Vitamix makes one of the best blenders. Interval. Finish of story. We all know that from years of testing dozens of blenders from totally different corporations, throughout which era the model’s tried-and-true 5200 mannequin has maintained a multi-year reign as our favourite blender. However the 5200 is way from the one blender in Vitamix’s arsenal. The Vita-verse has a number of totally different sequence: the legacy sequence (highly effective however simple blenders just like the 5200), the Explorian sequence (much less highly effective, cheaper), the Propel sequence (principally Legacy blenders with presets), and the Ascent sequence (techy, Wi-Fi enabled blenders). Now there’s a brand new addition, the Ascent X sequence.
Like most of Vitamix’s different high-performance blenders, the Ascent X Collection touts a 2.2-peak horsepower. It additionally has a whopping 10 presets, designed to permit a consumer to place all their substances into the container, press a button, and let the machine work its magic.
The X line consists of 4 totally different fashions—the X2, X3, X4, and X5—with extra presets and options as you go up in mannequin quantity (and in value). The X5 consists of the biggest variety of mixing packages, a notification for tamping, and a button that provides an additional 15 seconds to any mix that appears impressed by Breville’s well-known “A Bit Extra” button. So are these upgrades price the additional money? We tried out the Ascent X5 to search out out.
The Ascent X5 at a look
The X sequence is feature-laden, but it surely’s not greater than different excessive finish Vitamix fashions. The X line favors the smaller 48-ounce container versus the unique Ascent’s extensive 64-ounce blender pitcher. The precise interface additionally seems to be just a little totally different. The place the Ascent had bodily preset buttons and a knob to manage the assorted energy settings, the X principally makes use of the knob to scroll by the assorted presets. There are further buttons for the self-clean operate and so as to add 15 extra seconds to any run occasions. Different options embody an alert telling you when it’s time to tamp and a tamper holder so that you at all times have it readily available.
How the Ascent X5 carried out
To determine whether or not the slew of recent packages and options have been price investing in, I put the Ascent X5 up towards Vitamix’s A3500, primarily the model’s earlier high-end tech-forward blender from the Ascent sequence. The primary variations between the 2 are within the quantity presets, 5 for the A3500, 10 for the X5. The primary focus of my testing was figuring out whether or not the presets on the X5 outperformed related ones on the A3500 and if the brand new presets on the X5 might carry out duties the A3500 couldn’t. I made a frozen fruit margarita, leafy kale smoothie, frappé, hazelnut butter, almond milk, and floor spices in each blenders, utilizing both the presets every machine had or attempting my finest to imitate them on the A3500 within the case that it lacked a particular setting for the duty.
