NutriBullet Combo 1200 NBF07500-1210DG

Such a great replacement for my Nutri Ninja! Why didn't I get one sooner?! – Earlier this year, my Nutri Ninja system finally gave up on me (I reviewed it here: https://www.productreview.com.au/reviews/dc6cd547-1c07-4ac6-8c17-d112fede77b1 ). This time around, it only lasted about 2.5 years under light use, which felt… premature. So I decided it was time to try something new. I started researching other blender systems. I was impressed with Vitamix, but realistically I needed something built to handle smoothies in smaller cups without requiring a second mortgage.

Enter the NutriBullet Blender Combo 1200 — and wow, what a difference. If you check sites like JB Hi-Fi, Myer, The Good Guys, and others, you’ll see this system consistently scores 4.5/5 stars or higher across hundreds of reviews. After using it, I completely understand why.

Starting with the basics, it includes:

1) A good-sized pitcher for blending a few liters at a time — great for smoothies, soups, or anything else that benefits from being aggressively spun.

2) A plunger, so you can smash things down when gravity alone isn’t cooperating.

3) Multiple drinking cups (900ml, 700ml, and 590ml) for taking drinks on the go — including a 700ml travel cup with a handle, which I didn’t know I needed until I had it.

The cups come in the three sizes mentioned above, and the openings on both the cups and lids are just right. I can fit larger chunks of fruit and veggies in easily, and I can get a sponge or brush inside to clean them — assuming I don’t just throw them in the dishwasher and call it a day.

The lids snap down over the drinking spout, so when you’re not drinking, you can have some confidence that if the cup tips over, your smoothie won’t immediately redecorate the room. I say “some” confidence because the snap mechanism does feel a bit flimsy. I haven’t tested its limits, and frankly, I don’t plan to.

The main pitcher feels solid. One big improvement over the Ninja is the blade setup. There’s no center stem with multiple rows of blades to wrestle with. Instead, it’s a standard blade assembly at the base, which gives you far more room for chunky fruits, vegetables, and whatever else you’re brave enough to blend.

The base unit itself isn’t fancy — just five buttons, all backlit with blue LEDs depending on whether you’re using the pitcher or a cup. What is absolutely superb is how easy NutriBullet made attaching and removing the blades. It’s a simple quarter-turn twist: put it on, turn until you hear the click, and you’re done. No awkward angles, no second attempts.

While other systems do something similar, what makes NutriBullet superior to the Nutri Ninja is the flat, open design of the base. With Ninja systems, you have to insert the pitcher or cup into a recessed circular area with walls (see attached photo). With the NutriBullet, everything sits on top. This makes cleaning dramatically easier. You can actually get a damp cloth around and underneath everything. With the Ninja, cleaning always felt like a chore designed by someone who never had to clean it themselves.

Two more features worth highlighting:

First, noise level. The NutriBullet is easily half as loud as the Ninja. After using Ninja blenders for about 10 years, I fully expected to need ear protection the first time I turned this on. Nope. I could actually hold a normal conversation with someone on the other side of the kitchen. It’s not quiet — but it’s not obnoxious, and nobody should lose their hearing using it.

Second, cooling and ventilation. NutriBullet recommends using it in a well-ventilated area, and I quickly understood why. When it’s running, you can feel the air moving. Not quite wind-tunnel levels, but it’s strong enough to blow loose items on the countertop away. This amused me far more than it probably should have.

Now to the important part — how well it actually works.

I’ve used the Low, Medium, and High settings, but for smoothies my favorite is the Extract button. You just press it and walk away while the machine runs its program. And it does exactly what it promises: perfectly blended smoothies.

For example, in one attached photo, I blended spinach, celery, and a lemon in the small 590ml cup. No bits. No pulp. No mystery strings. With the Ninja, I’d regularly get celery fibers or citrus pith left behind. With the NutriBullet? Nothing. The smoothie was genuinely smooth.

Frozen berries performed just as well — seeds and all — whereas my old Ninja almost always left some frozen chunks or seeds behind.

The pitcher works just as well. I haven’t used it for soups yet, but for its main job — smoothies and crushed ice — it works flawlessly.

There is one downside, though. You need ice in your smoothie if you want it cold. In one test, I blended a green smoothie using chilled lemon, refrigerated spinach and celery, and cold filtered water — but no ice. When it finished, the drink was basically room temperature. Not warm, but definitely not refreshing. I had to add ice afterward, which kind of defeats the purpose. Lesson learned.

Overall, the NutriBullet has been a smooth (pun fully intended) transition away from Ninja products. It performs extremely well, is thoughtfully designed, and comes in at under $220 when on sale.

Like many other reviewers, I rate this highly and would absolutely recommend it — especially if you’re tired of battling noisy, awkward-to-clean blender systems that don’t quite finish the job.