Introduction

Whats the difference between these machines? Is the Vitamix 6300 worth the extra money?

The Vitamix 5200 and Vitamix 6300 might look similar, but why is the 6300 so much more expensive? Is it worth it? They both make smoothies, deserts, hot soups and turn ice into snow. In this article we take a side by side look at these two blenders. Both blenders have full reviews, which are available at the top of this page, or head over to the Vitamix page. Lets get started!

Container, Lid and Blades

This Vitamix 5200 and the Vitamix 6300 share the same tall containers.

Both the Vitamix 5200 and the Vitamix 6300 share the same tall 64-ounce container. These containers do a great job of sending your ingredients in a vortex around the sides of the container and folding the mixture downward towards the blades. The included tamper helps you push around stubborn mixtures if you're blending thick ingredients. You can also add ingredients while the machine is working through the hole in the lid.

The only drawback to this container is it's height. It's a pretty tall container for an appliance that will probably spend most of it's life on your kitchen counter tucked away under cabinets. The 5200 and the 6300 are both 20.5 inches tall, that measurement is with the container (with lid attached) on the motor base.

Power and Interface

These are two very capable machines, each has a 2 HP motor!

The interface is what differentiates the Vitamix 5200 from the Vitamix 6300 the most. Both have a 2 Peak Horsepower motor, metal to metal drive assembly connections, pulse, and variable speed capabilities. The Vitamix 5200 lacks a few key features though, most notably the preset functions. They both blend even the toughest frozen ingredients and the blades are designed to blend consistently for years.

The Vitamix 6300 has 3 premade functions for easier blending. Smoothies, Frozen Desserts & Hot Soups. Simply turn the speed knob to one of the presets and filp the toggle to "Start" on the 6300. The 5200 is perfectly capable of blending these same recipes, but they must be done manually by adjusting the knob. If you're making smoothies frequently, it might be a nice to have the Smoothie preset which starts slow to break up the mixture in the container and ramps up to full speed to get a consistently smooth blend.

Also, if you notice the Vitamix 6300 has a light on the front of the bottom left, that means the machine is toggled on. The 6300 has an on/off switch on the front that will kill power to the entire machine when flipped off. This is a great feature if you have a busy kitchen or just plan on leaving your machine out on the counter all the time. It saves you from plugging and unplugging the machine every time you'd like to use it. 

Additional Notes

Clean Up

Clean up setting is useful, but do still give it a quick manual scrub.

Both Vitamix 5200 and the Vitamix 6300 machines are able to "clean themselves", by adding warm water and a small amount of dish soap to the container and turning the machine to low then gradually increasing the speed until the container is clean. Some Vitamixs have a "Self-Cleaning" preset that makes this easier, but I'd still advise giving it a quick scrub with a sponge. While running this preset or running the machine is a good way to break up large leftover contents in the container, it also could lead to the container becoming cloudy from minerals latching to the side of the container over time. The best way to prevent this, is to simply use a sponge and cleaning the inside of the container like you would anything else.

Specs