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NutriBullet Review: Which NutriBullet is Best?

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  1. Kitchen
  2. Small Kitchen Appliances
Photo: Michael Hession

FYI

We’ve refreshed this breakdown with our thoughts on the NutriBullet Pro 1000, and we’ve added specs for the Pro + and Select to our model chart.

NutriBullet is probably the most recognized name in the world of personal blenders. They’re everywhere, from TV infomercials to large displays in big-box stores. And at first glance, all of NutriBullet’s current models look kind of the same (with the exception of some size variation). So, besides comparing price and wattage (which don’t tell you everything about how a blender performs), how do you know which one is right for you?

The short answer, for most people, is that the best model is the NutriBullet Pro 900. It offers the best price-to-performance ratio of any NutriBullet—or any personal blender, for that matter—which is why it’s been our top pick since we first published our review of personal blenders. (If the NutriBullet Pro 900 is out of stock, or you plan to blend ice frequently, we also like the slightly more powerful NutriBullet Pro 1000—especially if you find it on sale.) But in order to give you the long answer, in 2018 we put four NutriBullet models through their paces side by side, and we’ve continued testing newer models since.

From left to right: NutriBullet Pro 900 (our pick), original NutriBullet, NutriBullet Balance (discontinued), and NutriBullet Rx. Photo: Michael Hession

To start, here’s a breakdown of the basic differences between each of the current NutriBullet models, according to the company’s website in May 2022. Different merchants might bundle NutriBullet blenders with different accessories, so make sure to double-check which accessories come with the ’Bullet you’re purchasing. We’ve tested most, but not all, of these models:

 

NutriBullet (original)NutriBullet Pro 900 (our pick)NutriBullet Pro 1000NutriBullet RxNutriBullet Pro+NutriBullet Select
Price$80$110$120$180$120$120
Wattage600 watts900 watts1,000 watts1,700 watts1,200 watts1,000 watts
Blending cup sizesOne 18 oz. cup, one 24 oz. cupTwo 32 oz. cupsOne 24 oz. cup, one 32 oz. cupOne 30 oz. cup, one 45 oz. “oversized cup”One 24 oz. cup, one 32 oz. cupOne 24 oz. handled cup, one 32 oz. pitcher cup
Flip-top travel lidsNoneTwoTwoNoneTwoOne
Blending bladesOneOneOneOneOneOne
Other accessoriesOne lip ring (for 24 oz. cup), one handled lip ring (for 18 oz. cup)Two lip rings, two handled lip rings, one recipe bookOne recipe bookOne pitcher lid (for 45 oz. cup), one lip ring (for 30 oz. cup), one SuperBlast pitcher with vented lid (for blending hot food), one blade remover, one blade brushTwo lip rings, one recipe bookOne pitcher lid, one tamper, one recipe book
Wirecutter-testedYesYesYesYesNoNo

When we first tested personal blenders in 2016, only two of the 10 models we chose were NutriBullets: the original 600-watt NutriBullet and 900-watt NutriBullet Pro. These were the company’s top-selling and perennially available models, which is why we originally chose to test them over others. But we’ve gotten enough questions about the other various NutriBullets over the years that we decided to bring more of them into our test kitchen for comparison. As you’ll see in the results below, specs like wattage don’t tell you everything about how a blender performs. In our testing, the Pro 900 was still a clear winner.

The research

Our pick: NutriBullet Pro 900

Photo: Michael Hession
Our pick

NutriBullet Pro 900

Powerful, easy to use, and convenient, this personal blender will save time in the morning so you can get on your way.

The NutriBullet Pro 900 won us over because it has the best price-to-performance ratio of any blender in the NutriBullet line. For around $100, it blends as good a smoothie as the more expensive Balance model (now discontinued). Compared with the original NutriBullet 600 and Rx blenders, the Pro 900 model is more powerful and produced consistently smoother results in our showdown. The NutriBullet Pro 900 also blended some of the silkiest smoothies of the 14 personal blenders we’ve tested for our full guide.

The NutriBullet Pro 900 won us over because it has the best price-to-performance ratio of any blender in the NutriBullet line.

We also like that the NutriBullet Pro 900 has all the accessories you need to make two 24-ounce smoothies to go, without a bunch of marginally useful parts (like small blending cups, screw-on pour spouts, or a “milling” blade) that ultimately clutter cabinets, as the original and Rx models have. NutriBullet backs its blenders with a one-year warranty, which you can extend to three years for an additional fee. For those reasons, the NutriBullet Pro 900 is an excellent, compact, and powerful personal blender for the price.

Another good option: NutriBullet Pro 1000

Photo: NutriBullet

NutriBullet Pro 1000

If you can’t get your hands on our top pick, this model makes smoothies almost exactly like the Pro 900.

Representing the next step up in wattage from our top pick, the NutriBullet Pro 1000 performed just like the Pro 900 when we tested it in 2022 for an update to our guide. It crafted excellent smoothies and is typically similar in price to our top pick. If you can find the Pro 1000 on sale for less than the Pro 900, all the better.

The Pro 1000 has a smaller footprint and a longer cord than the Pro 900, which would help it work well in a cramped kitchen. NutriBullet specifically recommends it if you’re trying to blend ice, probably because its stronger, 1,000-watt motor and sharper blades are likely to hold up better over time. (We’ve successfully blended ice in all of our picks, though.) It has more blades than the Pro 900, and they’re arranged in a different design. Cleaning under the bottom blades can get a little difficult; the company recommends blending the cup with soapy water for a thorough cleaning.

When we compared the Pro 1000 against our top pick, we noticed that the former was also a little more difficult when it came to our locking the cup onto the base. And, as mentioned above, it’s a bit trickier to clean. Despite those minor shortcomings, if the Pro 900 is out of stock, or if you plan to blend ice often, the Pro 1000 is a solid choice.

The other ’Bullets

Original NutriBullet

The original NutriBullet has a weaker motor than our pick, the Pro 900, and consistently left unblended chunks of frozen banana in smoothies. Photo: Michael Hession

This personal blender is the eldest member of the NutriBullet family, but in this case, age does not beget wisdom. In our tests, we found the original NutriBullet produced grainier smoothies with chunks of unblended frozen fruit, and its motor strained when we blended back-to-back batches. Because the original NutriBullet and the NutriBullet Pro 900 have similar blade assemblies and cup shapes, we chalk up the original NutriBullet’s lackluster blending performance to its weaker 600-watt motor, which is two-thirds as powerful as that of the NutriBullet Pro 900. We figure the $20 price hike for the NutriBullet Pro 900 is worth it for thicker, silkier, lumpless smoothies.

The original NutriBullet also pales in comparison with the NutriBullet Pro 900 in terms of accessories. The original model doesn’t include to-go lids for the blending cup (the Pro has two), though you can purchase travel lids separately through the NutriBullet site. The original NutriBullet also comes with smaller cups: one 18-ounce and the other 24-ounce, while the Pro 900 includes two 32-ounce cups.

NutriBullet Rx

The NutriBullet Rx towers over our pick, the Pro 900, and practically dwarfs a half-gallon milk carton. We think it’s too big to be considered a personal blender. Photo: Michael Hession

To call the NutriBullet Rx a “personal blender” is a stretch, to say the least, because it’s significantly larger than the other NutriBullet blenders. The Rx model’s motor base alone measures over 9½ inches tall, with a 6¼-inch-diameter footprint (the other three models, including our top pick, measure 7¾ by 5½ inches). That extra-large diameter on the Rx means the blade assembly and “small” blending cup are wider, too. We can’t see the Rx’s blending cup fitting in a standard car cupholder because of its width and low-hanging handle. Not that we’d want to travel with the single-serve cup anyways, because the Rx package doesn’t come with screw-on travel lids like the Pro has.

A standard NutriBullet blending cup (left) is narrower and more likely to fit in a car’s cup holder than the bulky Rx cup (right). The 16-ounce Zojirushi travel mug (center) is for scale. Photo: Michael Hession

From left to right: blades from the NutriBullet Balance (discontinued), Pro 900, and Rx. Notice the shorter span on the Rx blade assembly and its four prongs (instead of six). More space between the tips of the blades and the wall means ingredients can escape the blender’s wrath. Photo: Michael Hession

A standard NutriBullet blending cup (left) is narrower and more likely to fit in a car’s cup holder than the bulky Rx cup (right). The 16-ounce Zojirushi travel mug (center) is for scale. Photo: Michael Hession

Considering the Rx model’s size and 1,700-watt motor, we assumed it could blend as good a smoothie as the NutriBullet Pro (if not better). But the Rx left marble-sized balls of frozen banana in each smoothie we made. This is probably because the Rx has only four blades (all other models have six). Also, the tips of those blades don’t extend as close to the container’s sides as they do on other NutriBullets (1 inch versus ⅔ inch, respectively). That means there’s more space for foods to escape pulverization.

The Rx also has a heating function, which is meant to aid in making soup. We didn’t evaluate this function, and we doubt this added feature would outweigh the Rx’s other shortcomings.

Other personal blenders

The NutriBullet Pro 900 isn’t the only personal blender we recommend. For example, as we mentioned above, the NutriBullet Pro 1000 might be a decent option if you find it on sale or blend ice cubes frequently. And you can also check out our full guide if you’re curious about our upgrade personal blender pick, the Beast Blender. But if you want a simple, powerful little blender that won’t eat up a lot of countertop space, the NutriBullet Pro 900 is your best bet.

About your guides

Lesley Stockton

Lesley Stockton is a senior staff writer reporting on all things cooking and entertaining for Wirecutter. Her expertise builds on a lifelong career in the culinary world—from a restaurant cook and caterer to a food editor at Martha Stewart. She is perfectly happy to leave all that behind to be a full-time kitchen-gear nerd.

Anna Perling

Anna Perling is a former staff writer covering kitchen gear at Wirecutter. During her time at Wirecutter, she reported on various topics including sports bras, board games, and light bulbs. Previously she wrote food and lifestyle pieces for Saveur and Kinfolk magazines. Anna is a mentor at Girls Write Now and a member of the Online News Association.

Arianna Flores

Arianna Flores was an updates writer at Wirecutter covering kitchen and appliances. She’s a native Texan, and her journalism on a variety of subjects has appeared in Texas Monthly, the Texas Observer, and the San Antonio Report.

Further reading

Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing to save people time, energy and money when making buying decisions. Whether it's finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we'll help you get it right (the first time).

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NutriBullet Blender Review | Tested by GearLab

This budget blender holds its own with the top-tier products fairly well

Credit: NutriBullet

Price:   $120 List | $100. 02 at Amazon

Pros:  Great blended drinks, excellent at pureeing, solid at making nut butter

Cons:  No presets, no digital timer, food sticks under blade, motor overheats and smells

Manufacturer:   NutriBullet

By Austin Palmer, David Wise  ⋅  Jun 3, 2022

Our Editors independently research, test, and rate the best products. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and we never accept free products from manufacturers. Learn more

80

OVERALL
SCORE

RANKED
#4 of 12

RELATED: The Best Blenders of 2022


Our Verdict

The NutriBullet is a simple, budget-friendly blender. Its performance is slightly less impressive than the more expensive options, for a fraction of the price. It crushes ice in 10 seconds and makes a decent margarita, although you can smell the motor overheating a bit. It is relatively easy to clean and can be placed in the dishwasher, excluding the lid. The pitcher must be placed on the top rack, and food gets stuck underneath the blades, but this is a small inconvenience for the price. The Bullet purees nut butters and soups with ease. While it does not offer presets, the simple and well-labeled low, medium, high, and pulse options give it some versatility. If you are looking for a budget-friendly, top-ranked blender, the NutriBullet is a great option.

Editor's Note: This review was updated on June 3, 2022, to include additional testing results and information on competing products worth considering.


Compare to Similar Products

(change comparison)

 

This Product
NutriBullet Blender

Ninja Professional Plus BN701

KitchenAid K150 3 Speed Ice Crushing Blender

Breville Fresh & Furious

Hamilton Beach 58148A

Awards      
Price $120 List
$100. 02 at Amazon
$120 List
$89.99 at Amazon
$100 List$200 List
$186.98 at Amazon
$45 List
$39.99 at Amazon
Overall Score 
Star Rating
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Pros Great blended drinks, excellent at pureeing, solid at making nut butterGreat ice crushing, easy to clean, timed presets, large capacityIce crushing, simple, sleek, easy to clean, amazing margaritasGreat green smoothies, presets, visual timerVery inexpensive, solid for smoothies
Cons No presets, no digital timer, food sticks under blade, motor overheats and smellsLoud, subpar grindingNo presets, no timer, slight rustingFinicky lid, struggles grinding & pureeingCan catastrophically leak if base isn't attached, struggled with grating hard cheese
Bottom Line This budget blender holds its own with the top-tier products fairly wellAn easy-to-use blender with an extra-large pitcher, great for parties or families who enjoy blended drinks but not for soup or flourA no-frills, budget-friendly pick for those who prioritize a strong ice-crushing performanceWith its user-friendly interface and stellar fruit-blending abilities, this blender is great for the daily smoothie drinkerIf you are shopping for a blender on the tightest of budgets, this one will do the job
Rating Categories NutriBullet Blender Ninja Professional. .. KitchenAid K150 3 S... Breville Fresh & Fu... Hamilton Beach 58148A
Smoothies (30%)
Ice (20%)
Convenience (20%)
Pureeing (15%)
Grinding (15%)
Specs NutriBullet Blender Ninja Professional... KitchenAid K150 3 S... Breville Fresh & Fu... Hamilton Beach 58148A
Model Number ZNBF30400Z BN701 KSB1325 BBL620SIL1AUS1 58148A
Power 1. 6 HP Peak 1.9 HP Peak .87 HP Peak 1.5 HP Peak .94 HP
Dimensions 41.9cm x 24.9cm x 19.1cm | 16.5" x 9.8" x 7.5" 17.1cm x 22.9cm x 44.5cm | 6.75" x 9" x 17.5" 21.6cm x 18cm x 37.6cm | 8.5" x 7.1" x 14.8" 21.6cm x 17.5cm x 43.9cm | 8.5" x 6.9" x 17.3" 14.7" x 6.5 " x 8.7"
Jar size 1814 g | 64 oz 2041 g | 72oz 1361 g | 48oz 1417 g | 50oz 1134 g | 40 oz
Dishwasher safe Pitcher; top rack only Yes Yes Yes. Top rack only for lid. Yes
Accessories Tamper -none None -juicing cone None
Digital Timer No Yes No Yes No
Presets None Yes, 3
-Smoothie
-Ice Crush
-Ice Cream
None Yes, 9
-Auto Clean
-Green Smoothie
-Ice Crush
-Smoothie
-Mix
-Chop
-Blend
-Puree
-Liquify
None

Show full specification detailsHide full specification details

Our Analysis and Test Results

The NutriBullet pitcher is slightly smaller than others in our test suite but still offers a 64-ounce blending capacity. The main features that this model lacks compared to some of the best blenders are preset blending functions and a digital timer. This means you have to manually control the speed and duration when blending, but we don't find this to be an issue. Additionally, you can also get a combo pack that includes some personal smoothie cups if you want an easier way to take your smoothies on the go. Read on to see how this budget-friendly option holds up to our testing.

Performance Comparison


The NutriBullet made some excellent smoothies.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman


Smoothies

Accounting for 30%, our smoothie metric consisted of four different beverages: green, berry, and fruit & oat smoothies, as well as an Oreo malt.

The NutriBullet performs well above average on all four of our individual smoothie tests, but our judges rate it just behind the top models in terms of taste and texture.

This blender did a great job blending leafy greens, which many other products struggled with.

Credit: Austin Palmer

We run the NutriBullet on high power for 70 seconds for our green smoothie test, which produces a very good, albeit foamy, drink. It is one of the best green smoothies in our testing.

It can be difficult to blend leafy greens in with frozen fruit, but the NurtiBullet does a great job. Our green smoothie tastes amazing, and this blender obliterates almost all of the frozen fruit, spinach, and kale aside from one small chunk.

Unfortunately, the NutriBullet couldn't completely obliterate all of the berry seeds.

Credit: Austin Palmer

This blender performs just a little bit worse in our berry smoothie test. The beverage is well blended, but it struggles with the berry seeds. After 60 seconds of blending, most of the berry seeds remain intact, giving the berry smoothie a grainy texture. If you don't mind the seeds, then this is a non-issue, but we recommend cutting your berry smoothies with banana, mango, or some other less seedy fruit.

The fruit & oat smoothie is one of our harder blending tests, as there is hardly any liquid in the recipe, only strawberries, almonds, yogurt, oats, bananas, and maple syrup. The NutriBullet struggles a bit more with this beverage — as expected — but still produces an overall good showing. It leaves quite a bit of unblended food on the sides of the pitcher, and the resulting mixture is somewhat granular. However, our judges unanimously agree that the smoothie is still perfectly palatable.

It took a little persuasion to get going but the ZNBF30400Z eventually made a great malt.

Credit: Austin Palmer

The NutriBullet finishes out this metric with a solid showing when it comes to making a malt. It tastes great, with every judge emptying their glass, but the texture is a bit grainier than the malts made by the premium blenders. It also takes a little effort with the tamper to get the mixture blending.

The NutriBullet made some excellent blended cocktails.

Credit: Austin Palmer


Ice

For our ice metric, worth 20%, we rank and score how well the NutriBullet crushes ice cubes and creates a perfectly blended margarita. This blender is jam-packed with power and delivers a phenomenal performance in both of these tests.

This blender doesn't struggle when it comes to crushing ice cubes, obliterating them in about 10 seconds. The ice is crushed fairly uniform and doesn't leave any large chunks that escape the blades.

The margarita is also of uniform slushiness and has the correct texture for a blended cocktail.

The motor struggles a bit while blending harder material like ice, which is made obvious through a slight change in pitch and a burning smell. The blended ice drinks still come out flawless, but a burning motor may indicate a shorter lifespan for this budget option.

The NutriBullet mixed up a great blended margarita that had a very uniform texture.

Credit: Austin Palmer


Convenience

Our convenience metric is responsible for 20% of the final score and assesses how user-friendly each blender is. We awarded points based on how easy it is to clean each blender after use, how intuitive the interface is, and any other convenience features that it might have. The NutriBullet isn't the easiest blender to use that we've tested, but it still performs admirably.

The NutriBullet pitcher, lid, and blade are dishwasher safe and fairly easy to clean by hand. The pitcher has a nice wide mouth, but it can take some work to clean under the blades. We missed bits of food trapped there multiple times throughout testing, so you will want to pay close attention when cleaning to ensure no trapped food starts molding or rotting.

The pitcher of the NutriBullet takes a little more work to wash manually than some of the other products.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

The lid is very easy to clean and remove from the pitcher, but it must be placed on a drying rack as there is no way to place it on the base to allow adequate airflow underneath to dry it out.

The NutriBullet doesn't have any preset settings for different blending tasks.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

The labels on this blender are easy to read, as it has very simple controls: low, medium, high, and pulse. As previously mentioned, this blender lacks any automatic presets, which keeps things simple but makes the machine a little less versatile.

The NutriBullet did a great job in our pureeing tests, holding its own against other products that cost significantly more.

Credit: Austin Palmer


Pureeing

Next, we moved on to some of the more difficult blending tasks for these products. In our pureeing metric, assess how the NutriBullet blends nut butter and tomato soup. We also test whether or not it can heat the soup while pureeing. It delivers another excellent set of results, responsible for 15% of the final score.

This blender does a great job of churning up almond and peanut butter, creating a smooth and creamy spread in about eight minutes. The motor doesn't seem to struggle too much, but we had to add about half a tablespoon of oil to get the mixture going.

The tomato soup was even hot enough to serve after blending.

Credit: Austin Palmer

The NutriBullet also whips up a great tomato soup. After running the blender on high for six minutes, the resulting puree is extremely fine and very uniform, pouring through a mesh sieve like water. Even better, the NutriBullet heats the soup to a proper serving temperature while blending. Our tomato soup reached a temperature of 152.1°F in six minutes. It releases a surprising amount of steam when removing the lid, so be careful not to burn yourself.

The NutriBullet easily grated hard cheese but there were still some larger chunks.

Credit: Austin Palmer


Grinding

For the remaining 10% of the total score, we push the NutriBullet to its limits with some of the hardest tasks you can set for a blender: milling corn flour, powdering sugar, and grinding hard cheese.

After 60 seconds of blending, the NutriBullet reduces the vast majority of the granulated sugar to a powder. However, the result isn't quite as light and fluffy as some of the top appliances. Additionally, our sieve caught a decent amount of larger granules that escaped the blades. It does about the same with the parmesan cheese, struggling a bit at the start but easily reducing the bulk of the cheese to fine particles. Some larger chunks remain, but we doubt you would even notice them if served on a pasta dish or similar.

Unfortunately, the performance drops a bit when milling corn kernels. Only about 75% of the finished product makes it through the sieve after 60 seconds of milling, with the remaining pieces being much larger and less evenly ground.

A non-trivial amount of the corn kernels were still too coarse to pass through the sieve.

Credit: Austin Palmer


Should You Buy the NutriBullet Blender?

We would highly recommend the NutriBullet to anyone who is shopping for a new blender on a limited budget and yet doesn't want to make any huge concessions regarding performance. The lack of presets and a timer detracts a bit from user-friendliness, but it costs so much less than the top-tier models that we think the NutriBullet is well worth the added effort.

What Other Blenders Should You Consider?

If you are super budget-focused, you might look at the Hamilton Beach 58148A. It isn't a great blender in terms of overall performance and versatility, but it performs reasonably well on fruit smoothies and milkshakes, which for a lot of people is the goal. It definitely offers a compelling value for basic blending functionality, given the low price.

If you do a lot of blending or value top-performance, you might want to consider a blender that offers more over the long term. Based on our extensive testing, to get better performance than the NutriBullet, there is a significant step up in price. We'd recommend you look at the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro and the Vitamix A2500 Ascent Series, both of which are top-performing blenders that would make an excellent long-term investment.

Austin Palmer, David Wise

ᐅ NutriBullet Basic reviews — 8 honest customer reviews of the NutriBullet Basic

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