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Comparison of 3 Blenders

VITAMIX

Pros of Vitamix:

• Makes the smoothie the richest/creamiest/smoothest texture.
• It does make the best thickest smoothie hands down.
• They now have a payment plan for like $20 a month.

Cons of Vitamix:

• The cost (but remember the payment plan)
• Single serving smoothies can be hard in the larger carafe (but I make it work) which most who already own a Vitamix have- you can now purchase the single serving carafe for your base which makes these smoothie recipes wonderfully, in which case this is no longer a con, IF you do that.
• It's not also a food processor (like the Ninja is- next)

NINJA

Pros of Ninja - this particular model

• Ninja Mega Kitchen system - 1500 watts -$140 - blender only-
• Has smoothie and food processor carafe, so you only need 2 appliance that has 2 major functions.
• Does blender up the smoothies with very little liquid better than other blenders of it's class.

Cons of Ninja

• The texture is simply not as smooth as the Vitamix, so the desert smoothie is less creamy and more Icey.
• You have to stop and scrape the sides of the machine to get the smoothie to be as blended as possible but only once or twice- not multiple times like many cheaper blenders.

HAMILTON BEACH

Pros of Hamilton Beach $30 blender

• This has a tamper!
• It actually blendered up quite well using the tamper
• It's $30. Locally at Walmart. Or online.

Cons of Hamilton Beach

• It will likely die in the very near future trying to use it for this type of thick smoothie with so much ice on a consistent basis.
• Didn't fully  blend up the ice - some larger chunks were left even after a bit.

My Final Take

Ultimately, even though it's nice that ninja is like 2 in 1 appliance with the 2 carafes, and the advertising tries to make it seem like it's the same as the Vitamix for half the cost, the quality of the smoothie to me isn't good enough to make it the winner. The texture of the Vitamix is really just the best and now with the payment plan- I mean I use this 1-2 times a DAY. For the last 6 years since I've had it.

The Hamilton beach has made a few good smoothies so far but I can tell the motor will not be able to handle these types of smoothies long and the reviews on Amazon seem to agree. So in that sense, even though with the tamper you'll be able to get some good smoothies out of it, you will be throwing your money away a bit because it's life span will be pretty limited.

But I get it, sometimes you only have $30 to throw away, not $400 to invest.
And that's okay. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the smooth overall texture I was able to get with this little thing and I loved that because of the tamper I didn't have to stop a million times to scrape the sides and then turn it back on only to have to stop it literally 1 second later because it's so thick that the blade is already spinning it's wheels again. You could get it, use it till it dies while you save for a Vitamix.

If financially you have the choice between the ninja and the Hamilton, I would go with the Ninja- mainly because it will give you 2 functions instead of 1 - the veggie rice that this thing makes with the food processor carafe is absolutely perfect - and the motor/machine itself seems like it has the power to go for awhile. It is more than double the watts power wise of the Hamilton- 700 vs. 1500.