One of the hallmarks of a modern, premium blender is the ability to make soup and heat it to a serving temperature while pureeing. So we also measured soup temperature with an infrared thermometer during the process and with multiple stick thermometers at the end.
It likely comes as little surprise that all of the models that feature a Soup preset performed admirably. Notable exceptions to that generalization are the Vitamix 5200 — which has no preset programs — and the KitchenAid K400, which we also ran on a high-speed manual setting for just over six minutes, the average amount of time it took any blender to make soup. Perfectly blended tomato soups had a smooth, velvety texture with evenly distributed seasoning. We passed each batch through a sieve to make notes on consistency and double-check that there weren't any leftover chunks of vegetables.
Vitamix blenders are renowned for their ability to puree a batch of homemade soup to a temperature where you can serve it straight from the pitcher. It should be no surprise that the award-winning A2500 lives up to the hype.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
What makes pureeing soup so strenuous is the extended amount of time you're running these appliances at max speed — it wasn't uncommon for a blender to turn itself off halfway through the process to cool the motor. This extended high-speed processing is also what generates the friction necessary to heat soup to ideal serving temperatures, which averages around 153 °F.
Using two food thermometers and an infrared thermometer, we measured the temperature of freshly made tomato soup while it was still in the pitcher. A higher temperature means a better score for this test.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Most, but not all, of the blenders that made swift work of blending soup could heat it to a satisfactory temperature. Vitamix blenders are renowned for their ability to heat soup, and while most of the models we tested proved this to be true, the Explorian E310 did a particularly poor job, reaching a maximum temperature of only 112 °F. Premium models aside, we were particularly impressed by the performance of the price-point Nutribullet Combo. Even though the user manual explains that it isn't designed for pureeing soup, it produced a creamy, albeit thin tomato soup and even warmed it to a respectable temperature of 145 °F.
While the Bluicer has other special talents, blending soup to a serviceable temperature is not one of them.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Grinding
If chopping, mixing, and pureeing fresh ingredients is considered a secondary job for a blender, then grinding should certainly be considered a bonus capability. These tests — turning crystal sugar into powdered sugar, shredding blocks of parmesan cheese, and milling corn kernels into corn flour — proved to be some of the most difficult tasks for these appliances. Some models explicitly state that they aren't designed for such tasks. But the reality is that a powerful blender is often a very reasonable substitute for a food processor, so we felt it necessary to see what these blenders could tackle.
We compared the results of our powdered sugar test side-by-side to better judge the fineness of the grains.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Grinding powdered sugar is certainly the easiest of the three tests, and all but the weakest blenders in our lineup were up to the challenge. Certainly, high-powered blenders, like the Super Q and the Vitamix A2500, processed the fluffiest powdered sugar. But even affordable options like the Nutribullet Combo turned out finely-ground powder in only 30 seconds.
It likely comes as no surprise that the Super Q is also superb at grinding, easily turning regular crystal sugar into powdered perfection.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Processing blocks of hard cheese into a finely ground parmesan certainly kicked the challenge up a notch. The ideal is, of course, as comparable as possible to the ground parmesan you would buy at the store. Surprisingly, fewer models excelled at this task than they did at milling flour. Even more surprisingly, price-point models like the Nutribullet Combo and Ninja Professional Plus performed on par with top-tier models like the Super Q and Explorian E310.
While many of the more powerful models performed admirably, fast blade speed either knocked around the blocks for inefficient chopping, or they generated so much frictional heat that the grated parmesan clumped together. The exception to this generalization is the three-horsepower Blendtec Total Classic, whose blunted blades produce finely ground parmesan without any clumping.
While it did not perform very well in our sugar or flour tests, the Ninja BL610 was quite capable at shredding parmesan cheese into a restaurant-grade blend.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Fewer models are capable of the demanding task of milling popcorn into corn flour with any level of expertise. The blenders that perform the best overall in our grinding metric are the same ones capable of milling cornflour with greater than 95% efficiency. To measure this, we passed the processed corn flour through a sieve, noting the amount of leftover cornmeal.
While models like the Super Q, Hurricane Pro 3.5, and Vitamix A2500 perform exceptionally well in this test, the KitchenAid K400 is the only model to receive a perfect score. It is one of the few models to produce smooth, evenly ground corn flour, which could be attributed to the specialty design of the blades and ribbed blending jar. Nearly 100% of the flour poured easily through our sieve, and we could not pick out any unblended chunks.
The versatile KitchenAid K400 produced some of the fluffiest corn flour of any blender in our tests.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Conclusion
Whether you are looking for a top-tier model that can do it all or a budget option that can easily handle your daily smoothie, we hope you now feel confident selecting a blender that fits your needs and budget. Although the enormous spread of prices and features can make picking the perfect blender a seemingly dauntless task, hopefully, this review will help you decide which capabilities define your perfect blender.
