Want a Cordless Portable Blender for Your Next Picnic? Only Two Are Worth Considering

Cordless portable blenders weren’t really a thing a decade ago, or maybe even three years ago. But battery tech keeps getting better. This means the best portable blender I’ve tested, the Ninja Blast Max ($100), is now fully able to make a six-pack of crushed-ice margaritas at your next picnic or blend up a berry-filled protein shake at the gym without breaking much of a sweat. Meanwhile, the ingeniously designed Nutribullet Flip ($115) offers more torque than previous-generation blenders, plus enough insulation to keep ice frozen until it’s time for lunch (or even dinner).

Does this not jibe with your past experience with cordless blenders? Reader, I agree. It’s a young technology, and most past (and current!) cordless blenders are a disappointment, especially compared to the best blenders that plug into the wall—which are often as much as a hundred times more powerful. But I found that our two top cordless blenders were far superior to the rest, after testing eight of the most promising contenders for battery life, ice crushing, smoothie and milkshake consistency, and all-round blender vortexing.

That said, it’s worth considering whether you actually need a cordless blender for blending on the go—or just a small personal blender that performs much better and whose blending chamber can transform magically into a drinking cup to go. WIRED has been testing personal blenders for years, and our top pick, the Nutribullet Ultra ($164), just might be the high-powered, sippy-cup, office-bound solution of your dreams.

Be sure to also check out more of WIRED’s wellness-related coverage, including our guides to the Best Juicers, Best Protein Powders, and Best Workout Apps.

Best Portable Blender Overall: Ninja Blast Max

The Blast Max is a titan in the pipsqueak-powered world of cordless blenders, each one the pitiful “before” in a Charles Atlas comic. In part, this is the result of sheer power, when power is measured in merely double-digit wattage. The Ninja’s 13.3-volt battery was the most powerful I tested, made possible with a proprietary charger instead of the USB-C cable favored by most cordless blenders.

The Max can make protein shakes, of course: Pretty much all of these cordless blenders can. But the cordless Ninja is also good at plowing through almond butter without jamming up. And it’s the only portable blender I tested that was able to crush ice without a running start. Indeed, it can turn cubed ice into fluffy snow without any ungainly chunks, a feat that no other cordless blender even came close to achieving. If you add tequila and a little margarita mixer and take the thing to a picnic, the results are even more satisfying.

It still takes up to three hours to charge, alas. But the Blast Max can blend for anywhere from seven to 10 drinks on a single charge, depending on how much blending is needed—enough to reliably make an octet of blended cocktails or smoothies. The trio of blender settings also sets the Blast Max apart, from an efficacious ice crush setting to an AI setting that adjusts power according to the resistance of the various ingredients.

My colleague Adrienne So has told me that the Ninja Blast Max’s predecessor, the max-less Ninja Blast, was a life-changing addition to her morning rituals when it arrived in the doldrums of 2023. The specs on the new Max means it may change lives nearly twice as much.

Best Insulated Portable Blender: Nutribullet Flip

Portable blenders have a very simple problem: Ice. Ice is what provides a lot of the satisfying texture that makes smoothies fun. But if you’re going somewhere without power, you’re probably also going somewhere without a freezer. This Nutribullet Flip, quite cleverly, solves this problem by using the same double-walled vacuum technology that keeps your coffee hot and your water cold in your favorite travel mug.

Filled halfway with ice and only ice, the Nutribullet Flip was able to keep most of its ice intact after eight hours, in my testing. Adding a liquid complicates matters, of course, unless the liquid already happens to be ice-cold. But as long as most of the constituents in the blender are chilled, you have a pretty good chance of making it to lunch with some ice cubes still intact.