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Best Blenders for College Students | What is the Best Dorm Room Blender?

Dino Paccino
Published by Dino Paccino
Last Updated On: March 1, 2024

Are you considering investing in a good personal blender to suit your college lifestyle?

Blenders are important kitchen tools and as such, should not be an afterthought. While there are lots of personal blenders in the market – with great advertising at that – you should choose one that doesn’t only look trendy but gives you good value for your money.

With that in mind, we tested some of the best personal blenders for college students and found the NutriBullet Pro to be the best personal blender. It checked out on budget, capacity, and efficiency. This powerful blender comes with strong blades to cut through tough recipes like frozen fruits, nuts, ice, and protein powder in record time with a smooth consistency. Plus, you’ll get really fancy jars that double as go-cups.

However, we understand that preferences differ based on budget, power, etc. So here’s our list of the best blenders for college students from testing their powerful motors, sharp blades, blending speeds, jars, etc.

Best 8 Personal Blenders for College Students Top Picks and Quick Summary

List Of Best Blenders For College Students

1

1 - NutriBullet Pro 900 Personal Blender

NutriBullet Pro 900 Personal Blender

Our top pick for the best blender for college students is the NutriBullet Pro 900. You could never go wrong with this compact yet high-performance personal blender.

The NutriBullet Pro 900 comes with powerful cyclonic action blades that cut through frozen fruits, nuts, and veggies to a smooth consistency. This personal blender works at an impressive speed—making blending time short: takes approximately 25 seconds to do a full blend of a mix of ice cubes, protein powder, and some frozen berries.

We also liked that, unlike the other personal blenders that we tested, you don’t have to hold the Pro 900 down as you blend.  The cup locked into the base perfectly, and there was no need to hold down any button. However, it doesn’t come with speed buttons so it’s impossible to blend at lower speeds.

Altogether, the NutriBullet Pro is a powerful and quality blender for college students. The only downside is that we had to be cautious enough to tighten the lip ring and prevent spills on the motor base. And it also gets hot when running continuously- so we took intermittent breaks between tasks.

Pros
  • Can blend frozen and fresh ingredients
  • Compact and stylish
  • Comes with 2 stylish 32-ounce go cups
  • Cups are BPA free
Cons
  • Makes a lot of noise
  • No pulse settings
  • Heat builds up
  • You can’t add ingredients when blending is in progress
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Quick Facts:

  • Dimensions: 12.01 x 7.72 x15.94 inches
  • Wattage: 900 Watts
  • Capacity: 32 ounces
  • Presets: 1
  • Warranty: 1 year
2

2 - Black + Decker PB1002 Fusion Blade Personal Blender

Black + Decker PB1002 Fusion Blade Personal Blender

If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly college blender, the Black + Decker PB1002 with fusion blade is one of the most efficient kitchen tools to grace your dorm room.

First, it has a powerful motor that packs 275 watts – while this isn’t as powerful as our top Nutribullet blender, our tests showed that it’s the highest a low-cost blender can carry. With this engine, it can blend tough recipes to near perfection in less than a minute.

As a mark of its quality, the Black + Decker comes with a two-year warranty: while this isn’t much, it’s better than the Hamilton Beach, Nutribullet, and most of the other blenders on this list. However, we didn’t like that it was messy using this blending as the 2 ½ inch opening wasn’t exactly what we’d have liked.

Regardless, this i

Pros
  • Powerful motor for blending juices and other beverages
  • Portable and versatile appliance
  • Very affordable
  • 2-year warranty
Cons
  • Messy to use
  • A bit difficult to clean
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3

3 - Hamilton Beach Personal Blender

Hamilton Beach Personal Blender

There are a lot of single-serve personal blenders for college students in the market, but the Hamilton Beach 51101A makes a strong case for budget and style.

First, the Hamilton Beach blender is compact and comes with a go-ready portable cup and a no-spill lid that’s perfect for busy college life. It also comes with a durable stainless steel blade and a single one-touch preset for user-friendliness. According to the manufacturers, you can blend ice, leafy greens, and frozen ingredients easily with the Hamilton Beach 51101AV. But in our test, we found out that it best combines soft fruits and veggies. So we were concerned about the low power.

The Hamilton Beach blender is not as powerful as the NutriBullet Pro as it takes approximately 120 seconds to blend protein shakes and smoothies: despite this longer processing time, the consistency was far from smooth when we threw our ingredients all at once. To get the best out of this blender, you’ll need to blend the ingredients one at a time. And it’s sort of practical considering that you’ll hold down the button as you carry out blending tasks.

In all, this personal blender is budget- and travel-friendly and doesn’t make as much noise as the NutriBullet Pro.

Pros
  • Budget-friendly
  • BPA-free travel jar
  • Lightweight and stylish design
  • Dishwasher friendly
Cons
  • A bit loud
  • Low capacity
  • Short blades that reduce blending capacity
  • Mostly made of plastic
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Quick Facts:

  • Dimensions: 5.2 x 4.2 x 11.9 inches
  • Wattage: 175 Watts
  • Capacity: 14 ounces
  • Presets: 1
  • Warranty: 1 year
4

4 - Ninja QB3001SS Fit Blender

First, we loved that this personal blender came with two 16-ounce additional cups and matching go lids which allow for multitasking. Like the previous personal blenders we tested, it came with a single preset and a maximum speed of 20,300 rotations per minute.

Unlike most blenders within the same price range, the Ninja QB3001SS came with a powerful motor power. And it proved efficient when we tested its blending capability on fresh ingredients like fruits, fibrous veggies, ice, and almond butter: it delivered near-perfect consistency every time.

However, while we didn’t have to hold down a button to blend, we had to hold the cup down as blending progressed due to the construction of the base. This part was quite discomforting since the blender makes a lot of noise (93 decibels).

Finally, like the NutriBullet Pro, there’s no way to add more ingredients once you start blending.

Pros
  • Budget-friendly
  • Easy to clean
  • Powerful and fast
  • Compact and comes with two go cups
Cons
  • Quite noisy
  • Single preset
  • Not suitable for large quantity blending
  • Cup doesn’t lock into the base
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Quick Facts:

  • Dimensions: 4 x 4 x13 inches
  • Wattage: 700 Watts
  • Capacity: 16 ounces
  • Presets: 1
  • Warranty: 1 year
5

5 - Magic Bullet

The Magic Bullet is another quality blender that suits college life perfectly. It’s pretty, small enough to be stored in a cabinet, and comes with two on-the-go jars.

Getting down to important details like build, blending capability, and functionality, we came to the following conclusions. The blades run at a speed of 21,400 rpm and make good smoothies out of frozen fruits and veggies. Although the blender didn’t yield amazing results processing nuts. Ice, on the other hand, wasn’t properly handled by this blender. Compared to most blenders in the same price category, we thought that the build of the Magic Bullet was quite inferior. The transmission was made of inferior plastic and even though we expected the jar to come small, it wasn’t as thick.

However, we liked that we didn’t need to hold it down while it blended. Overall, the blender serves its purpose well.

Pros
  • Easy to clean
  • Makes good smoothies
  • Two go-cups
  • Super affordable
  • Comes with 10 accessories
Cons
  • Can’t crush ice or blend hot soups
  • Made of generic plastic
  • Small capacity and blending power
  • Noisy
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Quick Facts:

  • Dimensions: 6.97 x 13.19 x 10.63 inches
  • Wattage: 250 Watts
  • Capacity: 0.57 liters
  • Presets: 1
  • Warranty: 1 year
6

6 - Oster BLSTPB-WBL-000 My Blend

Another college blender that college students are interested in is the Oster My Blend. It comes in an attractive sports style design and looks good on the countertop, and in hand.

Getting down to functionality, the Oster My Blend has a 250 Watts motor base that we thought was great for the price. We still had to see it in action though. Like most blenders in the same price and motor power range, the Oster My Blend did well with protein drinks and smoothies. The problem was with crushing ice and blending leafy greens. We got a lot of foam and chunkiness.

Oster BLSTPB is mostly made of plastic but unlike the Magic Bullet, it looked more durable. There’s only a single preset speed and it screeches to the tune of 89.8 Decibels. Overall, it handles smoothies with soft ingredients so well. But processing hard fruits and nuts is out of its comfort zone.

Pros
  • Easy to clean
  • BPA-free plastic jars
  • Makes smoothies and shakes well
  • Stylish compact design
Cons
  • Noisy
  • Can’t blend hot soups, nuts, and ice
  • Heat build-up
  • One preset speed
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Quick Facts:

  • Dimensions: 6.7 x 6.9 x 14.9 inches
  • Wattage: 250 Watts
  • Capacity: 20 ounces
  • Presets: 1
  • Warranty: 1 year limited
7

7 - Vitamix S30

Vitamix S30

If you need a personal blender with more power than most other models but is great for college dorms, then you should check out the Vitamix S30.

First, it comes in a 790-watt motor that features a radial cooling fan. You also get 10-speed settings which are more than what other college students’ blenders offer. Getting to the go-college lifestyle, the Vitamix S30 comes with a single-serve jar. It’s relatively large and comes with a 40-ounce jar that can take up to two smoothie servings. We blended carrots and frozen fruits with the Vitamix S30 and got a really satisfactory result.

Overall, it’s a great personal blender that’s fast and convenient. It’s also easy to clean: just rinse it out. But it’s expensive when compared to the other blenders we tested. However, if you can afford it, you should go for this large blender.

Pros
  • Fast and efficient
  • Easy to maintain
  • Strong build and satisfactory capacity
  • 10 preset speeds
  • No heat build-up
Cons
  • Ingredients can leak unto the motor
  • Expensive blender
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Quick Facts:

  • Dimensions: 5.9 x 5.9 x 14.55 inches
  • Wattage: 790 Watts
  • Capacity: 40 ounces
  • Presets: 10
  • Warranty: 5 years
8

8 - Tribest PB-250

Tribest PB-250

Last but not least is the Tribest PB-250 which is a great fit if you’re looking for a more versatile blender.

The Tribest PB-250 comes with two blender jars for blending smoothies and grinding seeds and nuts. Quickly, a couple of things we didn’t like were the noise and its limited functionality. It was one of the noisiest blenders we tested (106 Decibels). It’s narrow-mouthed and comes with only one preset – we kept our expectations low with this 200-watt power blender.

 

Now that’s out of the way, we did like that it included two cups – a 16-ounce and an 8-ounce cup with matching lids. And like the Hamilton Beach, it was pretty easy to use – fix, twist and blend. We also didn’t notice any messiness. But coming to the results, it doesn’t do a good job at blending frozen fruits and crushing ice – you may find chunks in your drink.

We recommend that you blend in bits, as you can’t add more ingredients when blending is in progress.

Pros
  • Easy to maintain
  • Versatile with grinder and more cups
  • Compact and stylish design
Cons
  • Struggles with frozen fruit
  • Noisy
  • Low blending capability and one preset speed
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Quick Facts:

  • Dimensions: 13.4 x 21.47 x 21.47 inches
  • Wattage: 200 Watts
  • Capacity: 16 ounces
  • Presets: 1
  • Warranty: 1 year

Factors to Consider When Buying a Personal Blender for College Students

Generally, personal blenders come in stylish and travel-friendly designs but they still have their distinct features.

Here are some of the features you should consider when buying a personal blender that’ll serve you in college.

1. Capacity

As a college student, you’ll most likely be living in a dorm room which means limited access to space. As a result, an ideal choice should be a small blender, compact enough to fit into your cabinet, or take up small space on your countertop. Also, most blenders come in single-serve blender cups of varying ounces – do well to choose one that checks all your boxes.

2. Price

The Vitamix S30 blender was the most expensive personal blender we tried out. While it’s a high-performance blender, it might pose a strain on your budget. Consider investing in an equally high-performance blender that’s more budget-friendly like the NutriBullet Pro. Otherwise look out for cheaper blenders like the Ninja, Hamilton Beach, and Oster My Blend.

3. Blending Capability

If you compromise on blending capability, you’ll need to commit more time to the blending process or endure drinking an inconsistent blend now and then. Some personal blenders with high blending capability include the NutriBullet, Ninja, and Vitamix.

4. Versatility

Yes, most personal blenders come with a single preset and are only used to make smoothies. But, if you’re looking for more, you could consider more versatile options like the Vitamix with 10 presets and Tribest which comes with a grinding component.

5. Noise

As a student, you don’t want to wake the other occupants of the dorm up when making breakfast. So prioritize blenders that are not too noisy.

6. Stay healthy

One of the best ways of keeping yourself healthy is by trying all sorts of smoothie recipes. With a college blender, you can try a wide variety of them. Plus they’re easy to store even with limited dorm room space.

7. Cheaper food

Students live on a tiny budget, so it won’t make sense to spend it on buying juices from Starbucks every day. It’s cheaper to make your own smoothies than to buy from the store.

8. Makes food processing easier

As a student, you may not have all the tools to process your meals. But blenders are versatile in that they can’t only make smoothies and juices, they can also grind nuts, coffee beans, and seeds – exactly what college students need.

9. Make your own takeout meals

Saving money is one of the top priorities for students, so personal blenders present themselves as a great appliance for making take-out meals like Chinese delicacies rather than buying them.

10. Make your own smoothie

One of the primary uses of blenders is blending fruits and veggies into delicious, nutritious smoothies and juice. This will save you the cost of buying these drinks from the store. Plus it’ll help you stay healthier.

Second, homemade smoothies and juice are fresher and more nutritious than store-bought ones. Plus they’re more easily accessible.

11. Blend frozen drinks/food

Juice and smoothies aren’t the only drinks you can make with your blender. You can also flex your bartending skills by making a cocktail and other drinks with your blender.

This will add more flavor to your parties and social gatherings.

12. Scrambled eggs

Scrambled eggs are another recipe popular among college students. Simply add some veggies, cheese, and eggs into your blender, and you have a delicious breakfast set.

13. Crush ice and nuts

What better way to enjoy your delicious drinks than having them cold? Some of the personal blenders we’ve listed are powerful enough to crush ice. You can also process nuts and grind coffee beans. However, take note that these tasks may be difficult for your blender to carry out.

Why Trust Kitchen Infinity?

Our writers and reviewers thoroughly research every aspect of kitchen appliances or home improvement products so you can make a well-informed decision when investing in these products. We evaluate top quality products from several brands within budget friendly price ranges and contrast consumer reviews, surveys, satisfaction forms, brand performance, and annual appliance rankings. We go to great lengths to ensure that your next buy is worth every penny!

NutriBullet Pro 900 Personal Blender

Our #1 Recommendation

  • Can blend frozen and fresh ingredients
  • Compact and stylish
  • Comes with 2 stylish 32-ounce go cups
  • Cups are BPA free
Dino Paccino

Dino Paccino

Dino is a lifelong writer and home improvement specialist. He enjoys bringing cutting-edge information on home renovation and remodeling to Kitchen Infinity.

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