We really love smoothies and milkshakes in our household. Ninja has really done a great job with this blender. The one thing that stood out to me was the Auto IQ feature. It really takes the guess work out of the smoothie making business. When you press the smoothie button the countdown begins as does the blending. I have yet had to press the smoothie button twice while making smoothies. So far while using this blender I have not had any issues with the blades freezing up. The blades are very sharp so be careful when handling.  The bottom of the blender has sunction cups to help keep it in place. It definitely  needs those sunction cups as it has some great power. I did the mistake of not using the sunction cups on my first smoothie. Let me just say that it moved around quite a bit. This is very easy and simple to clean. Also, it is very sleek and not bulky at all. Can't wait to attempt to use this for my hummus making.