Skip to content
Nungeum

Kitchen · Ninja · 2020

Ninja BN701 Professional Plus Blender

Ice, frozen fruit, and large batches handled well. The blade stack and the noise are the terms.

Cheap kitchen machines all cut the same corner — #3

Overall

7.0

out of 10

Axis scores

Kitchen is scored on these 5 axes. The total is their plain average — nothing is weighted.

Ninja BN701 Professional Plus Blender — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars run from a shared zero baseline; longer is better. Ninja BN701 Professional Plus Blender: Performance 7.8, Value 8.6, Durability 6.8, Ease of use 7.0, Quietness 4.6.PerformanceNinja BN701 Professional Plus Blender — Performance 7.8 out of 107.8ValueNinja BN701 Professional Plus Blender — Value 8.6 out of 108.6DurabilityNinja BN701 Professional Plus Blender — Durability 6.8 out of 106.8Ease of useNinja BN701 Professional Plus Blender — Ease of use 7.0 out of 107.0QuietnessNinja BN701 Professional Plus Blender — Quietness 4.6 out of 104.6Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better
  • Performance — How well it does the core job
  • Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
  • Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
  • Ease of use — Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
  • Quietness — Operating noise — a higher score means quieter

Specs

Motor
1,400 peak watts
Pitcher
72 oz total, 64 oz maximum liquid
Programs
Three Auto-iQ presets, four manual settings
Size
11.3 x 9.8 x 16.2 in
Warranty
One year limited

As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.

Is it for you

Buy it if

  • Ice and frozen fruit, which is what the stacked blades do best
  • Batches for a household — 64 ounces of liquid in one pitcher
  • A first serious blender without premium money

Skip it if

  • Anyone is asleep nearby; this is the loudest machine in the group
  • Nut butters and stiff doughs, since there is no tamper and the lid stays locked
  • You expect the machine to still run in ten years — the warranty is one

Blades run up a central post in three tiers rather than sitting at the bottom of the pitcher. Ice hits an edge no matter where it is in the jar, which is why this machine shatters frozen fruit that stalls single-blade designs, and it is also why washing up takes twice as long. You are cleaning six edges at three heights with your hands inside a tall plastic jar, and the dishwasher does not reach between the tiers reliably.

The stack takes up room the batch would otherwise occupy. Pour out a thick smoothie and a portion stays behind, clinging between the tiers, and getting it out means a spatula down the post.

There is no tamper and the lid interlocks, so the motor will not run with it unlatched. A stalled batch means stop, unlatch, scrape, latch, restart — often several times for anything approaching nut butter. That single design decision draws the line between this machine and the two above it.

Auto-iQ presets are pulse patterns on a timer, not intelligence. Pulsing is what makes a blade stack work, since continuous spin just drills a hole through frozen fruit, and the presets do the pulsing so you do not have to stand there tapping a button. Understood that way they are the most useful thing on the panel.

Noise is the fact that defines living with it. High rpm, a plastic pitcher, a plastic base, and a hard interlock that rattles at speed — owner reports converge on this being a machine you plan the morning around rather than one you use casually at six a.m.

One year of warranty on a machine in this class is the number to weigh. The plastic drive coupler between base and pitcher is the usual wear point on blenders built this way, and owner reports put its failures well outside the coverage window rather than inside it. The pitcher and blade assembly are sold separately, which is the practical fix.

At 16.2 inches with the lid on it will clear most upper cabinets, though not by much. Fill it to the 64-ounce line and the whole assembly is awkward to lift one-handed off the base.

Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.