While juicers and blenders look similar, they perform slightly different tasks. Blenders use sharp blades to break down the contents of the blending jug. This means everything in the jug is turned into a smooth mixture. Juicers, however, extract liquid and leave behind the rest of the fruits or vegetables. As you might expect from the name, juicers are primarily used to make fresh juice, so they can be pretty limiting, whereas blenders give you the means to make everything from smoothies to dips.

It can be difficult to tell which blenders will offer you the optimum performance based on specifications alone. While wattage may emphasize power, any number of things can deter the results, from the blade design to the stability. That’s why we’ve tested a range of blenders for you; so we can say with confidence which will best suit your blending needs. What are disadvantages of a blender But do you need a traditional jug blender or would a mini blender such as the Nutribullet suit you better? And what features are really useful to have? The Magimix Power Blender surrounded by ingredients to make a smoothie (Image credit: TechRadar) How to choose the best blender for you

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The most common sign it’s time to replace your blender is that it stops working. You may also notice that your blender is slowing down, taking longer to blend or food is not coming out with as smoothly as they used to. If you bring it in for a repair and are quoted a price that’s more than 50% of the cost of a new unit, you’re better off buying a replacement.

While testing, while the blender did an excellent job pulverizing fibrous pineapple, it struggled with leafy spinach, leaving our smoothie with a gritty texture. It was also unable to achieve a uniform consistency when chopping nuts and crushing ice. However, we were impressed with its ability to grate carrots, slice cucumber, chop onions and make breadcrumbs. Find out more about your rights when buying second-hand goods. How should I dispose of or recycle my old blender?

Dishwasher-safe parts Washing up can be laborious, so look for a blender where the parts are dishwasher-safe. It's handy if the blade is removable, so it can be separated from the jug and thoroughly cleaned. If you want to get a blender on a budget then the Acekool comes highly recommended from us. It has a large capacity that offers eight blending speeds and four preset programs which will blitz through lumps to smooth everything out.

Ease of use: Was the blender easy to set up, put together, take apart and clean? Was it straightforward? The Magic Bullet Blender MBR-1101 is a great option if you're looking for a small, inexpensive blender. It's lighter and more compact than the Ninja Fit, so it's worth considering if you don't have much space in your kitchen. Despite the lower price, it makes smooth blends with fibrous ingredients, so it can make fantastic smoothies and shakes with ingredients like kale. It takes about the same amount of time as the Fit, and you don't need to hold the jar to blend, so making a smoothie is a more convenient process overall. Speeds: The more speed settings available, the more user control a blender offers. Premium blenders may also offer preprogrammed options for tasks like smoothies, crushing ice, and pureeing that take the guesswork out of blending. Make sure you take advantage of these settings, otherwise you're making one of the 7 blender mistakes to avoid at all costs. However, there’s no way to add liquid during blending, so you can’t use it to emulsify ingredients, such as when making mayonnaise. In this case, we recommend the Breville the Super Q, as it comes with a pitcher so you can add liquid during blending. It’s also powerful enough to crush ice and pulverize nuts and come with a travel cup for smoothies - although you will need to decant the drink from the jug into the cup. Blenders vs juicers There is no cleaning preset, however, and none of the accessories are dishwasher safe so you'll need to wash this blender by hand. We also found that food sorts became trapped underneath the blades because they don't sit low enough to blend it, so it's large quantities of food all the way for the jug if you're to get the most out of it.

Pro tip: Measure the vertical space between your countertop and cabinets before purchasing a full-size blender; ideally, it should be able to slide under the cabinet when not in use. Eighteen inches of clearance is enough room for most models.

The best full-size blender brands consistently make well-built, convenient-to-use, and versatile products, meaning they can handle a variety of recipes, including smoothies, shakes, soups, and dips. Vitamix, Wolf Gourmet, and Breville are good high-end blender brands. Ninja and KitchenAid are among our most recommended brands for full-size blenders in the mid and budget price ranges. For personal blenders, it's important that the design and performance work well for smoothies. Ninja is also among the best personal blender brands, and so is NutriBullet. Meanwhile, smoothie blenders, also known as personal blenders, come with a small plastic cup rather than a jug. Fill the cup with your ingredients, then attach the blade, flip the cup upside down and connect to the base. When the ingredients are blended to your liking, remove from the base, unscrew the blade, and screw on a to-go lid, then take your drink with you. Blenders can also be used for making a healthy drink on-the-go. Portable and one-cup blenders cater for this. You'll often find that they are also much easier to clean than the larger countertop blenders, simply because there are fewer components to it.The Breville Super Q machine was designed to make larger quantities, and it struggled to mix the small mayonnaise recipes we tried. However, when it's filled, the blender copes well, and there are no leaks.