NutriBullet Juicer review: A great entry-level juicer that doesn’t cost the earth

Given its smoothie-making credentials, it was only a matter of time before the NutriBullet Juicer was announced – and as debut juicers go, it’s pretty good.

Its 800W motor isn’t as beefy as some well-established rivals from the likes of Sage and Omega, but the modest £100 price tag is a breath of fresh air in a market saturated with premium, £200-plus products. It may lack power and fancy features, but it’s perfect for producing fresh juice at home without having to take out a second mortgage.

NutriBullet Juicer review: What do you get for the money?

At £100, the NutriBullet Juicer is one of the cheapest big-brand centrifugal juicers you can buy. It comes simply packed with a handful of accessories: one 767ml pitcher with a foam separator lid, a food pusher and a sturdy scrubbing brush. There’s also a comprehensive recipe booklet included to spark a bit of inspiration.

The NutriBullet is a compact tabletop juicer measuring 23.9 x 22.5 x 40.7cm (WDH). The main bulk of the body is made up of the sleek, grey plastic motor base, which also houses the speed dial. Above this is a clear 1.5 litre plastic pulp basin and a juice spout, which can be capped to stop leaks. The pulp basin also houses the juicer’s stainless steel-bladed sieve. The lid on top is made up of the same sturdy plastic and has a 7.6cm-wide chute, large enough to juice medium apples and oranges whole. The bladed sieve, pulp basin, pitcher and brush are all dishwasher-safe, but you’ll need to clean the food pusher and main body by hand.

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Aside from the speed control dial, which is a little plasticky, this looks and feels like a premium centrifugal juicer. If you are able to consider something that packs a little more punch, though, the Sage 3X Bluicer Pro (£320) is a 2-in-1 that lets you quickly switch between juicing and smoothie making for blended drinks. It has a more powerful 1,350W motor, as well as slick stainless steel casing and a digital screen.

NutriBullet Juicer review: What’s good about it?

Aside from its premium look, there’s a lot to like about the design of this juicer. The compact stacked body means that, despite its small size, it’s still roomy enough to produce 1.5 litres of fresh juice – enough for four to five glasses – before the pulp basin needs emptying. It’s incredibly easy to clean, too, with no awkward nooks where stray bits of pulp might be able to hide.

Performance-wise, the NutriBullet coped with whole apples, oranges and grapefruit with very few issues. Being able to switch between a low and high speed setting is useful and somewhat of a necessity, as it ensures you can extract the most juice from both soft and hard fruits. Higher speeds aren’t suitable for softer fruits, like strawberries, as the fruits are completely pulverised before the machine has had a chance to extract their juice.

Cutting up fruit was only required if the piece was too big for the feed chute, although the instructions suggest removing the skin from citrus fruits before juicing for the best result. In testing, I juiced citrus with and without their skins to compare quality. The latter definitely resulted in a sweeter, less foamy juice overall and ensured no pieces of skin were left whole in the pulp basin.

NutriBullet Juicer review: What could be better?

While I was able to extract plenty of juice from fruit using the NutriBullet, the leftover pulp was quite wet at the end. If you want to avoid that and extract every last drop, you should consider a more powerful juicer.

Another niggle was that the amount of foam from the NutriBullet was substantial, especially when compared to the Sage 3X Bluicer Pro. Unfortunately, foam is inevitable with all centrifugal juicers, due to the amount of air that is incorporated into the juice as it separates from the pulp.

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However, there was still more than expected, and it does alter the flavour of the juice. One way to alleviate this is to use the foam separator lid on the pitcher, as it helps to keep some foam from finding its way into your glass.

The last cause for concern was noise. While all fast juicers are noisy, the NutriBullet is particularly loud, especially when using the high speed setting. At times, I found myself wanting to wear headphones to alleviate the sound. If noise is a particular concern, you may want to consider a masticating or “slow” juicer, such as Philips Avance Cold Press, instead. They’re much quieter devices.

NutriBullet Juicer review: Should you buy it?

The NutriBullet juicer definitely has some flaws. It’s noisy, the juice is a tad foamy and it doesn’t extract quite as much juice as more powerful juicers. Despite all this, though, you can’t beat its value.

It has all the right features, too, including that variable speed dial for optimal results, a wide feed chute and easy-clean, dishwasher-safe parts. Most importantly, it’s powerful enough to juice whole fruits with very few issues.

If you’ve got money to burn, then the Sage 3X Bluicer Pro is a sleeker, more powerful and more versatile machine. If you’re new to juicing, however, and all you want is an easy way to juice at home, the NutriBullet juicer is the obvious choice.