Ninja Blast review: portable, powerful and perfect for smoothies

I can’t get enough of smoothies. I probably have a smoothie at least three times a week if not more, and I love taking one into work with me for a mid-morning breakfast or snack. The only issue is that when I actually come to drink my smoothie an hour or so after I’ve made it at home, it gets an extremely unappealing colour, even though everything I’ve blended is fresh.

While I’d love to take my best blender into work with me to make smoothies while I’m there, it’s not the easiest thing to do, as they’re pretty bulky and let’s not forget: there’s a big blade involved! But that’s where the Ninja Blast comes in. 

Launched in 2023, the Ninja Blast is a portable blender that easily blends smoothies at home or on the go, keeping your drinks looking and smelling fresh and appetising. The Ninja Blast is such an interesting concept so I wanted to see if it’s actually worth the hype… read my review to find out.

Ninja Blast review: price and availability

The Ninja Blast is £49.99 and available to buy at Ninja and select retailers like Amazon, Currys, Argos, John Lewis and Very. It’s available in many different colours, including denim, purple, white, cranberry, black and forest green – I tried the black version for this review.

Ninja Blast review: unboxing and set-up

The Ninja Blast comes in a long cardboard tube with minimal plastic and other packaging. Inside, you’ll find the Ninja Blast portable blender which is made up of a 530ml blending vessel and the motor base with power blades. Additionally, you get a sip lid, blade cover, vessel cap and USB-C charging cord.

Before use, the Ninja Blast needs to be charged for at least two hours. It doesn’t come with a plug but just the charging cord, so I plugged the Ninja Blast into my laptop to charge. I’m personally not a fan of just getting a charging cord, but it does give you more ways to charge your Ninja Blast on the go.

Ninja Blast review: design and features

The Ninja Blast is a portable cordless blender. It has a 530ml capacity, weighs 790g in total and measures 27cm height, 9cm width and 8.5cm diameter. Designed to easily blend smoothies, frozen drinks and shakes at home or on-the-go, the Ninja Blast has a leak-proof design with a sip lid and carry handle. The Ninja Blast also claims to be Ninja’s most compact and quietest blender on the market.

To use the Ninja Blast, you screw the blending vessel to the motor base which has the blades permanently attached. Once you’ve done this and the arrows all line up, you can put your ingredients in the cup before screwing on the sip lid. From there, turn on the Ninja Blast via the on/off button on the motor base. Around the start/stop button, you’ll see a purple light flash before it goes solid – more on this below. Simply press the start button and the Ninja Blast will blend for 30 seconds at a time.

The Ninja Blast has a sleek and attractive design, and an innovative lighting system which it explains via a sticker on the motor base. When the Ninja Blast is in action, the light will be purple, and if the Ninja Blast needs charging, it’ll be red. As it charges, the light will flash green and then go solid green when charged. Other colours explain any issues the Ninja Blast has, for example, if it flashes orange, it means the blades are blocked.

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Ninja Blast review: performance

As someone who drinks smoothies almost every morning, I was really excited to try out the Ninja Blast, but I’ll be honest: my first test didn’t go so well! In my early morning sleep-filled haze, I blended up my smoothie in the Ninja Blast and thought to myself, “I don’t want the blade attached anymore”, so I stupidly unscrewed the motor base from the blending vessel, only for the entire smoothie to spill out from the bottom! This was obviously going to happen at some point, so I thought it was worth pointing out that yes, you do need to keep the motor and blades attached while you drink and carry your smoothie.

With that idiocy out the way, my next few tests of the Ninja Blast went very well. Despite the small size of the blades, they cut through foods surprisingly well and make lovely thick smoothies. It does occasionally struggle with frozen ingredients and bigger chunks, but adding some extra liquid should do the trick.

The Ninja Blast has handy measurements printed on the blending vessel so you can easily see the minimum amount of liquid and ingredients recommended. With only one speed and 30 second bursts, the Ninja Blast is very quick and quiet to use. My favourite part of the Ninja Blast is its lighting system. I found it extremely clever and useful when starting to use the portable blender, and recharging it is very straightforward.

When taking my smoothie to work with me, I found that it stayed fresher for longer and retained its original colour, rather than discolouring to a gross brownish colour. The lid seals everything in, although the mouth hole could be better, as if the smoothie was quite thick, I found it hard to drink it. The outside of the Ninja Blast could also get a bit wet and cold so that’s worth thinking about if you’re keeping it in your bag for hours at a time.

My only main issues with the Ninja Blast are its weight and battery life. It’s not the lightest thing to carry around, which is somewhat to be expected as you are carrying around a motor base along with your smoothie. The handle is a nice addition and it fits nicely in most of the best backpacks but handbags users might find it harder to store away. The battery life could also be better as it only manages about two smoothies at a time before needing a recharge.

Ninja Blast review: verdict

The Ninja Blast is an exceptional portable cordless blender for those who like to take smoothies and shakes with them on the go. The design and construction is clever and attractive, albeit a little heavy, and its controls are easy to use and light up to explain vital information.

I really enjoyed taking my Ninja Blast with me to work and the gym, and while I wish it was better equipped for frozen foods, I really can’t fault it, especially as it’s under £50. Will everyone want to take a motor and blade with them to and from work? Probably not, but the Ninja Blast is a great concept and for this smoothie lover, it’s become my go-to blender.

Ninja Blast review: alternatives to consider

If you’d like a similar sized blender to the Ninja Blast, the Smeg PBF01 Personal Blender is a great choice. It has that classic retro-inspired design and comes with two bottles with caps, so you can take your smoothie on the go without taking the entire contraption with you.

A similarly priced model to consider is the Nutribullet Pro 1000 Series Blender. It has an attractive design, is easy to use and comes from a reliable brand.