Rumor has it this blender is still blending my smoothie — here’s everything you need to know about the Nutribullet Flex

I love a morning smoothie, so I’m the perfect customer for the Nutribullet Flex. But unfortunately, for me, it just doesn’t perform like one of the best blenders. In fact, it doesn’t perform like a blender at all.

It can’t blend frozen smoothies well at all, and struggles with anything solid, such as chocolate in milkshakes — and this meant I had to re-blend everything. The blender was also overheating regularly, meaning it took ages to get my smoothie ready. Even though there are 15 blends per charge

But could it be for you? I doubt it. Find out more about how I got on with the blender (and laugh at my experience), in my full Nutribullet Flex review.

Nutribullet Flex review: Specs

Nutribullet Flex review: Price & availability

The Nutribullet Flex is available for $69 / £59 at Amazon. This is $30 cheaper than the Nutribullet Flip, which is another on-the-go model from the brand that uses an insulated tumbler cup to blend.

I’ve been using the Nutribullet Pro 900W ($84) blender for years, which is markedly cheaper than the Flex. If you’re not using your blender every single day for demanding recipes, you could save some space and cash with the Flex, but I don’t think it’s worth the saving.

You can purchase the blender in six different colorways, including gunmetal gray, forest green, orchid purple, ruby red, sapphire blue and violet purple. This is more color choice than you get with the Ninja Blast Max ($164) and for $100 less, but the Ninja Blast Max actually works.

Nutribullet Flex review: Design & controls

With a minimal and sleek design, the Nutribullet Flex is a compact blender that you can take anywhere. The entire blender measures just 11.4 x 3.3 x 3.3 inches, so depending on how much you have to carry with you on your commute to work. I was able to easily pop it into my bag to take to the office.

It only weighs 1.9lbs, which is lighter in comparison to Nutribullet’s other portable model, the Flip, which weighs 2.4lbs. But it’s also worth remembering that the portable blend cup of the Flip is insulated, whereas the Flex is just plastic, which is lighter, but won’t keep drinks cold.

With the 7.4V motor base attached, the blender has a 16.9 fluid ounce capacity cup made from Tritan plastic. There are measurements on the side of the cup with maximum and minimum fills, which I found useful when adding my liquid for the blend.

The stainless steel cross blades have four angled prongs to catch ingredients, even at the base of the cup, just like in the Nutribullet Pro 900W and Nutribullet Ultra 1200 ($164), so this is a design that brand-loyal users will be familiar with. This blade shape is something new Nutribullet users will appreciate, as it’s great at picking up all ingredients for blending… usually, but more on that later.

The lid of the blender is a leakproof sip cup lid with a carry handle, which reminds me of the design of my Owala bottle, which I love because it’s so easy to take anywhere with me, and the same can be said for the Flex.

There’s one thing about its design that has me baffled. The blades are not removable. They stay in the cup, something that was solved with the Flip — surely you’d utilize the same design for the Flex?

The Flex’s controls are easy to use because there’s just one button. The large power button on the front of the blender turns the appliance on and begins the blend cycles. There are four small LED lights below this button that indicate how much charge is left in the motor base. At the back of the base, there’s a USB-C port for charging the blender.

Nutribullet Flex review: Blending performance

I assume you’re reading this article because you’ve seen videos on your social media about how convenient a portable personal blender can be, and it’s for that reason I was so excited to try this one out. But I was bitterly disappointed.

One of the things I often use my blender for is making soups, but you can’t use anything hot in the Nutribullet Flex, so you’ll need a larger blender like the KitchenAid Pure Power ($129) for that.

I’d recommend the Flex for mixing up protein shakes with just powder and liquid. For anything more substantial, you need to look at the Ninja Blast Max, which does a much better job of handling frozen ingredients.

I noticed the motor base was getting pretty warm after every blend, and the power button on the front also lit up orange to indicate the blender had overheated and needed to cool down. This was happening after almost every blend cycle. And after making three smoothies (which required multiple blend cycles), this got very old, very fast.

The blender is pretty loud too, reaching a maximum volume of 100.7db when blending frozen berries. This is a lot louder than the Nutribullet Pro 900W which operates at 92db.

It also tends to jump around on the countertop while it’s blending, so you have to keep a firm grip on it at all times, unlike more sturdy blenders, such as the Beast Mighty 850 ($149).

Ice

Nutribullet cites one of the uses of the portable blender as crushing ice. But if you read the above monolog, you can probably guess that I’m going to tell you it didn’t do a very good job.

When I need to crush ice in my Nutribullet Pro 900W, there are no issues. And I know the Flex is a small blender and isn’t as powerful, but it is one of the recommended uses.

It crushed the ice up to around a third of the cup and then gave up. You can see the rest of the ice sitting atop the crushed ice.

In fact, it struggles to blend more than a third of the cup containing anything solid. But I will say, what it did manage to blend was very fine, like snow. The power is there; it just can’t deliver on the full promise.

Smoothie

The main use for a portable blender is quick and convenient smoothies. And there are many portable blenders that do a great job of this, like the Ninja Blast Max. But if the Nutribullet Flex has taught me anything, it’s that blenders shouldn’t be portable. They should stay in the kitchen, plugged into the wall, where they can’t hurt anyone (metaphorically speaking).

Anyway, I added 2.8 ounces of frozen smoothie mix, two dates and 14 fluid ounces of oat milk to the blend cup and hit the power button. After one cycle, there was still a whole bunch of frozen fruit, so I repeated the process.

After four blend cycles (and lots of waiting for the blender to stop overheating), I thought the smoothie was done, so I decanted it into a glass to get a better look, and then I saw it.

One. Whole. Date.

After four blend cycles.

Now, dates are notoriously difficult for blenders as they’re pretty sticky, so you often end up with some larger pieces at the end… but not whole dates. The Beast Mighty 850, on the other hand, blends dates with complete ease.

Milkshake

I also made a milkshake with the blender, using another go-to recipe of mine, so I was really looking forward to it. But again, I was disappointed. I’ll just cut right to it.

I used three scoops of ice cream, a third of a bar of chocolate, and then filled to the maximum line with milk. After two blend cycles, there were still huge chunks of chocolate, and the pieces that had been blended were only partially chopped.

I decided to cut my losses and drink the milkshake — and I vowed never to challenge a portable blender again. I grabbed a spoon to eat the chocolate chunks that had all sunk to the bottom because they were too big, and watched Love Actually while I sulked.

Nutribullet Flex review: Storage and maintenance

Unlike the Nutribullet Flex, storing and maintaining the Flip is a breeze! The cup, lid and blade are all top rack dishwasher safe, and the motor base can be wiped down with a damp cloth or sponge, but you shouldn’t submerge the motor in water.

If you don’t have a dishwasher, cleaning is a little trickier. Since the blades and lid detach from the cup, it becomes a sort of hollow tube, meaning you can’t fill it with water to give it a good rinse. This meant I had to spend a while at the tap trying to rise off the inside walls of the cup with some funky angles.

Nutribullet Flex review: Battery life

The Nutribullet Flex is rechargeable via the USB-C port at the back of the blend motor and takes 90 minutes to fully charge. There are four battery indicator lights on the bottom of the base to indicate how much juice is left in the blender. You should be able to achieve 15 blend cycles with a full charge.

But if you were counting along earlier, you’ll remember I had to re-blend everything four times — so I only managed three smoothies on a charge. The Ninja Blast Max, on the other hand, has 25 minutes of battery life.

Nutribullet Flex review: Verdict

The Nutribullet Flex is a portable blender that promises an ideal solution for making smoothies on the go. It has a compact and lightweight design, but unfortunately, it doesn’t deliver in the blending department.

The blending capabilities are limited, and it struggles significantly with any solid ingredients like frozen fruit or chocolate chunks. The battery life is also restricted, as even though you get 15 blend cycles per charge, just one smoothie uses four of those cycles. It also regularly overheats, meaning you’re stuck waiting around between blends.

Cleaning the blender is also tricky without a dishwasher, but that’s the least of my concerns here. As I said, blenders don’t need to be portable because the battery can’t support the sufficient wattage needed to effectively blend ingredients.