Pick by what you blend and how many you serve, not by watts. One soft smoothie a day: a personal blender. Greens, seeds or ice daily: a high-performance blender. Families: a pitcher with to-go cups. Enter your cabinet clearance too, because the tall Vitamix 5200 stands over 20 inches.
For one smoothie a day, a personal blender is enough and quicker to clean. Very thick or frozen blends may need a shake or more liquid.
About 1 month Wirecutter’s payback estimate for the NutriBullet Pro if you’d otherwise buy a smoothie on the way to work
For daily green or frozen smoothies, yes; for soft fruit a few times a week, no. ATK finds sub-$100 blenders more likely to have limitations, while CR found many cheaper models competent.
1 year vs 7 warranty on the NutriBullet Combo vs the Vitamix 5200, per their listings
Measure the gap first; standard uppers leave about 18 inches. The tall classic Vitamix jar won’t fit, while low-profile jars and most combo blenders will.
20.25 in vs 17.5 in Vitamix 5200 (ATK) vs low-profile Vitamix 7500 (Vitamix spec sheet)
It adds up how hard your ingredients are to blend. Ice, frozen fruit, greens and seeds count as hard; nut butter and spoon-thick bowls count as hardest; protein powder and banana are easy. One person with easy-to-medium ingredients gets a personal blender. Hard ingredients plus a budget over $450 get a high-performance blender. Everything else gets a mid-price pitcher. It then checks your cabinet clearance against the 5200’s 20.25 in and your noise answer.
One person: a 24 to 32 oz cup. Two: a 48 oz jar. Three or four: 64 oz. Five or more: 64 to 72 oz.
Watts are a weak guide. ATK says power matters only up to a point; jar shape, blades and a low speed matter as much.
The Vitamix 5200 is 20.25 in (ATK). The NutriBullet Combo is 16.97 in (listing). Vitamix lists its low-profile 7500 at 17.5 in.
Wirecutter estimates the NutriBullet Pro pays for itself within a month if it replaces a smoothie you’d buy on the way to work.
Only if you walk away while it runs. Wirecutter doesn’t think Vitamix’s preset models are worth the extra cost.
Personal, unless you also make soup, nut butter or batches.