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The 7 Best Personal Blenders of 2024, Tested & Reviewed

Up your smoothie game with one of these miniature machines

Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender displayed on a wooden table next to a bowl of kale and sliced citrus fruit

The Spruce Eats / Russell Kilgore

Editor's Note (January 2024): Our list previously included the BlendJet 2, which was recalled due to safety concerns, according to Consumer Reports. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends customers stop using the blender immediately and contact BlendJet for a free replacement of the base unit.

If you're a person who drinks smoothies every morning or takes protein shakes to the gym, a personal blender could be ideal. Less powerful and less expensive than full-size blenders, personal blenders are designed to whip up single servings that can be taken on the go. Most models blend in the same container you drink from, with swappable travel lids that make it easy to take a smoothie or shake with you wherever you're headed.

To help find the best personal blender for your needs, we tested them side-by-side in our Lab, creating lots of smoothies (blueberries and kale with ice; peanut butter and dates with protein powder) as well as salsa, with onion, jalapeño, cherry tomatoes, garlic powder, lime juice, sea salt, and ground back pepper. When rating, we considered each product's design, how easy it was to use and clean, convenience, performance, and overall value. The following is a selection of products that outperformed the rest—the very best personal blenders on the market.

Best Overall

Nutribullet Pro 900 Personal Blender

NutriBullet Pro 900 Personal Blender

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    5/5
  • Performance
    5/5
  • Convenience
    5/5
  • Ease of Cleaning
    5/5
  • Design
    5/5
What We Like
  • High power

  • Large capacity

  • Durable

What We Don't Like
  • Expensive

  • Cups lack measurement lines

With its 900-watt motor, the NutriBullet Pro 900 is ideal for someone with a small kitchen who makes a lot of soups, sauces, and smoothies. It did a great job with pretty much every ingredient we threw at it, making short work of kale, blueberries, dates, frozen banana, and ice. The results were consistently textured and easy to drink both through a straw and from the side of the cup. No unpleasant chunks of ingredients wound up in the final product.

This blender comes with two BPA-free 32-ounce blender cups, which are larger than most personal blender cups, but still work just fine with smaller batches, like an individual smoothie or serving of dip. You also get two cup rings, two handled lip rings, two flip-top to-go lids, and a recipe book. The blender couldn't be easier to use; you lock a cup into the base, push, and twist. The motor is not meant to run for more than 60 seconds at once, but that was more than enough time to complete each of our tests. It has lots of power for crushing and pureeing, but the Nutribullet Pro 900 only has one speed setting and no real pulse mode, which means it's not great at chopping. It might be better for a smooth tomatillo dip rather than a chunky salsa.

When it comes to cleaning, most pieces are dishwasher-safe. The blade assembly is hand wash only, but it comes off the base for fairly simple rinsing and wiping. We didn't have too much trouble, but did find it a bit of a pain to carefully squeeze a sponge into the nooks and crannies beneath the blade itself. This is one of the more expensive personal blender options, but it's powerful and durably built, well worth the extra money if you're going to use it heavily. (The Pro 900 comes in many different colors, and some are available at a significant discount, to boot.)

Power: 900 watts | Cups Included: 2 | Maximum Cup Capacity: 32 ounces | Weight: 4.7 pounds | Dimensions: 12 x 7.7 x 16 inches

Best Budget

Ninja Blender

Ninja Fit Personal Blender

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    5/5
  • Performance
    5/5
  • Convenience
    5/5
  • Ease of Cleaning
    5/5
  • Design
    5/5
What We Like
  • Easy to use

  • Dishwasher-safe, including blade

  • Inexpensive

What We Don't Like
  • Small capacity

  • Noisy

This mini blender had no trouble powering through greens, ice, and frozen fruit, but its teensy 16-ounce cups meant that it took two batches to make a full blueberry-kale smoothie. The Ninja Fit couldn't be easier to use: You screw the blades onto the cup and then simply flip it over, place on the base, and push down to blend for as long or short as you want. It had no trouble with smoothies, but with just one (high) speed setting, it's not good for making chunky salsa or other chopping tasks.

The Ninja Fit comes with two 16-ounce cups, each with its own screw-on spout lid. The lids do make a good seal, just be sure to screw them down very tightly to avoid leaks. All the parts are dishwasher-safe—including the blade, which is a nice bonus that most personal blenders don't offer. It might not be cordless, but the low price, small size, and screw-on blade make this blender a good option to throw in your gym bag for a post-workout smoothie anywhere you can access an electrical outlet.

Power: 700 watts | Cups Included: 2 | Maximum Cup Capacity: 16 ounces | Weight: 4.6 pounds | Dimensions: 4 x 4 x 13 inches

Best for the Gym

NutriBullet 600W Personal Blender

NutriBullet 600W Personal Blender

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    5/5
  • Performance
    4/5
  • Convenience
    5/5
  • Ease of Cleaning
    5/5
  • Design
    4.5/5
What We Like
  • Solid blending performance

  • Inexpensive

  • Easy to use

What We Don't Like
  • Small capacity

  • Blade must be hand washed

  • Bulky

The original model NutriBullet has been around for nearly 20 years, and it's still a great choice for making a single-serving smoothie or shake on the way to the gym. It doesn't have quite as much power as the 900-watt NutriBullet that was our overall winner, but this machine's blades were able to turn blueberries, kale, dates, peanut butter, frozen banana, and ice cubes into smooth beverages that didn't clog up a straw. It needed extra time to achieve a fully uniform texture, especially with the dates and peanut butter, but it was able to get there.

With only one speed and push-to-blend operation, this machine is super easy to use. You can also push and turn to lock it in place for longer blending sessions. The 600-watt Nutribullet's cups and lids are dishwasher-safe while the blade itself has to be scrubbed and rinsed by hand, but we found that there was plenty of room to maneuver around the blade to remove any lingering bits of food.

When it comes to accessories, you might run into a bit of confusion. There are two different sets out there that have the same blender base: One (at Amazon, among others) includes just a single 24-ounce cup, while the other (including on the NutriBullet site) comes with an additional 18-ounce cup and travel lid. The two-cup set is slightly more expensive, but both are pretty affordable.

Power: 600 watts | Cups Included: 1 or 2 | Maximum Cup Capacity: 24 ounces | Weight: 5 pounds | Dimensions: 6.9 x 11.6 x 12.3 inches

Best Smart

Ninja Nutri Blender Pro with Auto-iQ

Ninja BN401 Nutri Blender Pro with Auto-iQ

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    5/5
  • Performance
    4/5
  • Convenience
    4/5
  • Ease of Cleaning
    4/5
  • Design
    5/5
What We Like
  • Very powerful

  • Automatic settings

  • Multifunctional

What We Don't Like
  • Loud

  • Left bits of kale and date

With 1,100 watts, this is the most powerful of all the personal blenders we tested. (It's actually one of our favorite high-powered blenders, period.) But the Ninja Nutri Pro isn't just a burly brute; it's got smarts. Its two Auto-iQ presets—one for smoothies and one for chunkier crushed ice—adjust the time and spin speed based on what's in the cup.

This proved that power isn't the only factor that comes into play for blenders, as it left some small bits of kale and date behind after running the smoothie program. It still made a tasty smoothie, but another run through the program or a few seconds of manual pulsing were needed for ideal texture. On the other hand, the smart programs make the blender more useful for non-smoothie applications, like salad dressings, dips, or soups. The crushed ice setting, designed for frozen drinks like margaritas, can break up ice without melting it, something hard for one-speed blenders to do. This machine would be a good fit for someone who plans on making a lot of smoothies or shakes as well as other blending tasks. It was easy to use, simple and straightforward, and blended ice and frozen banana well.

This model comes with two 24-ounce cups, each with a tight-sealing travel lid.

Power: 1,100 watts | Cups Included: 2 | Maximum Cup Capacity: 24 ounces | Weight: 6.3 pounds | Dimensions: 6.3 x 6.9 x 14.3 inches

Best Splurge

Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender

Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    5/5
  • Performance
    4/5
  • Convenience
    4/5
  • Ease of Cleaning
    5/5
  • Design
    5/5
What We Like
  • Excellent performance

  • Sleek, modern design

  • Leakproof to-go lid

What We Don't Like
  • Expensive

  • Small capacity

Zwilling's Enfinigy line is a set of kitchen appliances that pay as much attention to looks as they do to performance. The ridged jar and minimalist controls of this machine look striking on the counter, and it also made an excellent set of smoothies. The 500-watt motor powered right through ice and frozen banana and didn't have much trouble with kale or dates, leaving only tiny bits that were easy to suck up with a straw. Its set of four serrated blades looks different than the six straight blades most other models have, but that didn't seem to make much difference in how it actually performed.

The simple control wheel for this blender has a smoothie mode that runs constantly and a pulse mode better suited to crushing ice. The 20-ounce cup is made of extra-strong Tritan plastic, with a firm-sealing travel lid that didn't spill a drop in testing. Like most similar models, its cup and lid are dishwasher-safe, and the blade assembly removes for easy washing by hand. The big downside here is the price, but keep an eye on sales: Zwilling products are often available at a solid discount.

Power: 500 watts | Cups Included: 1 | Maximum Cup Capacity: 20 ounces | Weight: 5.1 pounds | Dimensions: 5.3 x 5.8 x 14.5 inches

Best Design

Beast Blender

Beast Blender

Beast

Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4/5
  • Performance
    4/5
  • Convenience
    5/5
  • Ease of Cleaning
    4/5
  • Design
    4/5
What We Like
  • Powerful

  • Automatic speed adjustment

  • Large capacity

What We Don't Like
  • Expensive

  • Loud

  • Only one blender cup

The Beast Blender is named appropriately. The brand proudly describes the device as "overbuilt," and it's clear that lots of thought went into each and every aspect of how it works. The 1,000-watt motor spins the blade at up to 18,000 RPM, but it also senses the thickness and temperature of what it's blending, adjusting the speed and power automatically for maximum effectiveness. The 1-liter cup has a unique ribbed shape inside and out, which not only looks distinctive but also helps increase the turbulence of the liquid inside and ensure a more even blend.

The Beast did an excellent job with almost everything, reducing kale and blueberries to a smooth puree and crushing ice easily, but it left a little bit of grittiness in the date smoothie. The machine has just one speed, with a 60-second automatic setting that's ideal for smoothie-making as well as a pulse mode for more freestyle blending. The cup and lid are dishwasher-safe, but the blade assembly must be washed by hand. It has some ridges and screws close to the blades, so you need to take care while wiping everything out with a sponge or cloth. Also, the machine is quite loud; you might not want to use it while others at home are asleep.

For a little extra money, you can expand the Beast's capabilities with a "Hydration System" that adds on a 500-milliliter blending cup and a 750-milliliter glass water bottle with a special infusion filter. You give fruits and herbs a quick whiz in the blender, then pack them into the filter to enjoy lightly flavored spa water all day long.

Power: 1,000 watts | Cups included: 1 | Maximum cup capacity: 33.8 ounces | Weight: 3 pounds | Dimensions: 4.9 x 4.9 x 15.8 inches

Best for Families

Cuisinart Portable Blending/Chopping System

Cuisinart Compact Portable Blending/Chopping System

 Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    5/5
  • Performance
    4/5
  • Convenience
    5/5
  • Ease of Cleaning
    5/5
  • Design
    4/5
What We Like
  • Sleek, compact design

  • Includes many cups

  • Multiple speed settings

What We Don't Like
  • Underpowered

  • Takes a long time to fully blend

Most personal blenders truly are personal, with enough accessories to make only one or two servings at a time. That's not the case with this Cuisinart system, which comes with six different cups that all fit on the same blade and base. There are four separate 16-ounce cups with their own travel lids so you can make breakfast smoothies assembly line-style and send each member of the family out the door with their own. There's also a 32-ounce extra-large cup and an 8-ounce cup for chopping.

The high setting is best for smoothies, but the Cuisinart also has a low speed and pulse button, which, combined with the small chopping cup, let it chop foods into chunks. It did a just-OK job of making chunky salsa, which honestly put it toward the top of the heap—most of the personal blenders we tested turned tomato, onion, and jalapeño into watery gazpacho or failed to chop the big pieces at all. This unit's 350-watt motor did well with frozen banana and ice, but it had some trouble with tougher ingredients: It needed longer than other models to deal with kale and blueberry, and it wasn't really able to break up and incorporate dense, fleshy dates into a date-peanut butter smoothie.

It may not be the most powerful personal blender on the market, but if your goal is to make fairly simple smoothies and juices for lots of different people, this one is ideal, especially at this price. And the cups and blade at all dishwasher-safe, so you can be ready for the next batch with ease.

Power: 350 watts | Cups included: 6 | Maximum cup capacity: 32 ounces | Weight: 7.3 pounds | Dimensions: 10.1 x 15.8 x 10 inches

Final Verdict

The Nutribullet Pro 900 gets the top spot because it's not only fast and powerful—great for those with tight schedules—but also compact and easy to clean. If you're looking for a more affordable option, or want a blender where everything can be thrown in the dishwasher, we also like the Ninja Fit Personal Blender.

How We Tested Personal Blenders

Based on the results of previous Lab and home testing, we chose 20 personal blenders to purchase and evaluate side-by-side in our product Lab. We took extensive notes as we made the same three recipes in each model and performed a variety of other tests.

We Observed

  • Smoothie performance: We made two different smoothies in each blender. To test the ability to break up tough greens and fruit skins, we combined orange juice, kale, blueberries, and ice. We blended these on the smoothie setting (or the normal setting if there wasn't one) for 30 seconds, then stopped to look at the texture before blending for 30 seconds more. The second test used banana, oat milk, peanut butter, date, and protein powder to evaluate how well the blenders could combine thick and pasty ingredients. We blended these for a minute, then in additional increments of 30 seconds until the mixture was as smooth as we could get it. We taste-tested all the smoothies sipped straight from a cup as well as through a straw.
  • Chopping performance: We made a basic salsa in each blender, with identical mixes of onion, jalapeño, tomato, lime juice, and spices. Using four to six 1-second pulses, we tried to get the ingredients thoroughly mixed and evenly chopped while still remaining chunky. We poured the salsas into bowls to evaluate texture, and gave them all a taste-test for good measure, of course.
  • Leak protection: Most of the blenders we tested include a leak-proof travel lid that attaches to the blender cup itself or to a separate drinking cup. We assessed these by filling the cups with water and sealing the lids, then knocking them over on a countertop to look for any leaks. We also let the cups lie on their sides for 5 minutes to see if any water dripped out over time.
Smoothie inside the Cuisinart Compact Blender

The Spruce Eats / Tierney McAfee

We Rated

Ease of cleaning: After each of the three blending tests, we disassembled and thoroughly washed and dried each blender following the manufacturer's instructions. We noted whether there was sufficient room to access the area under the blades, and if any bits of kale or smears of peanut butter got stuck anywhere hard to reach.

Accessories and options: Personal blenders are often used for on-the-go meals, so the containers, lids, rings, and similar accessories included with each machine were an important consideration. (We also looked at whether other accessories are sold separately, and if so how much they cost.)

Value: After performing all of our other tests, we revealed the retail price of each blender to compare cost to performance across the full set of 16. The prices of the models we tested ranged from $23 to $180, with an average of $84.

About Our Testers

  • Our Lab team has spent collective decades working in professional kitchens, developing recipes, and testing kitchen gear.
  • Sharon Lehman, RDN, is the small appliance expert for The Spruce Eats. She's a registered dietician nutritionist and also writes about health and wellness. She home-tested the Ninja Nutri Pro. She also tested the Cuisinart EvolutionX, a cordless model that didn't make our final list, and the Blendjet 2, which initially made our list but has since been recalled due to safety risks.
  • Amanda Lauren, who tested the Beast Blender at home, contributes to publications including Reader's Digest, Forbes, and Real Simple. She is also the host of the Bougie Adjacent podcast.
  • Tierney McAfee is an experienced lifestyle journalist who writes for The Spruce Eats along with People, NBC News, and more. She home-tested the Cuisinart Compact Portable Blending/Chopping System.

The Spruce Eats Team Tests the Best Blenders

Other Options We Tested

  • NutriBullet Pro 1000: This is the slightly more powerful cousin of our overall winner, NutriBullet's 900-watt Pro. The extra 100 watts raise the price but don't really do much for performance: The 1000 actually performed slightly worse than the 900 in our tests. This is a good blender, but there's one from the same brand that's better and cheaper.
  • PopBabies Portable Blender: We tested four models of USB-charging portable blenders, and this one was notably at the bottom of the pile. The cheap machine had lots of trouble with kale and couldn't handle full-sized ice cubes at all. (It comes with its own small-cube mold, which might have worked better but is a pain to have to deal with.) The battery could also only hold enough charge for four or five 20-second blending sessions, and the narrow opening makes it tough to clean, too.
  • Tribest PB-350 Personal Blender: This blender is a little more expensive than average, and in our tests it did...fine. It left a few chunks in the smoothies, and we couldn't get its travel lid to seal tightly. Those are minor negatives, but they aren't outweighed by any special functions or accessories.
  • Blendjet 2: Although this portable blender initially made our list for its convenient cordless design and decent performance, it has since been recalled due to safety risks.

What to Look for in a Personal Blender

Blender Cup Capacity and Quantity

How big is your morning smoothie? Do you like the idea of blending once and then portioning it into several cups, or do your family members have different flavor preferences? Look for a kit that's the right size for you. Larger cups can, of course, blend more at once, but they're less portable. Many personal blender models come with more than one small cup, which lets you make a kale smoothie and then a strawberry-banana one without having to wash everything out in between. (Most of the brands on our list sell additional blender cups, so you can buy extras if needed.) Keep in mind that some personal blenders are also compatible with Mason jars, giving you lots and lots of inexpensive options.

Lids and Accessories

Some personal blenders come with travel lids that screw right onto the cup, which is a lot more convenient than pouring the cup into a separate mug to get your smoothie into the car. Some screw-on lids even include a mug-style handle for easy gripping. Other blender models offer multiple sets of blades for chopping and grinding, while cordless models can charge their batteries via USB and don't need a wall plug in the car or on the trail.

Power

While wattage isn’t the perfect indicator of a blender’s effectiveness, it’s a pretty good hint. In general, the higher the wattage, the more powerful the appliance and the higher the price. If you typically blend softer foods like bananas and yogurt into liquid-heavy smoothies, you might not need as much power as someone who plans on blending dense vegetables, ice, and frozen fruits. Higher power can also mean that the blender will be noisier, which might be a consideration if you’re blending in the morning while your family’s still asleep or have an easy-to-wake infant.

Blending blade of the Ninja Nutri Pro

The Spruce Eats / Sharon Lehman

FAQs

How powerful are personal blenders?

In general, personal blenders aren't as powerful as standard-sized blenders—more powerful motors are simply bigger and heavier—but there is some overlap: 1,000 watts is on the weaker end for a full-size blender and the stronger end for a personal one. On the other hand, the smoothies, sauces, and shakes you'd typically use a personal blender for don't need extreme levels of power. Some budget-priced personal blenders have motors with as few as 200 watts, though cup and blade design can help do more with less power.

Can you put frozen fruit in a personal blender?

You can put frozen fruit in a personal blender, but the key to getting a smooth blend is adding the right ratio of liquid to frozen ingredients. Check the user manual for recommendations. If you find yourself ending up with unblended bits, try letting the frozen fruit sit out at room temperature for five to 10 minutes before blending to partially thaw. If that doesn't help, you might need a more powerful blender.

Can a personal blender crush ice?

Some personal blenders are powerful enough to crush ice, which is a necessary feature if you like making icy coffee drinks, slushies, and frozen margaritas. Higher-wattage blenders will be better at crushing ice quickly, while weaker models will take too long to break up large cubes before they melt. Trying to crush ice in a low-end blender isn't unsafe or anything, just ineffective.

Cuisinart Evolution X displayed on a counter filled with milk and fruit

The Spruce Eats / Sharon Lehman

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Donna Currie has used a veritable flock of blenders, from manual to hand blenders to a high-end Vitamix, that she tested for The Spruce Eats. To make sure she found the perfect personal blenders for everyday use, she spent hours doing even more research online to narrow down the list to the best of the best.

This roundup was updated by Katya Weiss-Andersson, a writer and editor who has nearly a decade of experience as a professional chef, Sharon Lehman, a home cook and registered dietitian nutritionist,Allison Wignall, a writer who focuses on food and travel, and Jason Horn, a commerce writer at The Spruce Eats.

Additional reporting by
Allison Wignall
Allison Wignall The Spruce Eats

Allison Wignall is a staff writer for The Spruce Eats who focuses on product reviews. She has also contributed to publications such as Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and Southern Living.

Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
and
Jason Horn
Jason Horn
Jason Horn has been writing about food and drinks for more than 15 years and is a Commerce Writer for The Spruce Eats. He once convinced Matthew McConaughey that a hot dog is indeed a sandwich.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Article Sources
The Spruce Eats uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Federal Drug and Food Administration. Bisphenol A: Use in Food Contact Application. 2021.

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