Credit:
Reviewed / Tim Renzi
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Credit:
Reviewed / Tim Renzi
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The Cuisinart is substantial and powerful. It easily blends everything from a basic smoothie to a piña colada with full-size ice cubes. Read More
This powerful cordless blender makes excellent smoothies, is easy to use, and light enough to take on the go. Read More
For a small inexpensive appliance, the BlendJet 2 has excellent blending performance, even when whole nuts and full-size ice cubes are involved. Read More
This pricey model is powerful enough to crush ice and pulverize nuts. However, it’s heavy to lug around and not particularly easy to use. Read More
If a small size is your top priority, this is worth considering. While it blends well and can crush ice and nuts, it’s very hard to fill. Read More
A portable blender lets you whip up a smoothie or a protein shake at the gym, office, picnic site, or anywhere else. These cordless wonders can cost as little as the price of a pizza or as much as a countertop blender. We tested top models at a range of prices to learn whether more money buys you a smoother drink.
The best portable blender, the Cuisinart Evolution X Cordless Blender (available at Cuisinart) , quickly and easily blends everything you give it. It makes thick beverages like fruit and yogurt smoothies. But that’s not all! It also makes tasty cocktails like piña coladas made with full-size ice cubes.
If you’re looking to spend a little less, our Best Value pick is the Ninja Blast (available at Ninja). It performs just as well as our winner. However, you have to keep the vessel on the base while drinking.
The Cuisinart Evolution X is a lot like a regular blender, but you can take it on the go.
This cordless blender has a lightweight design, is very easy to use, and makes fully blended smoothies.
Compact
Pulverizes ice and nuts
Pulse and lock modes
Larger jars available
No parts are dishwasher safe
Shorter-than-overage runtime on a single charge
Large capacity
Pulverizes ice and nuts
Comes with a sipping lid and storage bag
Pricey
Tricky to position jar on base
Need to hold button down for entire run time
Noisy
Compact
Pulverizes small pieces of ice, frozen fruit, and nuts
Small mouth is comfortable for drinking
Very small capacity
Narrow mouth makes bottle hard to fill
No parts are dishwasher safe
Difficult to read owner’s manual
Can drink from jar without blade in bottom
Small mouth is comfortable for drinking
Comes with funnel and mini ice cube tray
Parts are dishwasher safe
Can’t use full-size ice cubes
Narrow mouth makes bottle hard to fill
Compact
Very small capacity
Can’t pulverize ice, frozen fruit, or nuts
Very difficult to read owner’s manual
We blended up seven different drinks in each blender, then tasted and strained them to see how well they blended.
We tested each blender by making seven different drinks of increasing difficulty. The first test was a basic strawberry-banana smoothie without frozen ingredients.
Next, we stepped up to a green smoothie that included fibrous spinach and kale, then a protein shake containing peanut butter. To further test the power of the blender, we whipped up a protein shake with whole almonds.
At that point, we moved on to frozen ingredients: first, a smoothie with frozen fruit, then one with frozen fruit and ice cubes. Finally, we made a piña colada with frozen pineapple and ice.
We tasted each drink to determine its consistency and to evaluate the experience of sipping from the cup. Then we poured each one through a sieve. This let us assess its thickness based on how quickly it ran through. It also helped us determine whether any ingredients remained unblended.
We takek into consideration how easy it is to use the jar. We give points for a helpful owner’s manual. We check whether the parts can go in the dishwasher. We also try washing each by hand to see how easy it is to clean manually.
In the lab, we measured how loud each blender was during blending. We also calculate the battery life of a single charge. This translates to how many drinks you can blend before needing to recharge.
There's a lot to consider when deciding which on-the-go blender is right for you.
Portable blenders are small and easy to operate. It’s got a single control button. It’s design runs automatically in short spurts.
Unlike full-size models, it doesn’t need to plug into an outlet. Rather, they charge ahead of time, often with a USB cable. That means if you’re on a road trip or at the beach without access to electricity, you can charge them in the car.
To use a cordless blender away from home, you have to carry your ingredients with you. Anything that’s perishable, like yogurt or fruit, should stay cold. If you want to incorporate ice or frozen fruit, you’ll have to travel with a well-insulated cooler.
As with any kitchen appliance, there’s a bit of food prep required. When you’re on the go, your best bet is to measure and cut your ingredients and fill the blender jar at home. That way, you don’t need to bring utensils like a paring knife or spatula to your office or gym. Just be sure to tuck a few ice packs around the blender so you’re not drinking a lukewarm smoothie.
On many models, you remove the lid to drink your beverage. Unfortunately, the sipping experience is less than optimal. The blade is still at the bottom of the jar, and there are threads around the rim. (You do of course have the option of using a straw.)
On other models, you use a blending lid containing the blade to process your drink. Then you can replace that with a sipping lid, turning the jar into a travel mug. Some also come with a protective cover for the blade so you don’t have a messy lid with a sharp blade to contend with.
Portable blenders are a great middle ground between a family-sized appliance and the compact personal blender space. They’re versatile, and great for a variety of situations away from home. As long as the model you buy is powerful enough for your needs, a portable blender is a fantastic option.
In our tests, we find that blenders boasting power to handle nuts, frozen fruits, and ice meet the challenge. Be sure to check that any blender you’re considering claims it can pulverize them.
Sharon Franke
Contributor
Sharon has tested and reviewed kitchen equipment for over 30 years. Before becoming a cooking tools maven, she worked as a professional chef in New York City restaurants.
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