It is impossible to talk about the best blenders on the market without mentioning the Vitamix brand. For over three decades now, this company has produced some of the best blenders to ever grace the market. The Vitamix 5200 is one of these premium-quality blenders and has been a public favorite for almost two decades now.
But is the Vitamix 5200 as good as public opinion says it is? This Vitamix blender 5200 reviews will provide you with all you need to know about the Vitamix 5200 and help you decide once and for all if this blender is right for you.
Meet the Blender: Vitamix 5200
The Vitamix 5200 is a blender from the Legacy/Classic Series. A full-sized countertop blender, the 5200 features a 62-ounce narrow jar, Vitamix’s signature 2-part jar, and a tamper and comes in three different color variants; Red, White, and Black.
You might also find this article useful: What is a Blender Tamper and How Does it Work?
The blender comes with a rather simple motor base that features no preset blending programs or complicated array of buttons, with the only controls being a dedicated speed dial at the center and one switch on each side of the dial. This simple design is one of the reasons the 5200 is such a loved blender, but more on that later.
A Deeper Look at the Vitamix 5200 Blender
At a glance, the Vitamix 5200 looks like a good enough blender, but there is much more than meets the eye about this blender. A more in-depth analysis of this classic Vitamix blender reveals a lot about why it has remained an industry favorite for so long.
Build Quality
The 5200 features an impressive product design that just screams quality craftsmanship. Everything about this blender looks and feels solidly put together. The jar looks and feels weighty without being too heavy. It also comes with a graduated side which helps make measurement easy. The motor base is properly balanced and has just the right heft to it that you’d hardly ever need to hold down the blender when blending. Even the blender tamper and 2-part lids are so properly designed the tamper fits seamlessly into the lid and does its work with little to no obstructions.
All in all, the Vitamix 5200 is as solidly built as you could ever want it.
Jar
The 5200 comes with Vitamix’s classic 64-ounce large-capacity container which features a long and narrow design. This narrow design allows for the creation of a stronger, more controlled blending vortex that systematically pulls in ingredients to the blades allowing for faster, smoother blending. The jar comes with a graded end that allows for easy measurements, both in cups and ounces.
Along with the jar comes Vitamix’s 2-part lid which possesses an opening of its own through which the tamper and additional ingredients can be inserted into the blender without needing to completely open the lid. The lid fits securely on the jar, providing you with a spill-free blending experience except for the most extreme of situations.
The jar can be used for both hot and cold blending. Like most Vitamix Blenders (apart from the S-Series 20-ounce and 40-ounce containers), however, the jars on the 5200 are not dishwasher-safe, although they are very easy to clean.
Blades
The blades on the 5200 are Vitamix’s wet blending blades. Made of high-quality stainless steel these blades measure 3-in in diameter and are shaped as a 4-point star with one point angled slightly upwards, the opposite one angled downwards, and the other two pointing straight forward.
The design of Vitamix blades might look so much different from those on any other blender, but these blades are quite unique in how they function. Vitamix wet blending blades are designed to pull ingredients down into the blade for faster and smoother blending. The blades also do not blend by simply cutting, but contain both sharp and flat ends. The sharp ends do the cutting and chopping while the flat end works as a hammermill to crush seeds and tiny bits of ingredients to provide the smoothest blends.
The blades on these blenders aren’t designed for dry grinding, however, so if you are looking to make use of your blender for dry grinding activities like making spice or working with dry ingredients, you’d want to get the dry grain container.
Motor Base
The motor base on the 5200 is a simple, straight-to-the-point product. The motor base features powerful motors that can reach a peak of 2 Horse Powers or 1,471 W, which is powerful enough to crush everything from simple vegetables to ice.
The motor base features no preset program and comes with only three controls including a dial for controlling the blending speed, an on/off switch, and a variable/fixed speed switch. This simplistic design choice takes away complications from your blending process leaving you with probably the easiest-to-use high-performance blender on the market.
Noise Level
The Vitamix 5200 is not a quiet blender. With about 82 dB of sound produced when blending, this is definitely a blender you will always be able to tell is running. That being said, when you consider the fact that this blender features a powerful 2 HP motor, then the blender starts to feel relatively quiet since many blenders with similarly powerful motors tend to have noise levels well into 90 dB.
Clean Up
Like most, if not every Vitamix blender, the Vitamix 5200 is a very easy blender to clean. Although the Vitamix 5200 blender jar is not dishwasher-safe, it is very easy to clean by hand. The blender base’s design also makes it easy to clean with the open-top design meaning there are almost no hard-to-reach spots where food items can get stuck.
Like most Vitamix Blenders, the 5200 also features a self-cleaning feature that makes cleaning the jar rather seamless. By simply placing some water into the blender, adding a bit of dish soap, and then turning on your blender for a few minutes, your blender automatically cleans 90% of the jar.
Storage
The 5200 is a rather hefty blender, so some care has to be taken to store it. It is also a rather tall blender with a full height of 20.5 in. which might be too high for some counters.
Warranty
Brand new models of the 5200 come with a 7-year warranty with an option to extend it by three more years. Refurbished models however come with less warranty coverage, typically between 3 and 5 years.
Price
The Vitamix 5200 is a bit on the pricey end and will typically cost around $500, though the price might vary depending on the color variant. Given the quality of the blender and the fact that the blender can serve you well into a decade, this blender is well worth the price.
Want to save some money, you can purchase refurbished Vitamix 5200 blenders at much cheaper prices. You could also get them on sale on Amazon.
What Does the Vitamix 5200 Excel At?
The Vitamix 5200 is an excellently versatile blender that excels at doing practically everything you’d need from a household blender. A great choice for both household and professional use, the 5200 will fit perfectly in whatever kitchen your place it in.
Smoothies, Shakes, and Soups
The 5200 excels especially when making smoothies, shakes, and other such liquid recipes. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better blender for this purpose. It also performs exceptionally when making soups and is even able to handle hot blending, mixing ingredients till they are steaming hot.
You might also like this article; make soups in a blender
Crushing Ice
The 5200’s powerful motor makes it a great blender for pulverizing ice, and this blender can crush ice cubes into a snow-like consistency within just a few seconds even if you don’t add any liquids to ease the process. So if you’re someone who’d love to make slushies or crush frozen fruits, you can rest assured that this blender’s got you covered.
Nut Butter
Nut butter is one of the toughest things to make in a blender, after all, very few blenders can create quality ones. The Vitamix 5200 is one of the few blenders that gets the job done exceptionally well. With this blender, you can make nut butter with a velvety smooth consistency in under 10 minutes.
What is the Vitamix 5200 Not Ideal For?
Despite being one of the best blenders you’d find on the market, the 5200 isn’t perfect at everything. Below are some of the things the 5200 falls short at:
Dry Blending
The 5200 comes with blender blades designed for wet ingredient blending, and thus, isn’t designed for blending dry ingredients into powders. When blending dry ingredients, you’d need to add some liquid or the other to ease the process (e.g adding some oil when making nut butter).
For this reason, the 5200 is not ideal for making spices and herbs, grinding coffee seeds, or carrying out other such dry blending activities. Does this mean you cannot use the 5200 for such dry blending? No. You’d just need to get the dry blending jar accessory for those.
Want to blend coffee beans in a blender? This article might help.
Single Serving
The Vitamix 5200 is not an ideal blender for single serving. Being a blender with such a large capacity, the blender is mainly designed to handle large quantities of ingredients. It is still possible to blend small amounts of ingredients in the blender, but this can often feel like overkill. That being said, you’d still be getting quality blends nevertheless, so this is not much of a problem.
Quiet Blending
As stated earlier, the 5200 is not a quiet blender. The powerful motor that comes with this blender makes sure of that. If you are going to be using this blender, especially in a professional setting, you need to be ready to put up with a bit of noise.
Compared to Similar Blenders
Here is how the Vitamix 5200 stacks up to similar blenders in the market.
Vitamix 7500
The 7500 and the 5200 are very similar blenders with a similar base design, jar capacity, and price range. The 7500, however, comes with the wider low profile jar and peaks at 1,500 W instead of the 5200’s 1,471 W. The 5200 typically makes better smoothies, shakes, and soups than the 7500, but the 7500 handles crushing ice and making nut butter a bit better. The 7500 is also louder than the 5200.
Vitamix 5300
Similar to the 7500, the 5300 features the same capacity, a low profile jar, and a 1,500 W motor, making the blender a bit more powerful than the 5200 but also louder. The 5300 is, however, better for handling small batch blending though it doesn’t produce blends of great quality as the 5200. That being said, the 5300 is a cheaper option than the 5200.
Vitamix E310
The 5200 and the E310 are similar blenders though the E310 has a smaller capacity. It comes with a pulse function, is dishwasher-safe, and is cheaper than the 5200, though the 5200 performs better overall.
Vitamix A3300
The A3300 is a more modern take on the 5200. Featuring a pulse function and some preset programs, the A3300 possesses more advanced controls than the 5200. It is also dishwasher safe, quieter, and typically performs slightly better than the 5200. The 5200 however lasts longer and requires less maintenance. They have similar prices.
Is the Vitamix 5200 a Great Choice for Me?
The Vitamix 5200 is a great blender for almost any use case. It’d be a perfect choice for you if you have no trouble spending about $500 to get a premium-quality blender and wouldn’t mind putting up with a little bit of noise. The narrow jar might have a hard time fitting under smaller counters, but you can easily swap that out for a low-profile jar.
Final Verdict
The Vitamix 5200 is a great blender that will serve you for a very long time. Although on the pricey end, this blender is well worth the price. You’d especially love this blender if you are someone who makes a lot of smoothies and soups, though if you’d be doing any dry grinding, you’d want to get your hands on the dry ingredient blending jar.