I’ve been testing this compact blender — and on-the-go smoothies have never been easier

After testing the Beasty Mighty 850 Plus blender, all other blenders are obsolete to me. It is a major rival for the best blenders. This is a compact personal blender with a premium look, and the 850-watt motor means it is so powerful that it was able to blend my usual morning smoothie for me in less than 30 seconds.

Beast describes the blender as “the kitchen Swiss-Army Knife”, and I have to say, I agree. The blend cycles are fast, and it can achieve a smooth blend on even the toughest of ingredients like nuts. The blend cups come in three sizes with attachments to turn them into containers or on-the-go bottles. The blender can do it all.

The only issue is that it’s tricky to clean the blend cups by hand, but everything is dishwasher safe anyway.

You can find out more about the blender in this full Beast Mighty 850 Plus review.

Beast Mighty 850 Plus review: Specs

Beast Mighty 850 Plus review: Price & availability

The Beast Mighty 850 Plus blender is available at Amazon U.S. for $149 and at Amazon U.K. for £149. The blender is available in a range of colors, including carbon black, cloud white, lilac, mist, and sand. I tested the cloud white colorway. The blender comes with a two-year warranty too.

You can also purchase the regular version of the blender, the Beast Mighty 850, on Amazon U.S. for $124. This version is simply the blender and one medium-sized blending vessel, whereas the Plus version comes with two extra blending vessels. I’d recommend springing for the Plus version as the extra blend cups make everything so much easier, and they can also be used as containers.

The Smeg Personal Blender has a similar design, with a blending vessel that doubles up as a bottle. And while both are in a similar price range, with the Smeg priced at $189, the Beast is far superior in every category. For blending, pulsing, and making sure every last bit gets blended, the Beast is… well… the Beast.

Beast Mighty 850 Plus review: Design & controls

The Beast Mighty 850 Plus blender is incredibly sleek and has been a great addition to my kitchen. The minimalist, utilitarian design of the blending vessel looks great when sat on top of the motor body, and with the five different color options available, there is something for everyone.

I tested the blender in the cloud white colorway. Despite its pure white color, it was easy to keep looking blemish-free. This is because the plastic was easy to clean and wipe down with a damp cloth.

The Plus version of the 850 blender comes with a whole host of accessories that make blending, storing, and drinking a whole lot easier. There are three blending vessels included in the box: a 415ml cup, which I used to make smaller batches like pesto; a 638ml cup, which is the perfect size for making a smoothie to take on the go; and a 786ml cup, which is perfect for bigger operations like blending batches of soup.

The blending cups are ribbed, which creates turbulence to increase blending efficiency — the turbulence means that the mixture is more easily and effectively directed towards the stainless-steel quadblade at the bottom. While I’ve never used a blender with this design before, I noticed it worked much faster than anything I’ve used before. When using my Nutribullet Pro 900, I have to repeat the blend multiple times for things like dates and chickpeas, but the Beast had no problem with these ingredients.

All of the blending vessels are compatible with the two storage container lids included, so the mixtures can go straight into the fridge to be consumed later. But there’s also a carry cap lid for taking your blend on the go, plus a drinking lid for taking your morning smoothie to work with you. There are also two straws to be used with the drinking lid.

This is great as it meant I didn’t have to wash the blender cup and whatever I was drinking my smoothie from. This is similar to the Smeg Personal blender, which comes with two cups and a drinking lid, but the sleek look of the Beast blender cups wins me over.

And as a bonus, the drinking lid is leakproof. I placed it upside down, gave it a good shake, and my smoothie stayed put. The grippy rubber base of the cups also makes it easy to unscrew them from the blade attachment and reduces the chance of them being knocked over when sitting on the countertop.

I have to admit, when I plugged in the blender and pressed start and nothing happened, I was a little confused. But then I realised that there’s an orange button on the back of the blender that needs to be pressed to turn it on, and then you're ready to start blending. The button to start the blend process is at the front of the base and has a small light to indicate when it’s on. You press this button for less than one second to create a pulse effect. A one-second press will start the one-minute blend cycle.

The one-minute blend cycle ensures all of the ingredients are blended by giving them a chance to settle to the bottom, and slowing the blades multiple times. It blends for 20 seconds, allows for the mixture to settle, resumes blending for 25 seconds, slows again, and finally blends for another 15 seconds. I love this feature as I could really see how the ingredients that weren’t quite blended made their way back to the bottom. It is really effective. With other blenders, like the KitchenAid K400, you would have to manually replicate this pattern.

Beast Mighty 850 Plus review: Blending performance

I’ve literally thrown out my Nutribullet Pro 900 blender and replaced it with the Beast Mighty 850 Plus. It’s the best and most certainly the fastest personal blender I’ve ever used. It can do everything from smoothies to dips to sauces with ease, and it’s speedy too.

Smoothie

I started off testing by making a smoothie. This is a great test to see how the blender copes with hard, frozen ingredients. I added a mixture of frozen berries and banana to the blender and topped it off with some milk. I also threw some dates in, as this is my true test to see if the blender really is getting everything. With my regular Nutribullet, the dates never get chopped finely enough because they are naturally fibrous and sticky.

When I tested the Smeg Personal Blender, I was disappointed as it didn’t chop the dates, leaving me with huge chunks. But the Beast Mighty 850 Plus was able to cut through the dates perfectly and blend them fine enough to get up the included straw without any blockages at all.

I used the one-minute blend option for this, but to be honest, my smoothie was fully blended after about 20 seconds.

Pesto

I then whipped up a quick pesto to see how it would cope with harder ingredients like pine nuts, but also how well it chops through more flexible leaves. I added basil leaves, pine nuts, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and parmesan cheese to the 415ml vessel. By using the smaller cup, I could ensure all of the mixture was hitting the blades.

Again, the Beast worked on the mixture with ease, and I was left with an incredibly smooth pesto mixture. The smaller vessel is going to be my go-to for making quick dips. It gave me a much smoother result than when I did the same test with the Smeg Personal Blender.

Hummus

I finally made a batch of hummus to see how well the blade cut through something with a thicker consistency, as with the Smeg Personal Blender, I was left with huge chunks. I used a full can of chickpeas and extra virgin olive oil.

I was left with a super smooth hummus, and everything blended perfectly. I love a smooth hummus, and with other blenders, like the KitchenAid Top Down Chopper, I’ve been left with more texture than I would like — the Beast gave me store-bought results.

Beast Mighty 850 Plus review: Storage & maintenance

The Best Mighty 850 Plus looks right at home on my kitchen counter, but it's small enough to be stored away. You’ll need some extra storage for the different cups and lids that come with the blender, though, so bear that in mind.

If you want something that takes up less storage space, go for the regular Beast Mighty 850 rather than the Plus version.

The base of the blender can’t get wet, but you can wipe it down with a damp cloth if anything happens to spill on it.

All the vessels, lids, and blades are dishwasher safe if put on the top rack, so everything is very easy to clean. The blender also comes with pipe cleaners to clean the straws and a brush to clean off any stubborn parts and get under the blade with ease.

If you are cleaning the blend cups by hand, it is hard to get right to the bottom of them because of the shape of the neck of the cup. However, the included brush comes in handy for this. And all parts (except the base, of course) are dishwasher-safe anyway.

Beast Mighty 850 Plus review: Verdict

In my opinion, you can safely bypass all other blenders and add the Beast Mighty 850 Plus to your cart. It’s a sleek-looking blender and has the performance to match.

The only issue I have with it is that because of the depth of the blend cups and the curve of the neck, it is tricky to get your hand all the way in to clean them. However, there is a brush included for getting all the way down to the bottom, and everything is dishwasher safe anyway.

But I can’t fault anything else with it. The multiple blend cup sizes make it perfect for tackling any job, and they can turn into bottles or containers to take on the go. It’s super fast at blending and gets smooth results even with tough ingredients like pine nuts and dates. It’s now firmly a part of my daily meal prep routine.