The difference between a smoothie maker and a blender is that smoothie makers make one drink at a time to minimise waste. Once your smoothie is ready, the jug turns into a cup that you can grab and go.
Blenders tend to be bigger and more powerful because you can use them for lots of different things, but they lack the portability of smoothie makers and usually cost more.
Most smoothie makers are incredibly simple to use – click the jug in place, whizz the fruit up and that’s it. Fancy features tend to be thin on the ground, but look out for vacuum blending technology that helps lock in nutrients for an additional healthy boost.
To find the best smoothie makers, our expert tester judged each machine for ease of use, leakage, design, clarity of instructions and the taste of the blended smoothie. We experimented with fruits and more fibrous greens, as well as crushing ice (unless the manufacturer advised against it).
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1 NutriNinja with FreshVac Technology BL580UKV Smoothie Maker
Ninja
£97.00
Joint best smoothie maker
Our joint winner makes colourful and seriously smooth 0.7-litre drinks that stay fresh for longer – all thanks to that innovative vacuum blending tech we mentioned above. It has three power levels and a pulse button, and makes a tasty smoothie in 30 seconds max. It’s tough enough to crush ice but it vibrates noisily when you add it, which can be annoying. Otherwise, it’s flawless.
2 NutriBullet Rx Blender Soup Maker
NutriBullet currys.co.uk
£119.00
Joint best smoothie maker
If you’re able to spend more money, you can buy a smoothie maker with accessories. This one comes with a bigger jug for families or batch-blending, plus two single-portion cups. It’s cleverly pre-programmed to blend smoothies evenly depending on the ingredients you’re using – and it delivers every time. Best of all, it can handle hot ingredients, so you can make hearty soups, too. Yes, it’s a bit of a pain to store, but it’s worth finding cupboard space for this two-in-one gem.
3 NutriBullet Balance Smart Food Blender, Black
NutriBullet Amazon
£147.00
Runner-up
This blender is a true fitness buddy. Its accompanying app helps you weigh fruit and veg and tells you how nutritional your smoothie is. Download it and you’ll find tons of yummy recipes on there, too. Five power levels allow for greater control over the blending and every smoothie we made came out velvety and delicious. The two 930ml cups it comes with can go in the dishwasher, meaning less time cleaning up and more time running.
4 Sage The Boss To Go Blender BPB550BAL
Sage lakeland.co.uk
£129.99
Best for power
The 1000W motor on this smoothie maker is a real beast, tearing through anything we threw at it, from ice to leaves. The minimalist design will sit pretty in any kitchen and slot into small gaps. The 500ml cups are too chunky to hold comfortably in one hand and their flip-top lids are stiff, but their contents are always perfectly smooth. This machine is one of our pricier options but it gives a five-star performance. We just wish it came with a bigger capacity jug, too.
5 VonShef UltraBlend Smoothie Maker
VonShef amazon.co.uk
£54.99
Best for value
Non-slip feet help this stout smoothie maker stay firmly put as it makes easy work of fruit, seeds and ice. It takes leafy greens like kale and spinach in its stride too, so don’t worry about them getting tangled up. Rest assured that the 500ml and 800ml cups are totally leakproof, so you can pop your smoothie into your sports bag worry-free. It’s excellent value for money at under £50 and compact enough to store in smaller kitchens, too. The only downside is that it’s not dishwasher-friendly.
6 NutriBullet 600 8 Piece Set
NutriBullet currys.co.uk
£57.99
Best for accessories
For a reliable all-round performer, look to this great-value smoothie maker from a trusted brand. Runners will appreciate the accompanying pocket nutrition guide and recipe book, as well as the generous range of accessories, including extra blades for milling dry ingredients, a tall 680ml cup and a smaller 500ml carry mug. It breaks down everything fully except seeds, which disrupt the otherwise smooth mixture. It’s compact enough to tuck away in a small cupboard and shuts down automatically if it overheats.
7 NutriBullet NutriBullet 1200
NutriBullet currys.co.uk
£120.00
Best for capacity
It can be tricky to know when your smoothie is as smooth as smooth can be, but this bullet blender automatically stops once it’s ready. There’s the option to keep it blending until you ask it to stop, too. It comes with a book full of easy and delicious recipes and effortlessly processes ingredients of all textures, including ice. The leakproof cups are big – just under one-litre each – which is ideal for making a smoothie to drink throughout the day, but less so if you have small hands and want to carry them about. One chunky cup has a handle, which helps.
8 NutriNinja Slim Blender and Smoothie Maker
Ninja argos.co.uk
£59.99
Best for storage
The sleekness of this slim smoothie maker belies its power. It quickly pulverised thicker fruit like grapes and apples and coped well with ice and oats, too. Raspberry seeds got the better of it though, adding unwanted crunch to our drink. It’s only got one power setting and there aren’t any buttons – simply push down on the bottle to start – meaning it couldn’t be easier to use. Handily, it comes with two 470ml bottles for taking out with you, but note that these aren’t leakproof.
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