The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
If you like a morning smoothie or post-workout protein shake, you might be sick of lugging your bulky full-size blender out of the cupboard and cleaning it afterward. That's where personal blenders come in. These small, single-serve blenders are meant for drinks like smoothies and help save on dishes since most come with jars that double as travel cups. Plus, as long as you don't need a large-capacity jar (most models hold 30 ounces at most), the best personal blenders can even help with tougher jobs like nut butter or crushed ice.
The Ninja Foodi Power Nutri Duo is a versatile, higher-end personal blender. While cheaper options exist, its overall performance is hard to beat, especially as it has useful additional features. Its two 24-ounce personal jars come with resealable to-go lids. It blends fibrous smoothie ingredients like fruit and leafy greens extremely well, so your smoothies will turn out perfectly smooth. It also easily crushes ice for slushies or blended cocktails and can get the job done in a minute or two.
Unlike most personal blenders, it comes with a Smoothie Bowl Maker. This jar has rotating arms that help make it easier to blend thicker smoothies, nut butter, or hummus. However, it can't blend hot ingredients and is also very loud.
The Magic Bullet Blender is a good option if you want to spend less. Its price depends on what colour you get, but it's available for less than $100. This smaller blender isn't as well-built as the Ninja and comes with smaller 13 and 15-ounce jars. Still, it easily blends fibrous ingredients in recipes like fruit smoothies. However, it's more challenging to use for something like nut butter, and the manufacturer warns against using it to crush ice without liquid in the jar.
There's a to-go lid included, so you can use one of the jars as a travel cup, and it comes with a couple of cup rings, which fit over the lip of the jar to make it more pleasant to use as a drinking glass at home. Most of its components are dishwasher-safe, except for the blade.
Portable personal blenders are battery-powered, so you can charge them up and blend a smoothie anywhere. You can't expect the same performance from these blenders as a conventional plug-in blender, but the Ninja Blast is still a solid option for smoothies and protein shakes. It's well-built and has an 18-ounce jar. The lid has a flip-up cover that you can open with the push of a button, which makes it easy to open with one hand when you're on the go.
If your recipe includes fibrous fruit or greens, it won't make the same smooth blend as the other blenders listed here. Still, it does a decent job, even with tough ingredients like kale. It's a solid choice if you're mostly making liquified smoothies and shakes. This blender can be annoying to clean since the blades are attached to the motor base, which you can't immerse in water.
Consider the Beast Health Blender if you want to avoid anything loud but still want lots of power. It's very expensive for a personal blender, but to give credit where it's due, it has a very sturdy metal build and a sleek, modern look that you might like. The jar has a 34oz capacity and a lid you can use to drink on the go. More importantly, it has a fantastic blending performance and is quiet for a personal blender. It makes less noise than the Ninja Foodi Power Nutri DUO and performs similarly.
You can blend silky-smooth smoothies with fruits and veggies, make snow-like crushed ice for cocktails, or whip up smaller batches of nut butter and hummus without much effort. It's easy to clean by hand; the jar and lid are dishwasher-safe. The blades have to be cleaned by hand, though.
Personal blenders are a great alternative to traditional full-size models if you mostly make smoothies or want to save space. Because of their design, steam can't escape from the jar, so they can't blend hot ingredients. Otherwise, a good personal blender can help with almost anything a regular blender can, from smoothies to dips and spreads.
Written by Theresa Ketterling, RTINGS.com
Disclaimer: The prices displayed are accurate at the time of publication. We'll do our best to keep them as up-to-date as possible, but you may see slight changes. The products in this list are ranked by independent third parties. Rankings are based on both reviews and independent testing.