For the past year, I have regularly had portable blenders popping up on my For You Page on TikTok and Instagram, and honestly, I’ve been intrigued. So when I got the chance to test out the Nutribullet Flex, I was super excited to make yummy smoothies absolutely anywhere without a power cord holding me back.
But unfortunately, the Flex isn’t one of the best blenders, and the experience of using it left me totally disappointed by the entire concept of portable blenders.
There’s no denying portable blenders have a use. They’re a great option if you’re camping with no power or need a quick solution for mixing protein powder at the gym. But for any actual blender work? I’d have to say the Flex is a complete misfire.
Why the Flex falls short
As I said, I wanted to like the Nutribullet Flex, but its performance just wasn’t good. It struggles to blend solids like frozen fruit, ice, or chocolate pieces, so after blending, I was still left with huge chunks in my drinks. It frequently overheats too, meaning I spent a lot of time waiting around to be able to use it again.
Since I was having to reblend each drink I made, the battery life only lasted around three drinks. This is far less than I would expect from a portable blender, and if I did take it with me on a camping trip, this wouldn’t be enough charge to last the duration.
My alternative
This is a blender that needs a power outlet to operate, but it is still going to save you so much time.
If you’re willing to accept that a portable blender won’t be able to give you the power you need for doing anything more than mixing protein powders, you can turn to the Beast Mighty 850 Plus. This is a blender that needs a power outlet to operate, but it is still going to save you so much time.
The Beast Mighty 850 Plus comes with multiple blend cup sizes and a lid with a straw so you can take it on the go. It blends up smoothies in just a few seconds, so all I have to do when I’m rushing in the morning is screw on the lid, pop the straw in, and head out the door.
It also means I don’t have to carry the motor base and blades around with me. Although a portable blender offers some convenience, getting out of bed a few minutes earlier to make a smoothie with a blender in the kitchen is going to save you much more time.
A portable compromise
But if you’re still set on that portable blender, I’d recommend the Ninja Blast Max. This blender has different blend settings to choose from, so you can select a smoothie setting. It made a decent smoothie in just one minute, so it’s totally impressive compared to the Nutribullet Flex, which left me with whole pieces of fruit even after four blend cycles.
The Blast Max gives a decibel reading of 77, which is a whole lot quieter than the Flex. The Flex gave a reading of 100.7dB, and was frankly too loud to be used continuously. And because the flex needed multiple bled cycles to work, it was regularly overheating, which wasn’t an issue with the Blast Max.
In short, a portable blender, in my opinion, is a lot more trouble than it’s worth. Having a great personal blender with portable blend cups, like the Beast Might 850 Plus, is the way to go.
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