For years, I've had a Bamix stick blender. I'm always annoyed by the cord, so I thought I would try to find one that was cordless. While browsing, I saw a Viking stick blender, with a cord, so I bought that instead because it had a whisk attachment (I've long since lost mine for the Bamix).
After trying it, I have to say I was happier with the Bamix. The Viking is heavy duty and has nice construction, and I like the fact that the base can be detached for putting in the dishwasher (unlike the Bamix). But I usually just clean the Bamix by running it in sudsy water in a cup, so that isn't much of an issue.
What I don't like about the Viking is that it has one of those new switches that require you to hold it down all the time (for safety). It requires so much pressure to keep it in the 'on' position, that I'm constantly letting it go and it ends up being a 'pulse' instead. It's tiring to hold down the switch for an extended period of time, and if you do, the blender ends up becoming too hot after about a minute). This poor switch design reminds me of a meat slicer that has a similar 'hold down' switch that makes it almost necessary to have a second person help with the slicing just to hold down the switch, just in case you need to use two hands.
The Bamix seems also to have more power and an extra hook on the blade. The Viking blade seems much smaller. The Viking is nicer looking than the Bamix (the Bamix is white plastic and the Viking is mostly stainless steel).
I like both, but if I had to choose one over the other, I think I would choose the Bamix.
Stick blender are convenient for pureeing half of a soup to thicken it, or for making a quick smoothie, or smoothing out frog eyes in a gravy. But for heavy duty blending, I would rather use a food processor or a Vitamix. The Viking, with its tiny blade, could take a very long time to do a good job on a small batch that needed to be very smooth, and it would be likely to overheat before finishing.
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