PopBabies Portable Blender vs. Ninja Nutri Auto-iQ Personal Blender Side-by-Side Comparison
PopBabies Portable Blender vs. Ninja Nutri Auto-iQ Personal Blender. The Ninja Nutri isn’t budget-friendly, but it delivers better efficiency than the PopBabies.
Specifications
Design
The PopBabies boasts a mobile-friendly design that's both convenient and space-saving. However, the blade is poorly constructed and lacks robustness. The blending cup is made of hard plastic, which becomes scratched and cloudy after only a few uses. Although the motor is heavier than expected for a cordless personal blender, it's easy to operate. Overall, the PopBabies is built for the price, but we'd appreciate higher-quality materials and a more aesthetically appealing design.
The Ninja Nutri is a very capable blender, so it scores well in most of our evaluations. The trouble is that it is very expensive and far bulkier and more complex than any personal blender should be. If you are short on cooking space, don’t want to fuss with settings, and expect to get your money’s worth, then those are issues.
Usability
The cordless feature makes the PopBabies highly portable, but apart from that, this blender doesn't offer much other benefit. The weak motor struggles to draw ingredients towards the blade, necessitating frequent shaking and manual manipulation to achieve a smooth blend. The cleaning and assembly procedures can also pose challenges, which may be frustrating for users who are looking for a hassle-free and effortless blending experience.
The Ninja Nutri is kind of impressive in that it looks fussy and technical, but is easy to figure out in practice. Once you get used to it, cleaning and assembling are simple as well.
Performance
Our testing on household blenders has revealed several drawbacks in the PopBabies actual practicality. Despite its claims of producing smooth blends, the results were far from satisfactory. Be it protein shakes, frozen fruit smoothies, or fibrous mixture, they all came out chunky and texturally inconsistent. Nonetheless, we believe this blender may still be suitable for blending softer fruits and vegetables, or for making simple purees as long as you remember to chop the ingredients into smaller pieces.
While the Ninja Nutri is advertised as a personal blender, it actually features a powerful motor worthy of a full-sized blender. As such, in our hands-on testing, it was more efficient than most rivals. Still, its outcomes were not always the best. Ultimately, we don’t think you need to fork over so much cash for a personal blender when there are cheaper, smaller, and better options like the NutriBullet and the Ninja QB3001SS Fit.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- The cordless design allows for blending on-the-go.
- It is pretty useful when it comes to making small batches of baby food and fresh fruit smoothies.
- The battery is easy to charge.
- A powerful motor allows for heavy-duty blending
- Stainless steel extractor blades are exceptionally tough
- Hands-free operation offers greater convenience
- Sturdy motor base ensures stable performance
- Blending cups are included with to-go lids
- It’s inadequate for blending tough ingredients like frozen fruits and raw nuts.
- The cup’s small capacity limits the quantity of ingredients.
- Food must be cut into very small pieces before blending.
- The low cost of the blender is reflected in its flimsy construction.
- The cup’s small opening makes it messy to add ingredients.
- The need to shake the blender during operation
- It’s heavy and quite bulky
- The control panel is gimmicky
- The feets’ suction is so strong making it challenging to remove the base
- The premium price tag might be a high barrier for many people
Conclusion
If you're someone who values the simplicity and compactness of personal blenders, you may not be too impressed with the Ninja BL480D Nutri. However, compared to the PopBabies, a cordless personal blender that may seem like a convenient option, the Ninja BL480D Nutri outperforms it in several ways, from performance to build quality and usability.
At an upscale price, the Ninja BL480D Nutri is equipped with robust blades and a higher-torque motor. This allows it to effectively blend almonds, oatmeal, frozen fruits, and even whole ice cubes without much effort. In fact, it is among our top-rated personal blender, surpassing most of its rivals in all of our tests.
Meanwhile, the PopBabies struggles to blend anything other than fresh fruits and soft ingredients. In addition to producing subpar protein shakes and frozen fruit smoothies, this blender was also a lackluster performer in blending leafy greens and crushing ice.
Behind the Comparison
Tina Pham is a staff writer and reviewer, with five years of experience in the industry. As a passionate amateur home cook, she loves to discover practical cooking solutions, and has made it her mission to bring her findings to every kitchen. Her ultimate goal is making cooking more of a pleasure for all.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
