I'm a healthcare professional and bought this after researching the competition (i.e., "Vita-Mix). After reading through a gazillion comments and reviews (including CR who rates the Ninja #2) I opted for the lower priced Ninja. I have used mine twice a day for the 6 weeks I have owned it, I use it for making smoothies. I blend for health, I have a morning fruit and berry smoothie and I have an afternoon veggie smoothie. Blending is a really convenient way to get in all your servings of fruit and veggies each day without removing the (very important) fiber. So far, I love my Ninja. I have had stuff made with a Vita Mix in the past, but have never done a side by side comparison, though I can think of a few differences that are meaningful for me. One, the Vita Mix generates heat. They use it as a selling feature, that you can use it to make soups, but I like my smoothies cold, so it's not something I look for in a blender. Secondly, Vita Mix seems to win in all the comparisons with Ninja on smoothness, or thoroughness of blending. The only reason I knocked one star off the Ninja is because I have noticed that my smoothies are a bit chewier after several weeks of blender use. I attribute that to the fact that Ninja relies (apparently) on their sharp blades, which naturally dull with use-especially when blending frozen berries or ice (which both of my smoothies contain). I've noticed a subtle change in texture, no chunks, but definitely not a fine blend. My understanding is that Vita Mix has dull blades that work for years, they do not rely so much on sharpness as they do on speed? The other thing (in addition to heat) that you get with a Vita Mix is aeration (foam), which I do not notice with the Ninja. My smoothies are full of fruit and veggies, so they are full of fiber. If you are okay with having some noticeable fiber in your blend over time, the Ninja is a great deal at about 1/5 the cost. If that matters to you, expect that you will have it in time (I started to notice it after about 25 blends). The blender cleans very easily and is simple to use. I've never had to remove the top to tamp stuff down and I use 3 cups of leafy greens like kale and arugula, as well as whole carrots, celery, apples, and never have chunks. Overall it's a great machine. I cannot rate longevity since I've only had it 6 weeks, but so far I'm very pleased.
Update: It's January 2018, I owned the Ninja about 3 months and ended up getting a Vita Mix. I still stand by my original review, but there is a difference. The Ninja starts out pretty great, but then over time things do no blend as well. I drink 2 smoothies a day (one veggie, one fruit), so I use it a minimum of 2x a day. Over time I started calling my Ninja smoothies: "grainies." The blades start out very sharp, and the technology depends on that, but they dull with use and it shows in the results. The Vita Mix does not depend on blade sharpness, but power, it pummels everything to pieces (itty bitty pieces). I am amazed at the flour I can make with it. Also, the heat i mentioned is not a factor but a feature. Most things are blended in less than a minute (35 seconds often), so nothing really gets warm unless you leave it on in order to generate heat. The Ninja is a good blender, especially for the cost, but I don't think one can fairly compare it to a Vita Mix, it's like comparing apples and oranges.

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I never write reviews. But this is such a horrible blender for what you pay, I had to write a review. Another reviewer wrote “it takes the smooth out of smoothie” and he couldn’t be more right. I’m not sure how this blender got so many good reviews. So many times I tried making my smoothies and açaí bowls and had to stick a spoon in the blender and push all the chunks to the center because they wouldn’t blend. I end up dumping my smoothie into my nitribullet to get all the chunks out of it. The designers went wrong when they decided to put three sets of blades going up...all it does is send everything flying to the sides, making me have to constantly scrape the sides of the blender. The lowest setting is still too high! Ugh! I need a vitamix.

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I wanted to really like this product based on all the positive reviews I read. I bought it in August, and now it's November and the pitcher has cracked. I used it may be once a week to blend smoothies. The pitcher is not covered by their 1 year warranty, which is ridiculous, like it's an extra part or something. To return the product you have to pay $19.99. Is it worth it? You decide for yourself.

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My mom had got one of these blenders and it had gotten four symmetrical cracks in all four bottom of the plastic container causing it to leak, thinking we stored it wrong causing the cracks we bought another. Not more than the two weeks we had the new one simply crushing ice had put the same identical four cracks in the new blender. I'm disappointed because because we cant seem to ave the option to return either blenders, which are now useless. its a shame because the blenders worked great other than the cracking feature.
file:///C:/Users/Jacob/Downloads/IMG_0742.jpg

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When you buy this product first you are going to love it, then you are going to hate it.

If you are wondering why the blender performs so well despite being a lower price, it's because the device is well engineered and paired with a base and blade which both have plenty of power, but sadly the pitcher is made with a very cheap plastic. As you can see in the attached pictures, the product cracks and leaks despite hand-washing. In case you are wondering if I filled it with rocks or something, the densest material I've used are mixed nuts for smoothies, I haven't even used it to crush ice.

Don't look at the 4.5 stars and assume it won't happen to you like I did!

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Updating my review 1.5 years after purchase. I loved my blender, but it literally broke into pieces after only a year and change. A few months after I got it, a crack started to form and eventually just broke wide open. Keep in mind, I only used this to make smoothies, it wasn't heavily used or anything. I'm so disappointed. My thrift store blender lasted longer than this. I expect much more for this price.

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This is not the best blender I've ever bought, but it is pretty good value for what I paid. It does a reasonable job of pulverizing stuff, but it takes a while of running it for ice to be totally crushed. Also, don't overload a smoothie with greens (not more than 1 cup), or else they won't get totally blended, and you'll end up with little shreds of spinach in a smoothie instead of a smooth texture.
Because the blade stands upright in the middle, it is not easy to scrape down the sides if stuff is getting stuck up along the side, so for thicker stuff it's not the best. But for smoothies, liquids, etc, it does a pretty good job.

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Ok for some reason it got here way quicker than anything else I’ve ever ordered.. lol that was nice, I love the tower blade system!! I don’t have to stop the blender and push all my frozen fruit down to the bottom towards the blades every minute because of this! The power is awesome! We’ve been making healthy smoothies daily now cause it takes no time at all! It used to be a bit of a process with our old blender. Ninja is the way to go! Glad I trusted the hype!! Huge container too, we can make smoothies for the whole family in one batch! Sleek simple style, the safety of the locking lid (the blade tower is free floating so always make sure your lid is locked! And remove the blades before pouring to prevent lacerations!) amazing product!