Cleanblend Ultra Blender - 1000W High-Speed Countertop Blender with 8-Blade Stainless Steel & BPA-Free Tamper Wand - Perfect for Smoothies, Shakes, Protein Drinks & Meal Prep - Compact 40oz Low-Profile Design for Small Kitchens & Home Bars

Update after a couple months: dropping to 4 stars because of the difficulty of making a single portion. Still a great blender for making larger portions (2-4 people).Original review:This is an awesome blender. It is very powerful, blends quickly and thoroughly, and is easy to clean. This is not your standard kitchen-aid, it is an industrial blender like something you’d see in a smoothie shop. Size is perfect for 2-3 people and fits under my kitchen cupboard. Amazing with fruit, and very good with greens.Fruit smoothies: this is a beast, in under a minute everything is perfectly smooth. I have not needed to use the included plunger stick yet, just set speed to half-way, and pulse occasionally.Green smoothies: greens are hard for any blender, in the past I would need to juice greens separately to have a green smoothie (I’m too lazy to do that). This blender breaks kale leaves up to barely visible specs. Perhaps with patience, or more time, they would have become invisible specs, but as I said, I’m lazy. As it was there is no feeling of grittiness in the smoothie. For me, this passes the test on green smoothies.Capacity and size:Perfect for 2-3 portions. I think you could do smoothies for 4 people, but if that is your plan, maybe get the version with the bigger jar. I really like that this fits under a cupboard in the kitchen (about 16.5 inches with lid on). My wife and I will fill it up about 1/2 to 2/3 full (so less than half full when blended). It does not do well with single portions, which is the only flaw I can find with it.Noise:It is loud, but not as bad as I feared. It is really hard to describe noise- it is loud, but not vacuum-cleaner-loud. For reference, my cat was eating on the floor when I started making a smoothie. Instead of teleporting to another room as a frightened cat is wont to do, she gave me an angry look, grabbed a mouthful of food, and then ran away. While louder than a cheap blender, it isn’t as distractingly loud since it is a fair constant low sound, instead of the modulating high pitched whine that motors make when pushed beyond their limits.Cleaning: Very easy to clean. There are no parts to take apart, the blades are permanently attached to the jar. I like this as it seems like there are fewer places for nasty stuff to hide. I just put some water in it and blend for a few seconds. If I used nut-butter in the smoothie, I’ll add some dish soap to the water and maybe wipe down the sides with a sponge. The blades are not super sharp, so it you do have to reach down there, you probably won’t cut yourself.The only real question most people will have is “is it as good as a vitamix?” I can’t really answer that, as it has been years since I’ve used a vitamix. I was considering a vitamix, and have no regrets about getting this for far less money. The consistency of the smoothies seems to me as good as you can get from a smoothie shop. Whether it is as good or not, this meets and exceeds my needs and I’m really happy with it.