BLACK+DECKER FusionBlade vs Ninja QB3001SS Fit Side-by-Side Comparison

In this protein shake test, the FusionBlade came out as one of the best personal blenders. Its sturdy 2-prong blade, together with the 275-watt motor, breaks down tough foods, including almonds and dried berries, without much problem. However, for some reason, it had a hard time with oatmeal, requiring up to 2 minutes — longer than the average blending time — to completely pulverize the oats. If you’re willing to spend a few extra seconds on prep, this may not matter much. Overall, the smoothness of its product was more than acceptable, with just a very tiny flake of almond remaining solid.

No matter what ingredients you have on hand for your protein shakes, the Ninja QB3001SS Fit will quickly turn them into a chunk-free mix. Its impeccable performance in this test is evidence of that. Consisting of the toughest-to-blend ingredients, our recipe presents a high level of difficulty, but it still didn’t give this blender any trouble. 

Our Ninja took only 50 seconds to churn out the desired result. The oatmeal was completely broken down while almonds and berries were blended to their finest state. After straining the drink through a strainer, we found a smattering of partially blended chunks, but we don’t think it's enough to turn off many folks. Given such a result, this machine is a worthy competitor to the NutriBullet Pro — our best personal blender at the time of writing.

If you've ever wondered how efficient a low-powered personal blender is in preparing frozen-fruit smoothies, the BLACK+DECKER FusionBlade can give you an answer. Although this machine isn’t so powerful, it liquified the ingredients with little effort, though a few shakes were required to ensure the blending process went smoothly. 

The smoothie was churned into a smooth, chilly, and slushy consistency, though it lacked the perfect ice-cream-like texture we got from faster blenders, such as the Ninja Fit. This was because frozen fruits thaw quickly at room temperature, diluting the overall consistency if you don’t blend fast enough. Simply put, the longer processing time of the FusionBlade means its smoothie came out thinner and less desirable than it should. 

Nevertheless, this machine is an adequate personal blender for making frozen-fruit smoothies. We found it’s better at this job than many other models within the same range, and the great smoothness of its product in this test reminds us of pricier blenders, namely the Nutri Ninja Pro.

When it comes to preparing smoothies, this blender’s efficiency is something that we’ve all dreamed about, but never thought possible on a budget. In our test, it allowed for a quick preparation of frozen foods with very little effort thanks to its heavy-duty motor and sturdy blades. The compromise was that we had to pause now and then to shake chunks free from the blades.  

The smoothie was ready to drink within 1 minute of blending, which was far faster than average. In fact, it was fully twice as fast as some other models like the Magic Bullet, the Hamilton Beach, and the Oster. You may think it doesn’t matter much to wait a bit longer, but actually, the difference in blending time between blenders did create a substantial discrepancy in the drink’s texture and temperature.

As a general rule of thumb, frozen foods thaw quickly at room temperature, especially when you start grinding them up. The faster your blender does its job, the thicker and less diluted your smoothie will be. 

Simply put, not only did the Ninja Fit blend smoothly, but its rapid operation also provided us with the thick, ice-cream-like consistency that we prefer in frozen fruit smoothies. If you’re craving icy-cold drinks on hot days, this blender definitely has the chops for it.

The FusionBlade didn’t struggle during the 20-second runtime (our time limit for this test). More impressively, of all the blenders we tested from this market segment, the BLACK+DECKER stood out with the best extraction of high-fiber foods. However, that doesn’t mean it did a complete job; there was still a considerable amount of coarse pulp left behind after we drained the mixture through a mesh strainer. It probably could have been better if we allowed our machine to blend longer. For sure, a quality green juice is worth a little extra waiting time.

The Ninja Fit is quite capable of incorporating leafy vegetables and other fiber-filled foods into your drink. Of all the blenders we tested, this was one of the few that could break down almost all of kale, spinach, and celery in only 20 seconds. The greens were blended finely and had consistent-sized grounds. Not only that, but it left us with only a little pulp that was too big to pass through a strainer — better results than even the pricier Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ.

It’s safe to say the BLACK+DECKER was not up to the heavy-duty task of crushing ice cubes. As Scotty might say, it just doesn’t have the power. That’s not a major hit to its value — we’ve learned that not many personal blenders are capable of producing fluffy, snow-like crushed ice (For instance, the Oster, the Hamilton Beach, or the KOIOS). If you insist on that sort of blend, you’ll need a more powerful motor. Most of this FusionBlade’s ice remained very chunky. 

Overall, the BLACK+DECKER FusionBlade’s performance was not all bad, and we really like this blender, but there are still a few good ice-crusher alternatives to choose from.

In this task, this blender struggled quite a bit, and couldn’t quite power through all the ice cubes. A small amount of ice remained solid — accounting for 20% of the total — when it was all said and done. And again, we had to stop and shake the blending jar to promote the contact between the ice and blades. 

Of all the blenders with small blending cups, however, the Ninja Fit was the only one that actually could perform that well. It even crushed ice as fluffily as its larger counterpart, the NutriBullet Pro. With the Ninja Fit, you may no longer have to deal with whole ice cubes in your drink.