Budget Or Bust? Nutrition Blenders Put To The Test.

Please note. This blogpost was originally published on 18 February 2016.

I’ve taken the most popular nutrition blender in the market, and tested it beside 2 other budget versions. How does the new Aldi Nutrient Blender compare to the Nutri-Bullet or a classic smoothie maker, and is it worth spending the extra money on the more expensive nutrition blenders?

Yesterday I tested 3 nutrition blenders in my kitchen. What’s the difference between a nutrition blender and a juicer? It’s simple, with a juicer you’re left with juice in a glass, and the pulp in a reservoir. Most people don’t use the pulp at all and they’re missing out on important fibre and antioxidants if they only consume the juice. With a nutrition blender, you blitz everything together so you’re getting the full nutritional value of what you put into the cup. This is why the nutrition blenders are so popular.

If you know anything about me at this stage it’s that I love testing! On the kitchen counter:

• Kenwood 2GoSport 300W
• Nutri-Bullet Graphite 600W
• Aldi Nutrient Blender 700W
• Stopwatch (for precisely timing the blend conditions)
• Sieve (to check for the “bits” in the smoothie and see how well the ingredients were blended)
• Classic Smoothie Ingredients (frozen banana, coconut water, yoghurt, frozen raspberries, spinach, and avocado)
• Roasted Peanuts & Coconut Oil

As you can see, there is a marked difference in power between the blenders so I was expecting there to be a difference in the amount of time it took to blitz ingredients, and how smooth the end result was.

Kenwood 2GoSport 300W
This is a classic smoothie maker. It’s not designed to take large nuts or beans.

For regular smoothies it performed well, but did struggle at times with the addition of  large lumps of frozen fruit (banana). Still smoothies were made within 30 seconds and were perfectly smooth and drinkable. I added in some protein powder to one smoothie and couldn’t detect the powder in the end result at all; they blitz grand.  The attachments wash easily in the sink or dishwasher.

The Kenwood has a major plus over the other blenders I tested, and that’s the travel aspect. The beaker that you make the smoothie in is the only one of the three that fits into a cup holder in a car. It’s narrow and easy to carry in one hand, and fits perfectly into my handbag/backpack. The other blenders come with wide cups that are awkward to carry – you really need to decant the contents before leaving the house. It’s also far smaller (half the size of the other two products I tested), so takes up less space in the press, a very important factor I think.

It costs on average €39.99 and is available from stockists nationwide.

Nutri-Bullet Graphite 600W

With double the power I was expecting the smoothies to be made in a jiffy. It took just 20 seconds to make a smooth creamy mixture, so much faster than the Kenwood above, however I did have to decant the smoothie to drink it which makes for more washing up.

The Nutri-Bullet comes with 2 different blades; one for making smoothies and regular mixtures, and the other for blitzing seeds, coffee beans, and nuts. I used this blade to blitz 200g of roasted peanuts with a tablespoon of coconut oil to make homemade peanut butter. It took 3 x 1 minute mixes to get the desired result but the resulting peanut butter was incredibly smooth. This is a great blender. Also included are a travel handle and caps. The caps fit well with no leakage, but as I’ve mentioned already the cups don’t sit in a regular car cupholder and they are very wide. I can’t carry one of these cups in my handbag.

Just to note that the Nutri-Bullet I was using was quite a few months old and I noticed that the “push to pulse” function didn’t always work. I don’t know whether this was related to age or if it’s an issue with all of these blenders.

The most popular brand name on the market at the moment, however it is expensive. On average you can expect to pay €105 for this blender, but it’s on special in Argos at the moment for €84.99 which is the cheapest you’ll find it anywhere.

Aldi Nutrient Blender 700W

Appearance wise it’s very similar to the Nutri-Bullet, albeit a little bit more chunky and not as rotund. However looks really don’t matter when it comes to the blender, it’s whether it does the job or not!

Again, the smoothie took 20 seconds to make and the end result was exactly the same as the Nutri-Bullet. For the peanut butter it took 3 x 1 minute mixes the same butter. So exactly the same. I had no issues with the “push to pulse” function with this blender. The main blending blade (looks like a cross with blades pointing up and down) was markedly different to the Nutri-Bullet. On the Nutri-Bullet these blades have a sharpened edge, and on the Aldi Nutrient Blender there is no sharpened edge. I didn’t notice that it made a difference in my test but would imagine this could make a difference for blitzing extremely hard items. It could also explain why the more powerful mixer still took the same amount of time to make the peanut butter.

In relation to the size of the cup. It’s the same size as the Nutri-Bullet, making it too big for me to transport out of the house. The lids were far harder to secure compared to the Nutri-Bullet. It took quite a few goes to get the thread right and be confident that they weren’t going to spill. The Nutrient Blender comes with 1 large, 2 small cups, covers, and 2 travel handles giving it edge over the expensive version, because the Nutri-Bullet comes with just 1 small cup, a large cup, covers, and travel handle.

On sale in Aldi shops nationwide from tomorrow (Thursday 18th February), the Nutrient Blender costs €39.99 and is available while stocks last.

Which Would I Pick?

Considering both of the 2 nutrition blenders performed fairly similarly the decision comes down to price. In which case get the Aldi version; it comes with a 3 year guarantee anyway.

If you just intend to make smoothies and want to drink them on the go/save time then buy the Kenwood 2GoSport. You’ll save space in your cupboard and also on the washing up.

If you can’t make it to Aldi would it still be good value to pay the larger amount for a Nutri-Bullet? Yes I think so! Nutrition blenders are a great addition to a healthy kitchen and a handy way to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables in your diet. Even at €84.99 it’s still a good value investment.

Disclosure: I received the Nutrient Blender from Aldi Ireland this week in order to complete this review in advance of it going on sale. I have had the Kenwood 2GoSport for a month now and use it everyday. I borrowed the Nutri-Bullet from a family member for the purposes of the test. This review is entirely my own opinion and based upon my experiences using all 3 blenders in a test situation. 

Image Credit: Images used with kind permission from Aldi, Kenwood, and PR Shots for Argos.