Personal blender for smoothies: The Best Personal Blenders of 2023│Tested by Serious Eats

The Best Personal Blenders of 2023│Tested by Serious Eats

Straight to the Point

Our favorite personal blender is the Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender. It’s powerful, quiet, and aesthetically pleasing. We also like the NutriBullet Pro 900— it’s a great option for smoothies and comes with two cups and travel lids. For a budget pick, we really loved the BELLA Rocket Extract PRO Power Blender, which was fast and capacious.

In many households (including mine) the day begins with the sound of a blender running. Someone is making their colorful breakfast smoothie before rushing out the door to work, or chugging their drink quickly before departing. 

Thankfully, when it comes to blending up a smoothie for one, the days of painstakingly attaching blades, rubber gaskets, and various bits and bobs to a full-sized blender are over. Instead of breaking out the big blender, now you can use a smaller, simpler personal blender. 

In order to find the best personal blender options (we excluded portable blenders from the lineup) we dove into testing some of the internet’s favorite and most highly-rated machines. We conducted tests to examine each blender’s power, usability, and durability and how easy they were to clean. Of the 9 we tested, two quickly distanced themselves from the pack.

The Winners, at a Glance

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This personal blender was not only aesthetically pleasing, it was also easy to use, blended silky smooth smoothies, and was effortless to clean. 

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This blender’s power, speed, and whopping 32-ounce capacity impressed us immediately. This is a great option for those in a rush since it blends smoothies in a mere 20 seconds.

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Even as one of the most affordable options we tested, the BELLA did not sacrifice quality. We appreciated its speed, efficiency, and capacity.

The Tests

Serious Eats / Abigail Clarkin

• Blend Kale and Mango Smoothies Test: We blended a combination of raw kale, frozen mango, orange juice, and fresh banana in each blender to see how they handled fibrous and frozen ingredients.
• Ease of Use and Cleaning Tests: While testing, we considered how easy the blender was to set up and use, how it performed during blending, what the final smoothie’s consistency was, and if the blender was complicated to clean.
• Blend Ice and Water Test: To test the durability of some of the machines (except those that explicitly warned against crushing ice), we combined water and ice cubes and attempted to use each blender to create a slush mixture.
• Blend Milkshakes Test (Winners-Only): We tested our top picks by blending a hardy mixture of ice cream, ice, and milk. During testing, we paid close attention to ease of use, the consistency of the milkshake, and whether cleaning was a challenge.

What is a Personal Blender?

Personal blenders are often designed for one to two servings and include streamlined settings and instructions. Their control panels are often made up of one to three buttons or knobs, rather than a fleet of options. The blender usually consists of a blending cup, an extractor blade that attaches directly to the cup, and a motor base. Since there is no lid, ingredients are all added ahead of time—once the blender is running, there isn’t opportunity to add anything else mid-blend. A handful of personal blenders have automated, timed settings for smoothies, while others rely on the user’s discretion.

Which Vitamix Blender Should You Buy? We Compared (Almost) All of Them

What We Learned

Automated Blending Settings Did Not Necessarily Make Blending Easier

Some automated settings performed well, but we also liked having the option of manual settings, too.

Serious Eats / Abigail Clarkin

There’s something to be said for convenience, especially when preparing food. When we started testing, we were curious to see if the personal blenders with automated blending settings stood out against the manually controlled ones. Would we be able to turn on the machine and let it run without paying too much attention? Would the finished product (smoothie, milkshake, etc) be flawlessly blended? The answer was a little more complicated.

Out of the full lineup, three of the personal blenders had automatic settings: the Ninja BN401 Nutri Pro Compact Personal Blender, ZWILLING Enfinigy Personal Blender, and Nutribullet RX. Typically, each automated blending setting ran for a set amount of time, and during the cycle, the machine would stop and start at certain junctures (we think this was in order to allow for ingredients to settle back down near the blade). Of the three with this feature, only the Zwilling stood out. The Zwilling’s automated blending setting lasted for 40 seconds and resulted in a creamy, well-mixed final product. We also liked that it had an easy-to-use interface with simple options (on/off, pulse, and smoothie), if we didn’t want to go the automatic route. 

On the other hand, the Ninja’s automated setting lasted longer, clocking in at 50 seconds. The setting had allotted stop and start times, during which the ingredients were able to settle and shift so they could catch on the blade during the next rotation. However, it was very, very loud (like our parents at punk concerts, we spent the entire cycle reflecting on the merits of earplugs.) And, when the cycle ended, there was still a chunk of unblended kale in the mix. The Nutribullet RX was also very loud and had the lengthiest setting of the bunch (including when using the manual settings). Though after one minute of blending, the final smoothie was creamy and smooth. However, we did not think the result was impressive enough to warrant sacrificing both our hearing and our time.

Blending Cup Size Mattered 

When it came to filling the blender jars, wider openings and larger jars made it easier.

Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore

During testing, we poured out a fair amount of smoothies, slush, and milkshakes. It quickly became apparent that Goldilocks would have had an opinion: some blending cups were too small, some were too big, and some were just right. While we were pleased overall with the performance of the NutriBullet NB9-1301 K Pro, we did find the larger diameter of the opening led to light spillage. When tilting the cup to pour, all of the liquids—and any icy bits—rushed forward at the same time. On the other hand, the size of the cup (which had a 32-ounce capacity) was great for adding ingredients since larger items, such as leafy kale or misshapen frozen fruits, didn’t need to be squished down or added individually in order to fit. These similarities were shared between the Nutribullet RX (which measured the largest with a 4.5-inch diameter opening), Nutribullet Personal Blender, Nutribullet NB9-1301 K Pro, and the BELLA Rocket Extract PRO Power Blender.

Smaller blending cups, particularly the Ninja Fit with its 3-inch wide opening, were slim enough that pouring was mess-free. However, the Ninja Fit’s narrow mouth made adding ingredients challenging. We had to push the kale leaves down into the cup rather than simply dropping them in. We found the ideal cups measured somewhere in-between: the Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender cup measured three-and-a-half inches and was neither too wide nor too narrow, but just right.

Only Some Personal Blenders Were Able to Crush Ice

Serious Eats / Abigail Clarkin

This may come as no surprise, but personal blenders did not pack the same punch as traditional blenders. For example, four of the personal blenders had instructions that warned against ice crushing, so we could only test five blenders against the ice and water slushie test. For all five of the machines we tested, we found almost all of them struggled with crushing the ice evenly. 

The Cuisinart CPB-300 350 Watt BPA-Free Blender, Ninja Fit, and the ZWILLING Enfinigy Personal Blender all required multiple stops and starts during blending. This was because the blades stopped catching the ice and water, so we had to shift the ingredients for them to catch the ice again. The final results consisted of slush with a few larger chips of ice.

The real standout was the Ninja BN401 Nutri Pro Compact Personal Blender, which turned the ice and water into a lovely slush. And this machine had a particular advantage in this test: it had a specific “crush” setting that included an automatic timed program. However, the blender was extremely loud while working, especially when the blades were not catching any ice; this was usually because the slush shot up the sides of the cup and all that was left was a thin layer of water on the bottom.

The Less Counter Space Used, the Better

Counter space can be precious. As we tested each blender, we found ourselves moving them from table to counter, to the table again. Not only were the largest machines, such as the Ninja BN401 Nutri Pro Compact Personal Blender and the Nutribullet RX, quite heavy (the bases were four pounds, seven ounces, and six pounds, five ounces, respectively), but they also took up a lot of space. We found the significant weight and size were a hindrance to our limited counter space, and these aspects also made storing and moving inconvenient.

Cleaning Was Easy—As Long As We Did So Immediately

One of our least favorite parts about using a traditional blender is cleaning (we couldn’t count the number of times we almost lost a rubber gasket down the InSinkErator). But we discovered many of the personal blenders were not as high maintenance. For one, each blender only had three parts: the motor base, the blending cup, and the extractor blade (which also served as the lid). That meant only two parts—and maybe a travel lid, if used—needed to be cleaned. 

Even more conveniently, personal blenders were easy to fit into the dishwasher when disassembled. Every personal blender we tested included top rack dishwasher-safe blending cups and lids. On the other hand, whether or not extractor blades were dishwasher-safe depended on the blender itself (though, in general, we don’t recommend washing blades in a dishwasher since it can dull them faster). 

When hand-washing with soap and water, we found the plastic blending cups were easy to grip and less likely to shatter if dropped (unlike some of the glass blending vessels we’ve encountered when using traditional blenders through the years). Washing was painless as long as we made sure to rinse the blending vessels and extractor blades immediately after blending. Otherwise, tough crud stuck in the grooves. Blenders like the Cuisinart and the Nutribullet RX had instructions for cleaning tough messes: simply add soapy, room-temperature water to the cup and blend, rinse, and then dry.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Personal Blender

Serious Eats / Abigail Clarkin / Grace Kelly

A good personal blender should be easy to use, clean, and store. Ideally, it has a capacity ranging between 20 to 32 ounces, is powerful (and fast), and has a blending cup that pours smoothly.

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What we liked: The Zwilling impressed us immediately. It was easy to use since the control knob had three settings: on/off, pulse, and smoothie. We enjoyed that the settings included both a manual pulse option, as well as an automatically timed smoothie setting. This meant the user could choose their own adventure, rather than being stuck with only an automatic setting. Cleaning the Zwilling was especially easy too: typically, other machines had cross blades that were inset, meaning the extractor blade was set inside the lid, with grooved sides rising up on all sides. This made cleaning other personal blenders a little annoying as dried liquids and foods could get stuck in these nooks. The Zwilling’s cross blade, on the other hand, was set on the topmost part of the lid and any nooks and crannies were set along the outside for easy access when cleaning. The machine was also sleek, simple, and aesthetically pleasing. While it had a medium-sized motor base—measuring 5.75 inches wide—the square-shaped personal blender did not take up too much space on the counter. We were very pleased with how the Zwilling handled blending smoothies and milkshakes. The smoothie was even, creamy, and completely blended within the 40-second automated “smoothie” setting. 

What we didn’t like: At first, we assumed that the grooved plastic on the exterior of the blending cup would make it easy to grip. However, this particular blending cup was actually more challenging to open: the grooves on the base were too small for our fingers to actually fit within comfortably while twisting, so we were left at a loss as to where to grip. The machine also did struggle a bit with the milkshake, leading to some chunks of ice in the finished product.  

Price at time of publish: $85.

Key Specs

• Weight: 5 lbs
• Dimensions: 5.25 x 5.75 x 14.5 inches
• Cord length: 36 inches
• Capacity: 20 ounces
• Materials: BPA-free plastic, stainless steel
• Wattage: 500 watts
• Voltage: 120 volts
• Accessories: One to-go jar and one to-go lid
• Care instructions: The blender cup and drinking cup lid can be cleaned either in the dishwasher or by hand with dish soap; the blender lid can be run under running water and cleaned with a damp, lint-free cloth; the base can be cleaned with a damp, lint-free cloth.   

Serious Eats / Abigail Clarkin

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What we liked: For those looking for efficiency and ease of use, and who might want to make multiple servings, the Nutribullet NB9-1301 K Pro is a good pick. It completely shredded the kale and mango smoothie in a stunning 20 seconds, and we liked the spacious blending cup, which was a whopping 32 ounces, the largest we tested. It was easy to load, so we didn’t need to squish or push down ingredients aggressively in order to make sure they fit inside the cup. The blender’s extractor blade lid was easy to grip when twisting and untwisting.

What we didn’t like: Alas, this Nutribullet was one of the machines with an explicit warning against ice crushing. Aside from that, our main complaint was the blending cup was very wide. While the width of it made loading very easy, we had to be careful when pouring so we didn’t lean the cup too far forward, which led to the liquid crowding the mouth of the cup and spillage.

Price at time of publish: $110.

Key Specs

• Weight: 9.68 lbs
• Dimensions: 7.72 x 12.01 x 15.94 inches
• Cord length: 30 inches
• Capacity: 32 ounces
• Materials: Plastic, stainless steel
• Wattage: 900 watts
• Voltage: 110 volts
• Accessories: Two blending cups, one extractor blade, one cup ring without handle, two cup rings with handle, two lids
• Care instructions: It was recommended that the rubber gasket not be removed while cleaning; all parts (aside from the motor base and extractor blade) are top-rack dishwasher-safe; the blending cups, lids, and extractor blade can be hand washed with warm soapy water; the motor base can be wiped down with a damp, soapy sponge or dishcloth

Serious Eats / Abigail Clarkin

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What we liked: Although this was one of the most affordable personal blenders we tested, it blended the kale and mango smoothie impressively well (in a mere 25 seconds!). The BELLA mixed all the ingredients together almost immediately during blending rather than simply waiting on the layered ingredients to shift downward and hit the blade. We liked that the user could choose blending time, rather than relying on a preset blending cycle. The 24-ounce blending cup was wide and spacious, making it easy to add ingredients. We also thought the suction cups on the motor base came in handy for making sure the machine didn’t budge while blending. The BELLA not only comes with a blending blade but also a blade for grinding dry foods and spices and a blade for emulsifying fruits and vegetables.

What we didn’t like: The BELLA came with specific instructions that the machine was not intended to be an ice crusher. This was a bit disappointing seeing as we were highly impressed with this personal blender’s performance when testing smoothies and milkshakes, and were curious to see how it fared against ice. Another issue we found was that the width of the blending cup’s mouth was pretty wide and prone to spillage while pouring. And the blending cups and the extractor blade could have benefited from more textured plastic parts; as it was, they were slick and hard to grip when untwisting.

Price at time of publish: $30.

Key Specs

• Weight: 6.38 lbs
• Dimensions: 12.01 x 8.66 x 8.39 inches
• Cord Length: 34 inches
• Capacity: 24 ounces
• Materials: BPA-free plastic and stainless steel
• Wattage: 700 watts
• Voltage: 240 volts
• Accessories: Two lip rings, one blending blade, one grinding blade, two 12-ounce tumblers, three solid lids, one shaker lid, three 24-ounce tumblers, 1 emulsifying blade, 1 travel lid
• Care instructions: Rinse attachments following use. The blades, tumblers, and lids could be put through the dishwasher on the top rack. If there were any stubborn messes, a “small, nylon bristle brush” could be handled to clean the blade, or the entire tumbler could be filled up one-quarter of its capacity with clean warm water and then blended and rinsed.

Serious Eats / Abigail Clarkin

The Competition

• Ninja BN401 Nutri Pro Compact Personal Blender: While we appreciated the multiple buttons and functions, such as “crush,” “smoothie,” and “pulse,” the Ninja was simply too large, too loud, too heavy-duty, and too slow (the automatic smoothie setting took 50 seconds).
• Ninja Fit: This machine was super easy to use, store, and clean. But we didn’t enjoy how much pressure we had to exert by pushing the blending cup down the entire time the machine was running (we prefer to build our muscles in the gym instead, thank you).
• Cuisinart CPB-300 350 Watt BPA-Free Blender: The slender, tall motor base was great for those with limited counter space. However, the extractor blade was challenging to remove after use, and there were still chunks of kale and ice following the smoothie and slushie tests. 
• Nutribullet Personal Blender: While we liked many things about this blender, it simply did not have the power or speed to compete with similar models.
• Nutribullet RX: The sheer size of the machine was intimidating: it measured 15.16 inches in depth and 15.16 inches in width (which is larger than some traditional blenders). It was unnecessarily large for anyone looking for a simple pony of a blender as opposed to a workhorse.
• Magic Bullet Blender: This blender was so cute! But cuteness didn’t matter when we realized it was quite noisy. It also took a whopping one minute and 15 seconds of blending–manually–when we blended mango and kale smoothies. 
• The BEAST Blender: Unfortunately, our test model for the BEAST broke before testing, so we were unable to see how the machine performed against other personal blenders. We are going to pursue long-term testing with a new model and will add our findings to this review at a later date. You can read our previous one-off review of this blender here.

FAQs

What can you make in a personal blender?

Personal blenders were great for making small, single-serving portions of smoothies and milkshakes. Out of the machines we tested, none were built to blend dry ingredients. In fact, many of the instruction manuals spelled out specific liquid-to-solid ingredient ratios. Most machines were not powerful enough to handle ice-heavy ingredients, either.

How many servings does a personal blender make?

Each of the personal blenders we tested had the capacity to hold one to two servings. The overall capacity of each blending cup ranged from 16 to 32 ounces, but each machine had a different max line for ingredients.

What is the best way to clean a personal blender?

While perusing various instruction manuals during testing, we found the most popular recommendation was to hand-wash blending cups, lids, and extractor blends in warm soapy water. Many of these parts were also dishwasher-safe. As for the motor bases, submersion in water was to be avoided (as with anything with a plug!). Instead, wipe down the motor exterior with either a damp cloth before drying. For tough messes, some blenders could be cleaned by adding soapy water to the blending cup and then blending. However, we do recommend checking each individual machine’s instruction manual for the best instructions.

What is the best (and quietest) personal blender?

It’s hard to describe any of the personal blenders we tested as quiet. Much of what we blended was fibrous or frozen, so there was a fair amount of grinding noises. But we do think the Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender was the best overall personal blender, and much quieter than many of its competitors.

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The best personal blenders in 2023

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Reviews

What’s in this guide

• Best personal blender overall: Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro

• Best budget personal blender: Magic Bullet Blender

• How we tested

• Who needs a personal blender, and why?

• Other personal blenders we tested

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Personal blenders are significantly smaller than their full-size counterparts, and since you can drink out of the cup you’re blending with, they’re great for protein shakes and smoothies. And because their cups feature convenient travel lids, it’s easy and convenient to blend your drink and take it with you to work, to the gym or just to run errands.

We ran nine of the top models on the market through a rigorous testing process, evaluating their ability to execute a variety of blending tasks. We also judged them on their design, construction, and — perhaps most importantly — how convenient and comfortable they were to drink out of.

Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro

Best personal blender overall

Amazon

The clear standout in our testing, the Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro was easy to use, created smooth blended drinks, and included a travel lid that was both comfortable to use and closed securely.

$100
$80 at Amazon

$100 at Ninja

Magic Bullet Blender

Best budget personal blender

Amazon

If you don’t require multiple blending modes or settings and just want to make a single-serving drink quickly and easily, the low-cost Magic Bullet Blender is an excellent option.

$39 at Amazon

$50 at Nutribullet

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The Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro’s solid construction gives the machine a sturdy, high-quality feel, and the wide base provides a stable foundation for its powerful motor. Its straightforward control panel was the simplest to understand right out of the box of all the personal blenders we tested, making it easy to get right to blending as soon as we plugged it in.

The Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro has dedicated crush, smoothie and pulse modes, but our favorite feature in testing was its Auto-iQ function, which automatically selects a blending and pausing pattern for your chosen mix and stops once the blend is complete. We were initially skeptical of this feature, but ended up being impressed with the results, and appreciated how it let us hit the button once and walk away to do other things, confident we’d get good results. If you’d rather keep an eye on things and stop it manually, you can turn off this function at any time by pressing the “start/stop” button.

The Ninja had no trouble making any of our test smoothies. It easily crushed ice and frozen fruit, pulverized leafy and fibrous vegetables and had no trouble mixing our powdered protein drink in about 10 seconds. Whether this is due to the more vertically oriented blade assembly or to the Auto-iQ blend-and-pause routine, the Ninja also never got “stuck” or needed any manual shaking to clear lumps of partially blended ingredients like some other blenders did.

The travel lid of the Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro was far and away the best of the bunch. It was easy to screw on and the lid cover flips out of the way while you’re drinking, securely snapping back down when you’re not.

The Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro includes two “single-serve” cups, though at 16 ounces they can definitely make two servings. Since it also comes with two travel lids, the Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro can be a great option for a couple or household. The design of the lids, blades and large cups made everything simple to clean, and all the components are dishwasher-safe as well.

Though not a deal breaker, the drawback to the Ninja is its relatively large size compared to the other personal blenders we tried. If you have limited counter space, or don’t have room to store a new appliance in your kitchen, you may want to go with another option, like the Magic Bullet.

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This compact blender couldn’t be easier to use; you just fill the cup, twist on the blade and press it down on the base to activate the motor. This straightforward operation, combined with its small size — about a 4.5-inch footprint — made it one of our favorite options.

Despite its compact size, the Magic Bullet Blender had similar heft and sturdiness to our top pick, the Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro. It performed well in all our tests, although it did take a little longer to reach full blend than the larger, more powerful models we looked at. On our powdered protein drink test, it actually performed better than almost every other blender. Thanks to the small cup size — these are truly single-serving cups — minimal powder stuck to the sides while blending, an annoying issue that some of the larger cups suffered from.

We also appreciated that the Magic Bullet Blender comes with a second single-serving cup, as well as a third “short cup,” so it’s a useful option for more than one person. The cups are easy to clean and won’t take up much room in your cabinet either.

The Magic Bullet Blender’s lids are flat, with an opening like a travel coffee mug, instead of the spouts used by the other blenders we tested. While this design gives the lid a lower profile and makes it secure when transporting, we found it more challenging to drink thick smoothies. This may be a matter of personal preference, but worth noting for those who prefer a spout-style lid.

While the Magic Bullet Blender felt sturdy and featured rubber feet on the bottom to help with stabilization, it did do some slight “walking” across the counter during use. That said, it moved maybe half an inch or so in 60 seconds, so not too big a deal.

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Although these personal blenders look relatively similar, they’re actually more varied than you might think. To help differentiate our options and confidently declare the winners, we tested them across a range of various criteria, from overall operation and ability to blend an assortment of drinks to the usability and security of their travel lids. After testing, we evaluated how each model performed on the following criteria, compared the results and finally chose the two blenders we felt were the best overall.

• User interface/ease of use: We reviewed the instruction manuals and, while operating the blender, noted how easy — or difficult — the blender was to use. Were the controls and user interface intuitive and straightforward, or were they more confusing, requiring some practice?
• Versatility: How many blending modes did each unit offer? More doesn’t always mean better, but it’s good to know, especially if you know you are interested in a specific mode, like “pulse” or “low. ”
• Operation: How powerful was the motor? How quickly did the blades crush, blend or mix the ingredients in the cup? Did the blender struggle and need you to manually shake it to work effectively?

• Frozen berry drink: We filled each cup with a mixture of ice, frozen berries, half a banana and half an apple and evaluated each blender’s ability to crush the ice and blend together the rest of the ingredients. We then judged them on the completeness of the blend as well as the final texture.
• Green smoothie: We filled each cup with kale, spinach and ginger root chopped into half-inch pieces, water and ice, and evaluated the blender on its ability to process the hard and fibrous ingredients. We also judged them on the completeness of the blend as well as the final texture.
• Protein shake: We filled each cup with protein powder, almond milk and ice, evaluating the blenders’ ability to quickly and completely mix the wet and dry ingredients together. We paid close attention to any remaining powder chunks after completion and remnants stuck to the sides of the cup.

• Build quality: Right out of the box, we paid close attention to the blender’s sturdiness and durability. Does it feel flimsy or cheap, or heavy-duty and durable enough to last? Do its components and buttons feel cheap, or made from high-quality materials?
• Stability: While in use, does the blender stay securely in place, or does it wander or vibrate across the counter? This is especially important when it comes to taller blenders with narrow bases.
• Lid quality: A reliable and secure lid is one of the biggest factors to consider when it comes to personal blenders, and we thoroughly tested each one to make sure it was comfortable to drink out of as well as secure enough to prevent spills and leaks while traveling or just walking around the house.
• Accessories: Did the bender include any extra accessories or items like additional blades, shaker lids or cup sizes? These are less important when it comes to personal blenders — we didn’t judge them on their ability to do things like blend nut butters or grind flour, tasks better left to larger, more powerful models — but still worth noting.
• Capacity: How much liquid can the cup hold? Is it too large to be convenient for travel, or too small to be useful?

Maintenance

• Ease of cleanup: How easy was the unit to clean overall? Were the blades difficult to access, was the lid easy to wipe down and were there any design elements of the cup that made them particularly easy or difficult to keep clean?
• Dishwasher safety: Can the cup and lid be washed in the dishwasher? Blenders are notoriously hard to clean, especially when they are allowed to dry, so this is an important consideration.

• We also noted the length and specific warranties of each blender and the types of coverage they offer.

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The diminutive size of personal blenders, compared to full-size models with large pitchers, makes them a convenient and useful appliance for those who are most interested in making single-serving drinks with minimal cleanup.

With single-serving cups and locking travel lids, they are a great choice for those who want to take their smoothies on the go, whether that’s to the gym, class or work. They’re perfect for protein shakes and smoothies, sports drinks and on-the-go meal replacements.

Even if you’re not headed for a workout, they are a cost-effective solution for anybody who would otherwise be buying smoothies or green drinks from a smoothie shop. The relatively low price of personal blenders — our top picks are $100 or under — makes them even more attractive.

Plus, their compact size makes them great for those who don’t have the extra counter space that larger, bulkier blenders would require, and need something small enough that it can easily store away in a cupboard if needed.

While they can’t necessarily do everything a larger blender or food processor can, personal blenders can be used to make a variety of other items. Depending on the power of the unit, they can make satisfying salsas, soups and purées, and a few of the models we tested come with a separate blade for chopping and mixing dry ingredients and can be used to grind up flaxseeds and herbs, and even masticate nuts for nut butters. Salad dressings and condiments like mayonnaise, ketchup or hummus can also be made with most personal blenders. If you’re not sure if a blender has the power or blending mode to make a specific item, you can usually download the user manual online before purchasing.

The heavy-duty feel and sturdy construction of the NutriBullet Original make it a great choice for anyone who prioritizes performance over portability. Its powerful motor handled all our testing with ease and quickly blended anything we put inside the cup. The simple operation was easy to use as well. With no settings or controls to mess with, you just screw on the blade to the cup, flip it over onto the base and press down — immediately activating the blender. The NutriBullet Original performs similarly to the Ninja Nutri-Blender Pro, but its lid isn’t as good, so it isn’t as well-suited to making drinks for on the go.

Even though it was comfortable to drink out of, the latch that covers the spout wasn’t as secure as the Nutri-Blender Pro’s. That being said, if you’re planning to use it around the house and you’re fine drinking smoothies and drinks right out of a lidless cup, this blender could be a good alternative. And its relatively low price makes it an attractive choice for those on a budget.

You won’t find a cheaper personal blender than this Hamilton Beach model. Its single-button control is convenient for anyone who wants to avoid the extra hassle of multiple settings and the lightweight design makes it easy to pick up and shake around any ingredients that aren’t “catching” the blade as you’d like. Unfortunately, we ended up doing this quite a bit during our testing, as the small blades had trouble with the ginger and kale of our green smoothie. The design of this blender also permanently connects the blade assembly to the cup, which makes cleaning inconvenient if you take it to work or the gym. If you’re not able to wash it until you arrive back home, your dried ingredients can be a real challenge to scrub off. The entire unit is dishwasher-safe so this isn’t the end of the world, but it isn’t a great solution. The lid was both tough and messy to remove, and our least favorite among the blenders we tested. Instead of screwing on, you have to press the lid down and snap it into place, which also ended up spilling some of the contents.

Despite its powerful motor and sizable blades, the Oster My Blend’s odd-shaped cup made it impossible to make it a favorite. Unlike the other, more-tapered cups we tested, its cup narrows in the middle, which makes for easy gripping, but creates an annoying bottleneck for ingredients to get stuck while blending. The cup is also a blue color, which makes it difficult to see whether ingredients are mixed in well while you’re blending — a particular challenge with protein powders.

We appreciated other design features, like the carrying handles on the lid and the motor base, as well as the comfortable drinking spout. The Oster does have a powerful motor, blending ingredients easily — so long as they were able to reach the blade. Cleaning wasn’t easy either, and without a long bottle brush, you’ll have trouble getting to the bottom with a sponge — though it can go in the dishwasher.

We had high hopes for this ultra-compact blender, and although its cordless design is interesting, and potentially convenient for some users, we weren’t fans. It charges via USB, which means you don’t have to worry about plugging it in, but it does require you to carry around the entire unit (both the cup and motor base) if you decide to take it anywhere. We found this to be a safety issue, especially when we accidentally pressed the power button to activate the blade while we were drinking out of it. Although this can be remedied by using the lock setting — you press the power button until the purple ring flashes three times — it doesn’t feel intuitive for the user. We’d like to see a separate lock button or switch, although this would obviously take away from the single-button design.

In terms of performance, the BlendJet 2 had some trouble with our leafy vegetable drink, though it may have been due to the size of the greens we used. With better-chopped kale and smaller ginger chunks, it probably could have handled the drink better. But when it came to frozen berry and protein powder drinks, the blender did an admirable job. The carrying strap on the lid was a nice feature, and though it didn’t offer a spout or sipping opening, it stopped leaks and spills by securely screwing on tight.

This is a great blender, we just didn’t think it was a great personal blender. An extremely powerful option, it comes with four drinking cups (including an extra-large 32-ounce pitcher) and an additional blade for chopping, and is simple to use, with a “high,” “low” and “pulse” settings. Unfortunately, what it doesn’t provide is a decent travel lid for drinking on the go, which is an important criteria for a personal blender.

The four included lids all have drinking spouts, but they aren’t secure enough to stay on for travel, and the fifth lid, although it screws on securely, isn’t convenient for casual sipping. All this being said, if you aren’t bringing your blended drinks anywhere or don’t mind transferring them to a different receptacle, the Cuisinart CPB-300 could be a great choice. The inclusion of the extra-large pitcher allows it to work as a full-size blender and the chopping blade increases the variety of ingredients you can blend and the recipes you can make.

This ultra-powerful blender couldn’t be simpler to use, and as with the NutriBullet, you press the cup down to activate the blades. It comes with an impressive amount of accessories — including five different cups and a pair of blades — so like the Cuisinart, it could be a good choice for a full-size blender-style option. It also handled all our testing well, and absolutely pulverized anything we put inside the cup.

The large cup, at 23.6 ounces, is big for single servings, but a bit small for traditional blender duties, and when we tested it with our protein shake we ended up with powder stuck to the sides. We didn’t like the Bella Rocket Extract’s travel lid, which didn’t have an ergonomic spout and wasn’t as comfortable to drink from as our top picks, though it was watertight and secure. Still, it was a close call, and a better-designed lid would have made this one of our top choices.

The Beast Blender is a gorgeous device, with a far more stylish build than the other models we tested. The fluted, ridged oversized cup has a twist-on cap with a carrying handle, and was probably the most overall secure lid we tested. The white base and cup accents were attractive and we enjoyed the single-button control, which provided two modes — pulse and blend. The blend mode is a 1-minute timed cycle, which is made up of three blending periods separated by two pauses to allow for the contents to settle. However, it wasn’t as effective as the Ninja blender’s similar Auto-iQ function.

Unfortunately, the Beast is not dishwasher-safe, and washing by hand is inconvenient because the ridges on the inside of the cup, although they look good, make it a challenge to clean, especially if you’ve left it in your bag all day and the contents have dried on. All that being said, if you are looking for a more design-forward blender, you’re not going to do any better than the Beast Blender.

Read more from CNN Underscored’s hands-on testing

Note: The prices above reflect the retailers’ listed price at the time of publication.

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