Ninja Blast portable blender review: Portable flavour

The Ninja Blast is a lightweight, affordable portable blender that lets you blend up your smoothie (or cocktail, depending on the time of day) right before drinking it from the attached sip cup.

I’ve been testing the Blast out for a couple of weeks, and I have to say I’m having a lot of fun. It’s powerful, lightweight, and has a pretty impressive battery life.

Being battery powered, it’s never going to offer the same level of performance as a fully specced bench top blender, but for smoothies on the go, this is a really great little product.

Ninja Blast portable blender review: Design

The Ninja Blast is designed to give you everything you need to make and drink blended concoctions on the go.

The water-resistant base comes in a range of colours, including Denim Blue, Black, Cranberry, Forest Green, Passion Fruit and White. I tested the Forest Green model, and while green isn’t my favourite colour, it still looks stylish and vibrant.

The “Blast Blade” assembly, which is the official name of the blender’s blades, sits at the top of the base unit and are exposed when the cup isn’t screwed on. This didn’t pose any problems for me, but could potentially be a bit risky if you have young kids, as the blades are pretty sharp.

The controls are pretty simple. There are two buttons: a power button and Start/Stop button. The fact you need to press two buttons helps make sure you don’t accidentally start blending your drink while the blender is in a bag or your car.

Around the back of the blender is a single USB-C port. It takes about two hours to fully charge the blast, but the battery lasts for up to 15 cycles. Given you’re going to clean the blender after every use, that means you’ll get about 7 days out of it between recharges if you have a smoothie every day.

The cup, which holds up to 470 mL of liquid, screws onto the base securely. The first time I poured milk into the cup to make a smoothie, I got a little anxious it was going to leak, but that feeling quickly went away. The seal is firm and secure, with little arrows to line up to ensure the cup is attached.

That capacity means this is a blender for one, though. If you need a device for making cocktails for a party, you should really look elsewhere.

The lid of the Ninja Blast is like a pop-open sippy cup, which screws into the glass and can be opened with a press of your thumb. It feels secure and shuts with an audible click. 

It also boasts a carry handle, so you can easily transport it around if you’re at the gym or the beach.

Ninja Blast portable blender review: Performance

While the Ninja Blast is never going to offer the same blending power as one of the best bench top blenders, like the KitchenAid K400, it is still pretty powerful for something running from a battery. It’s reasonably quiet, too.

It easily blasted through ice in smoothies and ice coffees, and soft fruits like strawberries, blueberries, and mango were all pulverised with ease.

Admittedly, it wasn’t quite as good with really heavy, fibrous greens like kale. For me, this wasn’t an issue because I am not someone who goes for green smoothies. Things were slightly better running it through a second blend, but the drink was still a little bitty.

There’s nothing stopping you from trying to use the Blast to make dips and spreads, though if I’m honest, I feel you’d be better off using a bench top blender for those. 

The Blast’s design means that it’s going to be difficult to get any thicker concoctions out of the cup, and if you unscrew the glass, then you run the risk of your mixture going everywhere.

I don’t see this as a downside, though. This is an $80 blender designed for making personal drinks. And that’s a job it does well. It's the perfect blender for blending your own smoothies.

Battery life and cleaning

I used the Ninja Blast to make a smoothie every day for a week, and then ran it through a cleaning cycle, before the lights indicated a low battery.

That’s right in line with the 15 cycles Ninja proclaims the battery is capable of.

When the battery does run out, it’s just a matter of plugging a USB-C cord in the back. Because the Blast will fit in your car’s cup-holders, you could easily plug it in while driving to make sure it’s got enough juice to blend up your smoothie.

The other facet of the Ninja Blast I really appreciated is how easy it is to clean. Half fill with water, add a drop of detergent and blend, and it’s mostly done.

Both the cup and the lid are dishwasher safe, though the manual does say not to use an extra dry cycle on your dishwasher on these components. 

I found that blending with dishwashing liquid left the blades clean and clear, but if you had blended something really thick, that needed extra care, it could be a challenge to really clean the blades manually.

Ninja Blast portable blender review: Verdict

For $80, the Ninja Blast does a fantastic job of blending on the go.

It balances power with battery life, so you can enjoy freshly blended smoothies and cocktails daily for a week. It’s easy to clean and easy to use.

The Blast doesn’t offer the biggest cup size, and it may not be able to blend thicker materials like a more powerful bench top blender. 

But if you’re after a powerful portable blender for making fresh smoothies on the go, the Blast is difficult to beat.

Buy the Ninja Blast online

Ninja Blast

The Ninja Blast lets you take your smoothie (and cocktail) making on the go, with solid battery life and plenty of power for most blended beverages.

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