Are cordless handheld appliances the future? We tried KitchenAid's new version to find out

When you think of KitchenAid, your mind might immediately dream of beautiful colourful stand mixers, mine certainly does. But in a departure from the vibrant colours you might expect, the new KitchenAid Go Cordless range is all matte black.

But that doesn’t mean this range is boring or run-of-the-mill. The KitchenAid Go Cordless Hand Blender with accessories is one of several small battery operated appliances in the range. And the big selling point is that they all use the same removable, swappable battery. So once you’ve bought one with a battery included, you can save some cash on the next appliance from the range by buying it without a battery.

A few years ago I thought battery operated appliances were a gimmick, but I’m coming round to them. And actually, there’s a huge benefit to being able to blend hot soup without trailing a power cable across my gas hob. But this range comes at a premium price, so read on to see if I think it’s worth a spot on our list of the best hand blenders and mini choppers.

KitchenAid Go Cordless Hand Blender with accessories product specs

• Hand blender weight: 870g (including battery)
• Size: (hand blender with blending arm attached) (H)40.5 x (W) 7 x (D)7.8cm
• Variable speed: yes
• Accessories: 1 litre jug with lid, 590ml mini chopper, blending arm, whisk, pan guard

Unboxing and first impressions of the KitchenAid Go Cordless Hand Blender

Removing everything from the compact box was quick and easy, and thankfully the majority of the packaging was cardboard, so could go straight into the recycling.

The first thing to do once I’d unboxed everything was to get the battery on charge. This palm sized battery comes with a USB-C charging cable, but you don’t get a plug, so you’ll have to supply your own.

There are four lights on the battery and once they’re all illuminated, it’s fully charged and ready to go. To check the battery status at any time, you simply have to press a button on the side to illuminate the lights. Each of the four lights equals 25%, so you get a rough idea of how much charge is left.

The battery slots onto the top of the hand blender, which did have me worried that once in place it would feel heavy or unbalanced. Thankfully though that wasn’t the case.

There are two buttons on the blender, the power button, that also controls the speed - the more you press it, the faster the blending speed. And there’s a lock button, which must be pressed simultaneously, otherwise the blender won’t work.

Getting your hand correctly placed to comfortably press both buttons at once takes a few minutes to get used to. But, this is a worthwhile safety feature and one that's often lacking in hand blenders, so I don’t mind.

Everything else in the box was pretty straightforward to figure out. The main blender body is attached to either the blending arm, whisk, or the chopper bowl. And when using the blending arm or whisk, you can make use of the large jug that comes in the box.

Or the blades can be used directly in a hot pan, which is easier than putting all of your hot ingredients into one of the best blenders. And with the addition of the plastic pan guard, you can even use it in delicate pans, without scratching the non-stick coatings.

What is it like to use?

Blending arm

I filled the jug with milk, chunks of banana, protein powder, and a generous spoon of chocolate hazelnut butter. It took just 30 seconds of full power blending with the hand blender to blitz these ingredients into a smooth morning protein shake.

I should note that I had to keep hold of the jug with my spare hand, as it tended to vibrate around a bit. I also had the lid on, with the central part removed so I could insert the blender. But the lid didn’t stay in place and vibrated itself free, so I wouldn’t bother adding it next time. Instead I’ll just use it for when I want to store foods in the jug.

I made use of the pan guard when blending a broccoli and stilton soup directly in the pan. It’s a bit fiddly to attach and doesn’t feel as secure as I’d like, but it stayed in place for the duration of the 2 minute blend.

Personally I really appreciate a metal blending arm that allows me to blend hot foods. The soup was smooth and creamy and there’s far less washing up than if I’d tipped it into a full size blender.

I also used it to create a homemade tomato pizza sauce. Again, I blended the hot tomato mixture directly in the pan to create a sauce. It took around 1 ½ minutes to liquidise all the chunks of onion and tomato into a smooth sauce for my pizzas.

At 88dB when blending the shake, it’s about average in terms of noise levels for a blender. And though the power button allows you to control the speed of blending, I must admit that for the most part, I automatically pushed it all the way in. But it’s good to know you can blend at a lower speed.

Whisk

The whisk is very effective and I whisked up four egg whites into stiff peaks in a little over a minute. Although adding the whisk accessory does make it very tall, which meant I felt my arm fatiguing faster when whisking.

Chopper

I added a couple of generous handfuls of mint leaves to the chopper, then I pressed the power button repeatedly to pulse the leaves so that I didn’t over chop them. After about 15 pulses the leaves were all evenly chopped.

I was pleased that I didn’t have to open it up and encourage any rogue leaves towards the blades.

Next, I had a glut of chillies on my chilli plant, so decided to chop these for the freezer. I cut all the tops off and then cut the larger ones into 2-3 chunks so they were roughly the equivalent size of the smaller ones.

I chopped 50g chillies in total, seeds and all, and it took just 10 seconds. Which saved me a lot of time, not to mention potential agony of wiping chilli in my eye, or some other such mishap.

Battery

Given that the battery life will vary depending on whether you’re whisking, chopping, or blending, I couldn’t time it and give you an exact number of minutes that you’ll get from one charge. Although I should point out that KitchenAid reckons you’ll get up to 30 minutes.

To give you a rough idea, I did all of the above tests without having to recharge. What’s more, I managed a further 4 minutes of full speed blending before the battery lights were indicating it was at 50%, so you get a lot of use from it between charges.

A second battery, should you wish to get a back up, will set you back £69. Though if you invest in another appliance from the range and buy it with a battery included, you’ll have the freedom to keep one fully charged and swap them over as needed.

Cleaning

Most of the accessories are dishwasher safe, with the exclusion of the blender arm and chopper blade. But in reality, I found that most of the time, a quick rinse under the hot tap was enough to remove residues.

Though if you’re doing something particularly messy, like blending an oily mayonnaise, it’ll be much easier to clean the jug in the dishwasher, even if you do have to hand wash the blender arm.

How does it compare to similar cordless sets?

The Ninja Professional Stackable (available for just £29.99 from Ninja) chopper is a great alternative to the mini chopper accessory. It’s the one that came out on top when I tried several for our guide to the top-rated mini choppers. What’s more, it has remained in my kitchen ever since, which is high praise. It does have to be plugged into a power socket, but if you can work with that, you’ll get a great chopper for a bargain price.

If it’s the hand blender with accessories that you’re after and you don’t mind plugging it in, I’d recommend taking a look at the Braun Multiquick 9 range. With several accessory options to choose from, this is a capable hand blender. And I believe the current model is a new and improved version of the one that came out top in our hand blender roundup.

Alternatively, if you don’t need the mini chopper or whisk, the KitchenAid Go Hand Blender is available without the accessories. It’s £40 cheaper, so definitely worth considering if you don’t think you’ll use all the accessories.

Should you buy the KitchenAid Go Cordless Hand Blender?

Don’t get me wrong, this is a good hand blender with useful accessories. But whether it’s worth the steep price tag will depend on your requirement to blitz up foods away from a power socket, not to mention if your budget stretches to it.

If you’re super frustrated by a lack of power sockets, or you want to be able to blend at an island or kitchen table where there isn’t a socket, this battery operated blender opens up all those possibilities.

But a word of caution, if you’re the type of person who’ll forget to charge it when needed, instead of solving your frustrations, it could add to them - unless you have a second battery of course.

About this review, and the reviewer

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK, where she reviews all sorts of home and garden appliances using her wealth of experience.

Helen used the hand blender and all of its accessories in her own kitchen for a week. She kept an eye on the battery to see how long it lasted while she used the hand blender to create tasty soups, sauces, and made use of the chopper and whisk accessories for other ingredients.