If you’re familiar with the Magic Bullet then you’ll recognize the NuWave Twister. It looks like they basically said “us too” and tried to get in on the mini-blender movement. So is there any reason why you should go with this one? Do they have some Purple Cow feature that makes you say “I think I’ll get this one instead.”? We got down to brass tacks to see if this is the case or not.
Overview
Mini blenders are fun to use because they can do a lot of what a full size blender can do, but they are easier to use and easier to clean up. Some of the good ones are pretty powerful too, so you can use them to blend up iced beverages, puree baby food, or make a homemade soup for one person. If you find that you don’t use your full size blender as much as you thought you would, you’re probably needing a smaller sized unit to fill in on all the smaller sized jobs that don’t justify breaking out the Big Dog.
The Claim
The NuWave Twister says that it will be able to help you with all of your food prep needs, and that it will save you time from chopping and dicing things with a knife. They say that it doesn’t make a mess, and won’t give you a hassle as you chop, grate, blend, and mix practically any food, with just one blender.
They also say that you can use it to make all sorts of things as well, from dips and baby food to smoothies and soups. It’s all self-contained so you don’t have to dirty up a bunch of dishes in the process. You can mix and serve all from the same container. It’s something that they say you could use every day because it has so many uses. They also say it stores easily compared to a full size blender.
The Hype
The hype is that this is basically a re-branded early version of the Magic Bullet. Apparently they are trying to ride its coattails and hope people get confused into buying it instead.
The Cost
The NuWave Twister comes to $48 including shipping. If you find a buddy to go in on the 2 for 1 offer from Magic Bullet you can get it for the same price and get 3 times as many pieces and a better-reviewed blender. We’re just sayin’.
The Commitment
This should save you time in the kitchen compared to cutting up veggies by hand. If you compare it to using an ordinary sized blender, it could save you time as well, or take longer if you’ve got a big job to do. These mini blenders aren’t really suited for big jobs, but more to handle smaller jobs for one person or for a few people.
Evaluation
NuWave Twister has a lot to live up to. If you’re going to come onto the scene obviously attempting to replicate a proven winner in the market, you have to bring something to the table that the other guy aint got. However, they don’t actually have anything that separates them from a Magic Bullet, so they really don’t give you any reason to buy the Nuwave over the Bullet.
In order to use this you just twist the top on, flip it upside down and put it on the base. By pressing down you activate the blender and away it goes. It functions just like the Magic Bullet. You get a complete system with this, including the blending unit, a large cup, a small cup, lids for both, and 2 different blades to use depending on what you want to do. With the Magic Bullet you end up getting more cups lids and accessories.
Final NuWave Twister Review
The NuWave Twister is a late entry into the mini blender arena and it gets knocked out in the first round. Perhaps if it were wildly cheaper than a Magic Bullet it might be able to carve out some market share, but it isn’t. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery so in this instance they are giving mad props to the folks at Magic Bullet headquarters. The reason the Bullet has the edge is that it’s been doing its thing for years and years now and they’ve revised it a few times to make it better and better.
Our Recommendation
Get a Magic Bullet. It’s a more developed, more seasoned product that has been a top seller for years. The reviews show that people really like it, and for a mini blender you can’t go wrong with it. We’ve used it to make all sorts of things, but our favorite recipe is salsa. It blends a tomato up really nice, as well as the onions and peppers and garlic and in no time you have fresh, homemade salsa to go with your tortilla chips. Enjoy!
the rubber teeth that fit the base and turn the blade disintegrated while packed away, new and never used. No replacement parts. I went to give them as gifts, oh my, such a disappointing gift.
I first bought a magic bullet and really enjoyed it. Then I bought a new Wade oven and got a free twister with the new way. I found I’d like the action of the new wave better. It’s seem to have more power and do a more thorough job. So I gave my magic bullet to my daughter.
Fast forward to six months later, my twister quit working. Every time I went to my daughters house I coveted my magic bullet. I wanted it back. 😆
But guess what? It quit working too!
I recently have gotten a new twister. I’m happy to have a small easy to clean device for the small jobs. But, getting real here, are used in value my vita mix way more than any of the others.
I will use the little twister for sauces and spices and small jobs like that. But I’m not about to do a smoothie with any ice or big chunks of fruit or nuts in it. I’ll reserve that for the vita mix, which has the power to do anything you need to do.
We had two Nuwave Twisters, model 22091.
The weakness turned out to be the rubber teeth that fit the base and turn the blade.
The rubber teeth crack way too quickly.
No replacement parts.
No apparent way to fix.
Sadly, the barely used electric bases will both be trashed.
We have both the Magic Bullet and the Nuwave Twister. (We got the Twister as part of a package deal after buying the New Wave Oven). The little plastic drive wheel on the Bullet broke 2 years ago, and I was able to find a replacement on EBay for like $3.00 and fix it. There were lots available all over the internet to choose from. Then last year the seal on the bottom of the blade cap started to leak, so we switched to the Twister. It did not take long for the switch mechanism to begin to be unreliable, it took forcibly holding the cup down to keep the unit on. I by-passed the switch and now we just plug it to turn it in/off. Now the same little plastic drive broke, and there are NO replacements to be found anywhere! To make matter worse, the thread is reverse of the one used on the Magic Bullet, so the drive wheels cannot be interchanged. Nice corporate touch – force you to buy a whole new unit instead of a $3 part. So I found the only real difference between the two units – Magic Bullet is repairable, the Twister is disposable.
I have the nuwave twister and i need parts the parts were the blades goes the rubber under broke off please send me a email were i can buy that part only thank you…
I use a blender every day to make my Shakeology, but my last roommate just broke it (it was under $20 from Walmart so that wasn’t hard to do).
Groupon has the NuWave Twister for $20. After reading the reviews, I think it is worth it for that price and for my needs – which are really just for me and for prepping stuff.
Love my Nuwave twister qquick breakfast smoothie with a cup to go.
Magic Bullet is still the best lil blender out there and the ONLY one that you can put hot liquids in or put in the microwave. If something fails…get new ones on ebay. Or buy a whole new set. Too expensive to have repaired.
Lol, I was given a NuWave Twister for my birthday. It is simple and easy to use. I make smoothies almost every day/crushed ice/ no hard veggies. I plan on shredding carrots, sweet potatoes one day
I am very pleased with my NuWave Twister. Recently I’ve been on a protein shake/smoothie kick and I drink a shake once or twice a day. Because I don’t enjoy washing dishes I loved the idea of a mini blender that doesn’t have a bottom that has to be taken apart to clean.
I find the Twister to do a great job in mixing ingredients. My refrigerator has crushed ice, but I do try to make sure to use small pieces of the crushed ice to make sure I don’t jam up the blender. I’m very impressed that ingredients don’t get caught beneath the blades which was something that I wondered about.
Lastly, I LOVE that I can snap on the top and take my shake with me to work. I highly recommend the Twister!
Why are you praising Magic Bullet? It is a piece of crap,
I bought a Magic Bullet last year from Canadian Tire (in Canada) and the cutting blade leaked after 4 months, one month past the free return policy of Canadian Tire. Also, the three plastic slide switches on the inside of the base that turn it on seized and it wouldn’t shut off. Why don’t you Google ” Magic Bullet” and “Complaints” and see what kind of a company they really are?. A very important factor in buying a product is the warranty and the customer service that you get with the warranty. Does the product have a repair depot in the country they are selling? Who pays for Shipping and Handling if the the product is defective. Magic Bullet fails miserably on customer service.
The Magic Bullet has 350 Watts which is not enough power to blend into smoothies beets or carrots or foods with hard skins. That is why they came out with the 600 Watt Nutribullet (same garbage customer service though). Even the TV infomercial for the Nutribullet is full of lies regarding its ability and its superiority over other blenders. It’s TV performance by comparison with a “regular blender” is falsified. Tell me it’s better than a 1,100+ Watt Ninja or 24,000 RPM Vitamix – gimme a break. What we are talking here with Nuwave and Magic Bullet is the difference between horse manure and cow manure. The FIRST thing you do is alert your customer to the warranty and service program and then don’t even bother reviewing the product since you are misleading the public. The number of returns tells you how durable the product is. Pay the extra money for a better product, longer warranty and better terms of warranty
Danny