Tips For Choosing A Hand Blender

The current market is flooded with a number of power blenders with diversified pricing and quality. What do you think decides the quality and performance of a power blender? Wattage, or RPM? Now we will reveal some truths for the standards that most people use to evaluate a blender but may not be right, and give you useful tips to choose the right power blender.

1. Wattage & Peak Horsepower

The wattage on the rating label or package means the rated power. You may think the higher the power is, the more powerful the blender will be. That is theoretically rational. But have you noticed that the most commonly seen rated power of top brands are around 1000W - 1600W, while some low end blenders have a power as high as 2200W? (Greenis power blenders have a wattage of 1400W for models with universal motors, and 1000W for the brushless model. ) Can we say the top brands are less powerful that those cheap versions? You have got the answer. How could it be? We need to know power is not the only factor to decide and performance, other factors also need to be taken into account like the control system, the quality of the motor etc. In addition, there is one important parameter about power that has been ignored by most people - power efficiency or electricity efficiency which defines the useful power output divided by the total electrical power consumed. In other words, a high-efficiency motor of lower rated power can possibly take more power to drive the blender than those higher-wattage motors of lower-efficiency. For instance, the 1000W brushless DC motor of 90% efficiency from GREENIS can deliver more power than a 2200W universal motor of 40% efficiency. Of course, you are unlikely to know the exact efficiency for a blender. So if you are hesitating between a 1400W blender and a 1600W blender, just leave the wattage and take a look at other aspects to make the decision.

About the horsepower, we are not trying to tell you how to calculate the horsepower as it is too simple. What we want to explain is the PEAK horsepower that appears frequently in the advertisement or specification sheet. Peak horsepower is the amount of power generated when the motor meets resistance, such as the instant the motor starts spinning. This initial boost in torque makes the start of the blending process easier. Soon thereafter, the power of the motor drops to the running horsepower. So now you know that peak horsepower is not running horsepower and is not so important in the overall performance either.

2. Spinning speed of blades (RPM)

Most power blenders are labeled with a speed of 30,000RPM or higher. However these figures are just speed for empty jar and makes little sense to the actual blending performance. When the blades meet resistance, the speed will drop. So what really matters is the loaded work speed. The full-loaded speed for high quality blenders on the current market can reach to 12,000 -14,000RPM. Greenis brushless DC motor, with totally different working mechanism, can maintain working at 15,000RPM constantly without being affected by the loading condition. And universal motors Greenis uses can reach to 15,000RPM as well full loaded thanks to the improvement of electronic system and the speed is less sensitive to external environment with the speed micro-controller that few other manufacturers have built in their blenders. So just like the power, when you make purchasing decision, do not attach too much attention to the labeled speed.

3. Noise

Compared to power and speed, noise is more useful and reliable for you to evaluate the blender. Noise level is an important parameter that manufacturers take into account in product development. They will use good motors and good insulation structure to reduce the noise. So try to choose those quieter blenders to protect your ears and maintain a pleasant use environment.

The average noise level of high power blenders is 85 - 95DB. Greenis FGR-8800 mode, thanks to the brushless DC motor, is the quietest power blender in the world and sound level is approx. 75DB for the highest speed. Noise level of our universal models is approx. 77- 80DB since we use very high-quality motor and double sound insulation structure. You can find videos for noise comparison between various brands and models on social media like youtube.com, or you can have a try by yourself.

4. Motor drive

For the motor drive we mean the motor coupler secured at the center of the upper surface of motor base and will receive the blade shaft to drive the blades when jar is placed on the motor base at a processing position. Because the blade spinning will cause abrasive friction with the inner surface of motor drive contacting blade shaft, this part must be stainless steel so it can resist the friction, otherwise it will wear quickly and come with problems like abnormal noise, shaking and even severe safety issue. Some manufacturers make the inner part with plastic or rubber which obviously is not durable enough. Besides, the coupling status of the motor drive on the motor base should not be too tight or too loose. For either condition the performance of the blender can be affected. The ideal status is that it can just rotate smoothly when you gently turn it with your fingers.

5. Jar

The jar is one of the key parts on the blender and unlike the motor or the PCB, the jar is visible so you can have a direct determination. The first factor you need to consider for the jar is the material. This material must meet all the following standards to be qualified to build a blend jar: 1) It must be human safe (non-toxic, BPA free) as it contacts food directly. 2) As the jar must withstand constant impact from ingredients especially the hard ingredients like ice cubes, the material must be impact-resistant. 3) We always want to look at food being blended during the process, so the material is preferable to be transparent. 4) This material should be heat-resistant as power blenders will make hot drinks. 5) The jar should not be easy to be tainted by any color or odor as the food blended may have deep colors (like carrot, blueberries) or heavy smell ( like ginger, garlic). What Greenis and the other top brands use is Tritan material which can meet all the requirements for such a jar. It’s 100% BPA free, extremely tough and durable.

In addition, a good jar should also be helpful to blend, though it does not blend the food directly. The structure of the jar is critical to decide if the blender can crush all food efficiently to desired consistency. A rectangular jar with protuberant turbulence enhancement feature will help to form valid vortex and facilitate blending. While cylinder jar may need tamper more to help pushing the ingredients down.

Moreover, the thickness of jar walls can decide the level of durability (for the same material). For example, Greenis FGR-8800 power blender features a jar with 4.5mm thick walls made from Tritan material, which is the thickest Tritan jar in the world and meanwhile comes with unmatched durability and toughness.

6. Blades

Needless to say the blades must be made from superior stainless steel. Here we want to probe into the design of blades as there are many statements saying the number of blades, the shape of blades, and even the rotating direction of blades will influence the blending result. Yes they do, but it doesn’t mean more blades will result in better performance, or the sharp blades must be more efficient than the blunt ones, or the anti-clockwise spinning will make them crush better than clockwise rotation. We should know that the blender work as one unit. It’s a system where parts especially running parts have direct or indirect connections with each other. Only when every part in this system work well with others can the system work to its best. In other words, the best blades should match the jar and even the electrical parameters that they will applied to. But it does not mean there is no way to figure out if the blades are right in a blender. Everything about the blade comes to crushing capacity and durability, so you can check how it crush hard stuff like glass to tell its toughness, and you can check if it can blend a whole apple without water to tell its capacity to blend those bulky stuff especially with round and smooth surface. That would be more rational.

7. Safety system

Safety always comes first when we choose a product, especially for such a high power and high speed blender. Without comprehensive and effective protection, it might be a disaster to you and your family once something goes wrong. Apart from the over load current protection, over temperature protection that is basic for most products, more security apparatus should be included to make sure any of these conditions will not cause damage or hurt: when the jar is not properly placed on the motor base or falls from base during work; when unintended operation is applied to the control panel (touch panel) from the user especially a kid; when something is stuck in the blades. A conscientious manufacturer must consider every potential danger to their customers and try their best to avoid it in product development. However some just ignore it in order to save cost. Open your eyes and you will find to which category they belong.

8. Way of Control

There are mainly three types of control for power blenders on the current market:

Paddle/knob: Paddle/knob is the oldest style of control. Some of you may be attached to the mechanical feeling from it. But one obvious drawback is that paddle/knob is not precise. This control way is generally applied to machines with simple functions. Nowadays some combination design like knob combined with touch panel will serve better for both functionality and feel of operation.

Button: Button is a newer control than paddle/knob and it’s more precise to set specific function. But the shortcoming is that it’s not easy to clean and dust will gather around the button or in the gaps after using for a period. Touch panel: Touch panel is the latest control technology.

Touch panels can be divided into resistive touch and capacitive touch. To put it simply, resistive touch needs you to tap it with force, while capacitive touch only needs you to slightly contact it. We recommend capacitive touch panel because resistive touch panel is easy to break due to scratch. Greenis power blenders are built with capacitive touch screen that’s intuitive and easy to use. The panel is also scratch-resistant and waterproof.

9.Function 

As introduced in our another article: why you need a power blender, the high power blender has capabilities to finish all kinds of blending tasks. The new generation smart blenders generally come with preset programs like Juice, Smoothie, Soup etc which make operation much easier. You can choose the programs according to your life needs. Generally the more the better as it will give you more options.

Greenis power blenders come with 6-7 programs on the device additionally with a recipe App which allows for access to an ever-growing cloud recipe database where hundreds of recipes are available with corresponding programs that can work directly on the blender.

We believe a good tool can yield twice the result with half the effort. Choose a right power blender and make eating healthier and easier.