PopBabies Portable Blender vs. BLACK+DECKER FusionBlade Personal Blender Side-by-Side Comparison

The testing of the PopBabies blender resulted in a disappointing outcome. Despite the blending session lasting for three minutes and twenty seconds, the oatmeal and almonds were blended well but the almonds remained largely intact, resulting in a chunky and texturally inconsistent shake.

One potential reason for this subpar testing performance is the blender's 175-watt motor, which appears to lack sufficient power to churn through such a tough ingredient. An inadequate blade design and jar shape can be factors that hinder the blender's efficiency as well. 

However, it is important to note that the PopBabies blender had a notable advantage compared to other blenders. During the test, it did not become clogged with food, allowing the blades to turn smoothly and continuously, with minimal disruptions, except for the required idle blending time. Considering this, the PopBabies seems to be not a bad choice for those seeking a quick and convenient solution to make fruity work-out treats. To ensure the best possible results, just make sure to use only soft ingredients.

In this protein shake test, the FusionBlade came out as one of the best personal blenders. Its sturdy 2-prong blade, together with the 275-watt motor, breaks down tough foods, including almonds and dried berries, without much problem. However, for some reason, it had a hard time with oatmeal, requiring up to 2 minutes — longer than the average blending time — to completely pulverize the oats. If you’re willing to spend a few extra seconds on prep, this may not matter much. Overall, the smoothness of its product was more than acceptable, with just a very tiny flake of almond remaining solid.

The smoothie-making capability of the PopBabies was put to the test using four varieties of berries. Eventually, we found that this blender could achieve a smooth mixture within the allotted time of 2 minutes. That said, the final product did not meet our desired outcome of a thick, icy consistency due to the dilution caused by the fast-thawing nature of frozen fruits. Some other blenders we tested completed the task in only 1 minute so the smoothies they produced were perfectly ice-cream-like (for instance, the Ninja Fit, the NutriBullet, and the Ninja BN401). 

Even worse, the blender itself couldn’t run smoothly, as opposed to the prior test with protein shakes. The fruits were so solid that the blades couldn’t power through so we had to intervene multiple times by shaking the cup vigorously. Nonetheless, we believe this blender still makes sense for all of us when it comes to preparing small batches of smoothies as long as our ideas of drinks involve fresh fruits instead of frozen ones.

If you've ever wondered how efficient a low-powered personal blender is in preparing frozen-fruit smoothies, the BLACK+DECKER FusionBlade can give you an answer. Although this machine isn’t so powerful, it liquified the ingredients with little effort, though a few shakes were required to ensure the blending process went smoothly. 

The smoothie was churned into a smooth, chilly, and slushy consistency, though it lacked the perfect ice-cream-like texture we got from faster blenders, such as the Ninja Fit. This was because frozen fruits thaw quickly at room temperature, diluting the overall consistency if you don’t blend fast enough. Simply put, the longer processing time of the FusionBlade means its smoothie came out thinner and less desirable than it should. 

Nevertheless, this machine is an adequate personal blender for making frozen-fruit smoothies. We found it’s better at this job than many other models within the same range, and the great smoothness of its product in this test reminds us of pricier blenders, namely the Nutri Ninja Pro.

It is unclear why the PopBabies blade failed to spin at the outset of our test, but it is possible due to the small size of the blending cup and the large amount of greens we used. To get the food to circulate properly, we had to shake the cup vigorously, which was time consuming and left us underwhelmed, though, after several attempts, we finally got the blender to run for the required 20 seconds. Following this, we strained the mixture through a mesh strainer and were dismayed to find a significant amount of pulp still remained. This indicated that the blender didn’t extract the full range of nutrients and flavors from the greens. Apparently enough, if your aim is to maximize the nutritional value of your vegetables, this blender may not be an ideal choice.

The FusionBlade didn’t struggle during the 20-second runtime (our time limit for this test). More impressively, of all the blenders we tested from this market segment, the BLACK+DECKER stood out with the best extraction of high-fiber foods. However, that doesn’t mean it did a complete job; there was still a considerable amount of coarse pulp left behind after we drained the mixture through a mesh strainer. It probably could have been better if we allowed our machine to blend longer. For sure, a quality green juice is worth a little extra waiting time.

Given our experience with the blender in previous performances, it would have been reasonable to have low expectations for its capability in this test. However, we still gave it a fair shot. 

And again, this blender became obstructed by the ingredients even when we had tried hard to shake the cup repeatedly. To be fair, though, personal blenders like this one are not designed for heavy-duty tasks like crushing ice due to their lack of power. Pushing your device beyond its limits can cause wear and tear that will inevitably impact its overall performance, even in more standard blending tasks. If you want fluffy, snow-like crushed ice or desire to incorporate ice into your smoothies, it may be worth investing in a high-performance blender, such as the Ninja Nutri Auto-IQ.

It’s safe to say the BLACK+DECKER was not up to the heavy-duty task of crushing ice cubes. As Scotty might say, it just doesn’t have the power. That’s not a major hit to its value — we’ve learned that not many personal blenders are capable of producing fluffy, snow-like crushed ice (For instance, the Oster, the Hamilton Beach, or the KOIOS). If you insist on that sort of blend, you’ll need a more powerful motor. Most of this FusionBlade’s ice remained very chunky. 

Overall, the BLACK+DECKER FusionBlade’s performance was not all bad, and we really like this blender, but there are still a few good ice-crusher alternatives to choose from.