The Ninja DUO is a full-size blender that comes in several variants with different beakers and attachments. Our test unit comes with a micro-juicer attachment which allows you to more finely process juice, although we don't currently test this. This well-built blender also produces silky smoothies and almond butter as well as bar-quality ice. Its jars, blade assemblies, and lids can go into a dishwasher's top rack for an easy clean. However, it shouldn't be used to blend hot food as it uses a vacuum-seal lid without an opening. It's also very loud at max speed.
Note 11/06/2020: We've updated this blender's advertised wattage, but the scoring of the review hasn't changed.
Our Verdict
The Ninja DUO blender is alright for multi-purpose uses. This well-built blender can easily make silky smoothies and almond butter. It's also able to process bar-quality ice in half a minute, which is outstanding for making slushy drinks. However, as it uses a vacuum-seal lid, it shouldn't be used for blending hot food as there's nowhere for steam to escape. There are also many places food debris can get into, making cleaning it a bit more difficult. Luckily, you can throw its jars, blades, and lids into your dishwasher's top rack.
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Great build quality.
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Processes most food into smooth-textured blends.
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Several preset speeds available.
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Comes with micro-juicer attachment.
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Somewhat difficult to clean.
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Can get very loud when blending.
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Can't blend hot food.
The Ninja DUO blender is great for making smoothies. It has a dedicated 'Smoothie Mode' preset, which produces silky smoothies that remain cold after being blended when using frozen ingredients. This well-built blender can crush ice very easily as well, so you won't have big chunks left in your drink.
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Great build quality.
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Processes most food into smooth-textured blends.
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Several preset speeds available.
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Comes with micro-juicer attachment.
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Somewhat difficult to clean.
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Can get very loud when blending.
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Great build quality.
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Several preset speeds available.
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Can get very loud when blending.
The Ninja DUO blender is outstanding at crushing ice. It can easily make bar-quality ice in half a minute when using its 'Frozen Drink' preset. This blender is also well-built and sturdy.
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Great build quality.
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Several preset speeds available.
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Can get very loud when blending.
The Ninja DUO blender isn't recommended for blending hot food as its vacuum-seal lid doesn't have an air vent to allow steam to escape.
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Great build quality.
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Processes most food into smooth-textured blends.
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Several preset speeds available.
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Can get very loud when blending.
The Ninja DUO blender is excellent for professional use. Although it's made from plastic, it has a robust and sturdy build. It can process almonds into nut butter very well, and it produces bar-quality ice quickly. Its main jar can also hold a lot of food, which is handy if you're making a lot of something. However, its max speed is very loud.
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Great build quality.
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Processes most food into smooth-textured blends.
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Several preset speeds available.
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Vacuum pump feature available.
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Somewhat difficult to clean.
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Can get very loud when blending.
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Can't blend hot food.
- 7.2 Multi-Purpose
- 8.9 Smoothies (Single Serving)
- 9.3 Smoothies (Multiple Servings)
- 9.5 Ice Crushing
- 5.3 Soups
- 7.4 Professional Use
- Updated Aug 25, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Nov 06, 2020: We've retested the power wattage, blade count, and noise at max speed.
- Updated Sep 08, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Sep 08, 2020: Early access published.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Ninja DUO comes in three variants that have different combinations of additional features. We tested one version of the IV107 variant, which comes fully loaded and has two 20 oz beakers included. However, the IV107 normally only comes with only one 20 oz beaker.
| Ninja DUO IV107 (2 beakers included) | NINJA DUO IV107 | Ninja DUO BL641C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blender |
1x Motor base |
1x Motor base |
1x Motor base |
| Personal Jar | 2x 20 oz beaker | 1x 20 oz beaker | 1x 24 oz beaker 1x 32 oz beaker |
| Attachments |
1x Micro-juicer attachment |
None |
None |
Compared To Other Blenders
The Ninja DUO is a well-built full-size blender geared towards making smoothies, especially as there's a variant of it with a micro-juicer attachment. When compared to other smoothie blenders like the NutriBullet Blender Combo, it does a better job of quickly blending tough foods into a silky consistency. However, if you're looking for a multi-purpose blender, note that just like the Ninja Mega Kitchen System BL770, it can't blend hot food safely as its lid doesn't have an opening to let steam out.
The Ninja DUO and the Ninja Blender Duo with Auto-iQ BL642 are both full-size blenders that come with personal jars for smoothies and have different strengths. The DUO makes a smoother blend with fibrous ingredients and comes with a juicer attachment. On the other hand, the BL642 is much quieter when it's running and also makes very well-blended smoothies if you use its personal jars.
The Ninja DUO is better than the NutriBullet Blender Combo for most purposes. The Ninja is better-built, can crush ice, and does a better job of processing hard ingredients like nuts. On the other hand, the NutriBullet can hot blend, so it's much better for recipes like soup. It's also easier to clean by hand.
The Ninja DUO is a better full-size blender than the Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ. The DUO does a better job of processing fibrous ingredients in its main jar and in its 20-ounce personal jars. It has a different blade design from most Ninja blenders, making it easier to clean by hand. On the other hand, the Professional Plus is a little better for ice crushing and much quieter when it's running.
The Ninja DUO and the Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-iQ have different strengths. The DUO is better for smoothies since it makes a smoother blend with fibrous ingredients in its personal jars and main pitcher. On the other hand, the Kitchen System is much quieter and comes with a food processor.
The Ninja DUO is a better blender than the Ninja Smart Screen. The DUO creates a much more enjoyable smoothie than the Smart Screen and comes with a micro-juicer attachment. On the other hand, the Smart Screen is much easier to clean and crushes ice better than the DUO.
The Ninja Mega Kitchen System and the Ninja DUO perform fairly similarly. The DUO makes a smoother blend with fibrous ingredients, which makes it better for smoothies. Its blade design makes it easier to clean. On the other hand, the Kitchen System comes with a food processing bowl and an additional blade assembly for forming dough.
The Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender is more versatile than the Ninja DUO. The Foodi has a better build quality and can hot blend and heat ingredients. On the other hand, the DUO comes with a pair of personal jars meant for single-serve drinks. It makes a silkier blend with ingredients like kale, so it makes a better-blended smoothie, too.
The Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher System is a better full-sized blender than the Ninja DUO. The Foodi Power Pitcher System comes with three jars, including one that has manually rotating arms to help get food stuck on the jar's sides back into the blade's vortex, and it's easier to clean. It has a speed dial, and it can make better almond butter and smoothies with its jars. However, the DUO comes with a juicer attachment as well as a vacuum pump.
The Vitamix 5200 is a better blender than the Ninja DUO. It's better built and offers more versatile performance. It can hot blend, makes a smoother blend with big batches of fibrous ingredients, and it's easier to use for recipes like nut butter. It's easier to clean by hand and quieter when it's running. However, the Ninja DUO comes with personal jars with to-go lids meant for making single-serve smoothies. Its jars, lids, and blades are also dishwasher-safe.
The Ninja DUO is a better full-size blender than the Hamilton Beach Power Elite Multi-Function. The Ninja outperforms the Hamilton Beach in pretty much every way as it has a better build quality, comes with a personal jar, and offers more speed settings. It can also make almond butter, silky smoothies, and bar-quality crushed ice. However, the Hamilton Beach is easier to clean.
The Ninja DUO is a better overall blender than the NutriBullet PRO 1000. The Ninja is a full-size blender with a 20-oz personal jar, so it's a better choice for larger batches. It's better-built, and it comes with more features, including preset modes, a pulse mode, a timer, and a juicer attachment. The Ninja can make smooth, spreadable almond butter and a more drinkable smoothie, and it crushes ice in less time. That said, the personal-size NutriBullet is easier to hand wash.
The Vitamix Explorian E310 is better than the Ninja DUO. The Vitamix has a significantly better build quality. It makes a smoother puree with large batches of fibrous ingredients and can hot blend, so it's much better for recipes like soup. It's more suitable for blending hard ingredients like nuts, and it's easier to clean by hand. The Ninja DUO's main pitcher has a bigger, 72-ounce capacity and it also comes with a pair of 20-ounce jars for making single-serve smoothies.
The Breville The Q is a better blender than the Ninja DUO for most uses. The Breville makes a better smoothie, and it's much easier to clean by hand. It also comes with an ice crush and self-clean modes, which the Ninja lacks. However, the Ninja does a better job crushing ice, and it comes with two additional personal jars.
The Ninja DUO and the Blendtec Chef 600 have different strengths, and you may prefer either, depending on your usage. The Ninja has a significantly better build quality and comes with a pair of 20-ounce personal jars and matching lids that you can use to make single-serve drinks to-go. Ηowever, the Βlendtec Chef 600 is much easier to clean by hand, and it's safe to use for hot blending, so it's much better for recipes like soups and sauces.
Test Results
Although it's slightly smaller than the Ninja Mega Kitchen System BL770, the Ninja DUO is a fairly bulky blender. If you want to store it on your counter or in a cupboard, you need to make sure you have room for it.
The Ninja DUO has a great build quality. Although most of the blender, including the transmission gear, is made from cheap-feeling plastic, it still seems pretty solid. The main blending jar also has sturdy metal blades fixed directly to the bottom of the jar. While the blades can't be removed for easier cleaning by hand, the combined jar and blade assembly can be washed is top-rack dishwasher safe.
On the downside, the main container doesn't seem to be shatter-proof and it could crack if you drop it. Water and other liquid can also get stuck in places such as inside the main jar's handle or inside the vacuum seal area of both the main and additional jar, which is a little annoying.
The Ninja DUO blender has sharp blades. While they're attached to the bottom of the jar and can't be removed, you can put them into the dishwasher's top rack as long as you separate the lid from the jar.
Update 11/06/2020: We've updated the blade count from 6 to 8.
This lid locks into place to keep your food from spilling out of the jar. It has a vacuum seal release as well as a section of the lid that needs to be opened to fully clean this part.
The power cord is long enough to reach an outlet on your counter. When not in use, the blender has a stowaway compartment for the cable.
- 72 oz blender pitcher and lid
- Motor base
- 2x personal 20oz jars and lids
- Micro-juicer attachment
- User manual
When using the main jar, the Ninja DUO blender makes excellent smoothies. Although the vacuum seal takes between 30-50 seconds to fully seal, once it's ready to use, it's able to make a smooth blend on its 'Smoothie Mode' in about a minute. The resulting smoothie is silky, and it remains very cold. There are small pieces of kale left over, but it shouldn't be too noticeable.
The Ninja DUO's additional jars are also outstanding for making smoothies. While the container's vacuum seal can take 30-50 seconds to fully set, it takes about a minute to produce a smoothie. It's extremely similar in quality to the main jar's final product, but it has slightly more foam. It also does a marginally better job of processing kale into smaller pieces than the main jar.
The ice crushing performance of the Ninja DUO blender is outstanding. When using the frozen drink preset, you can easily get bar-quality ice in about half a minute.
The Ninja DUO blender is great at making almond butter. While it produces pretty smooth almond butter, it's not really sticky and there are still some small chunks of almonds that aren't fully processed. It can crush almonds, but it doesn't reincorporate them back into the mix as they cling to the sides of the jar. You may need to stop the blender to push everything back into the blade's path. If you're looking for a full-size Ninja blender that can make smooth almond butter in less time, consider the Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher System.
The Ninja DUO has several preset speeds to better process different kinds of food. It's extremely loud at its max speed though. For a blender that's quieter at max speed, check out the Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-iQ.
Update 11/06/2020: We've retested the noise at max speed and have updated our test results.
This blender has several modes: 'Extract', 'Smoothie', 'Juice', 'Frozen Drink', 'Puree', 'Ice Cream', 'Dressing', 'Pulse', 'Low', 'High', and 'Drinksaver/Store (vacuum)'. It also has a timer so you know how much time is left when using each of the modes. If you want a blender with dedicated crushed ice and self-clean programs, check out the Breville the Q.
The Ninja DUO is somewhat easy to clean. While liquidy foods like smoothies can be easily rinsed from the jar, pieces of kale can get stuck in the additional jar's vacuum seal tube. This part also uses two screws to hold the vacuum chamber together, and you need to use a screwdriver to thoroughly clean it. If you're blending more sticky food like almond butter, it can get stuck underneath the blade, and you need a special brush to reach this spot to clean it. Even if you soak the jar with water and soap, its sides remain pretty greasy, and you need to scrub it down with soap to clean it. That being said, the jars, blade assemblies, and lids can all go into your dishwasher's top rack for cleaning, although it still may not get them completely clean. If you want a blender that's easier to hand wash, consider the NutriBullet PRO 1000 or the Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ.