- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Test Results
- Differences
- Compared To Others
- Deals
- Discussions
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function Blender is a very simple full-size blender. Although it uses a glass jar, the rest of the build is made from plastic which feels prone to wear and tear. Unfortunately, it offers a pretty bad overall experience as it produces a dry, crushed nut mix instead of almond butter, and its smoothies are foamy and very leafy. Ice can also get stuck beneath its blades, so it can't really crush ice. On the upside, it's very easy to clean and it can hot blend, which is suitable for making soups and dips.
Our Verdict
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite is poor for multi-purpose use. It makes a foamy, leafy smoothie and it makes dry, crushed almonds instead of smooth almond butter. It can't even break down ice cubes as they get stuck under the blades. While it can hot blend, it can't do much else. At least, it's easy to clean.
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Jar, lid, and blade assembly are all dishwasher-safe.
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Really struggles to process fibrous or leafy ingredients.
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Can't produce almond butter.
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Disappointing, plasticky build quality.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function Blender is bad for smoothies and protein shakes. It takes a few minutes to make a blend, and it doesn't do a very good job of blending ingredients like kale, which results in a foamy, leafy drink. Luckily, as it uses a glass jar, it's quite easy to clean.
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Jar, lid, and blade assembly are all dishwasher-safe.
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Really struggles to process fibrous or leafy ingredients.
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Disappointing, plasticky build quality.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function Blender is awful for ice crushing. Ice gets caught under the blade assembly, so it doesn't really get crushed, even if you're blending it for a few minutes at a time.
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Jar, lid, and blade assembly are all dishwasher-safe.
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Can't crush ice.
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Disappointing, plasticky build quality.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function Blender is disappointing for soups. While it can hot blend, it really struggles to break up leafy or fibrous fruits and veggies, which may result in a really chunky soup. On the upside, it's pretty easy to clean.
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Jar, lid, and blade assembly are all dishwasher-safe.
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Really struggles to process fibrous or leafy ingredients.
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Disappointing, plasticky build quality.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite is bad for professional use. This plasticky blender may be prone to wear and tear, which could be a problem if you're using it frequently. Unfortunately, it can't produce almond butter or crush ice. If you're making smoothies, it also takes a while to produce a foamy and leafy blend. On the upside, the glass jar is quite large and the jar, its blade assembly, and lid are all dishwasher-safe for an easy clean.
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Jar, lid, and blade assembly are all dishwasher-safe.
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Really struggles to process fibrous or leafy ingredients.
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Can't produce almond butter.
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Disappointing, plasticky build quality.
- 3.6 Multi-Purpose
- 2.8 Smoothies/Protein Shakes
- 2.8 Ice Crushing
- 5.2 Soups
- 3.1 Professional Use
- Updated Oct 16, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Oct 09, 2020: Early access published.
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Test Results
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender is somewhat bulky. It's not very heavy, and it shouldn't take up too much room on your countertop. You can also store it in your cupboard if you take off its lid and jar to store separately.
This blender has a disappointing build quality. Although the jar is made from thick glass, the rest is plastic. The motor body's plastic feels especially thin and could be prone to showing some wear and tear. The transmission, lid, and collar are all plastic too.
The main jar is made of glass and holds 40 ounces, which is fairly large. You can run it through the dishwasher for an easy clean, but the manufacturer doesn't recommend using a sanitization setting.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender doesn't come with an additional jar.
This blender has four sharp blades, two of which point upwards while two are horizontal with a slight upwards curve. This part is dishwasher-safe, but it can't be cleaned on the appliance's sanitization setting.
The jar's lid is made from plastic. It has a spout so that you can pour out the contents from the jar. You can also use it to pour food into the blender. There's a vent opening on the lid too so you can safely blend hot food.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender has a fairly short cable, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem if you're using a countertop outlet. It also has a stowaway compartment so that you can hide it when not in use.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender has five buttons. Although the manufacturer advertises it as having 12 modes, there are only four speeds that have three recommended usages each. The 'MIX/MILKSHAKE/EASYCLEAN' setting is for continuous low-speed blending while the 'PUREE/SMOOTHIE/ICY DRINK' setting handles continuous high-speed blending. Likewise, the 'DICE/CHOP/SALSA' setting is for low-speed pulsing, and the 'GRIND/CRUSH ICE/GRATE' setting is for high-speed pulsing.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite is very bad for making almond butter. Even when blended for several minutes at a time, it doesn't properly break down nuts, resulting in a dry, crushed nut mix that's not spreadable at all.
This blender makes a bad smoothie. It takes a few minutes to make a smoothie, and it's very foamy. It really struggles to process fibrous vegetables like kale, resulting in a lot of large pieces in your drink.
Note: We also re-tested it using the manufacturer's recommendation recipe, which uses more liquid. However, the blend is still very thin, foamy, and there are still a lot of kale pieces in the mix.
This blender doesn't come with an additional jar.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite can't crush ice. Although it has a dedicated pulse button for this ingredient, ice gets stuck around the blades or doesn't get blended at all.
This blender has a crushed ice setting. The 'MIX/MILKSHAKE/EASYCLEAN' setting can be used as a self-cleaning program.
This blender is very easy to clean. You can rinse the jar, lid, and blade assembly after you've made a smoothie. Cleaning more difficult foods like crushed almonds is also quite easy, too. Since the jar is made of glass, food doesn't really stick to it. A small brush can also get stuck-on food underneath the blades and nut assembly.
This blender can hot blend, which is good for soup, but it doesn't have any other extra features.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function Blender also comes in another variant called the Hamilton Beach 58149C Power Elite Blender with Chopper. This variant includes a 3-cup chopper jar for chopping ingredients such as tomatoes for salsa. However, we tested the standalone model, and you can see its label here.
If you come across another variant of the Power Elite blender or if your unit is different, please let us know in a discussion thread below, and we'll update the review if needed.
Compared To Other Blenders
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function is a full-size blender. Unlike other full-size blenders, it struggles with all kinds of foods, including smoothies, which is pretty disappointing. Even though it has a glass jar, the rest of its build feels plasticky and prone to wear and tear. Check out our recommendations for the best blenders, and the best blenders for smoothies.
The KitchenAid K400 is a better full-size blender than the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function. The KitchenAid is significantly better built and has a speed dial to give you more control over your blending. It can also process almond butter and crushed ice and make smoothies with a better texture in less time. However, the Hamilton Beach is easier to clean.
The Ninja DUO is a better full-size blender than the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function. The Ninja outperforms the Hamilton Beach in pretty much every way as it has a better build quality, comes with a personal jar, and offers more speed settings. It can also make almond butter, silky smoothies, and bar-quality crushed ice. However, the Hamilton Beach is easier to clean.
The Vitamix 5200 is better for most purposes than the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function. The 5200 is better-built, comes with a tamper and two-part lid, and has a greater number of speed settings. It can blend hot ingredients and does a better job of making smoothies, almond butter, and crushed ice, in addition to being easier to clean by hand.
The Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender is a significantly better full-size blender than the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function. The Ninja has a better build quality with more controls. It makes almond butter and crushed ice, and it can make a better smoothie, although it's a bit grainy. It's also easier to clean.
The KitchenAid K150 is a significantly better full-size blender than the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function. The KitchenAid can make almond butter as well as crushed ice. It also makes a better smoothie in less time, but it's still foamy and grainy. It also has a significantly better build quality.
The Vitamix Explorian E310 is a better blender than the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function. The Vitamix has a much better build quality and comes with a two-part lid and tamper. It has more speed settings and it's much better for making smoothies, almond butter, and crushed ice.
The Ninja Nutri-Blender Plus is better than the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function. While the Hamilton Beach is a full-size blender with a larger capacity, the Ninja has a significantly better build quality and a much better performance when making almond butter, smoothies, and crushed ice. You can use the Hamilton Beach for hot blending.