Smoothies are healthy, they are tasty, and they are refreshing too. With that being said, taking smoothies on the go is easier said than done.
However, with the right kind of blender, it is made easier. We want to take a look at the top five contenders for the best portable blender for smoothies that the market has to offer. We’ve got five great options for you to look at.
We’ve evaluated all of these based on a variety of factors. These include things like size, weight, capacity, durability, power level, and more. Let’s get to it and help you find a good blender for making smoothies.
Comparison Chart
Best Portable Blender for Smoothies: Reviews
1. Oster BLSTPB-WPK My Blend Blender
Here we have a super compact and portable blender that comes in at an absolutely fantastic price. It’s perfect for mixing up smoothies on the go.
Review
Here you get a cool blender that comes complete with its own travel sport bottle. The travel sport bottle is 20 oz, so it should be more than large enough for any smoothie or drink purpose. At the same time, it also comes complete with a lid designed to keep everything securely in place.
It features a simple button so you can easily drink from the bottle without having it spill. yes, this bottle is BPA free, so it is totally safe. Furthermore, the bottle is also very easy to clean, thanks to the fact that it is dishwasher safe.
The whole product together comes in at roughly 15 by 7 by 7 inches, which does make it fairly compact. Keep in mind that this does include the blender. Although it’s not exactly the most portable blender around, the bottle certainly is. If you really wanted to, you could certainly take the blender to your workplace and keep it there.
The blender itself comes complete with 250 watts of blending power, which is more than enough to work its way through ice and other solid materials. It should be more than powerful enough, and durable enough, to last for quite some time. In the event that the motor does overheat, there is a resettable fuse that will reset itself within 15 minutes.
We do also like how the unit as a whole is designed to be extremely durable. This is especially the case for the plastic drinking bottle. You could drop this thing dozens of times, and it likely won’t even suffer a scratch. It might be a very simple blender and travel bottle, but it gets the job done. It’s ideal for making smoothies mixed drinks of all sorts.
Pros
- Durable design
- Powerful motor
- Compact and portable
- Dishwasher safe bottle
- BPA free
Cons
- Loud
2. Beast Blender
What we have here is a super high-end and extremely powerful portable blender. It’s more than small enough to be portable, but more than powerful enough to blend virtually any ingredient you could put inside of it.
Review
Right off the bat, what you get here is a blender that features a 1000 Watt motor. That is about as powerful as any blender could possibly get. 1000 watts is more than powerful enough to crush ice, pulverize dry goods, and make smoothies with any ingredient that you see fit.
What’s also cool about this blender is that it features a special vessel designed that helps to increase turbulence and the ability to crush ice. It also comes complete with a one minute blend program along with intervals that allows you to make really creamy smoothies and blended drinks.
Even better is the fact that this is a smart blender. It features special computer chips that act as a brain that help to monitor the speed of the blade. This therefore helps to adjust the speed and torque of the blade, as well as the internal temperature of the unit, to allow for efficient and effective blending.
It also has the ability to avoid overheating when blending hot liquids. Yes, that is right, this blender can handle both hot and cold liquids. It can also handle dry and wet goods, and even ice.
Thanks to that 1000 Watt motor, it really can handle everything. It spins at whopping 18,000 RPM. Moreover, the meticulous design that it features helps to reduce the vibrations and noise created. At the same time, it’s also extremely durable. In fact, this has to be one of the most durable blenders on the list today.
The unit as a whole comes in at 5 by 5 by 16 inches, therefore quite compact. It’s something that can easily fit in a kitchen cupboard. The vessel where you blend your smoothies also acts as a portable container that you can drink from on the go. It comes complete with a carry cap and a drinking lid.
Cleaning is also made easy thanks to the fact that all of the components, besides the actual blender base, are dishwasher safe. Keep in mind that there are also no BPA’s included here, another safety factor to consider.
Pros
- Can handle virtually any ingredient
- Fast and powerful
- Efficient design
- Superior durability
- Easy to clean
- Portable
- BPA free
Cons
- Expensive
3. Hamilton Beach Shakes and Smoothies Personal Blender
Here we have a small, portable, and cost effective blender that comes in at a super reasonable price, yet is more than good enough for making some smoothies for on-the-go.
Review
Here we have a very small blender that comes in at 4 by 4 by 12 inches. This makes it the smallest blender on the list so far today. It’s more than small enough to fit in any kitchen cupboard or even into a drawer. However, keep in mind that the actual travel cup that you get here is about half that size. It’s only about 6 or 7 inches tall, and it can hold 14 ounces.
That small size does make it extremely portable and perfect for being on the go. Of course, it does come with a travel lid, so you don’t make a mess. 14 ounces may not be all that much, but generally speaking, that’s about as much as you’re going to drink in a single sitting. It should be more than enough. Although it’s not the biggest container in the world, it does help with portability.
Just in case it matters, the container is completely BPA free. It is therefore safe. At the same time, everything about the blender base itself is dishwasher friendly. This does make clean up time much easier for you. Speaking of the materials, this blender is designed to last for quite some time. It might only cost just over $20, but it’s still quite durable.
Many people also like the fact that this unit features one touch functionality. Simply put your ingredients in the jar, attach it to the base, and push the button. It really doesn’t get much easier than that. This unit comes complete with stainless steel blades that easily work their way through leafy greens, frozen fruits, ice, and more.
This blender features 175 watts of power. This should be more than enough for a small blender of this size. Just keep in mind that it might not be powerful enough to handle very large quantities of solid goods at once, such as ice. The stainless steel blades are very durable and powerful, but 175 watts of power will only get you so far.
Pros
- Very small and compact
- Fairly durable
- Easy to clean
- Should be powerful enough for most purposes
- BPA free
- Very portable
Cons
- Might have trouble if it’s very full of hard ingredients
- Might be too small for some
4. Cuisinart CPB-300 350 Watt BPA-Free Blender
Here we have a really nice mid-range blender. In terms of the price, it comes in somewhere between our cheapest and most expensive models reviewed so far. All things considered, this is a large, powerful, and efficient blender. It’s big enough to quench your thirst, but small enough to remain portable.
Review
As a whole, this blender comes in at roughly 10 by 16 by 10 inches. It is therefore not the smallest blender on the list, especially when the base is attached. That said, it should still be small enough to fit in your kitchen cupboards. After all, it’s still not massive, not nearly as large as some full-sized blenders.
Speaking of portability, it does of course come with convenient to go travel cups. These travel cups are about half the height of the unit as a whole. This does make them quite portable. They’re more than small enough to fit in a backpack, purse, or any other such thing. The travel cups come with their own special drinking lids. They are secure, so you won’t make a mess, but also easy to drink from.
What’s cool is that here you actually get four separate to go containers, each of which can hold 16 ounces. This means that you can prepare multiple smoothies for yourself at once, without having to clean single cups constantly. You also get a much smaller travel cup for those times where you only want a few sips.
What’s also neat is that you then get a 32 ounce easy grip blending jar. This blending jar comes complete with measurements so you know exactly how much ingredients you are adding. It also comes complete with a special one ounce measured pouring lid. Yes, everything that we have talked about here so far is completely BPA free.
not only are these components BPA free and safe to use, but also dishwasher friendly. Of course, the blender base itself is not dishwasher friendly, but the rest is.
What you then might appreciate about this blender is that it features a 350 Watt motor combined with two patented very sharp stainless steel blades. These blades are designed to be interchangeable for a variety of tasks, so they can handle wet and dry goods with ease, along with ice and frozen fruits. You can also get a low, high, and pulse setting to choose from.
All in all, for the very moderate price that this blender comes in at, we think that it is one of the best options on the list so far. Let’s not forget the fact that the blender base is made out of highly durable stainless steel. In fact, the blender as a whole is designed to last for a very long time.
Pros
- Superior durability
- Plenty of blending power
- 5 cups included + drinking lids
- Special measuring and blending jar
- Portable containers
- BPA Free
- Easy to clean
Cons
- Quite noisy
5. Magic Bullet Blender
You’ve probably seen this particular blender in infomercials, as long as 10 or even 15 years ago. Back then, some people might have thought that the Magic Bullet blender was a complete gimmick, just something to sell on the Shopping Channel. However, it’s been around for well over a decade at this time, and this should prove just how useful it actually is. Let’s take a closer look at the Magic Bullet.
Review
One of the really convenient aspects of this particular blender is that there are literally no buttons to push. To activate the blender, you just push your blender cup down into the base. The fact that it is so easy to use is something that many people appreciate.
Moreover, this unit comes complete with a 250 Watt high torque power base. 250 watts should be more than powerful enough to work its way through any food you put in it. As a whole, this blender is designed to be very durable.
The special blades included here are cross blades. These blades specially designed to be able to handle virtually any type of food. You can easily put frozen fruit, ice, dry goods, wet goods, and anything in between. The magic bullet is very versatile in this sense. You can easily mix sauces, dips, smoothies, and everything in between.
Something else that we appreciate about this unit is how compact it is. As a whole, it comes in at 7 by 13 by 11 inches. It should therefore easily fit into any kitchen cupboard or drawer. You might also like how it comes complete with three separate cups, a tall cup, a short cut, and a party cup.
One of them even comes complete with its own handle, therefore making it extremely portable. You also get a special hinged drinking related, so you can easily drink from the containers while on the go, while also not making a huge mess.
Yes, all of the components here are BPA free, so you never have to worry about anything contaminating your food. At the same time, all of the cups are top rack dishwasher safe, and easy to rinse out. Speaking of saving time, many people also like how this unit features what is called a cyclonic cutting zone. Simply put, it just makes it operate much faster and more efficiently.
Pros
- Fast and efficient
- BPA free
- Very easy to use
- Easy to clean
- Affordable
- Super portable
Cons
- Very loud
- Cup rings wear down rather quickly
Buyers Guide
Before we call it a day, let’s provide you with some very useful tips on how to choose the best blender for making smoothies.
1. Weight
You always want to pay attention to the weight of the blender. Now, see we’re not necessarily talking about the blender base, as this is not really designed to be portable. However, the weight of the cups that you will drink out of when you are on the go should be considered. Anything more than a few oz is generally too heavy. These should just be lightweight plastic cups.
2. Size
You then also want to consider the size of the blender as a whole. Now, here we are not talking about just the blender cups, but the whole unit. The reason we say this is because you have limited kitchen space. Some people just can’t fit massive blunders in their kitchens. Therefore, you do want to consider how much kitchen space you have to spare in comparison to the size of the blender you are looking at.
3. Wattage
You then also want to consider the wattage or power level of the blender in question. Generally speaking, the larger the blender is the more power it needs to have. Moreover, if you expect to blend things like frozen fruits and chunks of ice, then you also need a significant amount of power.
We generally recommend not going for a blender that has any less than 250 watts of power. The more watts your blender can muster, the better it will be able to work its way through a variety of foods. It will also be able to work much faster if it has more power.
4. Capacity
You do then also want to consider the capacity of the blender cups. Some can hold just 6 oz, some 10, and some up to 20 oz. it really depends on how large of a smoothie you want to consume on a regular basis.
5. Cleanability
The next thing to consider when choosing a portable blender is how easy it is to clean. The blender base itself is never going to be dishwasher friendly, but you should be able to easily wipe it down with a wet cloth.
However, blender cups should generally be dishwasher friendly. They might not be bottom rack friendly, but they should always be top rack friendly. You should also look for a blender that comes with minimal components that require cleaning. Some blenders have many more parts than others, and they all need to be cleaned.
6. Safety
The next consideration here is safety, by which we mean materials. Specifically, you always want to look for blender cups that do not contain any BPA or any other such toxic materials. You definitely don’t want these toxic substances leaching into your foods.
7. Price
Of course, price is generally always going to be a big consideration for most people. Without being said, do keep in mind that you get what you pay for. A $200 blender is probably going to be a bit better than a $20 blender. When it comes to price versus functionality, there are obviously some trade-offs to consider.
8. Durability
The final consideration you should keep in mind here is durability. Just make sure that the blender in question is made out of decently solid materials so that it doesn’t come apart on during the first use.
FAQs
#1 Is A Portable Blender As Good As A Full-Size Blender?
Both size blenders will generally be a lot more powerful than portable blenders. Full size blenders will also have more space. With that being said, if you need something portable, then a smaller unit is called for. There is a trade off to consider here, size versus power.
#2 Are portable blenders dishwasher-safe?
The blender cups themselves that you actually drink out of should always be dishwasher safe. However, the blender base, which contains electronics, is not dishwasher safe.
#3 Can a portable blender crush ice?
Some portable blenders can and some cannot crush ice. It really depends on the blade configuration and the level of power. However, all of the blenders we have looked at today can indeed crash ice.
#4 Can you bring a portable blender on a plane?
Portable blenders may be brought in your carry-on bags if the blade has been removed and put in your checked baggage. The blades are not allowed in your carry-on baggage.
#5 What can you do with a portable blender?
Portable blenders can usually blend hot and cold ingredients, dry and liquid ingredients, and can usually even handle things like frozen fruit and ice cubes.
Conclusion
We think that the best option on the list today is the Cuisinart CPB-300 350 Watt BPA-Free Blender. It’s not the cheapest nor the most expensive, but it comes with a whole lot of value. It features a powerful motor, it’s easy to clean, durable, and has plenty of space too.
