Whether you’re mixing a smoothie or chopping an onion, there are few more useful appliances in the kitchen than a blender when it comes to taking the hard work out of food preparation. To really help you reap the rewards of your liquidized food, here is our top five best blenders of 2016.

#5 Hamilton Beach 58149 Blender and Chopper

As the name suggests, the Hamilton Beach Blender and Chopper aims to both blend and chop your food, and so includes a range of controls to help you do so. There are one-touch options for milkshake mixing, smoothie making, dice chopping and grinding, and stainless steel blades powered by a 700-watt peak motor to get the job done. However, we found that, while the blender is great, the chopper is lacking due to a lack of power and a lack of space in the cup bowl provided. Operation is also on the noisy side, but at the price, this is something you would expect.

#4 Oster 6-Cup 8-Speed Blender

Oster has a reputation for making low cost, solid-performance kitchen appliances and this 8-speed (including pulse) blender continues that trend. Powered by a 450-watt motor, the blender includes a 6-cup dishwasher safe (handy for cleaning) jar that is perfect for margarita parties. It is small and compact and looks great in red. It’s also stainless steel, though you can’t really tell. Given the lack of power with the motor, the Oster is not great with raw vegetables; however, if you are looking to blend fruit on a budget this is one of the best smoothie blenders there is.

#3 Breville BBL605XL Hemisphere Control Blender

Breville is a name that pops up quite regularly in the product features we do, so it’s no surprise to see it again in our list of blender reviews. The Hemisphere Control Blender is a 750-watt 5-speed control (plus pulse), lightweight and durable product that promises even blending every time thanks to its extra-wide stainless steel blades. The controls are easy to use and the LCD timer is really handy in getting your blend just right. If it weren’t for the fact that it was hard to clean and has a rather insecure lid, the Breville could well have been higher in the list.

#2 Shark Professional Blender (BL660)

The Shark Professional Blender by Ninja is a real top of the range product that is powered by an 1100-watt motor capable of blending, pureeing, and crushing ice with ease. Supplied with a 72 oz. professional blending jar and two 16 oz. single serve cups, the sleekly designed Shark is only let down by a slight lack of consistency.

#1 Vitamix 5200

The Vitamix 5200 is the most expensive product in this list by quite some margin, but it is also the best mixer on the market, which is why we placed it at #1. With variable speed controls for flexibility, a high-speed setting, a 64 oz. container, and a recipe book for creating the perfect smoothie, there are no flaws to be found in performance, durability or cleaning. It might be simple to look at, but this mixer will change your life. If you are looking for the best blender for smoothies, you have found what you need.