The original
Vitamix 5200
$500
Search on Amazon ↗The Vitamix 5200 ($500) is a 2 HP variable-speed blender with a 7-year warranty that made silky green smoothies and almond butter in about a minute in ShouldIt's tests. The Ninja Professional Plus BN701 ($120) costs $380 less, has a bigger 72 oz pitcher and three presets, and crushed ice better, but left kale chunky and needed much longer for nut butter.
The original
$500
Search on Amazon ↗Close match
Ninja
$120Save $380 (76%)
Search on Amazon ↗| Spec | Vitamix 5200 | Ninja BN701 |
|---|---|---|
| Typical price | $500 | $120 |
| Motor | 2 HP | 1,200 W (GearLab); 1,400 W (ShouldIt) |
| Container | 64 oz | 72 oz pitcher |
| Controls | Variable speed 1-10 plus High | 3 presets (smoothie, ice crush, ice cream) plus pulse |
| Warranty | 7-year limited | Not listed |
| Weight | 10 lb 9 oz | 8.0 lb (ShouldIt) |
| Height with jar | 20.5 in | 17.5 in (GearLab) |
| Cord length | 6 ft | 2.8 ft (ShouldIt) |
| Cleaning | Self-cleans with warm water and soap; not dishwasher safe (GearLab) | Pitcher, lid and blades dishwasher safe |
| Max noise (ShouldIt) | 99.8 dB | 99.3 dB |
Shorter warranty and not built to last as long.
Vitamix 5200: Buy the Vitamix 5200 if you make green smoothies, nut butters or soups often and want a 7-year warranty.
Ninja BN701: Buy the Ninja Professional Plus BN701 if you mostly make frozen drinks and fruit smoothies in big batches and want to keep $380.
For leafy greens, yes. ShouldIt scored the Vitamix 10 for a silky green smoothie in 1 minute and the Ninja 4.6 after 3 minutes with leaf strips left. For frozen fruit smoothies the gap was smaller: 9.8 vs 6.5.
The Ninja. In ShouldIt's 12 oz crushed-ice test it left nothing unblended in 20 seconds, while the Vitamix left about 19%. GearLab also found the Ninja crushes ice quickly and makes a good margarita.
Barely. ShouldIt measured a max of 99.3 dB for the Ninja and 99.8 dB for the Vitamix, and GearLab called both on the loud side in grinding tests.
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Every swap is a product sold in the US that does the main job of the original. Close match is another brand with similar features, Same brand, cheaper is an older, smaller or renewed model from the same maker, and Budget pick is the cheapest thing that still does the job. On each page, Closest match is the close match nearest the original in price, and Lowest price is the cheapest swap. We compare published specs, retailer listings and reviews; we don't test products ourselves.
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