Hurom Hexa Power Speed: If you’re looking for simple functionality and pure power, this is our top pick. The Hurom Hexa doesn’t have many fancy presets and functions (just smoothie, ice crush, soup and pulse) but does have 1,600 watts of power to whip the crap out of anything that you put inside. It almost feels industrial grade and creates a vortex inside akin to something you’d see at a science museum. We also love how this blender looks with its shiny stainless steel armor. Worth noting that it’s the tallest of the blenders we tested, so it won’t store as easily as some of the others.
Cuisinart SmartPower SPB-7CH: It’s hard to figure out what happened to this stalwart kitchen brand, but this blender model, along with other Cuisinart appliances I’ve tested lately, has been disappointing. That’s especially true given the bloated prices. The digital blender feels cheap and flimsy and yielded mediocre results in testing.
Vitamix 5200: Variable speed and sturdy design make this Vitamix 5200 blender a popular model for luxury blenders. Though considered a high-performance blender, at such a high price, we weren’t wowed enough to recommend it. It oddly struggled with cheese grating, and we found it to be noticeably louder than other models.
Blendtec Total Classic: This popular Blendtec blender worked well with frozen ingredients and crushed ice, making it a good choice for blending smoothies and making frozen cocktails. However, the Blendtec failed to grate cheese, and the batter mixing preset was less effective than regular blending by speed.
Hamilton Beach Power Elite: Affordability aside, this blender didn’t perform well enough to recommend. While it did have a nice glass bowl, the lid was infuriatingly hard to remove. It has only presets, so you’ll need to deduce which ones are actually low, medium or high.
Black & Decker Crush Master: This blender will work if you really need something cheap in a pinch. But don’t expect excellence. It wasn’t able to handle large frozen strawberries or evenly mix pancake batter. Still, it could suffice for small jobs.
Breville Fresh & Furious: Great looks and bonus points for a cool name, but that’s not enough to recommend this blender. Performance was average, and it struggled to mix wet and dry ingredients.
Beast Health: The $165 Beast Health may be the best-looking blender ever, and it works well, until it doesn’t. The Beast Health’s motor gave out after about 14 months — too quickly for a blender this expensive — causing us to remove it from a top spot on this list.
Ninja BL610: This is another great blender around the $100 range. Ultimately, NutriBullet edged the Ninja in a few of the tests, but the Ninja had a slightly sturdier build. This is a fine blender and well worth the money.
KitchenAid K400: This KitchenAid blender is beautiful, but it left something to be desired when it came to performance for that price. It has five speeds, pulse and three presets. If you have your heart set on a colorful blender with retro flair, the KitchenAid is a good option.
Oster Versa Pro Series (Update: Out of stock): This Oster model is a good performer and includes a few extra features we found helpful. It’s on the expensive side, but this price includes a beverage container and a set of bowls and blades for food processing. You’re almost getting two appliances here, a blender and a food processor. It also has a reverse blend button, which is great for crushing ice and making nut flour.
Beautiful by Drew Barrymore: (Update: Out of Stock) We’ve been impressed by other products from this new line of budget-friendly kitchen appliances, including the electric kettle and air fryer. Sadly, the blender did not pass muster. It’s serviceable, to be certain, but didn’t excel in testing, and it feels a bit cheap. I’d also worry about the shelf life of its all-digital control panel.
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