The Vitamix Ascent X4 is a higher-end model in Vitamix's line of 'Ascent X' blenders. These blenders stand out from older Ascent models like the Vitamix A3500 and Legacy models like the Vitamix 5200 because they come with 48oz jars instead of 64oz jars and include a tamper holder. This model has metal siding on its motor base, giving it a more premium build than the cheaper Vitamix Ascent X2 and Vitamix Ascent X3 blenders. It has more blending programs than the X3 and has a +15 seconds button, so you can easily add on more blending time.
Our Verdict
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is fantastic for multi-purpose use. It's very well-built and works well for a variety of recipes. It can smoothly blend fibrous fruits and vegetables for well-blended smoothies and soups, easily blend thicker mixtures like nut butter, and make snow-like crushed ice. It can also hot blend. However, some blenders can process fibrous ingredients faster, and its somewhat small 48oz jar can't fit as many ice cubes as other blenders.
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Smoothly blends fibrous ingredients.
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Easily makes smooth, spreadable nut butter.
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Hot blends.
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Very well-built.
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Somewhat small 48oz capacity.
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Can only handle about six ice cubes at once.
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is superb for single-serve smoothies. It only comes with a 48oz jar, but it's easy to use to blend smaller volumes for things like smoothies and protein shakes. It makes a virtually perfectly smooth blend with common additions like fruit and leafy greens. Some blenders are a bit more convenient for single-serves since one 'Smoothie' program isn't quite enough for the best results, and you need to stop the blender and scrape the sides of the jar once.
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Smoothly blends fibrous ingredients.
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Very well-built.
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No personal jar included.
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is great for multiple servings of smoothies. You can use its 48oz jar to make a very smooth blend with big batches of fibrous ingredients like kale and fruit. It has no problem crushing ice cubes. However, some blenders can make an even smoother blend faster, and its 48oz jar is on the small side for a full-size blender.
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Smoothly blends fibrous ingredients.
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Very well-built.
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Somewhat small 48oz capacity.
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is excellent for ice crushing. It's very well-built and has no problem crushing ice. Unlike other X-series blenders, it has a 'Frozen Cocktails' program that makes crushing ice even easier. However, its 48oz jar works best for batches of about six ice cubes, and some blenders can crush more ice at once.
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Makes snow-like crushed ice.
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Very well-built.
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Can only handle about six ice cubes at once.
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is excellent for soups. You can use it to blend hot ingredients right from the pot or pan. It makes a mostly smooth blend with fibrous ingredients like kale and broccoli quite quickly. It can also heat ingredients as they blend with its 'Hot Soups' program. However, some blenders can process big batches of fibrous ingredients faster, and its 48oz capacity is somewhat small for a full-size blender.
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Smoothly blends fibrous ingredients.
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Hot blends.
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Very well-built.
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Somewhat small 48oz capacity.
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is excellent for professional use. It's very well-built and versatile. It makes a smooth blend with fibrous ingredients for recipes like soups and smoothies, makes snow-like crushed ice for cocktails or slushies, and easily blends nut butter or hummus. It can hot blend, and it's not extremely loud. However, its 48oz capacity might be a bit small for some uses, and some parts of it are hard to clean by hand.
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Smoothly blends fibrous ingredients.
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Easily makes smooth, spreadable nut butter.
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Hot blends.
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Very well-built.
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Somewhat small 48oz capacity.
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Can only handle about six ice cubes at once.
- 9.1 Multi-Purpose
- 9.1 Smoothies (Single Serving)
- 8.2 Smoothies (Multiple Servings)
- 8.7 Ice Crushing
- 8.6 Soups
- 8.8 Professional Use
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Updated Nov 04, 2024:
We've updated the results for dishwasher-safe from 'no' to 'yes' under jar/beaker materials because of an error in the original result. We've also added a photo of all the Ascent X-series Vitamix models, including the X5, under build quality.
- Updated Oct 09, 2024: Review published.
- Updated Sep 30, 2024: Early access published.
- Updated Sep 26, 2024: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Sep 23, 2024: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Sep 10, 2024: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Vitamix Ascent X4 comes in a few different colors: 'Black Stainless,' 'Brushed Stainless,' 'Graphite,' and 'Polar White.' We tested it in 'Black Stainless.' Here's a picture of our unit's label.
If you encounter another variant, let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Blenders
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is a higher-end model in Vitamix's line of 'Ascent X' blenders. It performs very similarly to the Vitamix Ascent X2 and the Vitamix Ascent X3, producing well-blended results with a variety of recipes quite quickly. It has a better build quality than the X2 and X3 and includes a 'Frozen Cocktails' program, which makes it easier to use for ice crushing. However, its 48oz jar can't crush as much ice at once as blenders like the Vitamix A2500 or the Blendtec Chef 600. Some blenders can process fibrous ingredients for smoothies a bit faster and more easily, like the Vitamix A3500. However, this blender is ideal for thicker mixtures like nut butter, hummus, and other dips and spreads.
If you're looking for a recommendation, check out the best Vitamix blenders, the best blenders for smoothies, and the best glass jar blenders.
The Vitamix A3500 is a bit better than the Vitamix Ascent X4. The A3500 can crush bigger batches of ice and make a smoother blend with big batches of fibrous ingredients in its 64oz jar. It blends smaller batches for recipes like single-serve smoothies more efficiently. Its controls include a programmable timer. On the other hand, the X4 is easier to use for recipes like nut butter in its 48oz jar. It comes with a tamper holder.
The Vitamix Ascent X4 and the Vitamix Ascent X5 perform very similarly, but the X5 has more features. It has 11 blending programs while the X4 has six. It also has a tamper indicator feature, which tells you when to use the tamper during certain blending programs. Also, both blenders have a metal shell and are very well-built, but the X5's jar handle's rubber cover doesn't slip around like the X4's.
The Vitamix Ascent X4 and the Vitamix Ascent X2 are very similar, and both offer a good performance for most uses. The Vitamix Ascent X4 is a higher-end model and has a better build quality and more blending programs than the Vitamix Ascent X2. Its LED screen can display more information, and it has touch-sensitive buttons instead of physical switches. Otherwise, they perform identically and have a similar design and features, including a 48oz jar and tamper holder.
The Vitamix Venturist Pro and the Vitamix Ascent X4 have different strengths. The biggest difference between the two is jar capacity. The Venturist's 64oz jar is better for big batches of fibrous ingredients and making crushed ice. The X4's 48oz jar makes it easier to process single-serve smoothies and thicker recipes like nut butter. The X4's controls include blending programs. It also comes with a tamper holder but lacks cord storage.
The Vitamix Ascent X3 and the Vitamix Ascent X4 perform similarly but have slightly different features. The X4 has a better build quality since its motor base is partly made of metal. It has more automatic blending programs and a +15 seconds button, so you can easily add more blending time. Otherwise, they're very similar, and both include a 48oz jar and a tamper holder.
Test Results
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is a big full-size blender best kept on a counter. It's significantly heavier than the lower-end Vitamix Ascent X3 because its motor base is made of metal.
It's very well-built. Unlike the lower-end blenders in the same lineup, like the Vitamix Ascent X3 and Vitamix Ascent X2, its motor base has a stainless steel shell, which makes it much heavier and gives it a more premium feel. Otherwise, it has a very similar build, with metal gears on the jar and rubber feet under the motor base. Its control panel is similar to the X3's, with a slightly different layout and the addition of a tamper indicator. Unfortunately, like other X-series blenders, it doesn't have any cord storage, and the jar's rubber handle cover can slip around when you hold it. See a comparison of the X2, X3, X4, and X5.
The jar has a 48oz capacity. It can't hold as much as many full-size blenders, including older Vitamix models like the Vitamix A3500, but it's still suitable for multiple servings.
The jar and lid are made of dishwasher-safe plastic.
The blades cannot be removed from the main jar. They're sharp, so you have to be careful when cleaning by hand.
The 2-part lid is made of clear plastic, allowing you to see down into the blender while it's running. The removable center piece allows you to add ingredients and use the tamper mid-blend, and it also doubles as a 1oz measuring cup.
The power cord is long. However, unlike other 'Ascent' and 'Legacy' Vitamix models, there's no place to wrap up or stow the cord when it's not in use.
- Motor base
- 48oz container with SELF-DETECT
- Tamper
- 2-part lid with removable center piece
- Tamper holder base
- Tamper holder
- Manuals
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is superb for small batches of fibrous ingredients. One 'Smoothie' cycle isn't quite enough to get the best results, and smaller volumes of ingredients can splash up the sides of the jar and get stuck, so you'll want to scrape the jar with a spatula and run the blender manually for around 15 seconds more. Still, it's a fast and easy process, and the result is a virtually perfectly smooth blend.
It's excellent for processing fibrous ingredients at full capacity. Like with the smaller batch, you'll have to follow the 'Smoothie' program with some manual blending for the best results and scrape the jar in between to make sure everything gets processed. The result isn't quite as smooth as the smaller batch but is still very well-blended, with just a few tiny unprocessed bits left over.
It's an outstanding ice crusher. Unlike the very similar Vitamix Ascent X2 and Vitamix Ascent X3, it has a 'Frozen Cocktails' program, which makes it a bit easier to use for ice crushing since you don't have to blend manually. Its smaller 48oz jar can't handle as much ice as the very best ice crushing blenders like the Vitamix A3500 or Ninja Detect Power Blender Pro, but it quickly makes very uniform, snow-like crushed ice in batches of about six ice cubes at once.
It's very easy to use to make smooth, spreadable nut butter. You have to use the tamper to help keep the ingredients moving, but it's a quick process, and there's no need to stop blending to remove the lid and stir.
The Vitamix Ascent X4 is a pretty quiet blender. It makes a bit less noise when it's running compared to the Vitamix A3500.
Like most Vitamix blenders, it has a wide range of speed settings to suit different recipes. Its motor power is advertised as 1500 watts by the manufacturer. This is likely the peak power, since the power indicated on the label is 1440 watts (120 volts and 12 amps).
The controls offer a wide range of speed settings for manual blending plus six automatic blending programs. It has all the same blending programs as the Vitamix Ascent X2 and Vitamix Ascent X3, with the addition of 'Frozen Cocktails' and 'Dips and Spreads.'
Instead of a button for each preset, you get a menu button that lets you select which one you want. There's a dedicated button for the 'Self-Clean' cycle, 'Pulse,' and a +15 seconds button unique to this model that lets you easily add on more blending time. There's also an on/off switch on the side of the motor base.
- Self-Cleaning: 35 seconds
- Smoothies: 45 seconds
- Frozen Desserts: 50 seconds
- Hot Soup: 7 minutes 30 seconds
- Frozen Cocktail: 45 seconds
- Dips and Spreads: 45 seconds
It's decently easy to clean. Similar to other Vitamix models, you need to use a brush or sponge to clean under the blades, which are sharp. You also need to use a sponge to wipe the lid and jar. However, the tamper holder is very difficult to clean. If it gets dirty, it can be almost impossible to properly clean it with a brush, and you might need to let it soak for a while.