PopBabies Portable Blender vs. Oster My Blend 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.

The consistency of the Oster’s protein shake was about average and much in line with other low-powered blenders, such as the Black+Decker FusionBlade. After letting it pass through a mesh strainer, we found a small amount of dried berries remaining partially intact and this made the shake somewhat gritty. The oatmeal and almonds were mostly turned into liquid form, however. So overall, the beverage was still drinkable enough to help an athlete or gym enthusiast increase their muscle mass without feeling uncomfortable.   

Despite being second to none within its market segment, this blender abjectly surrendered to its higher-priced counterparts in terms of blending time. To manage an acceptable result, it took up to nearly three minutes, which was about one minute slower on average. For this reason, we only gave it a 5.2/10, in comparison to other personal blenders in our Protein Shake test.

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.

The Oster BLSTPB-WBL did fairly well in this test, producing a result that was roughly the same as that of a higher-powered blender. So if you tend to focus on frozen smoothies, this device should be worth your consideration. Spinning at speed, we can assure you its blades will yield a silky frozen smoothie without a particularly intense struggle. Just make sure to give your blending cup a good shake once you notice any food getting stuck in the blades and prevent them from turning.

However, you might be wondering why it only got a 6/10 if its smoothie came out that good. Again, it was because of its longer-than-average blending time. 

In particular, after a course of testing trials, we found that a good blender for making icy beverages has to process all the frozen ingredients as fast as possible so they don’t have time to thaw and dilute the overall consistency. As such, the completion time of the Oster meant its smoothie was thinner and less ice-cream-like than faster models, namely the Ninja Fit or the  NutriBullet.

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.

With the Oster, it was definitely an undertaking to extract high-fiber food into liquid form in a short period of time (20 seconds). By our cutoff point, we drained the final mixture with a mesh strainer and ended up with a substantial amount of coarse pulp. This suggested that the test was just one-third completed. 

Perhaps, if we allowed this blender a longer runtime, we would eventually get a smoother outcome. However, one noticeable point was that some personal blenders we tested could do this trick perfectly following the same time frame. (For example, the Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ). As such, the performance of this Oster means more than just a slower extraction — it also has some implications for its overall efficiency in comparison with the expensive, high-end ones.

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.

The weak motor power didn’t allow the Oster BLSTPB-WBL to crush ice so the final outcome came out almost pristine but this is a common occurrence of this type of personal blender. If you want fluffy, snow-like crushed ice or desire to incorporate ice into your smoothies, we recommend more powerful blenders, like the Ninja Fit.