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It may not seem like it now, but it took me a while to jump onto the high-speed blender wagon. When Austin and I moved to Los Angeles nearly 10 years ago, I brought with me a blender that I thought was pretty good at the time. (It was made by Breville, which I usually consider to make quality kitchen appliances.)
I remember hearing about high-speed blenders in the magazines and health books I was reading at the time, but I always thought to myself, “How much better could they really be?” I felt like my smoothies turned out good enough in my standard blender, so I stuck with it until it died… which only took about a year and a half.
Even though we didn’t have a lot of spending money at the time, I couldn’t help but think I’d be saving money in the long-run by investing in a high-speed blender the next time around, since many of them came with a 7-year warranty. I had been buying a “good” $100 blender every year or two since I was in college, so spending $350 once, and then not buying another one for 7+ years sounded like a pretty good deal to me. However, I didn’t know which high-speed blender to buy– at the time, I had heard that Vitamix and Blendtec were pretty comparable.
Choosing the Vitamix
I couldn’t find any reviews online saying that one brand was decidedly better than the other, but my decision was helped by the fact that two of my friends had just gotten a Blendtec. I only had one experience using theirs– making frozen margaritas at their house– and I wasn’t super-impressed by it right off the bat. I remember that we had to start and stop the blender a couple times to use a spatula to help the ice reach the blades, because the Blendtec doesn’t come with a tamper. It was also REALLY loud. (Though, all high-speed blenders are fairly loud.)
Because I wasn’t blown away by my initial experience with the Blendtec, I decided to go with the Vitamix because I thought the tamper seemed necessary. I had never even tried a Vitamix before buying it, but Amazon had a great deal on this 2-speed model at the time, so the timing seemed perfect. The moment it arrived, I was hooked. The tamper helped my smoothies blend in seconds, and they were always thick, creamy, and super-silky-smooth. It even breaks down seeds from berries, like raspberries and strawberries! I’ve been a happy Vitamix customer ever since– owning the same old blender for nearly 8 years now. I’ve only ever had one issue with my blender, and when I called Vitamix customer service they immediately sent me out a free brand-new replacement; no questions asked. Keep in mind that I use my blender up to 4 times a day, especially when I’m testing recipes for a cookbook, so it gets quite a workout!
My Experience with BlendTec
Because I’ve had such a good experience with my Vitamix, I’ve never looked into using another blender… that is, until Blendtec reached out to me a few months ago. They offered to send me a complimentary blender so I could see for myself how they compare to Vitamix. I’m always up for seeing if there is something better out there, so I happily accepted their offer and soon received the new blender. Right out of the box, I was super-impressed by the sleek design and light-up electric touch pad. It seemed nicer than any car I’ve ever owned! Another nice perk of the Blendtec is that it fits under my kitchen cabinets fully assembled– the Vitamix container is taller, so I have to store the blender pitcher next to the base, rather than on top of it. (Not a big deal either way, but I think it’s worth mentioning in case you’re OCD about how your countertops look!) Regardless of how it is stored, you still have to pull the blender away from the wall to add anything inside– I couldn’t keep the blender under the cabinets on my counter while actually using it.
While I was very impressed by the look and feel of the Blendtec, my first experience blending was not love at first use. I made my usual go-to chocolate smoothie in the Blendtec using their smoothie pre-set “smoothie” button, and it took significantly longer than the Vitamix to create a smooth consistency– probably because I wasn’t using a tamper to help stir it along like I usually do with the Vitamix. I think it’s also worth noting that I’m used to my shakes being super-thick and smooth, like a traditional chocolate milkshake, and it was difficult to achieve this texture since the Blendtec doesn’t come with a tamper to help keep everything moving towards the blades. (The Blendtec’s electric touch pad actually kept warning me that my smoothie was too thick– it wanted me to add liquid, which would have resulted in a thin and runny smoothie.) I stopped and scraped down the blender twice, and even after that I found small bits of dates in my final product– enough to clog my straw while I was attempting to drink it. I’m so spoiled by how smooth my smoothies are with the Vitamix, that I was really disappointed to have a less-than-perfect smoothie! (My other family members were disappointed by the texture, too, to the point that my son wouldn’t even drink a smoothie made in the BlendTec.)
After that first experience, I didn’t use the Blendtec again for a few days because I didn’t want to risk my family members not enjoying another smoothie. In fact, I didn’t try it again until the Blendtec reps reached out to me, asking how my experience was. They were surprised to hear that my first experience wasn’t great, but I promised them I would try again to see if it was just beginner’s bad luck. I later tried making an all-fruit smoothie using the manual settings instead of the pre-set button (because I prefer manual settings and having full control), but the final result was also disappointing because the seeds from the strawberries didn’t totally break down, and I had to add more liquid than I would have liked to in order to keep the smoothie blending without a tamper– so the overall smoothie was too runny. Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed the second time around, either.
To give them a fair shot, I also tried blending a smoothie in the smaller Twister jar that came with my BlendTec package, to see if the spatula-like attachments on the side of the lid would help with a smoother blend. Unfortunately, the Twister jar is not intended for liquid smoothies (it’s intended for making nut butter or dips like hummus and guacamole), so I ended up with a messy disaster there, too. I would consider the optional smaller blender jar for nut-butters a “perk” of the BlendTec, but it’s not enough in my opinion to make up for the lower-quality smoothies, since that’s what I use a blender for the most often.
After reporting my unsatisfactory experience to the BlendTec reps, they recommended that I call their customer service line to see if I could be doing something wrong. I had already read the instruction manual and used the pre-set smoothie buttons– shouldn’t it be that easy to use such an expensive blender? (As a side note, I’ve never had to call a customer service line for any other brand of blender I’ve used to make sure I’m not the problem.)
Side-By-Side Comparison
In a nutshell, here’s how I feel that the two blenders compare:
To me, the Vitamix is the clear winner and that’s what I would ultimately recommend you buy if you’re trying to decide between the two. To be fair, I think if you’re upgrading from a standard blender, anyone would be impressed by the texture of a smoothie made in the Blendtec, because it’s definitely going to be an upgrade from what you’re used to. However, I think it would be very difficult to enjoy using the BlendTec after using the Vitamix. (But maybe that’s just me– all I can share is my own opinion.)
To be clear, this is not a sponsored post and I have no affiliation with Vitamix. They did not send me a free blender, and I’m still using my 8-year-old, two-speed model that I bought myself. In my opinion, my old Vitamix blender creates better smoothies than the free newer model that BlendTec sent me. (I’ve heard that BlendTec is amazing at milling grains into flour, but I find the Vitamix to be perfectly adequate in that regard as well.) Clearly, I’m under no obligation to post a positive review on BlendTec’s behalf, despite the fact that they sent me a free blender. (I will always post my honest opinions!)
Money-Saving Tip:
If you’re looking to buy a new blender but don’t want to pay full-price, I’d recommend looking into the refurbished options, like this certified refurbished Vitamix model, which still comes with a 5-year warranty. Vitamix also makes a new low-profile model that fits under kitchen cabinets, and that model is available in a cheaper certified refurbished option, as well.
Note: I would like to eventually add some other blender recommendations to this post, especially if I get the chance to try the new Ninja blender model. When testing recipes for my last cookbook, I did borrow a friend’s Ninja, and the results were terrible– but it was a very old model, and I’m guessing the newer models are better. Are they comparable to the Vitamix, though? I’ll report back when I know for sure!
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Reader Feedback: Do you have a favorite blender? I hope this post is helpful if you’re shopping for a new one! I know there are some fervent BlendTec fans out there, so also feel free to chime in if you think I missed something. I always try to keep an open mind!
In my consideration Blendtec’s hardware and components are very strong and has more legibility. But after reading your articles, I decided to use Vitamix from now and onward. It is clear to me that- on overall judgement Vitamix is best-one Thanks for the nice and helpful post..
Thanks for the honest review.
Having had both, I’d say they both have advantages but some things stand out.
-Loading the Blendtec properly makes a big difference. It won’t get small particulates like seeds as finely chopped as Vita’s jar due to bigger, thicker, dual blades vs small quad blades, but it will do a lot better than described here. You cannot load them the same.
-Tamper complaints are moot. 1 – the concave nature of the Blendtec jars tends to need less attention as the designs are newer and not a recycle of Vita’s same basic jar physics theyve had since my first one almost 3 decades ago. Want to tamp? Use a tamper through the hole in the top. Tampers are cheap couple buck plastic items. Or use any cheap long object through the top hole. I’ve used scrap dowel from home Depot. Seriously. Vita will handle delicate jobs better with tamping, Blendtec needs less tamping in general due to newer jar design, but will need tamper help on some jobs even though they say you don’t.
-Blending drinks with ice or hard frozen fruit etc? Margaritas? Ice coffee/fraps, ice daiquiris? No contest whatsoever. The thin Vita blades beat the ice around more whereas they get chopped and blended more quickly by the Blendtec. The two blade design has drawbacks, but let’s large objects fall more into the path of the blade.
….There is a reason Starbucks created and built the Frappucino business off of Blendtec and not Vitamix. The only ways Vitamix took the business away were copying Blendtec features and doing a better job of noise reduction. (These Vita models are foodservice/pro only and not avail to public – your consumer Vita’s don’t benefit from this )
-if you are very much concentrating on nut butters, smoothies, and soups with very small particulates like seeds that you need chopped finely and so on, the Vitamix will do a better job.
My overall thoughts that some may disagree with is that Blendtecs are a more versatile all around option that are built tougher and to foodservice levels of durability and ease of cleaning, stacking etc – but are not as fine a tool for many specific use cases.
They need more tending to in general. And Vita is taking advantage of consumers by recycling old tech as long as possible. Blendtec is necessary if for no other reason as a company that forces Vita to innovate (every “new” VM feature and innovation debuted with Blendtec years prior). Nevertheless, if you are doing certain things, Vita’s knock out a better result.
If you are doing others, Blendtecs will, and will do it faster and will survive much higher volume, with faster cleanup time for base and jar.
I.e. if you run a beverage or smoothie business using blending, esp with ice, go Blendtec.
If you are doing specialty blending focusing on nuts, fruits, veggies only, Vita.
If getting an all around to survive varied household blending jobs and messy users, in my opinion Blendtec. But get a tamper.
So each has their merits. Can’t afford both? I see used/returns of both on eBay and Craigslist constantly for a fraction of retail.
**Side note for those disputing my assertion that Vita’s innovation comes thanks to Blendtec, Vita was caught trying to copy Blendtec’s jar design for example. In 2012 a federal court found they willfully infringed upon Blendtec’s jar, and ordered Vita to pay Blendtec $24M in damages.
https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/orem-blender-company-wins-massive-patent-infringement-award/article_93960ee4-198c-59c2-8de4-25836f782706.html
Vita then seemingly retaliated with a suit against Blendtec involving jars, but then also suffered a unanimous legal defeat there too.
https://lrus.wolterskluwer.com/news/ip-law-daily/blendtec-s-blender-jars-did-not-infringe-vita-mix-patent/35984/
If you look at the Vita commercial line online or at Starbucks etc you will see they have features that make them a far closer relative to Blendtec’s than to the consumer VM that most of us are able to buy.
Luckily thanks to competition some of that has trickled down like electronic cycles and control. It is slow in coming and we are charged a premium for something everyone else delivers standard. VM apologists will make excuses for this but it is a blatant milking of old tech for maximum profit for as long as possible. A spade is a spade.
Regardless, as I said, even despite their questionable business strategy, Vita’s are still the better tool for specific needs.
Oops, the Reference above to “needing more tending to” was in regards to Vitamix models, not Blendtecs.
I found this post after attempting to make your Lemon Coconut frosting. I’ve had a Blendtec for years and thought it would do just fine. Sadly, it won’t run long enough to fluff up the frosting without overheating the mixture like I was making soup or something. I thought maybe you had a recommendation for what blender to use and ended up here. Pretty funny. So now you know vitamix does better at frosting too.
I personally love my blender by Karmin 😉
As long as they keep the fiber of the fruits I would choose either one. Juicing causes to much sugar and not enough of the fiber.
I have a Blendtec and find the key to making smooth smoothies when using kale, berries, etc, is to use the “whole juice” setting. They don’t come out “silky”, but they are thoroughly blended with no bits of leaves, etc. floating around. I admit it would nice to drink a “silky smooth” smoothie, though soups and sauces do come out silky smooth. I’ve had my Blendtec for about 7 years and the only problem I’ve had is the part in the jar where the rubber ring is and Blendtec replaced it with no problems. We don’t have much counter space and I chose the Blendtec because it fits under my counter put together. If it ever dies I would consider a Vitamix for its smooth blending if they have one that fits under my counter.
I have owned 2 non-commercial VitaMix blenders over the last 20 years. I gave them a workout too. Both lasted quite a while – 10 years on average despite using them to make some pretty tough stuff several times a day when I was a raw foodist. I recently purchased a commercial Blendtec that cost a few hundred more. I bought all the different blending jars. I read reviews that said it was better and more powerful. That isn’t true. It’s not half the machine that VitaMix is. I use my on-it’s-last-legs VitaMix that is 12 years old instead because my brand new commercial BlendTec can’t do the job. Thank you for your honest review. I wish I would have realized this $560.00 ago.
I appreciate your reviews. I have had my Vitamix for about 15 years and just love it. I use it almost daily and it blends beautifully. I purchased it originally when I was making some life-style changes. I picked it cause I would be getting all the fiber and more nutrients. I find more delicious recipes to use with it all the time. I don’t have any con’s cause I find the price is reasonable when on sale or with coupons. I use the smaller 32oz blender container so it does fit under my cabinets.
My yearly $100 blender recently died, so I was in the market for a new one. I have used both the blend tec and Vitamix at a local juicery I used to work at to produce smoothies and I completely agree with your pros and cons. The blend tec is definitely louder, to the point where we had customers complaining regularly. The tamper is a great feature as well!
I registered for a vitamix, but my wedding is still a year away and I was missing my daily smoothie. I set out to purchase another $100 blender when I stumbled upon the Harley Pasternak by Salton blender. It looks nearly identical to the vitamix but came with a price tag of $300 CDN on sale at Canadian Tire for $200. Compared to the $500 price tag of the vitamix and blendtec this seemed much more affordable.
It was a toss up between that and the Ninja but after reading online reviews mentioning how the ninja doesn’t do well with green smoothies, which I made daily, I decided on the Harley Pasternak blender. I have been using it for a few weeks now for green smoothies, blended soups, and nut milks. I am very pleased with it and would recommend it to anyone who can’t quite justify a vitamix, but wants to invest in a great blender for daily green smoothies (or I’m sure whatever else you throw at it!)
Ps. This is my first time commenting but I have been a huge fan for a while now. Loving your every day detox cookbook and all your content. Thank you!!
You may want to reverse the side-by-side pic so people don’t get confused. In the pic you show Blendtec left and Vitamix right but in the side-by-side wording it’s reverse. I know which is which because I have a Vitamix (AND LOVE IT!) so I can recognize the style of the blender by the picture alone. 🙂 Just a thought.