Blenders: Blender Reviews, Best Blenders

Best general-use blender

We found mixed reviews for most blenders priced from $50 to $100, but ratings for the Oster Beehive blender are more consistently positive. While other blenders seem to have nagging durability problems, this simple Oster… blender holds up better than others. In fact, the main complaint we read is that it's loud. The Oster Beehive has a 500-watt motor and a tapered, stain-resistant 40-ounce glass jar that helps funnel food to the blades. The Beehive has just two speeds, but if you mainly want to puree soups and make smoothies, the Oster is a reliable, all-purpose home blender that's not overly complex.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

Cook's Illustrated: For this test, Cook's Illustrated's editors whipped up broccoli soup, smoothies and pesto in nine inexpensive blenders. The Oster ...

The Wall Street Journal: Passy tests several blender models and lists the pros and cons for each. He praises the Oster Beehive as "powerful" and says it ...

Money Magazine: This short article discusses three blenders, including the Oster Beehive Blender, which is the author's budget pick. Testing ...

Amazon.com: There are more than 100 reviews at Amazon.com for the Oster Classic Beehive blender. Overall, most owners are happy with it, ...

Target.com: In more than 55 reviews at Target.com, the Oster Beehive blenders have an average score of four out of five stars. Most owners ...

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Budget blender

Oster 6684

*Est. $40 Compare Prices

In this price range, lots of blenders get very low ratings from owners. The 12-speed Oster 6684 does a bit better than most $40 blenders. Owners say its fine for pureeing soups and making smoothies with soft fruits. The… complaints mainly come from people who had hoped for smooth icy drinks; they say this Oster blender can leave some lumps of ice behind. The 450-watt Oster blender comes with a 40-ounce glass jar.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

Cook's Illustrated: The testers at Cook's Illustrated compare nine inexpensive blenders on their ability to puree broccoli soup, crush ice for ...

Good Housekeeping: Good Housekeeping tests 16 blenders, but editors only highlight the top four, so we don't know which blenders didn't make the ...

Amazon.com: Consumers posting to Amazon.com award the Oster 6684 blender an above average rating in over 50 reviews. Most owners are happy ...

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Best for icy drinks

Breville ikon Hemisphere BBL600XL

*Est. $200 Compare Prices

If you're going to use a blender frequently, especially for frozen fruit and ice, testers and consumers agree that the Breville ikon blender has the oomph to pulverize ice. In independent testing, the Breville ikon ranks… just a hair underneath models costing twice as much. The ikon has a beefy 750-watt motor, a 54-ounce jar and "Ice Crush" and "Smoothie" settings. If you mainly plan on more mundane smoothie-making and pureeing soup, the ikon is probably overkill.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

ConsumerReports.org: Consumer Reports' team crushes ice, makes frozen drinks and purees veggies with 31 blenders, rating each on performance ...

PopularMechanics.com: The Breville ikon blender is one of the models included in this test of three models. Editors emphasize ice crushing ability ...

Amazon.com: Most of the more than 50 consumers at Amazon.com praise the Breville ikon Hemisphere BBL600XL, saying that its ability to crush ...

Buzzillions.com: Buzzillions sucks in reviews from other websites. For the Breville ikon Hemisphere, they come from diverse sites such as ABT ...

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Multifunction blender

Vita-Mix 5200

*Est. $450 Compare Prices

The Vita-Mix 5200 wins raves from owners, who say it never balks at pulverizing whole fruits and vegetables, turns ice to snow in seconds, and even crushes wheat berries into flour. This industrial-strength blender boasts… 2 hp of power, a huge 64-ounce, durable, BPA-free jar and a seven-year warranty. Owners say that if you use a blender daily -- particularly for tough jobs -- this workhorse is for you. The Vita-Mix's blades spin quickly enough to turn room-temperature ingredients into hot soup in about five minutes.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

ConsumerReports.org: Editors at Consumer Reports test 31 blenders, ranking them in order of overall points tallied from individual tests on pureeing, ...

Cook's Illustrated: The Vita-Mix 5000 (now the Vita-Mix 5200) is included in Cook's Illustrated's tests of nine fancy blenders that claim to do more ...

Wine Spectator: Sam Gugino, a longtime kitchen-gear tester, evaluates five more expensive blenders. Tests include cheese grating, pureeing soups ...

Amazon.com: More than 40 owner-written reviews mostly praise the Vitamix's power and ability to prepare everything from soup to ground nuts. ...

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eBay

for $425.00

Kitchen Universe