I’m having an affair with a Vita-Mix 5200. Am I ashamed? Well, it’s hard to be when you experience this awesome piece of machinery. For many years, I’ve had both a Blendtec and a Professional Series Vita-Mix blender, and I’ve always told people that both are great, but if I had to pick one, I would have gone for the Blendtec. The primary reasons for me being that it fits neatly on my counter (under the cupboard – due to its overall height being shorter than the Vita-Mix) and because it’s easier to scrape food out from the bottom due to its two-pronged blade vs. the 4-pronged Vita-Mix blade. I’ve had both side by side all these years and I always just went to use the Blendtec. I figured that meant it was my blender of choice, not realizing that I was probably partial to the machine since I had it first and was very comfortable with it.
Well, all that has changed now. I recently got my hot little hands on the new Vita-Mix 5200 and immediately fell in love. First of all, the container is BPA-free (Hello! BPA-FREE!) with improved sound dampening so it’s not crazy loud. Secondly, obviously the blender is powerful, reliable, and awesome. Thirdly, the warranty kicks butt! Vita-Mix offers a 7-year warranty on both the container and base (under normal household use), while Blendtec offers a measly 3-year warranty on the base and only 1 year on the container (this is important for me which I’ll detail in a moment). There are other improvements in the Vita-Mix which make it easier to use such as the new lid (now it’s super easy to take on and off). Finally, the Vita-Mix has excellent customer service, which is important to me and always weighs heavily in the equation of whether I buy a product. I still feel like the food (most notably Raw cheeses and dips) are a little easier to get out of the Blendtec container, but not so much that I would now choose the Blendtec over Vitamix.
I wrote that the warranty was important earlier, as well as customer service. Regarding my Blendtec, I’ve recently not had the best experience. My Blendtec started blending at an unbelievably loud pitch. So loud you must plug your ears or it pieces them with pain. When I attempted contact with Blendtec about this – three times! – I received no response. After researching their website about the warranty, I read that my container was only under a 1 year warranty (testing the Blendtec’s sound with and without the container leads me to believe that it’s the container causing the new nasty noise). On top of that, my mom’s Blendtec (much newer than mine, but still over a year old) is doing the same thing!
My Blendtec (container noise problem) and new Vita-Mix 5200 experience both occurred within the last couple of months, and I wanted to share it with you, since for so long I’ve been saying, “They’re both great, but I’m a Blendtec gal.” Not so much anymore.
Move over Blendtec, it’s time for something greater! Vita-Mix 5200, you’ve won my heart.
UPDATE: I have updated my thoughts on the two blenders here.