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Key Points
- The Ninja TWISTi is the best blender for smoothies that we’ve found so far thanks to the built-in Twist Tamper.
- This blender is an affordable smoothie maker that can handle thick blends and still crush ice for frozen drinks.
Table of Contents
A great device for making smoothies, smoothie bowls, frozen drinks, and nut butters. Drizzle cap is great for blending up your own mayonnaise, nut butters, and salad dressings. The built-in tamper on the large pitcher ensures everything is blended perfectly smooth.
The Bottom Line
While not the largest or most versatile blenders, it works extremely well for what it does. It also comes in at a good price point. If you primarily need a blender for smoothies and nut butters, you'll be very happy with this device!
- 34oz, 24oz, & 18oz pitchers/cups included
- Best smoothie bowl maker at its price range
- Most powerful Ninja blender
- Great performance for the price
- Loud (100 decibels)
- No 64oz pitcher available for this model
The Ninja TWISTi High-Speed Blender DUO is a powerful blender excellent at processing thin and thick blends. It also sits at an affordable price point.
It easily cranks out superb frozen drinks, smoothies, and protein shakes. Likewise, thick smoothie bowls and nut butters are quickly rendered by its 1600-watt powered motor.
Read on for more detailed information we discovered when compiling this Ninja TWISTi review.
The Ninja TWISTi model is, in our humble opinion, a home run blender by the appliance maker. It is the most powerful Ninja model on the market and is surprisingly versatile despite not have a large pitcher.
Given it’s power and the quality of its blending ability, the TWISTi received a rare 5-Star rating from Juicing Journal. It is also #2 on our list of the best Ninja blenders.
Ninja TWISTi Features
There are a lot of great features that make the Ninja TWISTi the best blender for smoothies. Here are just a few, beginning with Total Texture Control features.
Built-In Twist Tamper
What makes this Ninja blender a TWISTi? The built-in twist tamper, of course! The twist tamper is built into the lid of the blender. It has two spatula-type blades that come down and push ingredients toward the blades as you blend.
To use the twist tamper, turn it counterclockwise to push ingredients toward the blades when making smoothies, smoothie bowls, spreads, and nut butters. Any spread or spoonable blend will benefit from the Twist Tamper, but it shouldn’t be used with thinner blends and it isn’t a feature on the personal Nutrient Extraction cup.
Drizzle Cap
Another feature built into the lid that allows for Total Texture Control is the Drizzle Cap. This cap allows you to add ingredients while you are blending. The Drizzle Cap is intended for adding liquid ingredients only, meant to allow you to control the texture of smoothies and thicker blends.
smartTORQUE Technology
The Ninja TWISTi features a powerful 3-peak horsepower motor with smartTORQUE technology that allows it to pulverize ingredients. The blender can crush ice into snow cone consistency. This feature also means that the blender has no problem handling frozen ingredients, which makes it perfect for smoothies.
Auto-iQ Functions
The Ninja TWISTi also features the Ninja Auto-IQ functions. These are programmed presets that work well for the capabilities of the blender. They offer an easy way to make smoothies without the fuss. Just press a button and let the blender do the rest.
Extract
Use the extract button to extract nutrients from fruits or leafy greens. You’ll use this function for your thinner blends. This is a great, fast alternative to juicing. You’ll use this function with the single-serve 24-ounce Nutrient Extraction cup that comes with your Ninja TWISTi blender. (More on this in a moment.)
Smoothie
Use the Smoothie button for your slightly thicker blends. Think a frozen banana & chia seed smoothie where the frozen bits of banana are more likely to float than it would with thinner blends.
This is really the star of the Ninja TWISTi blender, because smoothies is what it does best.
Frozen
You can use this feature for your frozen margaritas and similar drinks and cocktails. This function will crush down ice, but not as well as some other blenders. It is still quite functional for margaritas.
Spread
Use the Spread feature to make almond butter, hazelnut butter, peanut butter, and other nut butters. Use this button in combination with the 34 oz pitcher and the accompanying lid with drizzle cap. The drizzle cap allows you to add oil to your spread while the device is blending. This lets you dial in your spread to the consistency you desire.
Bowl
The Bowl setting is used to blend very thick mixtures such as smoothie bowls. Smoothie bowl recipes typically call for a lot of frozen fruit and a very small amount of liquid. Lower powered blenders have a hard time making smoothie bowls because the blend is essentially a frozen emulsification. It is very hard to get right. B
But the one-two punch of a high-powered motor + the twist tamper lid allows the Ninja TWISTi to make smoothie bowls with relative ease.
Technical Specification
| Type | Countertop Blender, Smoothie Blender |
| Brand/Series | Ninja Blender |
| Model | Ninja SS151 |
| Speed | 10 speeds plus pulse |
| Wattage | 1600 Watts |
| Blades | Hybrid Edge |
| Container | 34 oz pitcher 24 oz cup 18 oz cup |
| Dishwasher Safe | Yes |
| BPA Free | Yes |
| Color | Grey |
| Dimensions (in) | 6.5″D x 8.3″W x 13.8″H (16.5 cm x 21 cm x 35.1 cm) |
| Application | Personal Use |
| Warranty | 1 Year |
What’s Included in the Ninja TWISTi High-Speed Blender DUO
What Can The Ninja TWISTi do?
Before we get to what the TWISTi does, let’s be very clear as to what it doesn’t do. The Ninja TWISTi is not one of those all-in-one kitchen systems. It isn’t for blending soups, it won’t help you make bread, and it won’t help you make meatloaf.
So what can you make with it? Here is a sampling:
The TWISTi machine makes smoothies, smoothie bowls, frozen drinks, and nut butter. That’s it! If that’s what you need, then the Ninja TWISTi is for you because it does it better than any other Ninja device we’ve tested!
This blender doesn’t have food processing functions, but you can make spoonable baby food, spreads, and nut butter. Other Ninja blade assemblies and some cups will not work with the Ninja TWISTi blender.
Important
While you can generally mix and match accessories between various Ninja Blenders, you cannot necessarily do this with the Ninja TWISTi.
Ninja TWISTi Review of Functionality
As we’ve previously said, the TWISTi does what it is designed to do very, very well. The TWISTi’s range of functionality is more limited that other Ninja’s appliances. But that allowed the product designers more freedom to really hone in on the TWISTi’s performance.
Smoothies & Protein Shakes
Our testing shows that the Ninja TWISTi easily handles smoothies and protein shakes, which can be made using the 34 oz pitcher. And you can make them with the nutrient extraction cups. In our family, we almost always make smoothies with the cups because we rarely make a them for more than one person.
With a 1600 Watt base, there isn’t any food that the TWISTi can’t emulsify into a smoothie when liquid is added.
Smoothies & Protein Shakes: Rated 5 out of 5
Smoothie Bowls
Our tests shows that the TWISTi is the best smoothie bowl maker in its price range. In fact, we notice no major differences between smoothie bowls with the TWISTi and those made with more expensive blenders.
The powerful motor renders thick smoothie bowls with just the slightest amount of liquid.
Smoothie Bowls: Rated 5 out of 5
Frozen Drinks & Cocktails
The TWISTi chews through ice in frozen cocktail recipes. The TWISTi can pulverize ice into “snow” if nothing else is added.
While the device is a very capable blender for frozen cocktails, it loses a little luster because of the limited pitcher capacity. The 34 oz capacity means this device won’t be your go to blender if you need to make margaritas for a large group.
Frozen Drinks: Rated 4.5 out of 5
Nut Butters
The Ninja TWISTi is the best processor of nut butters in this price range that we’ve tested. The design of the high-speed pitcher and accompanying tamper top are perfect for rendering excellent nut butters. The 1600 Watt power base helps the blender cut through even harder nuts like almonds with ease.
We also love how the drizzle cap allows you to add the perfect amount of oil needed to achieve your desired consistency.
In short, if you are wanting a great blender for nut butters, you won’t go wrong with the TWISTi.
Nut Butters: Rated 5 out of 5
Using the Ninja TWISTi
The Ninja TWISTi is easy to use. It comes with 7 push-button controls:
- Start/Stop
- Pulse
- Extract
- Smoothie
- Frozen
- Spread
- Bowl
Start/Stop Button
Use this button to turn on or off the blender. There is not dial to adjust the speed. It’s runs wide open when its on or is completely off.
Pulse Button
Press and release this button once or multiple times to perform short pulse blending.
Auto-iQ Programs
The 5 preset Auto-iQ programs are great when you are making smoothies for breakfast and want to slice some fruit or make some oatmeal while your smoothie is blending.
Everyone loves multitasking! The Auto-iQ functions allow you to do that. They also make the blender fool-proof for teens.
A Note About Vents
The Ninja TWISTi is a small blender with a very powerful motor. The vents release air while the blender is running to help keep the motor cool while you are processing thick blends. It works very well – some might say too well.
It is not uncommon for lightweight items on the counter near the blender to blow around during operation. There is really no way to stop this, so just make sure that lightweight items aren’t near the blender while it is working on your smoothie bowl.
You should also know that the blender’s high-powered motor can cause the blender to move around somewhat. It doesn’t have suction cups like some lightweight blenders, but it is less likely to move around if the counter is clean and dry before use.
Cleaning the Ninja TWISTi Blender
The Ninja TWISTi blender is very easy to clean. Everything except the motor base is dishwasher safe. When cleaning the motor base, make sure that the vents are not blocked by debris and use a gentle cleanser and cloth to wipe it down.
Ninja claims that even the most stuck on foods in your blender will come off in the dishwasher. If you have an older dishwasher, this might not be the case. If anything gets really stuck on, you’ll have to scrub it. Be careful of the blades, because they aren’t removable.
Otherwise, the lid with built-in Twist Tamper, Drizzle Cap, containers, and blade assembly are all top rack dishwasher safe.
See the Ninja TWISTi Blender in Action
Don’t take my word for it. Here is a brief demo on the Ninja TWISTi blender.
Is the Ninja TWISTi blender worth it?
We highly recommend the Ninja TWISTi blender if you will primarily be making smoothies. This is the most powerful of the Ninja blender line-up, and our top recommendation for a smoothie maker. From extractions to smoothies to smoothie bowls and nut butters, this blender is one of the best at an affordable price tag.
FAQ
How loud is the Ninja TWISTi?
In our tests, the maximum volume of the TWISTi came in at just a hair over 100 decibel. This is roughly equivalent to an approaching subway train or a motorcycle passing you at about 2 meters away.
How large is the Ninja TWISTi pitcher?
The pitcher for the Ninja TWISTi can hold up to 34 ounces. This is considerably smaller than other Ninja blenders. However, it fits well for the limited functionality the TWISTi is designed for.
What Do You Think?
Let us know how we can improve this review by using the review feature below. Also, drop us a comment if you own the Ninja TWISTI and give us honest feedback about your experience with the device.
