Vitamix’s handsome Ascent 3500 blender packs wireless tech

The Vitamix Ascent 3500 looks every inch like a premium food blending machine.

The blender's base is handsomely styled in graphite metal with stainless steel accents.  

On the bottom of the 64-ounce blender jar are the steel blades, which are attached to the rest of the unit.

On the base is an LED display and touch-sensitive controls.

This blender has no problems making smoothies. The Vitamix Ascent line also has NFC readers in their bases to auto-detect their containers wirelessly.

Tap one of the blending program buttons to prepare food with minimal effort.

The Ascent 3500's smoothie program takes about 50 seconds to complete.

For an extra $100, you can use the Perfect Blend Bluetooth scale and app to prepare special Vitamix recipes.

Vitamix has special recipes within the Perfect Blend app, but the scale costs extra.

This batch of curry-carrot soup using the Perfect Blend app, scale and Ascent 3500 combo turned out quite well.