Ninja Blast BC151UK Review: The Cordless Blender That Needs Some Help With Ice
A USB-C blender the size of a big water bottle that makes one smoothie at a time, anywhere. The testers agree it is good at shakes and soft fruit. They do not agree on ice, or on how many blends you get from one charge. We set the figures out side by side so you can see where they differ.
Where the reviews line up
Our evidence comes from three places: a hands-on test by Expert Reviews, the lab and home testing of the Australian consumer group CHOICE, and 768 buyer ratings on Tesco’s listing, checked against 175 more at AO. On most points they agree.
Three things come up again and again. It is good at the job it was designed for. Protein shakes, soft fruit and milk-based smoothies blend in one 30-second cycle. It is easy to clean. You add warm water and a drop of washing-up liquid, run one cycle, and the cup and lid can go in the dishwasher. It travels well. The sip lid with a carry handle is the feature buyers like most.
The sources do not agree on ice and hard-frozen fruit. Expert Reviews says “ice was no problem”, but frozen chunks needed extra cycles. CHOICE rates it excellent for crushing ice. TechRadar’s tester found the crushed ice “far from even”. In practice, add liquid first, use smaller frozen pieces, and expect to run it twice. They also disagree on battery life. Ninja says more than 10 blends per charge, and one Ninja page says up to 15. Testers got anywhere from 5–6 to about 20.
The real limit is size, not strength. The cup holds 530 ml, but Ninja’s maximum fill line is 470 ml. That is one drink. At £44–£45 against a £54.99 list price, it is good value for one person. If you are making drinks for a family, buy a mains blender instead.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- Expert ReviewsHands-on UK test by Rachel Ogden, January 2024. Counted about 20 cycles on a charge.
- CHOICEAustralian consumer testing body. Lab ice test plus home use, updated February 2026.
- Tesco4.1/5 from 768 ratings, 5 Oct 2026. AO shows 4.7/5 from 175.
Before the review: which Ninja Blast?
The BC151UK (the colour code follows: BK black, NV denim blue, WH white, EM forest green, PR purple, CR red) is the 530 ml original Ninja Blast. The Ninja Blast Max is a different, larger model, and many videos and price listings mix the two up. The US 16 oz BC100 is a third product again. Check that the code on the listing starts BC151UK.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 530 ml cup; 470 ml maximum fill | Ninja UK product page. Retailers usually quote only the 530 ml |
| Blends per charge | “More than 10” (Ninja); “up to 15” (another Ninja page) | Testers got about 20 (Expert Reviews), 10–12 (CHOICE) and 5–6 (TechRadar) |
| Charging | USB-C, about 2 hours from flat; water-resistant port | Ninja; Expert Reviews says “less than two hours” |
| Battery | Lithium-ion, 29.6 Wh | AO only; Ninja does not publish it |
| Blend cycle | One button, 30-second cycle | Expert Reviews, TechRadar |
| Ice and frozen fruit | Ninja says it will “blast through frozen ingredients and ice” | Testers disagree, so see the verdict above |
| Dishwasher-safe | Cup and lid yes; motor base and blade unit no | Ninja; Expert Reviews says the blade base cannot be submerged |
| Dimensions | 270 × 90 × 85 mm (H × W × D) | Ninja; matched by Mark’s Electrical and Euronics |
| Weight | 790 g | Ninja; Expert Reviews; Mark’s Electrical |
| In the box | Motor base, 530 ml cup, sip lid with handle, blade cover, cup cover, USB-C cable, recipe guide | Ninja UK |
| Noise | No dB figure published | CHOICE and one other tester say it is quieter than a full-size or Nutribullet blender |
| Guarantee | 2 years “upon registration with Ninja” | Ninja. Euronics says 1 year plus an optional second year if you register within 28 days |
| Typical UK price | £44–£44.99; list price £54.99 | Mark’s Electrical £44, Tesco £44.99 (was £54.99), Euronics £44.99, 5 Oct 2026 |
Expert Reviews
This is the most detailed UK hands-on test we found, and it got much better battery life than any other source. Ninja claims around ten blends per charge. Ogden counted about 20 cycles before the battery ran out, and it recharged in under two hours over USB-C. The other testers got far fewer, so treat 20 as the best you can expect, not the normal figure.
On blending, she reports that ice was no problem. Softer frozen items blended quickly, but frozen chunks needed extra cycles. The catch she keeps coming back to is preparation. You cut fruit smaller than you would for a mains blender, and the 530 ml cup will not make enough for two. Cleaning is the usual Ninja method: warm water, a drop of washing-up liquid, run one cycle. The cup and lid go in the dishwasher, but the blade unit sits in the motor base and must not be submerged. She calls the sip lid leakproof. Her overall verdict is “compact and convenient”, with more food preparation than a full-size blender.
Watch: Ninja Blast Portable Blender Review - Watch Me Unbox It Plus Make Two Recipes
An unboxing and two recipes, the closest video to a hands-on review like this one. We confirmed it from search listings, not by watching it, and could not confirm whether it shows the UK or the US version.
Watch on YouTube ↗CHOICE
CHOICE is a member-funded consumer group, much like Which?, and this is the only source that combines a lab test with someone using the blender at home. Its Ninja Blast is the Australian version of the same 18 oz design, not the UK-plug BC151UK, so the prices and guarantee do not apply here. The blending results do.
The results back the positive view. CHOICE’s lab rated it excellent for crushing ice, and at home it “easily coped with chunks of frozen mango”. The battery gave 10–12 rounds of 30-second blends, which roughly matches Ninja’s claim and is about half Expert Reviews’ figure. Its tester also called it “much quieter” than a full-size blender. Its weak spot is fibrous greens: kale did not break down well. The verdict is “worth considering”, with a warning that cheaper portable blenders do a similar job. One more tester we read, Chris Singh at The AU Review, adds a useful detail. He found the blades cope with ice only if the cubes are thin and not packed at the bottom. Put liquid in first, then fruit and powders, then anything frozen.
Watch: Unboxing and first clean of the Ninja Blast portable blender
Covers the first clean, which is the part CHOICE and Expert Reviews both praise. Confirmed from two search listings, not by opening it.
Watch on YouTube ↗Tesco
This listing is sold and sent by a marketplace seller, not by Tesco, and 768 reviews is more than a single seller would normally collect. They may be shared from another site. Either way, it is the largest UK sample we could find, and its 4.1 average is noticeably lower than the 4.7 at AO (175 reviews) and Mark’s Electrical (173). A score of 4.1 from several hundred buyers means most are happy, but a real share are not.
We could not read the individual Tesco reviews, because they load after the page opens. The themes in AO’s review summary point to the same three complaints. First, leaks, despite the leak-proof lid. Second, battery and charging problems after a while. Third, buttons failing over time. Some buyers are also disappointed with frozen fruit and ice, which matches the testers’ disagreement. These are reported themes, not counted ones. We cannot tell you what share of buyers had each problem.
Watch: Ninja Blast Portable Blender
A general look at the blender in use, the closest video to an owner’s view. Confirmed from two search listings; we could not confirm the channel or which market’s model it shows.
Watch on YouTube ↗Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- Shakes, soft fruit and milk-based smoothies in one 30-second cycle.
- Charges over USB-C in about two hours, from the same cable as your phone.
- Sip lid with a carry handle, so you drink straight from the cup it blends in.
- Cleans itself with water and washing-up liquid; the cup and lid go in the dishwasher.
- Quieter than a full-size blender, according to CHOICE and a second tester.
- Often £44–£45, about £10 under list price.
What people complain about
- 470 ml usable. One drink, not two.
- Ice and hard-frozen fruit often need a second cycle and a shake.
- Battery claims vary from 5–6 to about 20 blends depending on who tested it.
- Buyers report leaks, battery and charging problems, and buttons failing over time.
- Fibrous greens such as kale do not break down well.
- Guarantee terms differ between Ninja and a retailer, so register it.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you make one protein shake or fruit smoothie at a time, at the gym, at work or in the car, and you want to drink it from the cup you blended it in. For that job it is cheap, quick to clean and well liked by testers.
Look elsewhere if you want frozen drinks from solid ice every morning, green smoothies with kale, or drinks for more than one person. A mains personal blender does those jobs better and is often no more expensive. If you mainly chop and slice rather than blend, a food processor is the better buy.
What we could not check
- Noise. No source publishes a decibel figure. RTINGS lists the Ninja Blast in its lab tests, but its results are for members only. All we can report is that two testers called it quieter than a full-size blender.
- Why the battery figures differ so much. The tests found 5–6, 10–12 and about 20 blends per charge. None said what it put in the cup, and a heavier load drains the battery faster. We cannot tell you which figure will match your use.
- How common the buyer complaints are. We could not read Tesco’s 768 reviews individually, and AO only groups them into themes. Leaks, battery failure and buttons are reported problems, but we cannot give a rate for any of them.
- Where the Tesco reviews come from. The listing belongs to a marketplace seller, and we could not confirm whether the reviews were written there or copied from another site.
- The guarantee. Ninja says 2 years if you register with Ninja. Euronics says 1 year plus an optional second year if you register within 28 days. Mark’s Electrical says 2 years parts and labour. Register with Ninja straight after you buy, and check the terms printed in the box.
- Hot liquids. We did not find a clear statement from Ninja UK on whether warm ingredients are allowed. Check the manual before you put anything hot in the cup.
- Ninja’s own price, stock and ratings. We could not load Ninja’s UK pages to read their price, stock or reviews. We confirmed that the UK product pages are live in five colours, and Tesco and Mark’s Electrical both had it in stock on 5 October 2026.
- The videos. We found all three by search, not by opening them. Each watch link and its title appeared in at least two differently worded searches. No listing named the channel, and we could not confirm whether each one shows the UK BC151UK or a US or Australian version.
- The CHOICE test is of the Australian model. The blending results apply here, but its prices and guarantee do not.
Sources last checked 5 October 2026. Prices change often on this model. Check the price and the guarantee terms on the listing in front of you before ordering.