I upgraded from the most basic blender I could find at a Department store and I’m so glad I did. This was almost four times as much money as the cheap blender I had but since I use it everyday it was worth it to me. I use this Ninja blender to make smoothies for my elderly mom who is struggling with a loss of appetite from chemo. I’m able to throw frozen fruit, almond butter and frozen yogurt in here and start it up. My old cheap blender would only let me add ingredients a bit at a time or it would choke. This Ninja is very powerful and handles anything I throw in it. Some complain that the pitcher is plastic but that was a selling point for me. Glass containers are too heavy for me to handle. I’m very pleased with this blender. You could pay more for a higher end blender but this will handle most jobs so why pay more