Haven't had the machine for too long but so far have used it to make some sauces and smoothies, and it works great! I misunderstood the timer which is why I am giving 4 stars - you cannot set the timer and turn away unless you are using a preset (in which case it's a set time with no adjustment). When manually blending it just shows you how long you have been blending for.

I bought my vitamix last week (a purchase I've been dreaming of for years now). I have found that it does not fully blend single-serve smoothies (sadness), but works well for larger batches. I am a bit upset by this given that I mainly make single serve smoothies; it is also nearly impossible to get all of my smoothie out upon mixing. Nevertheless, I am hopefully that in time, the blender will prove to be as wonderful as everyone claims. Maybe I just need to play around with the settings! Any tips for these issues would be greatly appreciated!

I just received my Vitamix A2500 and in two days, I have used it 5 times already! I transitioned to a Vegan diet about a year ago and was slogging away with soups, smoothies, "nice" cream, sauces and (dear goodness!) cashew cream using a Ninja. Slowly the Ninja was degrading, and I could not get my cashew cream smooth - just wouldn't happen despite soaking (overnight), boiling, (yes, even) microwaving, etc my raw cashews. If you cook Vegan (even sometimes) you know how frequently recipes have you making cashew cream! Smoothies would have "bits" of greens (spinach) and soups would be lumpy. The final decision that I needed to try Vitamix; I used my Ninja for a raw Vegan lemon cheesecake from my favorite cookbook / author and when it set up, the dessert was inedible all because the blending stage fell short! Who wants to eat a 'gritty' cheesecake? A bad blender is probably why many people think Vegan food is unappetizing. Pouring, assembly & cleaning is a breeze (so much better than the Ninja!) I personally like that the blades are affixed in the containers. I would often forget to hold onto (or remove) the Ninja blade for soups after blending, and it would "plop" into my soup pan splashing hot liquid everywhere) during pouring. I've already packed up my former Ninja blender (which is fine for the blending novice / dabbler) and won't be looking back! The Vitamix A2500 has delivered on everything it said it would be for my recipes (I ordered a bit skeptic); I'm honestly, blown away. The soup and smoothie "smart functions" are (definitely) necessary for me. The smoothie was 1 minute! I used the tamper once on the spinach and then done! My 4 year old loved it and wasn't "chewing" his drink. Romesco sauce was silk; asparagus & parsnip soup was liquid (green) gold, and the mocha spiced coffee (Mexican Hot Chocolate) tastes like you used a double boiler. Wow - that's all I keep saying after using this blender. The system is intuitive and I absolutely love the timer function (many of my Vegan cookbook recipes state how long to blend; probably because the author has a Vitamix!) This blender is surely an investment (and not one I made lightly!), but one I am thrilled I finally made. I also purchased the Aer Disc Container accessory (lemonade in minutes - no squeezing or peeling with 1-2 lemons; yes!), which I highly recommend.

First time Vitamix buyer/user. Been using it for a month and so far so good. Powerful motor makes quick work of raw ingredients. So much in fact I thought it might fly off the base at full speed (it doesn't). Consequently it's pretty loud, which is to be expected. Really the only con for me is the size of the container. 64oz is a lot of volume for fill and I regularly blend smoothies in the 20 oz range. A pureeing sub 8oz batches of things isn't really feasible. Thus you need to buy additional accessories to cover your bases. Overall though, happy with the purchase.

I am a first time Vitamix user, I got the A2500....Love it! I have waiting for year to purchase as I had invested in another brand right before learning about Vitamix and so waited before moving to Vitamix....I am not disappointed in the product, my smoothies are finally very very smooth. In my heart this should be a 5 start, except for this challenge. My early takeaway from is specifically relates to the cup and blade, it is ridiculously difficult to tighten the blade onto the single use cup. My hands are smaller and so I spend more time literally fighting to tighten to close and then fight to take the blade off. I have to slightly tilt the cups to get an angle for put some real elbow grease in... :-) Could you consider for later design a type of handle to help out, or maybe if the cups we not so smooth it would help out as well... Thanks.

As a Food Blogger, I love any kitchen appliance that helps me create delicious recipes. Performance is key with any kitchen appliance, but it also has to look good on my counter top. The Vitamix A2500 Ascent series fits the bill to both! It has a super powerful motor that blended everything I tried to perfection and its sleek design looks great from every angle in my kitchen. I had no idea what I was missing by not owning a Vitamix sooner! The inexpensive blenders I’ve bought in the past had to be replaced every year and never came close to blending the way my new Vitamix does. Vitamix has an impressive 10 year, full machine Warranty and is the ultimate multitasking kitchen appliance! As one that is not great at reading instruction manuals I was pleasantly surprised at how simple and easy the Vitamix A2500 was to use. Within minutes of unpacking my Vitamix I was making the most delicious smoothie. I put this blender to the test making a multitude of recipes. The undeniable power of this machine made making smoothies, ice cream, sauces, nut butters and hot soup incredibly easy and oh so tasty. Yes it makes hot soup! Right in the blender, within minutes! The blades spin so fast it heats up ingredients with friction alone. The three program settings (Smoothies, Hot Soups, Frozen Desserts) on the A2500 Ascent series is a great, convenient feature that I use frequently. The built-in timer helps you achieve the perfect texture to your recipes every time. No more guesswork with recipes that you process manually. The variable speed control + pulse worked well when making salsa and nut butters. It’s been an exciting time in my kitchen trying an abundance of recipes from the excellent hardcover cookbook that came with this innovative blender. My kitchen has been a buzz discovering ways of using a blender I had never thought of! I can hardly wait until the various Self-Detect container sizes are available this spring. The Ascent™ Series blender will recognize these containers and automatically adjust blend settings for their smaller size. The Vitamix A2500 Ascent Series has sent me on a culinary adventure to developing new, creative recipes that are healthy, easy and great tasting! I was provided with the Vitamix Ascent Series 2500 in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I was on the fence about spending so much on a blender. However, the reviews were mostly glowing, so I bit the bullet and went for it. Since the blender arrived over a month ago, I think I’ve used it every single day. I’ve made smoothies, nut butter, frozen desserts, and soup. I’ve used it to process various raw ingredients, like blending spices or chopping onions or garlic (note: it doesn’t work as well at chopping as I had hoped, but I don’t think that’s really the purpose of the blender). Now, it takes a little getting used to. I’m still learning how to make sure I add enough liquid and how to use the tamper. There have been a few frustrating moments when it just wouldn’t blend what I had in it (like on hummus or frozen desserts), but I’m learning that I just have to use the tamper and constantly push down pretty hard to get things moving. Overall, I think I’m getting the hang of it now. I think my only complaint at this point is getting anything thick out of it. Working around the blades while scraping is pretty annoying...but it actually is less annoying on this blender than on any other blender I’ve owned. The power of this thing is really incredible....and our whole family is eating healthier. I would definitely purchase this again...but hopefully I won’t have to for a long time!

I bought my Vitamix in March 2020 and have used it daily since. It's so easy to use, my children are able to whip up quick and healthy shakes and smoothies. They know the basic ingredients they can add, and they enjoy creating their own smoothie recipes. I love how easy it is to use and clean. And I love how easy it is to blend and hide vegetables into recipes for me and my family.

Bought this a few months ago and thought I'd finally give a review. Been using this consistently a couple of times per week, mainly for smoothies. Recipes are simple and easy to follow. Made some sorbets and hot soups as well. Well worth the investment!

My first vitamix was the explorian and it was the best kitchen tool I'd ever had. When it was time to replace it, I decided to go big with the Ascent because of the option for the food processor attachment and smaller cups (which, after 3 months of ownership, I haven't pulled the trigger on yet), as well as the three program modes. I'm a pretty serious vegan at-home-chef and most of my kitchen tools get used 2-3 times per day. This machine is very loud. It's more powerful than the explorian but if I had to do it again, I'd just get a new explorian. This one makes me nervous because I live in an old "historic" home and this machine makes my outlets smell like they're burning. But it does the job and does it well!