Smoothie-making is all about personal preference, which is also true when it comes to finding the best smoothie blender. Some smoothie drinkers prefer to make small batches, while others prefer to serve a large crowd. While some smoothies are made entirely of fresh fruit, others include tough greens like kale or frozen items, requiring a powerful motor and extra-sharp blades. Whatever method you use, the best blenders for smoothies will turn any combination of ingredients into a super-smooth, uniform beverage (or smoothie bowl). Here are our top choices for smoothie blenders.
Best Blenders Of 2024
Vitamix Explorian Blender
For a straightforward and effective blender that’s great for making smoothies, you can’t go wrong with Vitamix’s E310 Explorian model.
Dimensions: 11 x 8 x 18 inches | Weight: 10.5 lb | Capacity: 48 ounces | Power: 1,340 watts
In our tests of the best Vitamix blenders, we named it the best Vitamix for beginners, and with good reason. It has a lot of power and all of the basic features you need to make smoothies, shakes, soups, and more, but it’s not as expensive as larger and more complicated Vitamix machines. You get ten speed settings, as well as a pulse setting that allows you to finely chop nuts or mince herbs, and that’s all you need to worry about.
In our tests, we appreciated how compact the blender is, with a low profile and no accessories to keep track of, making it simple to store in a cabinet. This is due in part to the smaller pitcher, but 48 ounces is enough to blend three smoothies. The E310 is slightly more expensive than average for blenders, but it is Vitamix’s cheapest option.
Nutribullet Pro 900 Personal Blender
We named the Nutribullet Pro 900 the best personal blender available. This little guy was able to blend ice, blueberries, and kale into a smooth smoothie with few fibrous bits.
Dimensions: 6.89 x 5.98 x 14.29 inches | Weight: 5.5 lb | Capacity: 32 ounces | Power: 900 watts | Includes: 2 (32-ounce) cups, 2 lip rings, 2 handled lip rings, 2 to-go lids
It’s also very simple to use; simply push and twist the cup to activate the motor. The kit includes two separate cups, each with a lip ring, a handled lip ring, and a sippy lid, allowing you to enjoy your smoothies however you want. (You can, of course, use the machine to make velvety soups, sauces, and salsas, though you may need to blend more than one batch to accommodate everything.)
Nutribullet makes several excellent personal blenders, but we believe the Pro 900 strikes the best balance between power and price. Our main complaint about the model is that both of its included cups are rather large for a portable blender. That’s great for general-purpose blenders, but not so great for taking drinks on the go. The 32-ounce vessels may not fit in a car cupholder, but smaller ones are available, as are many other Nutribullet accessories.
Breville Fresh & Furious Blender
We were impressed with the frozen margarita we made in the Fresh & Furious. As we increased the speed from low to high, it crushed whole ice cubes and combined the ingredients into a light fluff that resembled shaved ice clouds.
Dimensions: 6.9 x 8.3 x 17.7 inches | Weight: 8.5 lb | Capacity: 50 ounces | Power: 1,100 watts
And it did so in just 33 seconds, with minimal meltage. It also performed well in the rest of the tests, producing nicely emulsified mayonnaise and thoroughly blending other ingredients.
We tested cheaper full-size blenders than this one, but it’s the only budget model that delivered acceptable results. There were tiny bits of skin detectable in the soup and smoothie, but not enough to ruin the texture. There are five speed settings and three preset programs (ice crush, smoothie, and green smoothie), each of which runs for 60 seconds. It was a little annoying to keep restarting the blender for the 6 minutes we needed for the soup, but that’s not the biggest deal.
Another feature we liked about the Fresh & Furious was its tall blade. It was simple to clean between the skinny teeth with a sponge and remove all the food particles. (There’s also an auto-clean setting that uses soap and water, but we found that a simple wipe was faster and more effective.)
KitchenAid K400 Blender
Are you a fan of frozen cocktails looking to replace the old blender you used for Margarita? A condiment snob obsessed with perfecting their own mayonnaise? A fan of creamy butternut squash soup? This blender received perfect scores on all three of our tests.
Dimensions: 7.59 x 9.02 x 15.8 inches | Weight: 12 lb | Capacity: 56 ounces | Power: 1200 watts
The KitchenAid K400 blender has a classic design, with a large jar and simple dial controls. It has five numbered speed settings and three preset programs that alternate speeds to crush ice into snow, make slushy beverages, and blend uniformly textured smoothies. During our tests, we were impressed by how well the ribbed jar and asymmetrical blade combined to create a vortex that sucked in all of the ingredients, allowing them to blend thoroughly. There is a tamper included to push food into the blades, but we didn’t use it.
This blender has an affordable price for such an effective machine, and it comes in a variety of colors, ranging from pale green pistachio to KitchenAid’s signature bright red. However, it is quite heavy and tall, so do not expect it to fit neatly in a cabinet when not in use. It will most likely have to live on the countertop.
Vitamix Professional-Grade Blender
The 5200 Vitamix is our top choice for anyone who intends to use their blender almost every day. It was able to completely break up everything we threw at it, from soup to nuts.
Dimensions: 20.5 x 8.75 x 7.25 inches | Weigh t: 10.6 lb | Capacity: 64 ounces | Power: 1,380 watts
Our almond milk turned out rich and smooth, with very few fiber flecks in soups and smoothies. It also did an excellent job with frozen cocktails, creating a slushy drink in less than a minute. Even after running for an extended period of time, the motor showed no signs of stress. The spinning blades can heat soup from cold to steaming hot in 6 minutes.
The Vitamix performed poorly in one test: a small batch of mayonnaise. The single egg yolk and cup of oil stuck to the sides and did not mixed evenly. With a 64-ounce pitcher, this machine is best suited for larger batches. Of course, like all Vitamix models, it is expensive.