9 personal blenders for whipping up morning smoothies

Everyone needs a blender in their kitchen, but not everyone needs a full-sized, high-powered blender permanently sitting on the kitchen counter. For those that live alone, have limited storage space, or just don’t prepare things like icy cocktails very often, a personal blender is a much better fit. Its compact size and specialty containers are perfect for on-the-go types who just want to whip up morning smoothies, shakes, and dips quickly—and then be on their way.

With so many brands offering a variety of personal blenders in various shapes and sizes, deciding on which one to buy can be daunting. To make your life a little easier, we’ve put together a list of 12 of the most popular personal blenders we’ve tested.

1. NutriBullet Select

If you’re looking for the perfect personal blender for everyday use, look no further than the NutriBullet Select. In our testing, this one aced all the blending tasks we threw at it. In addition to advanced features like soup-making and crushing ice reserved for full-sized blenders, this personal blender can tackle basic kitchen tasks beyond making a smoothie.

This 1,000-watt blender has four settings—Extract, High, Low, and Pulse—located on a responsive control pad located on the front of the motor base. When users press Extract, the blender will start a pre-programmed blending cycle that shuts off after one minute. The Pulse feature lets you dice and chop vegetables with ease.

The NutriBullet Select excelled in the smoothie test when we used the Extract setting—the resulting smoothie was perfectly smooth. Plus, the measurement markings on the pitcher come in handy when following a recipe or otherwise measuring ingredients.

Its accessories include a 32-ounce (942 ml) pitcher with a lid, a 24-ounce (710 ml) handled cup, a tamper, and to-go lids. The tamper is useful when making thin batter, gravies, and marinades. It can also be used to scramble eggs and process both cooked foods and uncooked fruits. The to-go lids, cups, and pitcher are top-rack dishwasher-safe.

The only thing we don’t like about the Select is that it’s slightly bigger than our previous winner, which makes it a bit less storage-friendly. However, its slim body still makes it relatively easy to move around and be put away.

Get the NutriBullet Select at Canadian Tire

2. Nutri-Ninja Fit

Ninja’s most basic model of their Nutri-Ninja, the Fit, ultimately earned its place as our favourite personal blender in our first round of testing. It’s the Goldilocks of the category: not too big and powerful, not too small and weak, but just right. We were impressed by its speed and strength when whipping up fruit smoothies, which turned out smooth as can be, and its 700-watt motor’s relatively low noise level while grinding away.

While the blender’s design isn’t visually stunning, its black-and-silver base is sleek and unassuming and, most importantly, small and light enough to easily be stored away. The blender’s 16-ounce (473 ml) containers with measurement marks are similarly sleek and perfectly transportable (they come with tight travel lids!) for on-the-go sipping. The Fit requires users to hold the container down or use the “pulse” method while blending, but this precaution works to prevent motor burn-out and means the blender will last longer than many of its counterparts. It’s so fast, you might not even notice.

As a proud owner of the Fit, Cassidy can attest to its capabilities throughout daily use (and misuse). She's used it to mix up smoothies and shakes, blend butternut squash soup, whip up salad dressing and dips, and even grind granulated sugar into powdered sugar. While she doesn’t recommend that last one, the Nutri-Ninja Fit has taken everything Cassidy threw at it in stride. If you’re looking for a multi-purpose personal blender that’s portable and powerful in equal measure, this is your guy.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that our top pick, NutriBullet Select is only available in a few retail locations in Canada currently. With that blender’s scarcity in mind, the ubiquitous NinjaFit was our best pick of 2020 and is still an excellent alternative.

Get the Nutri-Ninja Fit from Amazon Canada

3. Magic Bullet Blender

If you’re on the hunt for a basic personal blender that will provide your daily smoothie/health shake and nothing else, consider the classic, oft-imitated Magic Bullet. Fast, simple, and very transportable, the Magic Bullet is designed with busy people in mind. While it only has a 250-watt motor, it’s strong enough to handle frozen fruit and most other ingredients with the appropriate amount of liquid added to the blending container.

Throughout testing, the Magic Bullet produced some of the silkiest smoothies with the least fuss. Thanks to their cylindrical shape (no crevices!), its blending containers were also a breeze to clean. Unlike the Nutri-Ninja, the Magic Bullet can also be turned on and remain on without being held down, an appealing convenience. This blender belonged to one of my housemates, and I used it to make smoothies most days for an entire year. For the price, wattage, and functionality, you won’t find anything better.

Get the Magic Bullet Blender from Amazon Canada

4. NutriBullet Pro 1000

The NutriBullet Pro 1000 is the newer, more powerful version of the NutriBullet Pro. Its performance is slightly improved compared to its predecessor, but not impressive enough to top our list.

Its main advantage is how easy it is to use this blender—just plug it into an electrical outlet and twist the blending cup to lock it in place. It’s powerful enough to make a smoothie with no visible chunks of fruit, but it also doesn’t have any additional settings.

It comes with a 32-ounce (946 ml) and a 24-ounce (710 ml) blending cup, and two to-go lids. Despite its relatively high wattage, it’s one of the quietest blenders we’ve tested.

Its size may be great for people with limited kitchen space—you can either store it in the cabinet or leave it on the counter. However, it’s difficult to hand wash with ease because the blending cup is small and the base is narrow. The good news is, the blending cup and to-go lids can be popped in the dishwasher when it's time to clean, just be sure to use the top rack.

Get the NutriBullet Pro 1000 from Amazon Canada

5. NutriBullet Pro 900

The NutriBullet Pro has a powerful 900-watt motor and a cup capacity of 32 ounces (946 ml). Whether you’re making a smoothie for yourself or for making enough to share with others, this blending cup certainly has enough room.

There’s no ON button—all you need to do is place the blending cup on top of the motor base and twist it to lock. It takes about the same amount of time to make a smoothie as the Magic Bullet, and the texture was smooth with no visible ingredient lumps.

It’s also exceptionally stable while doing its job. Some blenders shift around during blending, but I didn’t have to hold down this blender to keep it in one place.

Get the NutriBullet Pro 900 from Amazon Canada

6. NutriBullet 600

The NutriBullet belongs to the same family as the Magic Bullet, and their relationship is evident from appearances. The NutriBullet is essentially a larger, prettier Magic Bullet, branded for its special “nutrient extraction” capabilities (let's be real, it's just a blender). It’s a great multi-purpose personal blender that’s hugely popular online, and it ran through our tests without an issue. Unfortunately, its wide containers, heavy base, and flimsy travel attachments kept us from awarding it the top spot on this list.

If you’re looking to make a lot of smoothie at once and drink it around the house, the NutriBullet is a good option—but if you plan to take the cups with you on the go day after day, you’d be better off with a more travel-friendly blender. And don't be fooled by claims of its superiority in extracting nutrients—put the same ingredients in any of these top-performing blenders, and you'll get the same results.

Get the NutriBullet 600 from Amazon Canada

7. Oster My Blend

The Oster MyBlend looks like someone stuck a Gatorade bottle on a narrow blender base—it’s clearly designed to appeal to fitness fiends who are used to shaking up pre-and post-workout drinks in these kinds of bottles. Due to their narrow openings, we found the containers difficult to fill and clean, and their tinted colours make them look dirty even when clean. And while the Oster churns out a decent smoothie, it’s extremely loud when starting and stopping, so much so I was afraid something was wrong.

It’ll do the job for a low price but seems unlikely to stand the test of time—and you’d be better off with a less difficult product.

Get the Oster My Blend from Amazon Canada

8. Cosori Blender

The size of this Cosori is between a personal and pro-style blender. Its main blending cup boasts a 24-ounce (710 ml) capacity, which is more than enough for most kitchen tasks. It’s designed with a powerful motor with the ability to crush ice, purée, mill seeds, and make smoothies.

Though it’s larger than a Magic Bullet, it doesn’t take up much more space on the counter. Rather, the blending cup is taller and has a wider opening, which allows you to add large chunks of frozen fruit without cutting them into small pieces first.

However, its ability to quickly blend falls in the middle of the pack in terms of other personal blenders we’ve tested. In the smoothie test, we found large chunks of frozen fruit and bits of ice after two minutes of thorough blending. Screwing on the blade attachment was a bit of a struggle, too.

In terms of accessories, it comes with two main blending cups, one 12-ounce cup, and cleaning tools. All blending cups are BPA-free and have travel lids that seal tightly. Our only qualm with the 24-ounce blending cups is that their narrow shape makes them hard to hand wash. That said, everything except the motor base is dishwasher-safe.

Get the Cosori Blender from Amazon Canada

9. Hamilton-Beach Single Serve Blender

This tiny plastic Hamilton Beach blender doesn’t have the inverted design common to the rest of the personal blenders on this list—rather, the blades are built directly into the base of the blending container, as they are in most full-sized blenders. While this doesn’t speak to its actual capabilities, it makes drinking out of the container directly an odd experience—and it means there are zero replacement parts available to you if you lose or break something.

Throughout testing, the Hamilton Beach got the job done but couldn’t produce as smooth of a smoothie as the competition. Its blending button feels flimsy and breakable, and Cassidy can say from her own experience (her boyfriend owned this exact model) that the motor doesn’t last very long. Ultimately, it’s the cheapest blender on this list, in more ways than one.

Get the Hamilton-Beach Single Serve Blender from Amazon Canada