All products featured on Epicurious are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
I’ve tested over 30 blenders in my six years at Epicurious. In all that testing I’ve found—like many before me—that Vitamix makes the absolute best models in the business. But I don’t own a Vitamix. Instead, I’ve cycled through a couple of personal-sized blenders at home: first the classic Nutribullet, then the Zwilling Efinigy.
For my specific blending needs, the most powerful blender in the biz just isn’t necessary. I use my blender most often to make pretty simple smoothies for one, and it’s easier to whir together the exact right quantity in a smaller blender. I often cook dinner for just myself and have found that I can make just the right amount of green sauce or butternut squash soup in a personal-sized blender. Even in those instances when I need to purée something for a dinner party, a personal blender is roomy enough. And for tougher jobs and bigger batches, I also have a food processor and immersion blender to fall back on.
But as much as I love them, there are a few issues I’ve found repeatedly in using these kinds of bullet-style blenders. So, I was excited to try a new model from Nutribullet that claimed to address some of these problems, like noise and leaks. The Nutribullet Ultra is supposed to be the brand’s most powerful but also quietest model yet. I lived with it for several weeks and put it to the test against the Zwilling Effinigy blender that won our product test. Here’s my Nutribullet Ultra review:
What I liked about the Nutribullet Ultra
The Nutribullet Ultra features a 1,200-watt motor, which, for comparison, is still much less powerful than the full-sized, high-powered Vitamix Explorian at 1,490 watts, but much more powerful than the average personal blender. For example, the Zwilling has 500 watts and the standard Nutribullet has 600. This is by far the most powerful personal blender on the market to date. And it shows.
This blender substantially outperformed the Zwilling in an ice crushing test. It even did a nice job of crushing extra large square cubes into little shards like an ice shaving machine. It blended through the smoothie we always use in blender testing (a tough combo of nuts, dates, and leafy greens) faster than the Zwilling, and yielded a smoother, creamier result. Thanks to this power, the blender is also much quieter than the Zwilling. You’re never going to get the creamy textures you’d get in a high-powered blender in a personal one, but I found that this blender came the closest of the many I’ve tried.
Stability is often an issue with personal blenders; sometimes they require you to keep a hand on top to steady the blending jar and keep it from moving around on your counter. The Nutribullet Ultra features suction cup feet that keep the blender attached to the countertop—this no doubt also contributes to the machine’s quietness. I’m skeptical that the suction power on these cups will stand up over years, but for its first month out of the box, this was a smart additional design feature.
Another frequent problem in this bullet blender style? Leakage. With personal blenders, the lid of the blending container contains the blade. To assemble you screw it on to the container filled with whatever you want to blend, tip it all upside down, and fit it into the base, which contains the motor. This design is clever and space-saving, but it also makes the blender prone to leaking from that connection point—particularly if you overfill it.
The Nutribullet Ultra never leaked. That’s because it’s equipped with a thick-rimmed lid that’s particularly secure. The lid has a wide lip, which means any liquid that does manage to leak out will get caught before it could make its way to the motor base of the blender.
The wide, bulky lip on the lid also makes it easier and more comfortable to unscrew from the blender. Particularly when you blend hot liquids, it can be hard to remove the lid from personal blenders, and this design mitigates that problem.
The container also securely clicks into the base; another useful departure from the common personal blender design that often involves pressing down on the lid to operate. Once you do lock the blending container in, two lights come on at the base, offering touch-operated blending and pulsing. The click-in feature feels like a step up because it means you can operate this machine hand’s free. And the touch-screen buttons are sleek and easy to operate.
What I didn’t like about the Nutribullet Ultra
While not entirely fair to the Nutribullet Ultra (or any personal blender) I do have to compare it to a blender-blender. It’s less powerful than the full-sized, high-powered blenders that have broken from the restaurant industry into the regular home kitchen market in the past 15 years. If you want to make nut butter or crush massive quantities of ice, or frequently blend large batches of soup, you should absolutely consider splurging on a real-deal Vitamix.
Also, some aspects of the finish quality on the Nutribullet Ultra don’t feel that luxe: The Ultra’s base is made of plastic, whereas the Zwilling and some other Nutribullets are made of metal. Like I said above, I worry about the longevity of the suction cups that adhere the base to the counter (though they are extremely strong out of the box). But those are trade-offs for some other improvements you’ll find on the Ultra. The blade (which the company claims is an improvement on previous models thanks to a titanium coating over the stainless-steel that makes it stay sharp longer) is under warranty for 5 years. And this blender costs only $150 at the time of writing, compared to a whopping $300-$700 for a Vitamix. Considering its comparatively high horsepower, this is a good bang for your buck when it comes to power.
The takeaway
If you need to go beyond smoothies, sauces, or smaller quantities of soups, you should read our full blender review. But when it comes to personal blenders, this is simply the most powerful and best option on the market right now.
