Best Blender: Vitamix 5200 vs. A2300 vs. Ninja Professional Plus

The best blender is rarely the one with the biggest motor or the longest list of preset buttons. In side-by-side smoothie, soup, ice and nut butter runs, the machines that made the smoothest food had something simpler in common: a jar shaped to keep food pulled down into the blades, a tamper to break up air pockets, and controls that let the cook set the speed by hand.

This guide compares three Vitamix models and a budget Ninja, explains what the extra power and price actually buy, and covers jar shape, noise, cleaning and the features worth skipping.

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Quick verdict

• Best blender overall: the Vitamix 5200. Plain controls, the creamiest smoothies and nut butter of the group, the quietest motor among the high-end machines, and a 7-year warranty. Its tall jar won't fit under a standard cabinet.
• Best for whole fruit and a clear jar: the Vitamix A2300. Its wider jar blended a whole apple that stalled the 5200, and its lid had the tightest seal.
• Best for presets and under-cabinet storage: the Vitamix Professional Series 750, the pick for buyers who want walk-away programs and a lower jar.
• Best budget blender: the Ninja Professional Plus Blender BN701. Great frozen drinks and a locking lid at a fraction of the cost, but grainier green smoothies.

The blenders side by side

Blender	Shop	Jar	Blade	Controls	Tamper	Standout result	Weak spot
Vitamix 5200	Buy on Amazon	64 oz, tall and narrow	Single four-prong blade at the base	10 speeds plus a high switch	Yes	Velvety smoothies, creamy peanut butter in 5 minutes	Too tall for most cabinets; choked on a whole apple
Vitamix A2300	Buy on Amazon	Clear jar, wider base	Single blade at the base	Variable speed	Yes	Whole apple, steaming soup, best lid seal	Needed the tamper for thick frozen blends
Vitamix Professional Series 750		Shorter jar for under-cabinet storage	Single blade at the base	Variable speed plus preset programs	Yes	Hands-off blending	Presets add cost without better results
Ninja Professional Plus Blender BN701	Buy on Amazon	72 oz, locking jar and lid	Removable six-blade stacked column	Low, medium, high, pulse, 3 auto programs	No	Frozen margaritas on par with the Vitamix	Seeds and kale flecks in smoothies; slow, hot nut butter

What the extra power actually buys

Wattage is a weak guide to blending quality. The high-end blenders in this group ranged from 1,380 to 2,800 watts, and the Vitamix 5200 was the least powerful of them. It still made the best smoothies. A kale, frozen pineapple and orange juice smoothie from the 5200 left slightly larger flecks of kale that couldn't be felt when drinking it, and the texture was velvety and creamy. The more powerful machines whipped the same smoothie into a foamy, airy drink, and soups came out aerated the same way.

Too much power can hurt. The most powerful machine, the 2,800-watt Blendtec Designer 725, couldn't make mayonnaise because even its lowest speed was too fast to add the oil slowly enough to emulsify.

The budget Ninja carries 1,400 watts, close to the 5200's 1,380, so the gap between them isn't raw power. It is build and blade design. The Ninja's drive gear is plastic on plastic, while the Vitamix's is metal on metal, which should hold up better over years of daily use. The Vitamix base is also heavier, about 10.5 pounds against the Ninja's 8, with thicker plastic made for commercial kitchens.

Jar shape and the tamper matter more than watts

A blender spins food into a vortex. In a tall, narrow jar like the 5200's, that vortex stays tight near the blades, so less air gets folded in. In a short, wide jar, the food ricochets off the walls and lid, which explains the foamy smoothies. The trade-off is that a narrow base can't swallow large pieces: a whole small apple with a cup of water stalled the 5200 even with the tamper, while the wider A2300, a KitchenAid Pro Line and a Blendtec blended it smooth.

The tamper is the other big advantage. When thick food like hummus, almond butter or frozen fruit forms an air pocket over the blades, the pitch rises and the blades spin faster with nothing to grab. Pushing the food down with the tamper gets it moving again. Machines with a tamper also blended a thick frozen-fruit "nice cream" with less liquid, because the cook can keep driving the mix into the blades instead of thinning it out. The Ninja's stacked blade column runs up the middle of the jar, so it can't use a tamper, and in a thick frozen blend those high blades make scraping down hard.

Features worth skipping

• Preset programs. Smoothie, ice, soup and frozen-dessert buttons let the blender run and shut itself off, but most of those jobs take under a minute. They push the price up without better results.
• Touch screens and cavitation warnings. One high-end model's LCD screen was slow to respond when changing speed, and its warning for an air pocket over the blades told the cook nothing the sound of the motor didn't.
• Self-cleaning cycles. These are a high-speed spin with hot soapy water you add yourself. The top of the jar and the lid still need a hand rinse.
• Thermal jars and soup or dessert modes. No blender in the group had a heating or cooling element. An insulated jar didn't keep soup any hotter, and none of them replaces an ice cream maker or a juicer.

Hot soup: friction does the work

High-speed blending heats food by friction alone. The Vitamix 5200, the A2300 and a KitchenAid Pro Line all turned canned and fresh tomatoes with garlic into steaming, creamy soup. A Blendtec on its soup program stopped early and left the soup lukewarm with a raw garlic bite, even after a second run. An entry-level Ninja made a creamy soup but didn't heat it; plan to warm a budget blender's soup in a pot. For pureeing soup right in the pot, an immersion blender skips the transfer altogether, and for slicing, shredding and chopping, a food processor is the better tool.

The same heat shows up where it isn't wanted. A green smoothie in the 5200 was smooth after about 20 seconds, but after a full minute it came out warmer than a cold drink should be. Stop sooner for smoothies.

Noise and stability

The Vitamix 5200 measured as the quietest of the high-end blenders. A Blendtec was the loudest machine in a thick frozen blend, and it walked toward the edge of the counter while running. On the safety side, the Ninja locks both the jar and the lid in place, which keeps hot soup inside. The Vitamix jar sits loose on its base and can be knocked off, and the 5200's on/off switch sits right next to its high-speed switch, so it is easy to flip the wrong one and jump straight to full speed. Start hot liquids on low and ramp up.

Cleaning

After soup, a quick rinse and a 30-second spin with warm soapy water cleaned every blade completely. The lids were the difference. The A2300 had the best seal of the Vitamix jars, and the KitchenAid and an entry-level Ninja sealed well too. The Blendtec's loose lid seal filled with sauce, so its gasket needs to come apart for cleaning. The 5200 seals well, but bubbles from a soapy spin can pop out of the lid plug, so don't overfill it. Heavy daily use also clouds the 5200's jar over time.

The picks in detail

Vitamix 5200

The 5200 is a stripped-down restaurant-style blender with an on/off switch, a 10-speed dial and a switch for full power. That simplicity is the point: the cook controls the speed by hand, ramps up slowly for hot liquids, and finishes on high. Its 64 oz tall, narrow jar made the creamiest smoothies of the group and the darkest-green kale smoothie, a sign the greens broke down fully. Two cups of toasted peanuts became warm, creamy peanut butter in five minutes once the tamper broke up the air pocket, creamier than a food processor usually manages.

The downsides are the jar height, which won't clear a standard upper cabinet, a narrow base that can't take whole fruit, and a jar that is harder to scrape out. A 32 oz or 48 oz container solves the cabinet problem for smaller batches. It comes with a 7-year warranty.

Vitamix 5200Check today’s price on AmazonBuy on Amazon →

Vitamix A2300

The A2300 keeps the hands-on control of the 5200 in a newer design with a clear jar that stays easy to see into. Its wider base blended a whole small apple with a cup of water until nothing was left, a job the 5200 couldn't do. It turned tomato soup steaming hot and super creamy, and its lid had the tightest seal of every blender in the group during cleaning. Thick frozen blends needed the tamper, which drives food into the blades without ever reaching them because it stops at the lid.

Vitamix A2300Check today’s price on AmazonBuy on Amazon →

Vitamix Professional Series 750

The Professional Series 750 was the runner-up to the 5200 among high-end blenders. It is the better fit for two kinds of kitchens: one where the blender has to live on the counter under the cabinets, and one where the cook wants to press a program button and walk away. Keep in mind that presets didn't improve results, so this is a convenience pick, not a performance upgrade.

Ninja Professional Plus Blender BN701

The Ninja is the budget answer to "Vitamix vs Ninja," and it holds up better than its price suggests. A frozen margarita of two cups of ice, lime juice and agave came out slushy in one minute, only a little icier than the Vitamix. Tomato soup after two minutes was smooth but coarser and redder than the Vitamix's, a sign the oil and cream didn't emulsify as fully. Its jar and lid lock in place, and its 72 oz jar is larger than the 5200's.

Green smoothies are its weak spot. The stacked blades whipped in air, turning the drink pale minty green, and raspberry seeds and kale fiber were plainly visible. Peanut butter took about 11 minutes instead of five, ended with a very hot motor and a burning smell, and had a texture closer to hummus. It is a fine choice for frozen drinks and occasional soups; daily green smoothies and nut butters are a job for a Vitamix.

Ninja Professional Plus Blender BN701Check today’s price on AmazonBuy on Amazon →

Vitamix vs Blendtec

Blendtec made a strong showing on whole fruit thanks to its wide base, but it fell behind elsewhere. One Blendtec's soup program left the soup lukewarm, its lid trapped sauce, it was the loudest machine in a thick frozen blend, and with no tamper it needed two stir-downs and three runs to finish. The most powerful Blendtec couldn't emulsify mayonnaise. For most kitchens, a Vitamix with a tamper is the more consistent machine.

Who should buy which

• Daily smoothies, nut butters and soups: the Vitamix 5200, if the counter has room above it.
• Whole fruit, a clear jar and the tightest lid: the Vitamix A2300.
• Under-cabinet storage or walk-away programs: the Vitamix Professional Series 750.
• Frozen drinks and weekend soups on a budget: the Ninja Professional Plus Blender BN701.

For pureeing soup right in the pot, a separate guide covers immersion blenders. Building out the rest of the kitchen? Compare KitchenAid Classic vs Artisan vs Artisan Plus stand mixers and the best air fryers.