What's the best single serving blender?

November 2, 2019 3:53 PM

After 10 years, it's time to replace our old Magic Bullet. What's the best single-serving blender? Wirecutter says the Nutribullet, but other reviews--including comments on that article--are less positive. This will be used almost exclusively for making smoothies, or the occasional dressing/sauce. But 99% of the time, smoothies, involving frozen fruit and the other usual suspects. A quieter option is a big plus, but I realize that's challenging.
posted by synecdoche to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

No personal experience, but this review from America's Test Kitchen lets you see and hear a bunch in action. They recommend the PopBabies one.
posted by batter_my_heart at 5:26 PM on November 2, 2019

Anecdotally, I have had a NutriBullet for 2 years and love it. It handles everything you throw at (in) it: nuts, ice, etc. Makes everything beautifully smooth, no ‘bits’. 10/10 would buy again.

It does sound like a jet engine taking off, though.
posted by Salamander at 5:48 PM on November 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

NutriBullet is what we have used for the past five years and it's been great. As Salamander mentioned, it is a mite loud! if this one ever conks out, I'd get another just like it!
posted by PlantGoddess at 9:06 PM on November 2, 2019

Same experience as the two above with the Nutribullet. Works great, very loud. I've had mine for almost 10 years.
posted by entropyiswinning at 10:52 PM on November 2, 2019

Another vote for Nutribullet. Mine's about 5 years old and going strong.

No personal experience, but this review from America's Test Kitchen lets you see and hear a bunch in action. They recommend the PopBabies one.

The Popbabies blender is total crap. It cant even crush ice. I'm very surprised they recommended it
posted by fshgrl at 11:00 PM on November 2, 2019

My Nutribullet has stood up to two years of rental tenants grinding everything possible in it daily. I swear you could grind wood screws and it would still work (jk pls don't).
posted by ananci at 11:19 PM on November 2, 2019

I just bought a NutriBullet Pro a couple weeks ago so I can't speak to longevity, but I love it. I guess it's loud? But I don't notice that it is particularly so for something that is pureeing frozen solid fruit, including strawberries and bananas in large chunks that my previous solution (a food processor) struggled with. And it purees everything so quickly that I don't mind 30 seconds of loud vs 3 minutes of less-loud.
posted by misskaz at 3:00 AM on November 3, 2019

Another satisfied Nutri owner. I've had a Ninja for years, and a while back there was a problem with the lid/ blade housing: when I called and found out my model was no longer available, they replaced the entire blender - I just paid shipping - so +ve customer experience too.
posted by my log does not judge at 8:35 AM on November 3, 2019

I bought my Nutri Ninja in 2012 and it's still going strong. I just added the full-size Ninja Blender, it's SO much quieter but so much bigger--I still use the bullet for smoothies, nuts, etc...it's loud but doesn't take long to pulverize everything I throw at it.
posted by assenav at 10:20 AM on November 4, 2019