Most and Least Reliable Blender Brands
CR's exclusive member survey reveals the blenders that last
By Keith Flamer
If you choose a new blender solely on price or design, your experience—whether you’re using it for smoothies, soups, or meal prep—could be crushed like ice.
What’s more important, long term? A blender’s performance, and its brand reliability. The latter can also influence when you’ll be shopping for your next blender—sooner, in some cases, or later.
So you want a powerful blender that’ll last. Our engineers conduct exhaustive tests on blenders—evaluating their ability to crush ice, make smoothies, and purée soups—to help you choose one that deserves to grace your countertop. And we factor in predicted brand reliability and owner satisfaction ratings, based on data from our annual member survey.
Every year we ask our members about the products they own, and we use that data to make projections about how new models from a given brand will hold up over time. “The ones rated Excellent for predicted reliability are less likely to have any issues in the long run,” says Simon Slater, CR’s associate director of survey research. “The ones rated Poor are more likely to give owners a problem-filled experience.”
We also ask members how likely they are to recommend their blender, and that serves as the basis for our owner satisfaction rating. Our experts analyzed data from almost 59,000 blenders purchased by 53,408 CR members between 2013 and 2021. You can find information on predicted reliability and owner satisfaction in our blender ratings.
The top blender brands CR members are most likely to consider are Ninja, Vitamix, and Cuisinart. Over 80 percent of current Vitamix and Breville owners are likely to buy the same brand again. NutriBullet is an especially popular brand among those planning to buy a personal blender.
Below are the best and worst brands for full-sized blenders and personal blenders in terms of reliability and satisfaction. Our survey results cover 14 brands, including Blendtec, Cuisinart, Hamilton Beach, KitchenAid, Ninja, Nutribullet, Oster, Vitamix, and Wolf.
Most Reliable Full-Sized Blenders
CR members have told us that they expect to use their blenders for about eight years. In fact, 92 percent of all blenders purchased between 2013 and 2021 were still in use.
Most brands received only a moderate rating of Good for predicted reliability. And only a handful received a rating higher than Good for owner satisfaction. Vitamix and Wolf were the only full-sized blender brands to receive top ratings for both predicted reliability and owner satisfaction. Calphalon also received an Excellent score for predicted reliability and Good rating for owner satisfaction. Ninja wasn’t far behind, receiving Very Good ratings for both predicted reliability and owner satisfaction. Oster and Hamilton Beach both earned a Very Good rating for reliability, but respectively, only got Good and Fair owner satisfaction scores, respectively.
CR members with digital access can take a closer look at two full-sized blenders from brands that earned an Excellent rating for predicted reliability and perform well in CR’s lab tests.
Vitamix Professional Series 750
Vitamix’s Professional Series 750 is an 8-cup blender that receives an Excellent rating in our icy-drinks tests, meaning it will also turn out superb smoothies. This blender also earns Excellent scores in our tests for puréeing soup and crushing ice. Like most blenders we tested, this Vitamix receives an Excellent rating in our durability tests, in which we crush ice 45 times over a two-day period. This blender is noisy—most we test are. Vitamix says this model can make hot soups, a claim we tested, and the result was smooth, hot soup in about 5 minutes.
Wolf Gourmet High Performance WGBL100S
This high-end blender by Wolf earns an Excellent rating in our purée test and performs nearly as well in our smoothie test. Wolf as a brand earned an Excellent rating for predicted reliability and owner satisfaction, the only brand other than Vitamix. Yes, you’ll pay a premium for this blender; it’s one of the most expensive we’ve tested, but you’re getting a hardworking machine that can make smoothies and more on a daily basis. This model comes with a five-year warranty.
Least Reliable Full-Sized Blenders
At the other end of the spectrum, Blendtec and Braun got a subpar rating of Fair for reliability, so we cannot recommend them at this time.
The rest of the brands—Black+Decker, Breville, Cuisinart, Dash, KitchenAid, and NutriBullet—received a middle-of-the-road rating of Good for predicted reliability.
Most Reliable Personal Blenders
Braun and Breville were the only personal blender brands in our survey to earn top marks for reliability. Ninja and Vitamix came close. Vitamix earned Excellent scores for owner satisfaction while Ninja got a Very Good score.
CR members can read the personal blender ratings and reviews of two high-performing picks from Breville and Ninja below.
Breville Super Q BBL920BSS1BUS1 Personal
Soup enthusiasts can take notice of the Breville Super Q, which receives an Excellent score in our purée tests. It also earns a Very Good score for making icy drinks, including smoothies. The lightweight personal blender comes with a full-sized attachment and offers 1,800-watt power, 10 speeds, and 3-cup capacity, as well as dial and touch-button controls. Breville personal blenders earned an Excellent predicted reliability rating and a Good customer satisfaction rating. If you enjoy warm soups or ice-cold smoothies, this blender covers you season after season.
Ninja with DUO Auto-iQ BL642 Personal
The top-rated Ninja with Duo Auto-iQ BL642 Personal blender earns Excellent smoothie and purée marks, and a Very Good rating for crushed-ice performance—meaning it’ll knock out a tasty mango smoothie just as well as hearty cream of broccoli soup. The most powerful personal blender we rated (1,500 watts), it’s also super-convenient—it has touchpad controls, is dishwasher-safe, and has five speeds, and it works with a full-sized pitcher or three personal blender cups (all of which are included). This model also earned Very Good ratings for predicted reliability and customer satisfaction.
Least Reliable Personal Blenders
Despite its name being almost synonymous with personal blenders, NutriBullet earned a Fair rating for reliability (the second lowest possible rating) and received a middling rating of Good for owner satisfaction. Bella’s ratings are just as unimpressive.
Calphalon, Cuisinart, Hamilton Beach, and Oster did slightly better, netting Good ratings for both reliability and satisfaction. Black+Decker also got a Good rating for reliability, but its subpar owner satisfaction rating (Fair) means our members aren’t very likely to recommend this brand’s personal blenders.
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Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2022, Consumer Reports, Inc.
