We all love a quick smoothie, whether it’s the liberal kind or the green kind. Having to find the nearest Starbucks or organic foods outlet can however be daunting or even impractical. It makes more sense to have a convenient blender to whip up your favourite blend whenever the urge hits you. The Ninja Personal Blender was explicitly designed for such occasions and consumers across the globe seem to be enjoying this particular QB3001SS model. Let’s just closely examine it for ourselves and see whether the blender delivers on its promise of efficiency and convenience or not.
The Design
Hands down, the Ninja QB3001SS model is by far one of the most attractive blenders in the whole Ninja family. It features a pretty sleek design that is guaranteed to blend in seamlessly with your interior styles (pun intended!). It was designed to be a more compact yet more powerful replacement of the initial Ninja Fit model range. The million-dollar question now becomes; does it work? Thankfully, it does actually. It has proven to produce a more consistent blend than any other compact model including its predecessors in the Ninja Fit Range.
The model can be operated in pulse mode for more intricate blending and increased control. It can be used on regular 120 volts average supplies to chop, slice or blend your fruits and veggies. Surprisingly, the face of the whole assembly is void of the usual clutter of buttons, buzzers, and lights that is common for blenders. Just to kick you off on your journey of discovery, the model comes with an interesting 50-recipe manual filled with easy and nutritious delicacies that can be whipped up with the blender.
Power Output
The Ninja personal blender’s power was marketed quite heavily. It’s probably the most significant aspect of the blender since it’s specifically meant to be an all-rounder that can crush anything from bananas to frozen fruit to make the perfect smoothie of choice.
Thankfully, the model doesn’t disappoint at all, watch it crush through ice and frozen fruit in the video below with ease and impressive finesse. The blender is rated 700 watts which proves quite sufficient for any tough application. It can quickly reduce dry seed and any other tough ingredient to a texture-consistent pulp in literally a matter of seconds!
Cost Considerations
The Ninja QB3001SS won’t set you back much. You only have to shell out $39.99 at most retail outlets whether physically or online from megastores like Walmart and Amazon respectively. Amazon, however, offers extended warranty periods for extra peace of mind at a small and negligible cost. Compared to other compact designs with the same power capabilities, this gadget is a pretty good bargain that will be your companion for decades to come.
Special Features
Each blender that has hit the market since the turn of the century has brought about unique elements. At the very least, improvements on existing features should be the selling point. The Ninja Personal blender does come in with its own set of alluring features that sets it aside from other devices also on the market. Let’s just brush through the main ones that have made it a personal favourite all over.
- Compactness
There’s no denying the size convenience that comes with this blender. It’s not as cumbersome as those run of the mill typical blenders that can be found everywhere. Rather, all the components have been miniaturized and packed off into a smaller gadget. The model measures about 9.5 inches by 6 inches with a rise of 14 inches when assembled, all of it coming together with a more cylindrical disposition. It weighs a lightweight 4.6 pounds which enables pretty easy handling. Even a toddler can tot it around really. Don’t let this small disposition fool you however because the model can stick pack a pretty powerful blend-punch!
- Accessories
Quite unlike most blenders, this Ninja model comes with two smoothie cups for on-the-go use. The cups measure a convenient 16 ounces which can take in all the blended contents without leaving out a single drop. For better sealing, they are fitted with spout caps that will protect your precious blend at all times.
- User Control
Most blending applications are intricate. More often than not, the desired degree of finesse varies from one individual to another which makes the use of pre-set modes a bit tricky. Since this is a personal blender, simply meant to cater to individual needs, the self-controlling mechanism makes a lot of sense. The user will initiate and stop the blending at will when satisfied with the texture without having to conform to any generic standard.
- Stability
For such a powerful device, the Ninja QB3001SS model is impressively stable. Its motor can hit thousands of revolutions per minute on the crushing blades without even the slightest vibration of the whole assembly. This means that you can even perch your blender precariously on the edge of your kitchen counter without giving a hoot about its safety. Needless to say, however, don’t go trying this at home!
- Blade Assembly
The four-blade assembly that whips up your blend is specially molded using stainless steel to give a sturdy crush platform. This set of blades can reduce even the toughest of ingredients to your desired texture in a matter of seconds. You can even make your own freshly ground coffee with this beast! Take care however when handling the blades not to injure yourself and don’t forget to add regular or cocoa water to your dry ingredients for better ‘lubrication’. When disassembled, as in during maintenance, be sure to keep the blades away from minors.
- Unions
One key weakness of blenders, in general, is the tendency to wobble or rattle as a result of weak unions between detachable components. The Ninja QB3001SS blender has, however, overcome this flaw with innovative and smart union technology that ensures firm and rigid joints throughout the whole assembly. You can easily assemble the blender in a few steps as guided by the supplied user guide in a few seconds without at all affecting its integrity.
Safety and Maintenance
We can’t possibly evaluate a power gadget without covering its safety features and maintenance ease. This is the aspect that determines whether your gadget is user-friendly or not. Furthermore, poor safety features and characteristics can easily outweigh any attractive features of the blender if they pose too many risks or discomfort to the consumer.
Let’s first consider the care of the blender. This Ninja model is totally dishwasher safe. This means it can be popped onto the top rack in its disassembled state with ease for a thorough wash. You can also hand wash the device if you feel like it. Take care to handle the blade assembly more delicately; however, to avoid getting nicked because they are a tad sharp.
All components that come in contact with your fruits and what not have been designed and perfected to be BPA free in a bid to ensure healthy operation. This makes the blend suitable for family use without having to worry about health implications in the long run. Come to think of it, what good is a gadget that promotes healthier drinking habits if it poses health hazards of its own anyway?
Imagine operating a blender that gives you an occasional zap of electricity. This is more likely to happen than you might imagine without proper insulation and of course with poor maintenance. The scary part now is that with such high power rating, electric shocks have a higher chance of being potent. The Ninja QB3001SS model is however well padded with rubber insulation on all electric wiring and plug top for surge and thermal protection. Take extra caution not to twist or crease the cord for a longer lifespan.
The Ninja manufacturer offers a full year warranty for any part or whole of the blender that is found to be defective on delivery. For tech support, customers can contact the service center experts or go to the Ninja website to lodge their queries, questions or comments. In case of damage to any parts, the manufacturer is more than ready and happy to supply replacement fittings for your convenience!
Cons
The only shortfall of the model is perhaps its non-automatic operation which means it needs persistent attention from the user. This downfall is however minimized by the fact that the blender is powerful enough to wrap up the job in sixty seconds or less.
Verdict
Any individual wishing to acquire a blender for convenience should definitely grab one of these Ninja QB3001SS models. It’s perfectly suitable for multiple operations of all nature and can be the ultimate solution to healthy eating, especially for fitness fanatics. Personally, I would recommend this to the single bachelors and bachelorettes out there. It’s also perfect for young couples, especially considering that it comes with those two beautiful and matching cups to go with it. The QB3001SS model is clearly the best performing compact blender on the market that will save you on both cost and storage space!