Nutribullet Triple Prep System: one-minute review

True to its name, the Nutribullet Triple Prep System is a blender combo that provides the functionality of three kinds of kitchen appliances in one. Nutribullet as a brand may have made its start with personal blenders, but the lineup has expanded to include

Alongside a 1,500 watt motor base, the system includes a long list of accessories: a 64oz pitcher, two travel cups with lids, a food processor work bowl, a shredding/slicing disc, a tamper, a food pusher, and a dough blade. So, it’s pretty much a full toolkit for any home chef looking to whip up smoothies, shakes, soup, dips, and more.

As expected, during my tests, there was almost no hurdle the Nutribullet Triple Prep System stumbled at. From chopping carrots to crushing ice, the machine proved to be an exceptionally useful assistant in the kitchen again and again. What’s more, it was more user-friendly than many

There are a few problems that held the Triple Prep System back from perfection though. For one, the blades in the pitcher can’t be removed, which makes hand washing a good bit more difficult than it needs to be. As well as that, it doesn’t perform well with very small batches, given its smallest container is 24oz.

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: price and availability

• List price: $244.99 / £229.99 / AU$349.95
• Available in the US, UK, and Australia
• Sold through Nutribullet’s website and other third-party retailers

The Nutribullet Triple Prep System is widely available to buy in the US, UK, and Australia. Across all three of these regions, you can pick up the Triple Prep System directly from the Nutribullet site or on Amazon. When it comes to third-party retailers in the States specifically, some of your other options are Target, Best Buy, and Walmart.

At over $200, the Triple Prep System is undoubtedly on the higher end of the Nutribullet range. It is one of the brand’s most multifunctional machines though, so it makes sense that it would set you back more than the rest. For context, you can get a basic Nutribullet personal blender for as little as $80.

Even with that higher price tag, if it saves you the cost of buying a blender and food processor separately, the Triple Prep System is incredible value for money. That said, it’s probably not a great idea to opt for it if you don’t plan to make use of its full suite of features.

• Value score: 4/5

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: specs

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: design

• Plenty of presets to choose from
• Smart attachment recognition
• Slightly large footprint, but accessories nest for storage

One of my favorite features of the Triple Prep System is how it smartly recognizes which container you have attached to the base, and changes which presets are available based on that knowledge. It even modifies the duration of presets depending on which attachment you’re using.

For example, the Smoothie preset runs for 50 seconds with the pitcher and 60 seconds when using the travel cups. More blending time for a smaller container may sound counterintuitive, but your ingredients having less space to move around means that the motor has to process for longer to ensure all of the mix comes in contact with the blades.

You wouldn’t have to know all that though, because the Triple Prep System makes that change for you. The touch button layout is clean and intuitive: you’ve got start/stop controls, a pulse button, and clearly labeled presets for smoothies, soups, frozen drinks, and food processing tasks. Any preset that isn’t suitable for your attached container conveniently disappears too, helping to make using the machine an almost foolproof experience.

The majority of parts are dishwasher-safe, which offers a welcome reprieve from having to scrub out smoothie remnants and soup leftovers by hand. The extractor blade isn’t suitable for dishwasher cleaning, but given the fixed pitcher blades caused me far more struggle when cleaning than the extractor blade, I didn’t find this to be too much of an issue.

Given the sheer number of functions this machine serves, its slighter larger footprint feels like a worthy trade. If you cook from scratch or make fancy drinks at home regularly enough, you can probably justify keeping the motor base on your kitchen counter between uses. When you go to store the Triple Prep System away in your kitchen cupboards, you’ll probably find its wealth of accessories and attachments more of a curse than a blessing.

Certain parts of the system (like the shred/slice disc) slot together or into each other so it does seem like there was some effort made to save space. However, it still is a system that requires some generous-sized kitchen cupboards.

• Design: 4.5/5

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: performance

• Consistently great results with smoothies and soups
• Does a great job crushing ice
• Struggles with very small batches

Blenders are Nutribullet’s bread and butter – particularly ones for making smoothies. With that in mind, it made a lot of sense to start my testing there.

The smoothie recipe that’s used during TechRadar’s testing processes is a doozy in a couple of respects. It includes blueberries, which have skin and tiny seeds for the blender’s blades to try to contend with. But it also contains kale: the fibrous leafy vegetable that’s the enemy of many at-home smoothie lovers. While kale is great for sneaking nutrients in your drinks, it can be really difficult to completely break down if your blender isn’t up to the task – and plenty of blenders aren’t.

Thanks to the Triple Prep System’s 1,500W motor and the guidance of its smoothie preset, I managed to blitz up a thick, tasty smoothie with virtually no off-putting ‘bits’. Any grittiness from the berries’ seeds disappeared entirely and no chunks of leaf remained.

Roughly the same was true when I tried to replicate the smoothie in one of the travel cups. Upon very, very careful inspection, there were minuscule flecks of unprocessed kale floating in the smoothie but these were few and far between, and weren’t large enough to detect in the mouth when drunk.

Crushing the ice in the travel cup gleaned far less than ideal results so I opted to try it in the pitcher instead. Don’t get me wrong, I was reasonably satisfied with what the travel cup produced: well-crushed ice with some little chunks that escaped the wrath of the extractor blade. However, I wanted to see if the added surface of the pitcher would produce a better end result.

Sure enough, without much fuss, the pitcher’s blades managed to pulverize the cubes into fine, icy grounds that were just perfect for a snow cone or daiquiri. The Triple Prep System’s volume output hit a peak of 96db during this part of the test (roughly equivalent to some power tools). While this level of noise is certainly not pleasant to be exposed to for too long, it is a good bit higher than the blender’s average which was closer to 87db.

As testing continued, the Triple Prep System continued to impress. After mixing up a hummus recipe in the food processor’s work bowl on the ‘dip’ preset and scraping the sides, I was treated to a creamy dip with zero unincorporated segments of chickpeas. Thicker blends sticking under the blades and on the edge of the container was a notable problem with the Nutribullet SmartSense that I found added extra time to making this simple, delicious recipe. Thankfully, the Triple Prep System avoids the same mistake.

Next, I put its shred/slice disc to work on a block of cheese and found that it provided a result that was really consistent. However, the slight inconvenience of chopping the cheese small enough to fit through the narrow gap in the food processor’s lid might make this a less attractive option in the future.

The only real disappointment I experienced during testing was how the Triple Prep System performed making mayonnaise. The pitcher was obviously too large to properly blend a batch, so I opted to use the food processor work bowl instead. The issue is that – even when I doubled the usual recipe – the container was still far too spacious.

An alternative mayonnaise recipe written specifically for a Nutribullet suggested using a 18oz cup, but the Triple Prep System not only doesn’t include a container that small but doesn’t have any more compact attachments that would allow you to gradually drip oil into the emulsion as it’s blending. So, unless you’re anticipating mixing up an industrial-sized tub of mayo, it’s worth doing this recipe by hand or with an immersion blender.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Nutribullet Triple Prep System?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: also consider

If you’re on the look-out for options that are similar to the Nutribullet Triple Prep System, here’s some alternatives worth considering:

How I tested the Nutribullet Triple Prep System

Alongside my usual kitchen tasks, my testing involved using the Nutribullet Triple Prep System to make TechRadar’s standard test recipes.

Throughout this process, I assessed the effectiveness of both manual and preset blending. I used a decibel tracker to determine how loud the blender is during use and after each blend, I cleaned the blender attachments and accessories by hand.

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: one-minute review

True to its name, the Nutribullet Triple Prep System is a blender combo that provides the functionality of three kinds of kitchen appliances in one. Nutribullet as a brand may have made its start with personal blenders, but the lineup has expanded to include

Alongside a 1,500 watt motor base, the system includes a long list of accessories: a 64oz pitcher, two travel cups with lids, a food processor work bowl, a shredding/slicing disc, a tamper, a food pusher, and a dough blade. So, it’s pretty much a full toolkit for any home chef looking to whip up smoothies, shakes, soup, dips, and more.

As expected, during my tests, there was almost no hurdle the Nutribullet Triple Prep System stumbled at. From chopping carrots to crushing ice, the machine proved to be an exceptionally useful assistant in the kitchen again and again. What’s more, it was more user-friendly than many

There are a few problems that held the Triple Prep System back from perfection though. For one, the blades in the pitcher can’t be removed, which makes hand washing a good bit more difficult than it needs to be. As well as that, it doesn’t perform well with very small batches, given its smallest container is 24oz.

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: price and availability

• List price: $244.99 / £229.99 / AU$349.95
• Available in the US, UK, and Australia
• Sold through Nutribullet’s website and other third-party retailers

The Nutribullet Triple Prep System is widely available to buy in the US, UK, and Australia. Across all three of these regions, you can pick up the Triple Prep System directly from the Nutribullet site or on Amazon. When it comes to third-party retailers in the States specifically, some of your other options are Target, Best Buy, and Walmart.

At over $200, the Triple Prep System is undoubtedly on the higher end of the Nutribullet range. It is one of the brand’s most multifunctional machines though, so it makes sense that it would set you back more than the rest. For context, you can get a basic Nutribullet personal blender for as little as $80.

Even with that higher price tag, if it saves you the cost of buying a blender and food processor separately, the Triple Prep System is incredible value for money. That said, it’s probably not a great idea to opt for it if you don’t plan to make use of its full suite of features.

• Value score: 4/5

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: specs

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: design

• Plenty of presets to choose from
• Smart attachment recognition
• Slightly large footprint, but accessories nest for storage

One of my favorite features of the Triple Prep System is how it smartly recognizes which container you have attached to the base, and changes which presets are available based on that knowledge. It even modifies the duration of presets depending on which attachment you’re using.

For example, the Smoothie preset runs for 50 seconds with the pitcher and 60 seconds when using the travel cups. More blending time for a smaller container may sound counterintuitive, but your ingredients having less space to move around means that the motor has to process for longer to ensure all of the mix comes in contact with the blades.

You wouldn’t have to know all that though, because the Triple Prep System makes that change for you. The touch button layout is clean and intuitive: you’ve got start/stop controls, a pulse button, and clearly labeled presets for smoothies, soups, frozen drinks, and food processing tasks. Any preset that isn’t suitable for your attached container conveniently disappears too, helping to make using the machine an almost foolproof experience.

The majority of parts are dishwasher-safe, which offers a welcome reprieve from having to scrub out smoothie remnants and soup leftovers by hand. The extractor blade isn’t suitable for dishwasher cleaning, but given the fixed pitcher blades caused me far more struggle when cleaning than the extractor blade, I didn’t find this to be too much of an issue.

Given the sheer number of functions this machine serves, its slighter larger footprint feels like a worthy trade. If you cook from scratch or make fancy drinks at home regularly enough, you can probably justify keeping the motor base on your kitchen counter between uses. When you go to store the Triple Prep System away in your kitchen cupboards, you’ll probably find its wealth of accessories and attachments more of a curse than a blessing.

Certain parts of the system (like the shred/slice disc) slot together or into each other so it does seem like there was some effort made to save space. However, it still is a system that requires some generous-sized kitchen cupboards.

• Design: 4.5/5

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: performance

• Consistently great results with smoothies and soups
• Does a great job crushing ice
• Struggles with very small batches

Blenders are Nutribullet’s bread and butter – particularly ones for making smoothies. With that in mind, it made a lot of sense to start my testing there.

The smoothie recipe that’s used during TechRadar’s testing processes is a doozy in a couple of respects. It includes blueberries, which have skin and tiny seeds for the blender’s blades to try to contend with. But it also contains kale: the fibrous leafy vegetable that’s the enemy of many at-home smoothie lovers. While kale is great for sneaking nutrients in your drinks, it can be really difficult to completely break down if your blender isn’t up to the task – and plenty of blenders aren’t.

Thanks to the Triple Prep System’s 1,500W motor and the guidance of its smoothie preset, I managed to blitz up a thick, tasty smoothie with virtually no off-putting ‘bits’. Any grittiness from the berries’ seeds disappeared entirely and no chunks of leaf remained.

Roughly the same was true when I tried to replicate the smoothie in one of the travel cups. Upon very, very careful inspection, there were minuscule flecks of unprocessed kale floating in the smoothie but these were few and far between, and weren’t large enough to detect in the mouth when drunk.

Crushing the ice in the travel cup gleaned far less than ideal results so I opted to try it in the pitcher instead. Don’t get me wrong, I was reasonably satisfied with what the travel cup produced: well-crushed ice with some little chunks that escaped the wrath of the extractor blade. However, I wanted to see if the added surface of the pitcher would produce a better end result.

Sure enough, without much fuss, the pitcher’s blades managed to pulverize the cubes into fine, icy grounds that were just perfect for a snow cone or daiquiri. The Triple Prep System’s volume output hit a peak of 96db during this part of the test (roughly equivalent to some power tools). While this level of noise is certainly not pleasant to be exposed to for too long, it is a good bit higher than the blender’s average which was closer to 87db.

As testing continued, the Triple Prep System continued to impress. After mixing up a hummus recipe in the food processor’s work bowl on the ‘dip’ preset and scraping the sides, I was treated to a creamy dip with zero unincorporated segments of chickpeas. Thicker blends sticking under the blades and on the edge of the container was a notable problem with the Nutribullet SmartSense that I found added extra time to making this simple, delicious recipe. Thankfully, the Triple Prep System avoids the same mistake.

Next, I put its shred/slice disc to work on a block of cheese and found that it provided a result that was really consistent. However, the slight inconvenience of chopping the cheese small enough to fit through the narrow gap in the food processor’s lid might make this a less attractive option in the future.

The only real disappointment I experienced during testing was how the Triple Prep System performed making mayonnaise. The pitcher was obviously too large to properly blend a batch, so I opted to use the food processor work bowl instead. The issue is that – even when I doubled the usual recipe – the container was still far too spacious.

An alternative mayonnaise recipe written specifically for a Nutribullet suggested using a 18oz cup, but the Triple Prep System not only doesn’t include a container that small but doesn’t have any more compact attachments that would allow you to gradually drip oil into the emulsion as it’s blending. So, unless you’re anticipating mixing up an industrial-sized tub of mayo, it’s worth doing this recipe by hand or with an immersion blender.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Nutribullet Triple Prep System?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: also consider

If you’re on the look-out for options that are similar to the Nutribullet Triple Prep System, here’s some alternatives worth considering:

How I tested the Nutribullet Triple Prep System

Alongside my usual kitchen tasks, my testing involved using the Nutribullet Triple Prep System to make TechRadar’s standard test recipes.

Throughout this process, I assessed the effectiveness of both manual and preset blending. I used a decibel tracker to determine how loud the blender is during use and after each blend, I cleaned the blender attachments and accessories by hand.

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: one-minute review

Nutribullet is a brand most well known for its compact personal blenders which – while suited to blitzing up smoothies and protein shakes – aren’t exactly heavy duty pieces of culinary tech. But models like the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo aim to up the power and functionality without compromising too much on simplicity or affordability.

By combining a full-sized pitcher with Nutribullet’s familiar single-serve cups, and adding a smart auto-cycle that adapts blending power on the fly, it aims to cover the needs of both speedy smoothie lovers and home chefs.

For the most part, it succeeds. Most everyday tasks are handled quickly and consistently. The SmartSense auto cycle is genuinely useful for hands-off blending and the 1,500W motor packs more punch than most people will ever need.

But all that isn’t without its caveats. The SmartSense Blender Combo struggles with thick or dry blends and requires you to intervene a couple of times during the blending process to ensure all the ingredients are within reach of the blades. You’ll also find that very small batches of dips don’t quite reach high up enough to get blended.

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: price and availability

• List price: $164.99 / £149.99 / AU$299.95
• Available in the US, UK, and Australia
• Reasonable price for a two-in-one blender combo

In the US, UK, and Australia, the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo is available to purchase on the Nutribullet site. and from third-party retailers like Amazon.

In terms of cost, the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo sits on the mid/high end of the Nutribullet range. Understandably, you’re paying more than you would for a dinky personal blender, but it won’t quite set back as much as a top-of-the-line food processor/blender combo.

Similar models from other brands include the Cuisinart Velocity Ultra Trio

• Value score: 4.5/5

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: specs

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: design

• Five blending speeds and an auto mode
• Pitcher with fixed blades and a vented lid
• Travel cups with extractor blades

The Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo consists of a blender base which can either be attached to the included 64oz pitcher, 32oz travel cup, or 24oz handled travel cup. All three of these add-ons are made from BPA-free plastic, meaning you can enjoy the lightness and durability of the material without worrying about harmful chemicals leaching into your soups and smoothies.

The SmartSense Blender Combo box contents also included a tamper but during testing, I found that it offered very little in the way of practical help. A far more useful tool was a cheap silicone spatula I tend to use while baking. It had the flexibility necessary to scrap the edges of the blender jug, but didn’t tend to get ingredients stuck to it like tamper did.

Like the rest of the build, the attachments of the SmartSense Blender Combo are sturdy enough to inspire confidence. The only real concern I’d have is the possibility of stains or scratches developing after long-term use, but even this would just be a superficial complaint. Not to mention, a good thorough clean after every use helps to prevent this. Thankfully, attachments for the SmartSense are dishwasher-safe so this task is a little easier.

Blending with the travel cups is done with a separate extractor blade but in the case of the pitcher attachment, the blade is sealed into the base. This means that, when you’re hand-washing your blender (which those of us without dishwashers are cursed to do) it’s a little difficult to clean. Without being able to pop the blade out and wipe it down, it’s best to blitz some warm water and soap in the pitcher to loosen some of the debris that tends to get stuck underneath. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but it definitely adds an awkward extra step to maintaining the machine.

One great thing about the pitcher’s design is that its lid has a vent which allows you to add ingredients mid-blend and – crucially – allows for steam to escape when making hot recipes. I’ll admit that throughout my years in the kitchen, I’ve occasionally taken my chances blending hot sauces and soups against manufacturers’ instructions. To try to reduce steam production and the chances of the lid blowing off from the pressure, I’d let everything cool down a bit before pouring it in. But even with these attempts to mitigate risk, the likelihood of getting scalded (or at the very least making a mess of your kitchen) means that blending hot food in an unvented blender is a terrible idea. A tiny gap in the lid makes a big difference when it comes to making this blender an even more versatile piece of kitchen kit.

Controls on the motor base are exceedingly simple to navigate. There’s an on/off button, which – alongside powering the machine on and off – also prompts the appearance of rather cute “hello” and “goodbye” messages on the base’s LED screen. The plus and minus buttons are used to adjust between the 5 power settings, but you can skip all that by using the Auto button that activates the load-sensing setting and estimates the right blending speed and time for you.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: performance

• Makes stellar smoothies with virtually no nasty bits
• Crushes ice (with some assistance from you)
• Dry blends were a disappointment

Coming in at 1500W, the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo should have more than enough power to handle most jobs. Testing started with a smoothie recipe from the Nutribullet site consisting of blueberries, milk, banana, and kale.

Fibrous green veg really puts blenders through their paces, so it’s a great way to reveal just how well it performs. Frozen kale tends to produce fewer gritty chunks than its non-frozen counterpart, but it turns out it’s oddly difficult to find pre-frozen kale in the UK, so I just proceeded with the fresh version instead.

Thankfully, the power of the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender managed to blitz away any unpleasant texture to produce a smooth, thick end result. Despite my expectations, the kale didn’t pose any problem for the SmartSense.

In fact, the only inconsistencies that were left after blending were the tiny seeds from the blueberries. Personally, this isn’t the kind of textural inconsistency that gives me the ick but even if it was, it seems a tad unfair to expect a blender under $200 to have the seed-pulverizing powers of something like a Vitamix A3500.

The SmartSense Blender Combo also makes light work of crushing ice cubes, on the condition you scrape the ice from the sides midway through. The blades certainly don’t have any difficulty slicing through rock solid chunks of ice (and in fact, the machine doesn’t even go past 95db while doing it) but the structure of the pitcher means that the ice tends to pool around the edges before it’s done being crushed. The good news is after a little intervention, you should be able to rustle up your own daiquiris or frappuccinos at home no problem.

Despite delivering a pretty stellar performance in the realm of drinkable delights, the next hurdles for the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender really exposed the machine’s weak points. One of the fatal flaws of the SmartSense Blender Combo is the placement of the pitcher’s fixed blades. They sit just a little too high and don’t cover enough surface area across the pitcher’s bottom so it’s frustratingly easy for ingredients to escape the blender’s vortex.

During the hummus-making phase of testing, I found that the machine consistently created a tasty, well-incorporated dip. However, achieving that result required me to intervene two or three times to redistribute the ingredients and make sure none of my chickpea mixture avoided blending.

This blade placement problem majorly impacted my ability to make mayonnaise with the blender too. Due to the sheer size of the pitcher, I found I had to double a normal batch in order to have my yolk/vinegar/mustard emulsion even touch the blades at all.

Even then, I couldn’t maintain a consistent enough vortex to create a satisfying result. If you’re truly set on making mayonnaise with the SmartSense Blender Combo, the best way to do it is to mix up your emulsion by hand and then put it back into the blender for the step where you gradually incorporate oil.

One other very notable development during my tests is just how redundant the Auto function felt. While the SmartSense name definitely provides a fancy selling point, I found that I actually didn’t appreciate the automation of the blending process. It’s not like the SmartSense Auto blending ever got things too far wrong but rather I preferred to keep my eye on what I was working on and adjust the power as needed.

I can definitely see the appeal of this for folks who find their attention pulled by kids or pets while in the kitchen, but the removal of control actually made things less convenient in my experience, so I mostly opted for the manual options.

• Performance score: 3/5

Should you buy the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: also consider

If you’re on the look-out for options that are similar to the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo, here’s some alternatives worth considering:

How I tested the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo

Alongside using it for some of my usual kitchen tasks, I put the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo through its paces with TechRadar’s usual test recipes. During my tests, I alternated between using the Auto and manual speed controls to determine the best approach for each recipe. I used a decibel tracker to determine how loud the blender is during use. After each blend, I cleaned the blender attachments and accessories by hand.

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: one-minute review

Nutribullet is a brand most well known for its compact personal blenders which – while suited to blitzing up smoothies and protein shakes – aren’t exactly heavy duty pieces of culinary tech. But models like the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo aim to up the power and functionality without compromising too much on simplicity or affordability.

By combining a full-sized pitcher with Nutribullet’s familiar single-serve cups, and adding a smart auto-cycle that adapts blending power on the fly, it aims to cover the needs of both speedy smoothie lovers and home chefs.

For the most part, it succeeds. Most everyday tasks are handled quickly and consistently. The SmartSense auto cycle is genuinely useful for hands-off blending and the 1,500W motor packs more punch than most people will ever need.

But all that isn’t without its caveats. The SmartSense Blender Combo struggles with thick or dry blends and requires you to intervene a couple of times during the blending process to ensure all the ingredients are within reach of the blades. You’ll also find that very small batches of dips don’t quite reach high up enough to get blended.

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: price and availability

• List price: $164.99 / £149.99 / AU$299.95
• Available in the US, UK, and Australia
• Reasonable price for a two-in-one blender combo

In the US, UK, and Australia, the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo is available to purchase on the Nutribullet site. and from third-party retailers like Amazon.

In terms of cost, the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo sits on the mid/high end of the Nutribullet range. Understandably, you’re paying more than you would for a dinky personal blender, but it won’t quite set back as much as a top-of-the-line food processor/blender combo.

Similar models from other brands include the Cuisinart Velocity Ultra Trio

• Value score: 4.5/5

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: specs

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: design

• Five blending speeds and an auto mode
• Pitcher with fixed blades and a vented lid
• Travel cups with extractor blades

The Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo consists of a blender base which can either be attached to the included 64oz pitcher, 32oz travel cup, or 24oz handled travel cup. All three of these add-ons are made from BPA-free plastic, meaning you can enjoy the lightness and durability of the material without worrying about harmful chemicals leaching into your soups and smoothies.

The SmartSense Blender Combo box contents also included a tamper but during testing, I found that it offered very little in the way of practical help. A far more useful tool was a cheap silicone spatula I tend to use while baking. It had the flexibility necessary to scrap the edges of the blender jug, but didn’t tend to get ingredients stuck to it like tamper did.

Like the rest of the build, the attachments of the SmartSense Blender Combo are sturdy enough to inspire confidence. The only real concern I’d have is the possibility of stains or scratches developing after long-term use, but even this would just be a superficial complaint. Not to mention, a good thorough clean after every use helps to prevent this. Thankfully, attachments for the SmartSense are dishwasher-safe so this task is a little easier.

Blending with the travel cups is done with a separate extractor blade but in the case of the pitcher attachment, the blade is sealed into the base. This means that, when you’re hand-washing your blender (which those of us without dishwashers are cursed to do) it’s a little difficult to clean. Without being able to pop the blade out and wipe it down, it’s best to blitz some warm water and soap in the pitcher to loosen some of the debris that tends to get stuck underneath. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but it definitely adds an awkward extra step to maintaining the machine.

One great thing about the pitcher’s design is that its lid has a vent which allows you to add ingredients mid-blend and – crucially – allows for steam to escape when making hot recipes. I’ll admit that throughout my years in the kitchen, I’ve occasionally taken my chances blending hot sauces and soups against manufacturers’ instructions. To try to reduce steam production and the chances of the lid blowing off from the pressure, I’d let everything cool down a bit before pouring it in. But even with these attempts to mitigate risk, the likelihood of getting scalded (or at the very least making a mess of your kitchen) means that blending hot food in an unvented blender is a terrible idea. A tiny gap in the lid makes a big difference when it comes to making this blender an even more versatile piece of kitchen kit.

Controls on the motor base are exceedingly simple to navigate. There’s an on/off button, which – alongside powering the machine on and off – also prompts the appearance of rather cute “hello” and “goodbye” messages on the base’s LED screen. The plus and minus buttons are used to adjust between the 5 power settings, but you can skip all that by using the Auto button that activates the load-sensing setting and estimates the right blending speed and time for you.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: performance

• Makes stellar smoothies with virtually no nasty bits
• Crushes ice (with some assistance from you)
• Dry blends were a disappointment

Coming in at 1500W, the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo should have more than enough power to handle most jobs. Testing started with a smoothie recipe from the Nutribullet site consisting of blueberries, milk, banana, and kale.

Fibrous green veg really puts blenders through their paces, so it’s a great way to reveal just how well it performs. Frozen kale tends to produce fewer gritty chunks than its non-frozen counterpart, but it turns out it’s oddly difficult to find pre-frozen kale in the UK, so I just proceeded with the fresh version instead.

Thankfully, the power of the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender managed to blitz away any unpleasant texture to produce a smooth, thick end result. Despite my expectations, the kale didn’t pose any problem for the SmartSense.

In fact, the only inconsistencies that were left after blending were the tiny seeds from the blueberries. Personally, this isn’t the kind of textural inconsistency that gives me the ick but even if it was, it seems a tad unfair to expect a blender under $200 to have the seed-pulverizing powers of something like a Vitamix A3500.

The SmartSense Blender Combo also makes light work of crushing ice cubes, on the condition you scrape the ice from the sides midway through. The blades certainly don’t have any difficulty slicing through rock solid chunks of ice (and in fact, the machine doesn’t even go past 95db while doing it) but the structure of the pitcher means that the ice tends to pool around the edges before it’s done being crushed. The good news is after a little intervention, you should be able to rustle up your own daiquiris or frappuccinos at home no problem.

Despite delivering a pretty stellar performance in the realm of drinkable delights, the next hurdles for the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender really exposed the machine’s weak points. One of the fatal flaws of the SmartSense Blender Combo is the placement of the pitcher’s fixed blades. They sit just a little too high and don’t cover enough surface area across the pitcher’s bottom so it’s frustratingly easy for ingredients to escape the blender’s vortex.

During the hummus-making phase of testing, I found that the machine consistently created a tasty, well-incorporated dip. However, achieving that result required me to intervene two or three times to redistribute the ingredients and make sure none of my chickpea mixture avoided blending.

This blade placement problem majorly impacted my ability to make mayonnaise with the blender too. Due to the sheer size of the pitcher, I found I had to double a normal batch in order to have my yolk/vinegar/mustard emulsion even touch the blades at all.

Even then, I couldn’t maintain a consistent enough vortex to create a satisfying result. If you’re truly set on making mayonnaise with the SmartSense Blender Combo, the best way to do it is to mix up your emulsion by hand and then put it back into the blender for the step where you gradually incorporate oil.

One other very notable development during my tests is just how redundant the Auto function felt. While the SmartSense name definitely provides a fancy selling point, I found that I actually didn’t appreciate the automation of the blending process. It’s not like the SmartSense Auto blending ever got things too far wrong but rather I preferred to keep my eye on what I was working on and adjust the power as needed.

I can definitely see the appeal of this for folks who find their attention pulled by kids or pets while in the kitchen, but the removal of control actually made things less convenient in my experience, so I mostly opted for the manual options.

• Performance score: 3/5

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Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo: also consider

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How I tested the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo

Alongside using it for some of my usual kitchen tasks, I put the Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo through its paces with TechRadar’s usual test recipes. During my tests, I alternated between using the Auto and manual speed controls to determine the best approach for each recipe. I used a decibel tracker to determine how loud the blender is during use. After each blend, I cleaned the blender attachments and accessories by hand.