Taking up only 16 square inches of counter space, the Ninja Fit is about as powerful as larger blender bases with 700 watts of power. Plus, it comes with two 16-ounce bottles and spout lids. For the size and accessories, the Ninja Fit is all the occasional smoothie-maker or a small household reasonably needs, unless they're making nut butter and food-processing daily.

In our testing, 700 watts of power churned out smoothies as quickly and evenly as any human being could reasonably demand of a machine. While you will have a harder time making things like almond flour, we managed to do so during testing. You'll just find that it might just take more time and coaxing than, say, with a top-rated Vitamix.

Apart from that, the Ninja Fit has no real downsides. If you're after quick, consistent smoothies from a machine that doesn't take up too much counter space, the Ninja Fit is the best option without spending more than necessary.

The Magic Bullet is nearly synonymous with personal blenders, and that's because it's among the best. It's just powerful enough to do what most people require of a blender, like making smoothies or cocktails, and it takes very little space. The blending and chopping cups are perfectly portioned, easy to clean, and come with reliable lids. There are also many optional accessories.

We're big fans of the 11-piece bundle, especially for the price — it comes with a standard, 19-ounce tall cup, a 12-ounce short cup, and a 22-ounce travel mug, with two lip (rim) rings, two "stay-fresh" lids, and a folding to-go lid that inspires confidence.

During testing, we weren't able to crush ice very effectively. It took about 40 seconds to eliminate errant chunks of ice, but most of us will be satisfied with a 40-second smoothie. We also found that there is a way to accidentally engage the motor when the cups aren't fully in place, but operating the blender deliberately, especially with practice, easily addresses that.

The 11-piece Magic Bullet is more than sufficient for most small-household, RV, or boat needs; I spent six months on a sailboat using one to make smoothies daily. 

If you want something small, but still powerful enough to take on heftier orders, the Beast B10 is among the more versatile compact blenders on the market. With 1000 watts, the motor in this little blender is up to a third more powerful than many similarly-priced full-sized blenders. It also looks a lot better on a kitchen counter.

The base model, sold as the B10, comes with a 34-ounce blending vessel. That isn't exactly personal-sized, but the bundle is only a little more expensive with the extra 17-ounce blending vessel and 25-ounce hydration vessel, so we think it's worth it.

The Beast B10 is a minimalistic, simple setup with a single vessel, but the brand offers optional blending vessels (each running less than $20) should you like to size up or down.

The only issues we've encountered with the Beast are that the ribbed vessels aren't the easiest to clean, and it might not produce nut flour as quickly as our much more affordable top recommendation, the Ninja Fit. Thankfully, the vessels are top-rack dishwasher-safe, and the blender does puree food efficiently.

The BlendJet 2 is portable, water-resistant, and powerful enough to handle the demands of a regular smoothie drinker. It avoids becoming overly clunky, accessory-laden, or too heavy to be considered portable in the first place. Whether it's smoothies, cocktails, protein shakes, or baby food, you won't have any trouble processing the usual ingredients with the Blend Jet. 

It also crushed ice as well as some of the smaller AC-powered units we tested. We don't recommend crushing a ton of cubes, as it'll burn through the battery much more quickly, but the capability speaks well of the blade's sharpness and speed.

A carrying loop and lock mode make it extra reliable on the go, as does a water-resistant USB-C port, which is even submersible. We ran it under water in the sink and left water standing in it for 30 minutes before running it again without a hitch.

Cleaning is also a piece of cake. Per manufacturer instructions, we loaded the jar attached to the basin with soapy water, closed it, ran the blades for a few seconds, rinsed it out, and it was sparkling. You might try this with other blenders, but it's often not recommended as blades can tarnish, among other things.

The one thing we really dislike about the BlendJet 2 is the shockingly short warranty (albeit money-back) of 30 days. For a similar option with a one-year limited warranty, look to Oster's Blend Active. It's a little smaller and less powerful, but it works well enough for smoothies, shakes, and baby food and costs less than half the price.

The top pick in our guide to the best immersion blenders, Breville's Control Grip immersion blender is ergonomic, chops and purees everything we've asked it to, and comes with two jars, a blender tip, and a whisk tip that should cover all of your food mixing and blending needs.

Generally, an immersion blender works in a more freestyle manner, allowing you to blend and chop just about any food item you'd care to. However, unlike our other recommendations within this guide, immersion blenders are geared towards anything but smoothies (not that you can't make smoothies with one).

All of the things most regular blenders struggle through are where Breville's Control Grip excels, even where lesser models often struggle: think chopping, mixing, pureeing, and emulsifying everything from ice cubes to kale.

The 15 different settings, while somewhat bewildering, allow you to dial your mixing speed, and trigger control makes for an easy grip that we appreciated during extended use.

Designed with protein shakes in mind, BlenderBottle's Strada is our favorite manual blender bottle. It's built for long-term dependability with BPA- and phthalate-free plastic, surgical-grade stainless steel, and a secure lid that snaps shut and ensures you won't find your shake soaking the bottom of your bag.

Measured markings on the interior help you portion out drinks without guesswork, and the stainless-steel BlenderBall whisk quickly breaks up powder clumps (a common issue with manual blender bottles) and makes for impressively smooth shakes.

All in all, this is a simple but well-made option that isn't going to churn up a smoothie out of bananas and strawberries, but it does an extraordinary job with powder-based shakes and infusions, doubles well as a water bottle, and also comes with a flexible carry loop that attaches nicely to a gym bag.

Personal blenders range in size from single-serve, one-and-a-half cup capacities (like the smaller Ninja Fit jars) to about four-cup capacities (like the Beast's 1000 ml jar), which is just enough for a small household or a batch of cocktails. Depending on how many people or servings you're blending for, and how much space you want to dedicate to your blender, you can consider sizing up or down appropriately. 

A 250-watt blender will take its time, but with good, sharp blades, can make a smoothie every bit as good more powerful machines. A 1000-watt blender will not only handle ice crushing and smoothies with ease and speed, but nut flours and butters, too.

This isn't a requirement, but on more powerful machines, we think it's a benefit where versatility was concerned. Multiple speeds tend to enable a wider array of functions beyond the basic, requisite smoothie-making.

Complicated interfaces only get in the way with blenders, as do jars and bottles that tend to cause ingredients to clump together and not blend. Similarly, jar interiors and lids that have grooves or were difficult to access and clean are disadvantages, unless they're dishwasher safe.

We spoke with Erika Wong, a registered dietitian, nutritionist, and PureFish's in-house blending specialist, who also worked as a counselor at Massachusetts General Hospital to find out what makes a top-notch blender and general, and then pared down those criteria to accommodate smaller, less-powerful, and more portable and storable options, looking to speed, power, and simplicity in use and cleaning.

We blended three ounces of ice in each blender, timing it and noting any necessary pulsing, prodding, or shaking required to get shavings as uniform as possible. Some blenders simply didn't cut it.

We also blended three ounces of frozen strawberries, which broke down a little easier than ice cubes, and showed that some blenders could handle frozen fruit if not ice cubes.

We put two ounces of toasted almonds into each blender, timing the process and noting when flour either didn't materialize or things clumped up badly. We found a few models that didn't perform, and disqualified them from consideration.

We made strawberry-banana smoothies with frozen strawberries and fresh bananas because of the difference in texture (and also this particular flavor combo's popularity). Aside from time (pricier blenders were quicker by 10 to 15 seconds), we encountered hardly any issues with all of the blenders we tested.

Because kale is relatively light and airy (we used curly kale), it did prove a little trickier for blenders that didn't make a narrow vortex like the Ninja Fit or Blend Jet 2.

Yes, but some models work better than others, and some don't break ice into even pieces. A machine with about 350 watts of power will crush ice well enough, while a 700-watt machine will do so quickly and uniformly.

Personal blenders are great for kitchens that don't rely on blenders heavily, smaller spaces, and people who blend in smaller batches and don't require a big, robust blender.