PopBabies Portable Blender vs. iCucina Portable Bullet Side-by-Side Comparison
Discover which personal blender is the better choice for you in our in-depth comparison of the PopBabies Portable Blender vs. the iCucina Portable Bullet.
Specifications
Design
The PopBabies boasts a mobile-friendly design that's both convenient and space-saving. However, the blade is poorly constructed and lacks robustness. The blending cup is made of hard plastic, which becomes scratched and cloudy after only a few uses. Although the motor is heavier than expected for a cordless personal blender, it's easy to operate. Overall, the PopBabies is built for the price, but we'd appreciate higher-quality materials and a more aesthetically appealing design.
We aren’t much impressed with this blender’s quality, but overall, built materials are fine for a machine at this price and we really like the simplicity the iCucina provides. Nevertheless, the mid-range segment is a tough market to compete in, simply because there’s so many products to choose from, and therefore it’d be better if iCucina emphasized on eye-catching style. Some improvements on the blade assembly would help increase its appeal as well.
Usability
The cordless feature makes the PopBabies highly portable, but apart from that, this blender doesn't offer much other benefit. The weak motor struggles to draw ingredients towards the blade, necessitating frequent shaking and manual manipulation to achieve a smooth blend. The cleaning and assembly procedures can also pose challenges, which may be frustrating for users who are looking for a hassle-free and effortless blending experience.
Locking the cup with the blade attached in the motor base may be disruptive and requires a bit of practice. Otherwise, the iCucina doesn’t disappoint too much when it comes to ease of use. Cleaning it is also not much of an issue especially when the cups, lids, and blade assembly are all dishwasher-safe.
Performance
Our testing on household blenders has revealed several drawbacks in the PopBabies actual practicality. Despite its claims of producing smooth blends, the results were far from satisfactory. Be it protein shakes, frozen fruit smoothies, or fibrous mixture, they all came out chunky and texturally inconsistent. Nonetheless, we believe this blender may still be suitable for blending softer fruits and vegetables, or for making simple purees as long as you remember to chop the ingredients into smaller pieces.
We were more than a little surprised at the results yielded by this iCucina since they didn’t come out as good as we expected. The 300-watt motor and fast spinning blades weren’t enough to help it overcome our challenges.
In the protein shake test, it was among the worst, leaving a mass of partially unblended food chunks. It also failed to power through whole ice cubes or create a smooth mixture of fibrous greens. And as weak as it was in processing frozen fruits, we assure this blender is only suited to blend softer ingredients.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- The cordless design allows for blending on-the-go.
- It is pretty useful when it comes to making small batches of baby food and fresh fruit smoothies.
- The battery is easy to charge.
- It’s good for simple plant-based blends.
- Built quality is mediocre but fine for the price.
- Simple design allows for straightforward use, cleaning, and storage.
- It stands stably, rather than jumping around, while working.
- It’s inadequate for blending tough ingredients like frozen fruits and raw nuts.
- The cup’s small capacity limits the quantity of ingredients.
- Food must be cut into very small pieces before blending.
- The low cost of the blender is reflected in its flimsy construction.
- The cup’s small opening makes it messy to add ingredients.
- The need to shake the blender during operation
- The lack of versatility.
- Short power cord.
Conclusion
The PopBabies’s cordless design is fairly convenient but provides disappointing practicality. Specifically, we found that its performance in the tests was suboptimal, making unsatisfactory shakes and smoothies. Nonetheless, this blender can still be an asset in simpler blends, such as on-the-go purees, as long as the ingredients are well-chopped.
Like the PopBabies, the BELLA is unsuitable for complex blending tasks, but in our testing, it slightly outperformed the competitor with smoother and more consistent blends. Additionally, its corded design guarantees a consistent and reliable power supply throughout the operation, which removes the risk of the battery running out of charge mid-blend, as can happen with the PopBabies blender.
Behind the Comparison
Tina Pham is a staff writer and reviewer, with five years of experience in the industry. As a passionate amateur home cook, she loves to discover practical cooking solutions, and has made it her mission to bring her findings to every kitchen. Her ultimate goal is making cooking more of a pleasure for all.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
Tuyet Pham is an award-winning Saigonese chef passionate about delicious and healthful foods. At HealthyKitchen101, she develops recipes and collaborates with our Research, Testing, and Review lab to evaluate the performance of cooking appliances. Her assessments add a strong authoritative voice to our product scoring process.
