In this BlenderReviewer.com buyer’s guide, we’re going to list our top picks for the best blender under $500. With so many amazing models by companies such as Vitamix, Blendtec, Nutri Ninja, KitchenAid, Waring, and Kenwood… which one should you buy?
While brand is important, there are some other important things to consider…
- What will you be blending?
- What features are most important to you?
- Is it easy to clean?
- And finally, what is the warranty coverage?
First of all, how do you want to use a blender? Are you just going to be using it to make the occasional smoothie, or do you also want to make soups, ice creams, salad dressings, dips, and spreads? For $500, a good blender should be able to do all of these things in addition to grinding, chopping, mixing, pureeing, preparing batters, and kneading dough.
Also, take a close look at the blender’s features. Find out the number of pre-programmed settings in the blender, the number of speeds, whether there is the pulse function, the jar size, and whether you can add ingredients while blending. Also, check out how powerful the motor is and whether the blender is good with ice.
Some blenders in the $500 range have self-cleaning capabilities where all you have to do is push a button. But does it clean well? Do the blades get clean? Does it have switches and knobs or touchscreen controls? Touch controls are much easier when it comes to cleanup.
Finally, you should expect a long manufacturer warranty when you’re spending $500 on a blender. Always make sure that you’re getting at least a 3-year warranty from the manufacturer. The more the better!
There are definitely a number of important issues to consider when shopping for a blender in this price range. We’ve carried out an extensive analysis of the available models and narrowed down the pack to the best-of-the-best.
And now without further ado, let’s get to our top picks for this year’s best blender under $500…
Best Blenders Under $500
| MODEL | FEATURES | MOTOR | WARRANTY | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vitamix Ascent A2300 | Variable speeds, pulse, wireless connectivity, digital timer, tamper | 2.2 peak horsepower | 10-year, 30-day money back guarantee |  |
Blendtec Designer 625 | 6 speeds, touchscreen slider, touch interface, pulse | 3 peak horsepower, 1,560-watt | 8-year, 30-day money back guarantee | |
Vitamix 5200 | Variable speed, high/low, tamper, radial cooling fan | 2.2 horsepower | 7-year, 30-day money back guarantee | |
Blendtec Classic 575 | 4 settings, 5 speed slider, pulse, touchpad interface | 3 peak horsepower, 1,725-watt | 8-year, 30-day money back guarantee | |
Waring MX1200XTX | Variable speeds, pulse, 64 oz BPA-free pitcher | 3.5 horsepower, 1,525-watt | 3-year motor, 2-year parts and labor | |
Vitamix Ascent A2300
Features
- Peak 2.2 horsepower motor.
- 64 oz pitcher.
- Clear lid for monitoring the blending.
- Lid plug works as the measuring cup.
- Mess-free pouring spout.
- 10 variable speeds.
- Pulse function.
- Built-in digital timer to avoid under or over processing the recipes.
- Built-in wireless connectivity.
- Motor base can detect the container size and adjust the blending time and program accordingly.
- Low-profile design.
- Dishwasher safe.
- Full 10-year warranty.
- 30-day money back guarantee.
- Available in four colors – Black, Red, Slate, and White.
- Full-color hardcover recipe book for soups, dips, smoothies, and more.
With a 2.2 horsepower motor, the Vitamix Ascent A2300 is more powerful than previous Vitamix models with their 2 horsepower motor. The A2300 is more efficient with difficult ingredients such as nuts, seeds, and ice, and also foods with fibers. The blade’s 4-point design creates a vortex to pull down ingredients and thoroughly blend them.
The Ascent A2300 features ten variable speeds, and the pulse is a simple toggle switch. You should use this function whenever you need extra power for chopping or garnishing soup. The Vitamix A2300 will always give you the precise smoothness and texture you want, and it will retain all the vitamins and nutrients from your fresh fruits and veggies.
The A2300’s digital timer takes the guesswork out of blending. It displays the time of each blend, and the motor stops automatically when it’s finished. You don’t need to stand beside the blender, which is super convenient as you can walk away and work on other things in the kitchen.
The A2300 is easy to use, easy to clean, and the low-profile container fits neatly the kitchen cabinet. Overall, this is an excellent choice for home kitchens. As far as downsides go, there are no preprogrammed presets and it can be a little noisy. Also, the large pitcher size might not be ideal for some individuals. Vitamix is releasing a smaller 20 oz container, but that’s not available as of yet. To learn more about this impressive model, be sure to check out our full-length Vitamix Ascent A2300 review.
Click Here to Buy the Vitamix Ascent A2300
Blendtec Designer 625
Features
- 3 peak horsepower 1,560-watt motor.
- 2 cold-forged hardened steel blades.
- 6-speed touchscreen slider.
- 4 preprogrammed cycles for ice cream, smoothie, hot soup, and whole juice.
- Pulse function.
- Touchscreen operations.
- LCD display.
- 15.5 inches five-sided WildSide+ jar.
- Vented Gripper lid.
- Black molded finish.
- Dishwasher safe.
- 8-year warranty.
- 30-day money back guarantee.
Blendtec blenders can blend virtually anything. The Designer 625 model is no exception, thanks to its advanced engineering and smart features. You can prepare smoothies, whole juices, hot soups, ice creams, frozen yogurts, and much more with the 625. The 3 peak horsepower, 1,560-watt motor is more powerful than many other machines.
The Designer 625 comes with four preprogrammed cycles for ice cream, smoothies, hot soup, and whole juice. The 6-speed slider is super easy to use — just slide it left and right to change the blending speed. The countdown clock also shows the blending time.
The Blendtec Designer 625 includes a 90 oz WildSide+ jar with clear markings for measurements. As we mentioned in our in-depth Blendtec Designer 625 write-up, the square design is unique and works amazingly well — ingredients hit the flat side, move up to the jar’s top, then go right down to the blades. The flat sides also let you scrape thick mixtures out easily. The vented Gripper lid closes with a snap and keeps the jar’s contents secured, and when you are preparing hot food, the steam can escape through the lid’s vents.
Power, ease of use, a variety of speeds and pre-programmed settings, touchscreen controls… this is a serious blender that does not disappoint. There are also many color options to choose from, which we really like.
As far as downsides go, some users have complained about the lack of a spout in the container which can make pouring liquids a bit messy.
Click Here to Buy the Blendtec Designer 625
Vitamix 5200
Features
- 2.2 horsepower motor with 11.5 amps of blending power.
- 4 prong stainless steel blade.
- Radial cooling fan.
- Thermal protection system.
- BPA-free 64 oz container.
- Blends medium to large batches.
- No pulse mode, but can still do pulsing jobs.
- 10 speeds.
- Tamper for thick recipes.
- Available in two colors – Black, and White.
- 7-year warranty.
- 30-day money back guarantee.
The Vitamix 5200 blender does a great job of preparing smoothies, soups, sauces, frozen desserts, salad dressings, baby food, dips, and spreads. You can also use this blender for grinding coffee, chopping, preparing batters, and kneading dough. Its 2 horsepower motor makes the blades work at 37,000 RPM, and the ball bearing design of the motor lessens friction while enhancing its life. All of the metal motor parts mean that the 5200 is one seriously durable machine.
The 5200 comes with a wet blade, which works great for frozen desserts, soup, kneading, grinding, and milling. You can also get a dry blade to use with the 5200. The dry blade is better at grinding coffee, kneading dough, and milling flour.
The Vitamix 5200’s control panel is simple and efficient. There is a variable speed dial, high/variable switch, and on/off switch. The pitcher on top is 64 oz, but it is 20 inches tall which means that it won’t fit under many kitchen cabinets. So, that’s a disadvantage.
You will get a 7-year warranty with this blender, but Vitamix blenders are built so well that they often work for many years beyond the end of their warranty coverage. You can certainly expect the Vitamix 5200 to serve you faithfully for many years.
As far as negatives go, we prefer blenders with preprogrammed settings as this adds a lot of convenience. While the 5200 is definitely user-friendly, in this price range we would opt for a model with program settings.
Be sure to check out our complete Vitamix 5200 review for more info on this classic workhorse.
Click Here to Buy the Vitamix 5200
Blendtec Classic 575
Features
- 3 peak horsepower 1,725-watt motor.
- Laser-cut stainless steel blades.
- 4 preprogrammed settings for smoothie, clean, 60 and 90 seconds.
- 5 incremental speed slider.
- Pulse function.
- Touchpad interface.
- BPA-free FourSide container.
- Vented Gripper lid.
- LCD timer shows the remaining blending time.
- Molded plastic finish.
- Quick-start guide with 101 recipes.
- 8-year warranty.
- 30-day money back guarantee.
The Blendtec Classic 575 is another excellent choice for less than $500. The two 60-second and 90-second blending cycles keep things simple and straightforward. There are two other blending cycles, one of them for cleaning which you will definitely find very convenient. The Classic 575 works great when it comes to preparing smoothies, hot soups, ice creams, juice, and more.
One-touch operations makes things simple and convenient, and the LCD timer shows the remaining blending time. The Blendtec Classic 575 is easy to clean as well — all parts are dishwasher safe. Just use the preprogrammed cleaning cycle, add a few teaspoons of dishwashing detergent, and press the cleaning button. Then, just rinse your container out once the cycle is complete. Also, there are no knobs or switches on the base. The flat surface means that nothing can get stuck in the switches or crevices. Just wipe the surface clean and you’re done.
This blender crushes ice beautifully into nice, smooth snow thanks to its powerful motor and blade. You can make yummy ice cream, frozen yogurt, and other frozen delicacies. The 3 peak horsepower, 1725-watt motor makes this one of the most powerful blenders you’ll find. Many blenders costing a lot more are not this powerful.
As mentioned in our in-depth Blendtec Classic 575 review, this blender looks good and works better. There are six available colors to choose from. In the experience of a few users, though, its motor is so powerful that it liquefies ice too quickly which can be an issue when it comes to making frozen margaritas.
Click Here to Buy the Blendtec Classic 575
Waring Commercial MX1200XTX Xtreme
Features
- Heavy-duty 3.5 horsepower motor 1,525-watt motor.
- Laser-cut stainless steel blade.
- 64 oz BPA-free copolyester pitcher.
- 10 variable speeds control.
- Pulse function.
- Dishwasher safe.
- Removable jar pad.
- Limited 3-year motor warranty, and 2-year labor and parts warranty.
The Waring MX1200XTX Xtreme features a 3.5 horsepower motor that will tear through anything you throw in the pitcher. Everything from ice to frozen vegetables is quickly and efficiently blended, which means no more chunky bits in your smoothies. You can also make whole juice and hot soups, and the MX1200XTX can be used for grinding, mixing, chopping or pureeing.
This blender looks good on kitchen countertops and fits easily under kitchen cabinets when not in use. You don’t have to remove the motor base or the lid. The smooth curves make it the perfect device for the modern kitchen.
The control layout is very straightforward – just variable, pulse, on, off, and a variable speed control knob. Cleaning is easy as well.
The 64 oz BPA-free copolyester container provides ample space for you to blend your ingredients, and measurements are clearly marked on the jar’s surface. There’s also a cap in the lid for measuring which is handy.
As far as cons go, while the Waring Commercial MX1200XTX Xtreme will easily break down leafy greens for your smoothies, the margaritas made in this device can be a bit too watery. There are also no preprogrammed blending settings with this model, and the warranty is significantly less than the other blenders in this list.
Click Here to Buy the Waring MX1200XTX Xtreme
Conclusion
$500 is not a small amount to spend on a blender. You can definitely buy a very good blender at this price, and it should serve you well for many years to come.
Blenders in this price range should excel at making wholesome smoothies, juices, hot soups, ice creams, salad dressings, dips, spreads, and a whole lot more. For $500, it should also be able to grind, chop, mix, puree, prepare batters, and knead dough. The motor and blades should be powerful enough to break ice into snow quickly, and your recipes should end up with the precise smoothness and texture you want.
You can also expect a lot of smart features in the blender, such as pre-programmed settings that allow walk away convenience, variable speeds, pulse, LCD display, and touchscreen or touchpad operations. The jar should be BPA-free with a secured lid and handle, and the duration of warranty coverage should be quite lengthy.
If you found the models in this buyer’s guide to be a bit too pricey for your budget, we’d recommend checking out a few of our other buyer’s guides:
Well, that does it for our best blender under $500 buyer’s guide. If you have any questions or comments about any of the blenders in our list, be sure to post them below in the comments area. I’d love to hear from you and will do my very best to help you find the right blender for your individual needs.
Happy blending!
