A blender is a super-useful kitchen tool. Pick a model from our list of the best blenders, and you’ll be able to make perfect smoothies, crush ice, make deserts and blend ingredients for soups and sauces in an instant. Their versatility alone should make them a must-have.
There’s are plenty of models on the market, but since we’ve been reviewing blenders for years, we’ve whittled through our top reviews and present you with a list of our favourites below.
1. KitchenAid Artisan Blender K400
The overall best blender that money can buy
Pros:
- Extremely powerful
- Neat automated programmes
- Excellent build quality
Cons:
- Expensive
- Ships with one jug
Why we liked the KitchenAid Artisan Blender K400
When it comes to build quality, one name comes out top: KitchenAid – and the Artisan Blender K400 is up there with the company’s best. Comprising a solid glass jug and metal base, this is a super-hefty and incredibly well-made blender. The advantage of that glass jug is that you can blend hot ingredients with this model, too, so you can blitz soups without issue.
With a powerful 1200W motor at its heart, the Artisan Blender K400 is one of the most powerful blenders you can buy, and it comes with special automatic programmes for crushing ice, making smoothies, creating frozen drinks – and cleaning. Plus, you get five manual speeds and a pulse control.
The K400 swept through our series of tests with ease. It turned ice into snow, made a perfect smoothie, and even managed to grind some coconut flakes without leaving chunks behind. We love the cleaning programme, too: you get a clean jug in a matter of minutes, after adding water and drop of washing-up liquid.
This blender is fairly expensive, but the build quality, performance and range of colours it’s available in make it worth the money. If you want the best, this is it.
KitchenAid Artisan Blender K400 Technical Specs
- Blender type: Jug blender
- Size: 401 x 193 x 229mm
- Controls: 5 speeds, pulse, ice crush, smoothie, frozen drink and clean
- Motor power: 1200W
- Accessories included: 1.4-litre glass jug
Read the full review
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2. Ninja 2-in-1 Blender With Auto-IQ BN750UK
The most versatile all-rounder
Pros:
- Lots in the box
- Simple controls
- Very powerful
- Crushes and blends fast
Cons:
- Very loud
- Doesn’t handle dry ingredients very well
Why we liked the Ninja 2-in-1 Blender With Auto-IQ BN750UK
Ninja has a reputation for making well-priced, powerful appliances that come with plenty of accessories – and you’ll be pleased to learn that the Ninja 2-in-1 Blender With Auto-IQ BN750UK is no different. This powerful 1200W model comes with a 2.1-litre jug for larger ingredients and a 700ml single-serve cup that you can carry away with you.
Ninja’s Auto-IQ programmes include special modes to crush ice, blend and max blend (the latter is for tougher ingredients). Plus, you get three manual speeds and a pulse control. Since the two jugs are made of plastic, you can’t use hot ingredients in this model. If you’re finishing off a soup then you’ll need to wait for it to cool, blend and then reheat. Nevertheless, build quality is good, and both jugs they’re dishwasher-safe.
Performance is generally excellent, too. We found that ice was crushed into snow, a salsa was produced to a level almost as good as a food processor could handle, and it blended a smoothie – incorporating pineapple, mint and ice – perfectly. Note that this model did struggle to grind dry ingredients, and it’s also very loud. Still, for total performance and value, the Ninja 2-in-1 Blender With Auto-IQ BN750UK is a great choice.
Ninja 2-in-1 Blender With Auto-IQ BN750UK Technical Specs
- Blender type: Jug blender
- Size: 401 x 193 x 229mm
- Controls: 3 speeds, pulse, crush, blend and max blend
- Motor power: 1200W
- Accessories included: 2.1-litre jug; 700ml self-serve jug
Read the full review
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3. Morphy Richards 403010 Total Control Blender
Simple, stylish and cheap – this is a great budget blender with a glass jug
Pros:
- Affordable
- Sturdy glass jug
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Ice crushing could be better
Why we liked the Morphy Richards 403010 Total Control Blender
Who said that blenders have to be expensive to be good and well made? The Morphy Richards 403010 Total Control Blender proves this doesn’t have to be the case: this model comes with a glass – rather than plastic – jug, which is practically unheard of at this price.
The model is rather simplistic overall, though, with no programmes, and just five speeds and a pulse control. Still, even with this manual control, this 600W blender does a decent job in most instances. For a smoothie, the majority of ingredients were handled well – but tougher items, such as citrus skins, proved harder. Likewise, it crushed ice just fine, but the results comprised of larger chunks compared to those from more powerful blenders.
This blender is hand-wash only, but at least the Morphy Richards 403010 Total Control Blender is easy to take apart. You can get better results elsewhere, but if you want a good blender for occasional use that comes in at a great price then you won’t go far wrong with this one.
Morphy Richards 403010 Total Control Blender Technical Specs
- Blender type: Jug blender
- Size: 390x 160 x 160mm
- Controls: 5 speeds and pulse
- Motor power: 600W
- Accessories included: 1.5-litre jug
Read the full review
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4. Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender
The ultimate tool for semi-professionals
Pros:
- Four programmes
- Heats soup using friction
- Minimal noise
Cons:
- Investment buy
- Heavy jug
- Jug isn’t dishwasher-safe
Why we liked the Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender
For those who are after the ultimate performance and control from their blender, the Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender is for you. This incredible, industrial-looking blender is designed for semi-professional use.
You can see that in the range of controls it comes with. While most blenders have a simple pulse control that operates at full speed, the Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender has a pulse button that operates at any of the set speeds (12 in total), offering super-fine control. In addition, programmes for drinks, ice, puree and soup take the hard work out all jobs.
And not only can you blend soups, you can make hot soups, too, with the blender uses friction to heat the ingredients. It’s actually quite impressive, turning our raw ingredients into steaming-hot and smooth soups in under 10 minutes. Needless to say, this 1200W blender made short work of all of our tests: we achieved perfectly crushed ice and perfectly smooth smoothies (even with tough ingredients). It can also grind well, to make fresh milled flour, for example.
You can clean the Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender by hand, or place some water and washing up liquid in the jug and ‘blend’ the mixture to get it clean. Note, though, that this model isn’t dishwasher-safe.
There’s no getting away from the high price, but if you want the absolute best blender with the finest level of control, then you won’t find better than this.
Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender Technical Specs
- Blender type: Jug blender
- Size: 454 x 191 x 229mm
- Controls: Drinks, puree, soup, ice crush, 12 speeds and pulse
- Motor power: 1200W
- Accessories included: 1.6-litre jug
Read the full review
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5. Philips Avance High-Speed Vacuum Blender HR3752
Less foamy drinks thanks to the vacuum technology
Pros:
- Powerful blending
- Preset programme
- Bubble-free results
- Dishwasher-safe
Cons:
- No hot ingredients
- No grinding
- Extra time for vacuum creation
Why we liked the Philips Avance High-Speed Vacuum Blender HR3752
If you mostly want a blender for making drinks, then the Philips Avance High-Speed Vacuum Blender HR3752 is perfect. As well as having standard spinning blades, this model features a vacuum that removes air from the jug before blending. The result is a smoothie that looks brighter and is less frothy than those made using other blenders.
We saw similar results when we blended soup, in the form of a smooth and brightly coloured liquid. There are some restrictions to the vacuum tech, however. First, you can’t grind dry ingredients, since small particles can damage the vacuum unit, and you can’t use hot ingredients, hence we had to wait for the soup to cool before we could blend it.
Opting for the special ice-crush programme, the 1400W motor quickly turned ice cubes into snow. Philips includes a vacuum and blend programme, plus a vacuum-only option that then lets you pick one of the 12 manual speeds or pulse option.
Less flexible than the competition, the Philips Avance High-Speed Vacuum Blender HR3752 is a solid mid-range blender that’s ideally suited to making smoothies.
Philips Avance High-Speed Vacuum Blender HR3752 Technical Specs
- Blender type: Jug blender
- Size: 435 x 170 x 200mm
- Controls: Ice crush, vacuum and blend, vacuum, 12 speeds and pulse
- Motor power: 1400W
- Accessories included: 1.8-litre jug
Read the full review
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Best Blender Round Up
- KitchenAid Artisan Blender K400: The overall best blender that money can buy
- Ninja 2-in-1 Blender With Auto-IQ BN750UK: The most versatile all-rounder
- Morphy Richards 403010 Total Control Blender: Great budget blender with a glass jug
- Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender: The ultimate tool for semi-professionals
- Philips Avance High-Speed Vacuum Blender HR3752: Less foamy drinks thanks to the vacuum technology
How we choose our best blenders
Quality testing is at the heart of everything we do, so you can be confident that we’ve seen and tested all of the products we recommend. To determine how good each blender is, we run through the same set of tests on each.
Testing Criteria
- We crush ice
- We mix smoothies
- We see how well each model deals with grinding down dry ingredients
- How easy each model is to use
- How easy it is to clean.
The end result is that we can offer an informed opinion on the best blenders for all budgets.
Blender buying guide
What should I look for in a blender? A blender is designed to quickly turn ingredients into smooth results without leaving any bits. One of the main uses for a blender is for making smoothies, but they have other uses around the kitchen, too. If you want to make soup, then you can blend the final mixture, although you should check whether or not you have to let the soup cool first, as not all blenders can handle hot ingredients.
Blenders can also be great for crushing ice and making salsas, while some can grind dry ingredients (our reviews tell you which). Look out for dedicated programmes that can get you results quickly, such as a smoothie mode, soup mode (the best ones heat ingredients) or ice crush.
You should also have manual speed settings – the more the better, letting you go from a slow speed to making dishes with larger chunks, such as salsas, to perfectly smooth smoothies. A pulse mode is a must, letting you fine-tune results with a quick burst of the motor.
Check how powerful a blender is by its motor rating: high-end blenders come with 1200W motors or higher, which means they’ll be able to cope with all sorts of ingredients; budget blenders often have motors around 600W, which means they may struggle with tougher ingredients.
Make sure that your blender is large enough for what you want to do. Typically speaking, a 1.5-litre blender can cope with drinks for a couple of people or soups and salsas for a family; look for a larger jug if you have more people to feed.
Should I get a blender with a glass or plastic jug? Most blenders have a plastic jug, but they’re well made. Usually the more expensive blenders have glass jugs. Glass is less likely to become stained, less likely to get marked by tough ingredients, such as ice, and is overall more robust. However, drop a glass jug and it will shatter, plus they’re heavy. Plastic jugs are lighter and easier to hold, but they can stain and become marked.
What accessories should I look for? For those who want to get the most use out of their blender, look for a model that comes with accessories, either in the box or available separately. A single-serve cup is great for making drinks to take on the go, so you don’t have to decant from the large jug into a travel cup. Smaller jugs can be handy for making smaller quantities. And, look out for jars, if you want to grind dry ingredients, for example.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
