Best Budget-Friendly: Mueller Austria Ultra-Stick 500 Watt 9-Speed Immersion Multi-Purpose Hand Blender

Let’s talk hand blenders!

Also referred to as immersion blenders, most folks use these blenders for smoothies, coffee drinks or soups. You can emulsify a small amount of soft foods quickly and effectively.

Let’s also talk about what hand blenders DO NOT do well—despite many brands that include a whisk, these blenders aren’t designed to blend a large amount of whipped cream or meringue. For those uses, we recommend a stand mixer.

Ditto for frothing milk or chopping nuts. In our testing, we thought hand blenders just weren’t suited well for these tasks.

We tried out 11 brands of hand blenders, from fancy models made in Europe to budget options imported from Asia. As always, we looked for the best performance . . . at the best price! After preparing a variety of foods (baby food, smoothies), we found several models that were quick, quiet and easy to clean. Here are the ones that made the cut:

For the best budget-friendly hand mixer, the award goes to Mueller Austria’s Ultra-Stick hand blender. Yes, this blender has nine speeds and performed well—at a price that is easy on the wallet.

What We Liked

• Impressive power. This blender has 500 watts of power—most other blenders we tested had 300 to 350 watts.

• Quiet.

• Grip felt good in our hands. We liked the ergonomic design, which is no-slip.

• Easy to clean.

• Nine-speeds! We liked having the fine level of control. The Braun blender we recommend below has just two speeds.

• Attachments include: milk frother and whisk. That’s nice, but as we discussed above, we don’t think hand blenders like this work well for these uses. Yes, we liked this blender and thought it worked well for smoothies and soup—but not to froth milk or whip cream.

What Needs Work

• Can get hot.

• Made in China, not Austria. Yes, Austria is in the brand name, but this blender is not made in Europe. That said, most of the made in China blenders we tried worked fine. But if you prefer something made in Europe, check out the Braun mixer recommended below.

Best No-Splash Blender: Braun 4-in-1 Immersion Hand Blender

Here’s something no one tells you about buying a hand blender: they can be messy!

As in “redecorate your kitchen” messy! Some blenders we tried (but didn’t make the cut) had splash issues.

But there is good news: one blender we tried (the Braun MQ505) has a bell-shaped design that keeps splashing to an absolute minimum. Although pricey, we thought this feature alone made this model a winner.

What We Liked

• Very quiet!

• Strong motor at 350 watts. This blender emulsified veggies for vegetable soup in our tests in no time.

• Made in Poland.

• Soft grip handle.

• Lightest weight among those we tested. At 1.59 pounds, this blender is roughly half the weight of the Cuisinart blender recommended below.

• Whisk attachment and 20 ounce beaker included.

• Turbo boost power setting worked well.

What Needs Work

• Pricey.

• Just 2 speeds? While we liked this blender, we would have preferred more speed control. Two speeds (regular and turbo) just isn’t enough to blend larger chunks of fruit for smoothies, for example.

• Harder to clean than others we tested.

• On-button must be held down during blending. This got tiring after a while!

Best Blender + Chopper: Cuisinart CSB-179 Smart Stick Hand Blender, 2019, Stainless Steel

Yes, most of the hand blenders we tested were not ideal for chopping. Most, except for one: Cuisinart’s CBS-179 Smart Stick blender. This is the only brand we’d recommend if you don’t have a food processor and need a hand blender to handle light chopping tasks.

What We Liked

• Easy to clean and use.

• Variable speed control—this was excellent for emulsifying liquids. We always like starting on a super low speed, but not every blender offers this fine of control. This blender did the trick.

• Includes chopper bowl. Yes, this hand blender worked well for soft food chopping.

• Relatively quiet. No, this one isn’t the quietest blender we tested, but isn’t the loudest either!

What Needs Work

• Blade can break if you try chopping harder foods. Chopping ice, for example, is a bad idea. Raw carrots are another no-no.

• Not made in the USA.

• Must hold down button during chopping. That can get tiring—this blender is best for quick tasks.

• Safety lock could be easier to use. Some folks found holding this button down at the same time as the power button a bit challenging. We didn’t have a problem, but we see the point.

Best Powerful Blender: KOIOS 800W 4-in-1 Multifunctional Hand Immersion Blender

When it comes to some tasks, more power is better.

Most hand blenders are in the 300 to 350 watt range. That’s nice for smoothies—but what if you want to chop ice? Or other harder foods?

After trying out several more powerful blenders, we’d recommend KOIOS’s 12-speed blender. At 800 watts, this one is one of the very few blenders we’d recommend to chop hard foods like ice.

What We Liked

• Excellent speed control. We liked the 12 speed options, including a turbo mode (that’s a separate button).

• Bell-shaped design cuts down on splashing.

• Includes beaker, whisk and chopper.

• Grippy, ergonomic handle.

• Can pulse or use in continuous mode. That’s great flexibility we didn’t find in many other blenders.

What Needs Work

• Pricey.

• Can get hot when run at higher speeds.

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing products for the home and families since 1994. We do hands-on testing—we buy the products with our own money and evaluate with an eye toward quality, ease of use and affordability.

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