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See why.Personal Blenders
“Personal blenders” offer promising perks over full-size blenders, such as smaller footprints, lower price tags, and lids that allow them to transition neatly from pitchers to travel cups. So how well do they work?
By Published Nov. 1, 2015. Appears in America's Test Kitchen TV Season 17: Refreshing Desserts
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We love our winning full-size blenders, but “personal blenders” offer promising perks, such as smaller footprints, lower price tags, and lids that allow them to transition neatly from pitchers to travel cups. Curious if these conveniences would justify the purchase of a second blender, we gathered nine models with pitchers sized 24 ounces and smaller, priced between about $15 and nearly $100. We evaluated their performance in blending smoothies with hard frozen berries and fibrous kale, whipping up thick chocolate milkshakes, and incorporating fresh herbs into creamy Green Goddess salad dressing. Though these blenders come with as many as 16 pieces of equipment, including superfluous handles and specialty blades, we focused our attention on the pitchers; the blades designed for blending; and the travel lids (with spouts when available), which allow them to seal completely and be flipped open for easy drinking on the go. We rated each machine on its speed and ease of use and evaluated how evenly and completely all of the ingredients were blended together. Finally, we tested the comfort of the drinking lids and the tightness of their seal. Throughout testing, we compared our models to a new copy of one of our favorite full-size blenders.
While two of the models we purchased are designed like traditional blenders—the blade is permanently centered in the bottom of the pitcher, and the pitcher moves directly from the blender base to the countertop—the other seven work differently. To operate them, you screw on a cover fitted with a blade and invert the pitcher onto the blender base so that the blade engages for blending; after blending, you remove the pitcher and flip it back over to remove the cover and screw on a travel lid. None of the models offered variable speeds or settings.
Neither of these designs affected how well the blenders worked, but their performances did vary dramatically. Some consistently whirred hard-frozen and fibrous ingredients into a cohesive blend in less than a minute, while others struggled for several minutes to incorporate chopped herbs into a creamy dressing. Part of that discrepancy came down to the shape and style of the pitchers. Tall, narrow vessels trapped ingredients far from the blades, so they couldn’t incorporate into a smooth, uniform mix—and pausing to shake or stir the contents was fussy. The two U-shaped models were more effective because the pitchers flared gently toward the opening and thus provided more space for the ingredients to circulate. (The only downside to their wider shape: They don’t fit in most standard cup holders.)
Another factor was blade design—specifically the number ...
Everything We Tested
Recommended
- Smoothies: 3 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 3 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 3 stars out of 3.
Thanks to its U-shaped pitchers and sharp, six-pronged blades that angle both up and down, this pricey model was among the quickest and most effective at every blending task—which compensated for the fact that users must continuously hold down the pitcher to engage the motor. Its travel lid was well designed, with a comfortable drinking spout and a hinged arm that seals tight with an audible snap. One defect: It’s as noisy as it is powerful.
- Smoothies: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 3 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 3 stars out of 3.
Although this blender’s U-shaped pitchers look much like our winner’s and also feature six-pronged blades, they were a bit less sharp and were slower to blend fibrous kale (milkshakes and salad dressing were no problem). Once engaged, the motor conveniently runs and allows the user to walk away. Neither of its travel lids—a solid one that has to be removed entirely for drinking and a twist-on ring with a handle—is convenient or practical on the go.
- Smoothies: 2 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 2.5 stars out of 3.
The wide, bullet-shaped pitchers were easy to load, but the performance was inconsistent: We occasionally encountered clumps of ice cream or mayonnaise that did not get fully incorporated, and more than once it took almost a full minute to thoroughly blend a smoothie. Its drinking lid has a wide, comfortable spout and seals tight, but the rest of the lids were superfluous.
Recommended with reservations
- Smoothies: 2 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 2 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 3 stars out of 3.
These fairly small and narrow pitchers were easy to load and accommodated enough ingredients for a single-serving smoothie or a small batch of dressing, but when it came to actually blending, this model was relatively sluggish. Kale tended to get stuck at the top of the pitcher, and it was slow to mix up a milkshake. The tiny spouts on the travel lids were hard to drink from.
Not Recommended
- Smoothies: 2 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 1 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 0 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 3 stars out of 3.
This model’s narrow pitchers could accommodate enough volume for a smoothie or milkshake, but their slender shape made it difficult to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients. Another complaint: It lacks a travel lid, and even when the solid lid was twisted on, it leaked.
- Smoothies: 1 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 1 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 3 stars out of 3.
Not only were the very narrow pitchers difficult and time-consuming to load, but they trapped food; testers had to stop frequently to shake or stir contents that got stuck. Although the travel lid was leakproof, it had a petite drinking spout and a swinging arm that bumped against our foreheads.
- Smoothies: 1 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 1 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 2 stars out of 3.
Like other skinny pitchers, this one was hard to fill, trapped ingredients, and was slow to blend. And because it’s tinted blue, we struggled to see if it was blending smoothly or not. We liked the leakproof closure on the travel lid.
- Smoothies: 1 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 1 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 1 stars out of 3.
Because this cheap model’s blade is permanently attached to the bottom of the pitcher, it stays at the bottom of the cup once it’s converted to a travel mug (a feature we found odd, but not dangerous). The blades consist of just four stumpy prongs, which explains why they struggled with every single task. Worse, the machine has only a pulse button, so testers were forced to press for several minutes. Its lid leaked.
- Smoothies: 1 stars out of 3.
- Milkshakes: 1 stars out of 3.
- Travel Lid: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Salad Dressing: 1 stars out of 3.
The built-in blade at the bottom of this pitcher was short, stubby, and ineffective, so this blender produced mediocre results in every test. Its stainless-steel construction obscures the contents from view, which meant that we frequently had to stop blending to remove the lid and check the blender’s progress. Its lid leaked.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
Kate Shannon
Kate is a deputy editor for ATK Reviews. She's a culinary school graduate and former line cook and cheesemonger.
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