If you like to make frozen drinks and slushies on a hot day, you'll want a blender that can crush ice. However, not all models can blend ice cubes, as ice can sometimes get stuck on the blades, preventing the cubes from breaking down. For a pleasant and tasty drink, most users want a consistent, snow-like blend without any uneven chunks or clumps left behind.
We've tested over 120 blenders, and below are our recommendations for the best blenders for ice crushing you can buy. If you don't find what you need, see our picks for the best blenders for frozen drinks and the best Ninja blenders. If your kitchen needs more than one new appliance, check out our recommendations for the best toasters or the best countertop microwaves.
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Best Blender For Crushing Ice
Ice Crushing9.6The Vitamix A3500 is the best blender for ice crushing that we've tested. This high-end blender is probably overkill if all you're looking for is a good ice crusher. However, if you want a well-built multi-purpose blender with a fantastic ice crushing performance, look no further. This blender can crush about a dozen ice cubes into snow-like ice in seconds with its 'Frozen Drinks' program. It has a fantastic build quality, which is especially important if you blend a lot of hard ingredients like ice cubes.
It has an equally good performance for other blends. It creates a very smooth blend with fibrous ingredients like fruit and leafy greens, making it a great option for smoothies, and it's quite easy to use for recipes like nut butter as well. Its blending programs make ice crushing easier, but if you don't mind manually pulsing, you might prefer the Vitamix 7500. It's very well-built and makes snow-like crushed ice with its pulse switch. However, it lacks any blending programs and performs worse for some recipes, like single-serve smoothies.
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Best Upper Mid-Range Blender For Ice Crushing
Ice Crushing9.6If you want a cheaper ice crushing blender that still has a versatile performance, you might prefer the Breville The Q. This full-size blender isn't quite as well-built as the Vitamix A3500, but it's still very sturdy. It quickly makes snow-like crushed ice in its 68oz jar with its ice crush/auto pulse blending program doing all the work. While it's not quite as fast as ice crushing as the A3500, it's still a quick and easy process.
Otherwise, it has a versatile performance. It's an excellent choice for smoothies since it makes a smooth blend with common additions like fruit and leafy greens, although again, it's not as quick as the Vitamix. It's easy to use for thicker recipes, like nut butter or a spoonable smoothie with a lot of frozen fruit or ice. Its wider-based jar also makes it easier to clean by hand.
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Best Mid-Range Blender For Ice Crushing
Ice Crushing9.7Consider the Ninja Detect Duo Power Blender Pro if you want something less expensive. This sturdy blender isn't as well-built as the Breville The Q and has a less versatile performance, but it's just as good for ice crushing. It has a pulse mode that can help break up big chunks of ingredients, and you can also use its automatic 'BlendSense' feature for snow-like crushed ice. The 72oz main jar is big enough for multiple servings of slushies or blended margaritas at your next party, and the lid includes a pouring spout, making it easy to serve drinks from the pitcher.
It comes with a pair of 24oz jars, so you don't have to use the big pitcher when blending for one. It makes a very smooth blend with fibrous ingredients in the personal jars, which is important for the silkiest fruit smoothies, and while it makes a less smooth blend in its main pitcher, it still does a good overall job. If you want more personal jars, the Ninja Blender Duo with Auto-iQ BL642 is a very similar blender that comes with three. However, it doesn't blend fibrous ingredients as smoothly, so it's less suitable for fruit smoothies. Both models are more difficult to clean by hand than the Breville, and if you plan to use your blender for a variety of recipes, it's worth noting that you can't use either for hot blending.
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Best Budget Blender For Ice Crushing
Ice Crushing9.7If you don't plan to use your blender for much besides crushing ice, a straightforward, budget-friendly blender might be just what you need. The Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ is just as good at making snow-like crushed ice as the previous picks, but its lower price comes with less versatility. It only comes with one 72oz jar, but its controls include a button for pulse mode, which can be useful for breaking up bigger chunks of ice, as well as a few automatic blending programs, so you don't have to manually shut off the blender when a recipe is done.
There's no two-part lid for the jar, so you must stop the machine and remove the lid to add ingredients. However, the lid has a pouring spout, which helps serve drinks directly from the pitcher. It won't make a completely smooth blend with fibrous fruits and vegetables, which can result in grainy smoothies and blended cocktails. It also has the same blade design as the Ninja Detect Duo Power Blender Pro, which makes it difficult to clean by hand. Still, all of its components are dishwasher-safe. It's also the quietest blender listed here.
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Best Personal Blender For Ice Crushing
Ice Crushing7.3You may not want a bulky full-size blender if you usually just need to blend enough for one or two people, but not all personal blenders are suitable for crushing ice. The Ninja Foodi Power Nutri DUO comes with a pair of 24oz personal jars that you can use for ice crushing. Its short, compact motor base also makes it easy to store out of the way in a cupboard. Unlike most of the blenders on this list, it also does a fantastic job of processing fibrous ingredients, so you can use it to make silky single-serve drinks with ingredients like kale. The jars each come with a resealable lid to bring your drink on the go.
It's loud when running but has a few automatic blending programs, so you don't need to stand next to it the whole time. It's versatile for a personal blender, thanks to its 14oz 'Smoothie Βowl Maker' that works very well for thick mixtures like nut butter. It's well-built, like the Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ, but it doesn't feel as sturdy as the more expensive blenders on this list. Like most personal blenders, it can't hot blend and has only one speed setting. On the plus side, it's easy to clean by hand, and all the jars, lids, and blade assemblies are dishwasher-safe.
Notable Mentions
- Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender:
The Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender is a fantastic ice crusher, like the Ninja Detect Duo Power Blender Pro, but it has a heating element built into its base that allows it to heat and cook ingredients. This element makes the jar heavier and means you can't immerse it in water for cleaning, but if you're looking for a blender that can handle either hot ingredients or ice cubes, it's a good option.
See our review - Ninja Mega Kitchen System [BL770, BL770AMZ, BL771]:
The Ninja Mega Kitchen System BL770 performs similarly to the Ninja Detect Duo Power Blender Pro for crushing ice in its 72-ounce pitcher. It's more expensive and blends single-serve smoothies more slowly but comes with a food processor, so you might prefer it for that reason.
See our review - Ninja Professional Blender 1000: The Ninja Professional Blender 1000 is a bit cheaper than the Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ. It lacks blending programs but is equally good at ice crushing, so you might prefer it if you want something less expensive and don't mind manually operating the blender. See our review
Recent Updates
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We've made minor updates to the text and checked that the products are in stock, but there hasn't been a change to our recommendations.
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We've replaced the Vitamix 7500 with the Vitamix A3500, since its 'Frozen Drinks' program makes it easier to use for ice crushing. We also replaced the KitchenAid K400 with the Breville The Q, since it offers a better overall blending performance for a similar price.
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Aug 21, 2024 : We've made minor updates to the text and checked that the products are in stock. However, our recommendations have remained unchanged.
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Jun 04, 2024 : We've replaced the Ninja Blender Duo with Auto-iQ BL642 with the Ninja Detect Duo Power Blender Pro as the mid-range pick since it's less expensive and performs better for some uses.
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Apr 08, 2024 : Added the Ninja Professional 1000 to Notable Mentions as a cheaper alternative to the Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best blenders for crushing ice for most people in each price range. We factor in the price (a cheaper blender wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no blenders that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you would like to choose for yourself, here is the list of all our reviews for blenders for ice-crushing. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no blender is perfect, most blenders are great enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you look for them.
Recommended Articles
Comments
Best Blenders For Crushing Ice: Main Discussion
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- 21010
Would nvidia shield tv help with Low-Quality Content Smoothing? If so how much would the impact be? It doesn’t necessarily need to be a precise number on this score. Would it make the s90d on the same level as the c4 on this category? Also would nvidia shield tv make these two tvs upscaling significantly better?
Yes, the Shield would help with this, and it’s generally well-regarded as a powerful processor, so you very likely would get better results by watching TV through that instead of the native apps. It’s hard to quantify exactly how impactful this would be, though.
- 21010
Would nvidia shield tv help with Low-Quality Content Smoothing? If so how much would the impact be? It doesn’t necessarily need to be a precise number on this score. Would it make the s90d on the same level as the c4 on this category? Also would nvidia shield tv make these two tvs upscaling significantly better?
Edited 9 days ago: Add another question - 21010
I’m following up on my original question that prompted Adam Babcock’s response to this thread on November 27. Between the C4 and S90D, I went with the latter. I am just a normal guy who doesn’t use instruments or advanced calibration techniques beyond what I read here. I primarily watch Blu-ray UHD HDR content and had a 2022 Sony LED TV. I decided to forgo the Dolby Vision in the C4 because I believed Adam’s assertion that the QD-OLED screen was superior to the WOLED screen. This was further echoed by the sales rep where I bought my TV (he had no incentive to sell me one or the other because they were both priced the same). After three months with the S90D, I have strong conviction that I made the right decision. The movies I watch are so beautiful and detailed, it is difficult to imagine it being much better with Dolby Vision. In this case, I believe Adam’s comment that the quality of the screen outweighs the impact of not having Dolby Vision. Could I be proven wrong? Yes. But the only way to do that is to have the C4 next to my S90D playing the exact same content. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I think it is this reason why you don’t hear people with bad things to say about either the C4 or the S90D – you can’t go wrong if you are primarily watching UHD HDR content on these TVs.
I wonder if we have/had the same Sony LED from 2022 (X90K). Good TV, but I’ve had a couple issues that I am considering putting in a claim for with my Best Buy warranty. If I could get an upgrade out of the deal it would be between the C4 or S90D (I want to go OLED) and I’m leaning towards S90D if incomes down to it v
- 21010
I’m following up on my original question that prompted Adam Babcock’s response to this thread on November 27. Between the C4 and S90D, I went with the latter. I am just a normal guy who doesn’t use instruments or advanced calibration techniques beyond what I read here. I primarily watch Blu-ray UHD HDR content and had a 2022 Sony LED TV. I decided to forgo the Dolby Vision in the C4 because I believed Adam’s assertion that the QD-OLED screen was superior to the WOLED screen. This was further echoed by the sales rep where I bought my TV (he had no incentive to sell me one or the other because they were both priced the same). After three months with the S90D, I have strong conviction that I made the right decision. The movies I watch are so beautiful and detailed, it is difficult to imagine it being much better with Dolby Vision. In this case, I believe Adam’s comment that the quality of the screen outweighs the impact of not having Dolby Vision. Could I be proven wrong? Yes. But the only way to do that is to have the C4 next to my S90D playing the exact same content. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I think it is this reason why you don’t hear people with bad things to say about either the C4 or the S90D – you can’t go wrong if you are primarily watching UHD HDR content on these TVs.
I’m really happy to hear that you’re enjoying your TV, thanks for posting this update with your thoughts!
- 21010
We recently put out an updated article that breaks down the benefits of DV versus other formats like Samsung HDR10+. The gist of it is that it’s not as important with a TV of this caliber. That being said, you really can’t go wrong with either TV. I’m a 4k Blu-ray collector as well, and when facing the same decision I went with the LG over the Samsung, but it’s really a personal preference thing. It also depends on the type of content you’re watching. Nature documentaries like Planet Earth and anything animated is more likely to be mastered in a wider color space, so those will stand out better on the Samsung. With most other content the difference isn’t as noticeable.
I’m following up on my original question that prompted Adam Babcock’s response to this thread on November 27.
Between the C4 and S90D, I went with the latter. I am just a normal guy who doesn’t use instruments or advanced calibration techniques beyond what I read here. I primarily watch Blu-ray UHD HDR content and had a 2022 Sony LED TV. I decided to forgo the Dolby Vision in the C4 because I believed Adam’s assertion that the QD-OLED screen was superior to the WOLED screen. This was further echoed by the sales rep where I bought my TV (he had no incentive to sell me one or the other because they were both priced the same).
After three months with the S90D, I have strong conviction that I made the right decision. The movies I watch are so beautiful and detailed, it is difficult to imagine it being much better with Dolby Vision. In this case, I believe Adam’s comment that the quality of the screen outweighs the impact of not having Dolby Vision.
Could I be proven wrong? Yes. But the only way to do that is to have the C4 next to my S90D playing the exact same content. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I think it is this reason why you don’t hear people with bad things to say about either the C4 or the S90D – you can’t go wrong if you are primarily watching UHD HDR content on these TVs.
- 21010
Does this hold true for 4k Blurays with Dolby Vision? I hope this doesn’t qualify as buying advice. As a 4k Blu-ray collector, the LG C4 sounds like it gets a slight edge, but I also enjoy gaming, and the S90D gets the edge in this regard. Am I missing out going with TV over the other? As a more general question, what are the advantages of DV and DTS vs. the wider color gamut and other advantages of a QD-OLED?
We recently put out an updated article that breaks down the benefits of DV versus other formats like Samsung HDR10+. The gist of it is that it’s not as important with a TV of this caliber. That being said, you really can’t go wrong with either TV. I’m a 4k Blu-ray collector as well, and when facing the same decision I went with the LG over the Samsung, but it’s really a personal preference thing. It also depends on the type of content you’re watching. Nature documentaries like Planet Earth and anything animated is more likely to be mastered in a wider color space, so those will stand out better on the Samsung. With most other content the difference isn’t as noticeable.
- 21010
Yes, I’d even say this holds especially true if you mainly watch 4k UHD content. The wider color gamut of the Samsung is a significant noticeable difference between it and the C4, especially when watching native 4k content that takes advantage of wider HDR color spaces. As for audio support, nope, if you’re connecting your player directly to your AVR then this doesn’t matter at all.
Does this hold true for 4k Blurays with Dolby Vision?
I hope this doesn’t qualify as buying advice. As a 4k Blu-ray collector, the LG C4 sounds like it gets a slight edge, but I also enjoy gaming, and the S90D gets the edge in this regard. Am I missing out going with TV over the other?
As a more general question, what are the advantages of DV and DTS vs. the wider color gamut and other advantages of a QD-OLED?