REASONS TO BUY
Tons of accessories
Good at crushing ice
REASONS TO AVOID
Subpar at fruit smoothies
Struggled with pureeing
This blender has been discontinued as of 2022.
Nutri Ninja DUO Blender Review
This appliance is a solid choice for those who wish to make personal-sized blended drinks or shakes
The Nutri Ninja Ninja Blender DUO with Auto-iQ.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
By David Wise ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ June 3, 2022
Contributions From: Austin Palmer
RELATED: The Best Blenders of 2025
Our Verdict
While the Nutri Ninja DUO didn't score particularly well against the rest of the models we reviewed, this product stood out for the handful of attachments that it comes with. It also did great at crushing ice with its triple-blade configuration, and even though this appliance did relatively poorly in our Smoothie metric when using the full-size pitcher, it did significantly better when we used the personal-sized cups. For those looking for the best way to take their smoothies or blended drinks on the go, the Ninja Blender DUO is a great choice.
Our Analysis and Test Results
When making smoothies we preferred using the personal cups instead of the pitcher.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Smoothies
The Nutri Ninja didn't particularly impress, but we noted that it did exceptionally better with the personal blender cups vs. the main pitcher. However, the smoothies created with the personal blender cups were not factored into the scores.
The still leafy and watery green smoothie of the Ninja Duo with Auto-iQ.
Credit: Austin Palmer
This blender started off with an average performance when mixing up a healthy green smoothie.
The texture of the smoothie was a little on the watery side, with an inconsistent flavor profile throughout. This smoothie just didn't taste as good as the drinks produced from the top-notch blenders, like the Vitamix 5200. There were also flakes of veggies throughout, with plenty of material caught when we strained the sieve.
A bunch of leafy bits that did not get blended up very well.
Credit: Austin Palmer
This product did quite well at blending an Oreo malt, though the texture was grainier than the malts created by the higher-end blenders. Unfortunately, the performance of the Nutri Ninja dropped severely in our fruit smoothie tests.
The berry smoothie was of very poor quality, lacking the smooth texture of the top blenders and failing to obliterate the seeds, with plenty caught in the sieve.
Most of the seeds from the berries are still intact.
Credit: Austin Palmer
In the fruit and oat smoothie assessment, the Nutri Ninja delivered one of the worst scores of the entire group. The finished drink was exceptionally chunky and practically undrinkable, with odd chunks interspersed throughout. However, the performance was much better when we tried this test again with one of the personal blender cups.
The Ninja Duo created more of a slushy textured margarita.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Ice
This model did an excellent job at crushing ice, pulverizing a full pitcher in less than 15 seconds without any struggle.
The Ninja also did quite a good job at blending a margarita, creating a drink with a consistent slushy texture. However, there were a few chunks of ice interspersed throughout.
Everything but the motor base is dishwasher safe!
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Convenience
This blender's lid, pitcher, and blades are all dishwasher-safe, and the lid and pitcher aren't too much work to clean manually. However, the three tiers of blades are quite difficult to clean by hand and are the perfect recipe for cutting your hand if you aren't careful.
You'll need to take great care when hand-washing these blades on Ninja blenders. They're easy to remove and extra sharp!
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
You also need to be sure to properly dry all the pieces of this blender, as there is practically no ventilation on the base and the underside of the pitcher definitely has the potential for growing mold if put away wet.
If you don't own a dishwasher, check our ease of cleaning results to see which blenders are easy to clean by hand.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
This model has a digital timer and a handful of preset functions.
The Ninja Duo has an easy to use and read interface.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
These are clearly labeled with text, making it a breeze to use them. The lid is very easy to remove from the pitcher, and this blender is on the quieter side, only measuring in at 84.9 dBa in our test, compared to closer to 90 dBa for the loudest models.
If you are hoping to get a piping hot, well blended tomato soup out of this blender, you might want to look elsewhere.
Credit: Austin Palmer
Pureeing
This blender did a poor job of mixing almonds into a smooth and creamy spread, instead creating an extremely undesirable thick and grainy mixture. This blender did somewhat better when pureeing the soup, but not by much, leaving whole garlic cloves intact at the end of its Auto-iQ puree cycle. It also didn't really heat the soup; it only reached a temperature of about 78°F.
The Ninja Duo doesn't create enough heat for the nuts to release their oils, creating a very subpar nut butter.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Grinding
This blender failed to achieve a fine grind when making powdered sugar, leaving plenty of intact granulated sugar behind. However, none of the sugar burned or melted into the blades. This grated parmesan this blender produced was middle-of-the-road. It was relatively evenly grated, but it wasn't the finest blend, and there were some residual large chunks.
The Ninja Blender DUO finished out with a relatively poor showing, only milling about 10% of the corn kernels to the point where they would pass through the sieve.
The Ninja Duo did very poorly at grinding corn meal, even leaving whole seeds intact.
Credit: Austin Palmer
Should You Buy the Nutri Ninja DUO Blender?
The Nutri Ninja didn't do particularly well in most metrics and definitely wasn't one of our favorites. However, we have to admit that the personal smoothie cups are an extremely fast and easy way to grab a smoothie to go, and created better smoothies than the blender's large pitcher. If you generally only use a blender for personal smoothies, you may enjoy this model.
What Other Blenders Should You Consider?
For an affordable blender that scores much higher across the board than the Ninja DUO, take a look at the NutriBullet Blender. This model excels with smoothies, pureeing, and ice and is much cheaper than the premium models. If you have the money to spend, however, we recommend the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro or the even pricier Vitamix A2500 Ascent Series, which is sure to tackle anything you toss its way.
—David Wise and Austin Palmer
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