SOTO's guideline of a simple dictionary definition works here: blender is defined as “ a person or thing that mixes things together, in particular an electric mixing machine used in food preparation for liquefying, chopping, or pureeing.”
By definition a blender blends things. Firstly, as CzechOut said in that thread,ae can identify it as a blender by looking at it unless we're told otherwise. Even if it doesn't look like the average blender, the fact that it results in a blended smoothie confirms that it is one because of the definition.