A hand mixer is the most affordable way to take the effort out of baking: it whips cream and egg whites to stiff peaks, creams cake batter in seconds and kneads light doughs, all for a fraction of the price and storage space of a stand mixer. An extensive test of 51 hand mixers sorted the best, and these are the top picks, checked against current UK prices.
What to Look For
Power and dough capacity. Motor wattage spans a wide range, from around 250 W on basic models to 600 W on the strongest, and more power helps with stiffer mixtures. Just as telling is how much dough a mixer copes with — the best handle up to about 1 kilogram of dough without labouring or overheating.
Speeds and beater ejection. Several speeds plus a turbo boost give you control from gentle folding to fast whipping, and a smooth, one-touch button to eject the beaters makes cleaning painless. Check that dough hooks as well as beaters are included in the box.
Noise. Hand mixers are surprisingly loud, ranging from a civilised 68 decibels to a raucous 85 decibels, so if you bake early or often, a quieter model is worth seeking out.
Attachments and versatility. Beyond the standard beaters, look for dough hooks for bread and pastry and a balloon whisk for the airiest cream and meringue. Several speeds plus a turbo button give fine control, from gentle folding to full-speed whipping, and a soft-start setting stops flour flying on the first press. A few hand mixers even ship with a rotating bowl and stand, letting them double as a compact stand mixer for hands-free mixing — handy if you lack the space or budget for a full-size machine.
Handling and build. You hold a mixer aloft for minutes at a time, so weight and balance matter — the chunkier units reach around 730 grams. Long beater shafts reach the bottom of a deep bowl, and solid build plus quality beaters separate a mixer that lasts from one that rattles itself apart.
The Winner: Krups 3Mix 7000
The Krups 3Mix 7000 (around £86.99) is the best for most people, and it shows exactly why Krups is the top name in hand mixers. It kneads superbly, coping easily with every test dough up to 1 kilogram, sits comfortably in the hand and delivers plenty of power — all while running notably quietly. The build quality is excellent throughout. If you want one hand mixer to do everything well for years, this is it. Check the price on Amazon
Best Retro Premium: Smeg HMF01
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The Smeg HMF01 (around £139.89) is the style statement, and it backs the looks with substance. It arrives with strikingly high-quality accessories, the device itself is beautifully made, and the smooth beater-ejection button is oddly satisfying to use. It handles every dough with ease. It is expensive for a hand mixer, but if you want one that looks as good as it works on the worktop, nothing else here comes close. Check the price on Amazon
Best Budget: Ariete Vintage
The Ariete Vintage (around £24.99) is the bargain of the test, and a genuinely surprising one. For its low price it feels remarkably well made — rivalling far pricier models — thanks to a handsome retro-design body and unusually good beaters. Its one quirk is that even the lowest speed is fairly strong, so start gently; but as a cheap, charming, capable hand mixer it is superb value. Check the price on Amazon
Also Tested
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The Bosch Styline MFQ4835DE impressed in every discipline and is an excellent alternative to the winner — quiet, capable with all doughs, with long beater shafts, fast egg whites and spare beaters in the box. The catch for UK buyers is that this exact "DE" model is a German-market variant; Bosch's UK Styline range carries different codes, so check which model you are buying. The KitchenAid 5KHM9212 is another strong performer, though the nine-speed version is not always stocked in the UK.
How to Choose
Start with how much you bake. For everyday whipping, creaming and the occasional dough, the Krups 3Mix 7000 does everything superbly and quietly. If style matters, the Smeg HMF01 is the worktop showpiece; if budget is tight, the Ariete Vintage delivers astonishing value. Prioritise enough power for the doughs you make, dough hooks as well as beaters, a quieter motor if you bake early, and a comfortable weight — and remember a hand mixer tucks into a drawer, unlike its stand-mixer big brother.
Verdict
The Krups 3Mix 7000 is the hand mixer to buy for most people at around £86.99: powerful, quiet, superbly built and happy with dough up to 1 kilogram. Choose the Smeg HMF01 (around £139.89) if you want the premium retro look, or the Ariete Vintage (around £24.99) for unbeatable value. Any of these will earn its place in the baking cupboard.
