Upon receiving this blender I was impressed with the sturdy feeling of the glass jar itself. The base was not as impressive, it feels much less durable. In my experience the blender was good at making smoothies as long as they didn't include ice. When I would add ice the blender did not seem to have enough power to fully crush the ice as compared to my individual size blender. Conveniently this model also include a food processor attachment. It is a much less sturdy container than the glass jar. I've used it once to process black beans and it sufficiently did the job. Disclaimer: I did receive this blender to try out for free.