- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Test Results
- Differences
- Compared To Others
- Deals
- Discussions
The Vitamix A3500 is a well-built and versatile full-size blender that comes with a 64-ounce jar that should be enough to tackle most of your blending needs. Its control panel has several presets and modes and as it's Bluetooth-compatible, its companion app offers even more presets, depending on what you like to blend. Overall, this blender has no trouble blending hard food like nuts, it can hot blend, and it can process ice into a snow-like consistency in no time. While it has a slightly harder time breaking down fibrous fruits and veggies, it can still make a mean smoothie. At the end of the day, it's also super easy to clean.
Our Verdict
The Vitamix A3500 is outstanding for multi-purpose use. It doesn't have any trouble with hard food like almonds and it can process ice into a snow-like consistency very quickly. It can also hot blend and its companion app offers several additional modes. While it has a little difficulty breaking down fibrous fruit and veggies, it still produces a good overall smoothie. This blender is very easy to clean.
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Very well-built with premium material.
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Easy to clean.
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Can hot blend.
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Has a little bit of trouble processing fibrous food.
The Vitamix A3500 is excellent for smoothies and protein shakes. It can make smoothies in around four minutes, although it struggles a bit with fibrous food like kale. This blender also has an outstanding build quality and it's easy to clean.
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Very well-built with premium material.
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Easy to clean.
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Has a little bit of trouble processing fibrous food.
The Vitamix A3500 is fantastic for ice crushing. This well-built blender can make snow-like crushed ice in under a minute, which means you can go right from blending to drinking margaritas as quickly as possible.
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Very well-built with premium material.
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Easy to clean.
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Produces snow-like ice in less than a minute.
The Vitamix A3500 is excellent for soups. It's safe to hot blend so you can easily puree stewed tomatoes and there's even a dedicated 'Hot Soup' mode. Its high-capacity jar is also good if you're making a bigger meal. It's very easy to clean as you can put the jar, lid, and blade assembly directly into the dishwasher. While it has some trouble completely liquefying fibrous food like kale, it shouldn't be too much of a problem if it's already been softened by heat.
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Very well-built with premium material.
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Easy to clean.
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Can hot blend.
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Has a little bit of trouble processing fibrous food.
The Vitamix A3500 is outstanding for professional use. This well-built blender has a large jar so that you can process a lot of food at a time. It can easily blend almonds to make smooth nut butter and it can make snow-like crushed ice in less than a minute. While fibrous fruits and veggies can be a small challenge for this blender, it still makes a good smoothie overall. As its jar, lid, and blade assembly are all dishwasher-safe, cleanup is easy.
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Very well-built with premium material.
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Easy to clean.
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Can hot blend.
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Has a little bit of trouble processing fibrous food.
- 9.1 Multi-Purpose
- 8.5 Smoothies/Protein Shakes
- 9.9 Ice Crushing
- 8.9 Soups
- 9.2 Professional Use
- Updated Jan 26, 2021: We've updated the Speed Adjustment Based On Jar Size test in the Extra Features box.
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Test Results
The Vitamix Ascent A3500 is a large blender. It's about the same size as the Vitamix A2300, and it's quite heavy. That said, it's best stored on your kitchen counter or in a large cupboard.
This blender has an outstanding build quality. The base is made of high-quality solid plastic with metal siding. The transmission and gears are metal, which makes the blender feel very sturdy overall. It has a thick power cable and its display and speed dial have a premium look and feel.
The Vitamix A3500 comes with one large main jar that feels very well-built and solid. It can be placed in any orientation on its base, and you can put it in the dishwasher for an easy clean.
The Vitamix A3500 doesn't come with any additional jars. However, you can purchase additional jars in different sizes from Vitamix.
The Vitamix Ascent A3500 has four sharp, thick blades. They aren't meant to be removed and although you can service them via their nut assembly, this voids their warranty. Luckily, the blades are dishwasher-safe.
The Vitamix A3500's lid is clear and has two clips on each side to create a seal. The middle part can be removed if you want to add ingredients or use the tamper to mix food in while blending. This center part can be used as a 30ml measuring cup, which is handy in a pinch.
The Vitamix A3500 has a long, thick power cord. You should have no problems reaching most outlets and you can even store it away when not in use.
- Motor base
- User manual and cookbook
- Tamper
- 64 oz blender pitcher and lid (with removable center)
The Vitamix A3500 has a touch-sensitive control panel. The white button on the left changes its pulse mode while the white one on the right is to start/stop. There are also controls to set a timer that runs up to 6:30, as well as several preset modes: 'Smoothies', 'Hot Soups', 'Dips and Spreads', 'Frozen Desserts', and 'Self-Cleaning'. The Vitamix Perfect Blend companion app includes 17 additional modes including 'Spice Grind' and 'Baby Food'. There's also an on/off toggle on the right side of the body.
This blender makes exceptional almond butter. It takes about four minutes to make a smooth, sticky almond butter that you can easily spread on toast.
The Vitamix A3500 is great for making smoothies. It takes a couple of minutes longer than the Vitamix A2300 to make a well-blended drink. The result is a thicker smoothie with a bit more foam. There are also pieces of kale that aren't completely liquified, which makes the drink a little grainy. If you want a blender that does an even better job at making smoothies, check out the Vitamix Explorian E310.
Even though this blender, the Vitamix A2300, and the Vitamix A2500 use the same Ascent Series jar and have similar overall performance, the results for these blenders can vary in texture and time to blend. This is mostly due to how their presets function and how you ramp up your speeds.
This blender doesn't come with an additional jar.
This blender makes incredible crushed ice. It can make snow-like ice in less than a minute when using the 'Frozen Drink' mode.
The Vitamix A3500 has a few programs and modes. Its timer works like a stopwatch, so you just choose a speed setting and let it run. If you want a specific time, you can use the '+' and '-' buttons to control it up to six and a half minutes. Just like the Vitamix A3300, it's also Bluetooth-compatible. You can access additional presets using its Vitamix Perfect Blend companion app: 'Smoothies', 'Hot Soups', 'Frozen Desserts', 'Spreads', 'Dry Chopping', 'Nut Butters', 'Cold Skim Milk Foam', 'Dressings', 'Spice Grinding', 'Baby Food', 'Marinades', 'Frozen Cocktails', 'Nut Milks', 'Thick Dips', 'Batter', and 'Acai Bowls'.
The Vitamix A3500 is very easy to clean. You can easily clean most messes by rinsing the jar, filling it up with soap and hot water, and running it at max speed. You may need to wipe the jar and lid with a sponge afterward if there's still some sticky residue left, but it's pretty easy to wash. It can be a little trickier to get under the blades or around the lid though, as food debris can get stuck in these areas. All the jars, lids, and blade assemblies are dishwasher-safe too, which is useful in a pinch.
Update 01/26/2021: We originally reported that this blender doesn't adjust its speed based on the jar size. However, this blend has 'Self-Detect' technology that allows it to automatically adjust its speed depending on the size of the jar you're using. These jars are sold separately. We have updated the results of this box.
This blender doesn't have many extra features. It comes with a tamper to help you distribute food more evenly in your blend. You can also hot blend, which is great if you're making soup. The blender also automatically adjusts its settings based on the size of the jar, but you have to purchase these different-sized jars separately.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Vitamix A3500 comes in three different color variants: Metal Graphite, Brushed Stainless Steel, and Copper. We tested the Metal Graphite variant, but we expect the other models to perform similarly.
The Vitamix A3500 comes with a 64-ounce main jar. However, there are several other sizes of jars in the Vitamix Ascent Series that you can purchase separately including a 48-ounce container, a 48-ounce dry grains container for blending flour or other grains, a 20-ounce blending cup starter kit, and an 8-ounce blending bowl starter kit. As these accessories are part of the Ascent Series, they come with Vitamix's Self-Detect technology built into the base. According to the manufacturer, the A3500 can recognize the attachments using this technology and adjust the blender's settings depending on the size of the container. We only tested the 64-ounce variant, so these attachments may perform differently with this blender.
In Europe, this product is sold as the Vitamix A3500i and it comes with a slightly larger, 2-liter main jar. It may perform differently than our unit due to the difference in size.
Compared To Other Blenders
The Vitamix Ascent A3500 is one of this brand's most premium full-size blenders and it shows in its durable and thoughtful design. Just like the Vitamix A2300 and Vitamix 2500, it's part of the Ascent series, so you can purchase additional jars that have Self-Detect technology built-in, which allows the blender to detect the jar's size and adjust its settings accordingly. It also comes with a companion app that adds even more modes into the mix.
The Vitamix A3500 and the Vitamix A2500 are very similar blenders. The A3500 is better-built thanks to its solid metal base, which gives it a more premium feel. While both blenders are Bluetooth-compatible and offer additional presets via their companion app, the A3500 has a few more preset modes built into the control panel. Also, unlike the A2500, the A3500's timer works like a stopwatch, so you don't need to watch your blender and manually stop it when it's done blending. That said, the A2500 produces a smoother, less foamy smoothie, and it does a better job incorporating leafy greens like kale.
The Vitamix A3500 comes with more features than the straightforward Vitamix 7500. The A3500's control panel gives you access to a timer and several preset modes. It has a self-clean program and is dishwasher-safe, unlike the 7500. As it's part of Vitamix's Ascent series, you can purchase different jars for the A3500 that use Self-Detect technology to adjust the settings based on their size. The A3500 is also Bluetooth-compatible, and you can use its companion app to access even more preset modes. That said, the 7500 still has an outstanding overall performance, and it produces a smoother, better-blended, less grainy smoothie than the A3500.
The Vitamix A3500 and the Vitamix A3300 are very similarly performing full-size blenders. Both are well-built and are easy to clean. However, the A3500 has a few presets available directly on its control panel, while all of the A3300's presets can only be found via its companion app. The A3500 also makes better-textured almond butter in less time.
The Vitamix A3500 and the Vitamix A2300 both perform similarly, and you may prefer one over the other. They're both Bluetooth-compatible and have extra presets available via their companion app. The A3500 is a little heavier, and it comes with a more fully-featured control panel. It also performs better with crushed ice and gets a snow-like texture in about 30 seconds. That said, the A2300 performs better with smoothies and has a less grainy texture when blending leafy greens.
The Vitamix A3500 has more features than the Vitamix 5200, but both have a very versatile performance. The A3500 is part of Vitamix's Ascent Series, so you can get different jars sold separately that use Self-Detect technology to adjust the settings based on their size. It also comes with a Pulse mode, preset modes, a self-clean program, and a timer, and it's Bluetooth-compatible, so you can access extra preset modes using a companion app. The A3500 crushes ice quicker than the 5200, but the 5200 does a better job blending fibrous ingredients for smoothies. The 5200 also comes with 'High' and 'Variable' speed settings, unlike the A3500.
The Vitamix Explorian E310 and the Vitamix A3500 are both similarly performing full-sized blenders with different strengths. While both blenders are very well-built, the A3500 has a larger jar with a touch-sensitive control panel. It's also easier to clean, and it makes outstanding snow-like crushed ice. However, the Explorian E310 makes a silkier smoothie in less time.
The Vitamix A3500 is a better blender than the Blendtec Designer 725 for most uses. The Vitamix produces a much better smoothie, can hot blend, and makes significantly smoother almond butter much more quickly. On the other hand, the Blendtec comes with a personal jar and to-go lid and is easier to clean.
