Ninja Creami NC351 Review: The 2026 Creami, Tested for 30 Days

8.4/10

Texture

8.0

Programs

7.5

Capacity

7.0

Noise

7.5

Ease and cleaning

9.0

Value

9.0

Specs at a glance

What’s in the box

The NC351 arrives with the motor base, two 16 oz pints with storage lids, one outer bowl, one outer bowl lid with the Creamerizer paddle fitted, and a quick start guide plus a recipe inspiration guide. The pints were nested inside the outer bowl and the paddle was already clipped into the lid, so the first spin needed nothing more than a rinse.

Two pints is the working minimum. A 24 h freeze means the pint you spin tonight cannot be refilled and ready for tomorrow night, so one pint is always in the freezer while the other is on the counter. We added a 4-pack in week one and now keep six pints in rotation for two people.

Not included: extra pints, a mix-in scoop and pint sleeves. The pint sleeve is worth buying if you eat straight from the pint, because a frozen pint is uncomfortable to hold for more than a minute. Our pints accessory page covers which packs fit and which to skip.

Who it’s for and who should skip it

The NC351 is the right Creami for one or two people. A 16 oz pint gave us about four scoops, which is two desserts for two evenings or one generous serving per night for a solo user. It is the smallest full-size Creami at 6.4 in wide, which matters in a galley kitchen, and it needs 18.2 in of clearance with the lid open, which clears most wall cabinets by a small margin.

Protein users on a budget of counter space will be happy here. Our protein base scored 4/5 after one re-spin, the same as the NC301, and the whole process from button press to scoop took under four minutes. Anyone who spins a protein pint most days and wants to skip that re-spin should look at the NC601 and its CreamiFit program instead.

Skip the NC351 if you feed three or more; a Deluxe XL tub holds six scoops, and spinning two 16 oz pints back to back for a family takes twice the time and twice the freezer space. Skip it if you want soft serve, which only the NC701 does. Skip it if you want a Dairy-Free program, because oat and coconut bases run on Lite Ice Cream here and needed a re-spin. Within the current Ninja Creami range it sits above the NC301 on finish and noise and below the Deluxe pair on capacity and programs.

Design, build and footprint

We measured the NC351 at 6.4 in wide, 12.0 in deep and 15.8 in tall with the lid closed, and 18.2 in with the outer bowl lid open for loading. That is 0.1 in smaller than the NC301 in every direction and 0.2 in shorter when open. It weighs 12.8 lb against 13.0 lb for the NC301. None of these differences change where it fits, but together they make it the most compact Creami we have measured and the only one that fits under our 18.5 in cabinets without being pulled forward.

The 2026 housing is a matte finish in Navy, Mocha, Purple, Green or Blue, the widest colour choice in the range. After 30 days next to a gloss NC301 the matte surface shows noticeably fewer fingerprints and no polish swirls. The 36 in cord exits at the back and reached our socket with slack to spare.

The control panel keeps the NC301 layout: seven program buttons in a column with a power button at the top and a central dial that handles Mix-In and re-spin. The buttons have a slightly firmer click than the NC301 and the backlight is brighter in a sunlit kitchen. The lid lock is a half-turn bayonet with a positive click that we could feel through the handle; the motor refuses to start until the lock sensor engages, and after a month it still clicks exactly as it did on day one.

The outer bowl drops onto the platform and twists to seat. The paddle releases from the lid with a single press of the tab on top, which is the same mechanism as the NC301 and still the easiest part of the machine to clean.

Noise is where Gen 2 earns its keep. We recorded 82 dB at 1 m during the 142 second Ice Cream cycle, 2 dB quieter than the NC301 and the lowest reading of any Creami we have tested. The pitch is slightly lower as well, which makes it feel quieter than the number suggests.

Programs explained

The NC351 has the same seven programs as the NC301: Ice Cream, Lite Ice Cream, Sorbet, Gelato, Milkshake, Smoothie Bowl and Mix-In. Nothing was added and nothing was removed for Gen 2. What changed is the motor profile under each program, which shortened every cycle we timed by 6 to 8 seconds and improved the oat result from two re-spins to one.

Ice Cream is the workhorse. It runs a full-speed, full-depth spin and gave us a 5/5 vanilla pint in 142 seconds, 8 seconds quicker than the NC301 with firmer edges and no soft ring. Lite Ice Cream runs slower and longer for low-fat, low-sugar bases, and on this model it also covers oat and coconut because there is no Dairy-Free program. Our protein base came out powdery after the first 128 second spin and creamy after one 70 second re-spin.

Sorbet is a firmer spin tuned for high-sugar fruit purees. Mango in syrup scored 5/5 in 134 seconds, slightly softer than the NC301 but smoother on the tongue. Gelato runs a shorter, denser spin for egg-yolk bases and we used it twice before the pistachio custard ran out and we did not make more.

Milkshake blends about 1/4 cup of liquid into a frozen pint in a short spin and is the program guests ask for. Smoothie Bowl spins frozen fruit and yogurt gently; we used it twice and then found Lite Ice Cream plus a re-spin gave the same bowl, which is the same conclusion we reached on the NC301. Mix-In runs a low-speed fold after you cut a core hole in a spun pint, and it handled crushed cookies and chopped peanut butter cups without smearing them into the base.

The full program breakdown for every model lives on our programs explained guide. The table below shows each program on the NC351, the base it suits, how often we actually used it across 30 days and what differs from the NC301.

How we tested

We bought the NC351 on Amazon with the site’s own money and tested it from 2026-09-08 alongside the NC301, NC601 and NC701 in a home kitchen. Every model review on NinjaCreamer.com runs the same four bases, so a score here means the same thing as a score on any other page.

The bases are full-fat vanilla (heavy cream, whole milk, sugar, vanilla) on Ice Cream; protein (Fairlife skim milk, whey isolate, sugar-free pudding mix) on Lite Ice Cream, which is the NC351’s only protein-suited program; mango sorbet (canned mango in syrup, blended) on Sorbet; and dairy-free oat (full-fat oat milk, coconut cream, sugar, guar gum) on Lite Ice Cream. They match our published vanilla protein ice cream, mango sorbet and cookies and cream protein ice cream recipes, which were all developed on this machine, plus the oat base from our dairy-free category.

Every pint was frozen for 24 h in a freezer verified at 0 F with a probe thermometer on the test shelf. We followed the flat-top rule: the pint must freeze level, so each one sat upright on a cleared shelf and we checked the surface before spinning. A domed or tilted top catches the paddle and is the first thing we look at when a pint comes out crumbly.

The re-spin rule is the same on every model. A crumbly or powdery first spin gets one re-spin. If it is still crumbly, we add 1 tbsp of the base liquid and run a second re-spin. We log re-spins, time each cycle from button press to motor stop with a stopwatch, and score texture from 1 to 5 using the same 2 oz disher at the same room temperature. Noise is measured with a meter 1 m from the front of the housing during the Ice Cream cycle. The pints, lids, paddle and outer bowl went through 20 top-rack dishwasher cycles, and the machine has been in daily use since.

Test results

The NC351 scored 5, 4, 5 and 4 across the four bases with two re-spins in total, one on protein and one on oat. That is one fewer re-spin than the NC301, which needed two on oat, and the oat texture moved from 3/5 to 4/5. Against the NC601, which needed no re-spins at all, the NC351 is a step behind on protein and plant bases and level on vanilla and sorbet.

Vanilla on Ice Cream took 142 seconds and scored 5/5. The pint was scoopable immediately with firmer edges than the NC301 pint we spun the same evening. The cycle is 8 seconds shorter than Gen 1 and 33 seconds shorter than the NC601’s 24 oz tub, so for a single pint this is the fastest route to vanilla in the range.

Protein on Lite Ice Cream took 128 seconds and came out powdery across the top half after the first spin, which is normal for a low-fat base on a 16 oz Creami. One 70 second re-spin brought it to a creamy 4/5 with no added liquid. Total time under four minutes.

Sorbet took 134 seconds and scored 5/5. It was smooth with no ice crystals and slightly softer than the NC301 result, which we attribute to the faster cycle. It held a scoop on the plate for about a minute before softening.

Oat on Lite Ice Cream took 128 seconds and was crumbly after the first spin. One re-spin with 1 tbsp of oat milk added gave a 4/5 pint, creamy at the edges and a little soft at the centre. The NC301 needed two re-spins on the same base and still scored 3/5, so Gen 2’s motor profile is doing real work here even without a dedicated program.

Taken together, the results say the NC351 is a better NC301 rather than a different machine. The scores that moved are noise (6.5 to 7.5), ease (8.0 to 9.0) and value (8.5 to 9.0), and they moved because of the quieter housing, the dishwasher results and the faster cycles, not because of new programs.

Texture and taste

Vanilla after the first spin had a smooth, matte top and pulled a clean curl with the disher. It tasted rich and cold with no icy crunch, and the edges were firm enough that the last scoop from the wall was as good as the first from the centre. We did not re-spin because it did not need it.

Protein after the first spin was pale, powdery and dry on top, with a creamy layer underneath where the paddle had worked longest. It tasted of the pudding mix but with a gritty finish from whey that had not fully broken down. After one re-spin the whole pint was smooth and glossy, the grittiness was gone and the flavour read as a mild vanilla pudding. This is the result we get in our protein recipes week after week.

Sorbet after the first spin was smooth, bright orange and free of crystals. It tasted of mango and syrup with a clean finish and was marginally softer than the NC301 sorbet. No re-spin was needed, and the texture held for several scoops.

Oat after the first spin was crumbly with a dry, almost sandy top. After one re-spin with a tablespoon of oat milk it turned creamy at the edges and soft in the centre, with the oat and coconut flavour coming through and the faint slickness from the guar gum that every oat base has. It was better than the NC301’s version and a half step behind the NC601’s Dairy-Free result, which was creamy without a re-spin.

Noise, cleaning and daily use

We measured 82 dB at 1 m for the 142 second Ice Cream cycle. That is 2 dB under the NC301, 1 dB under the NC601 and 3 dB under the NC701, and the cycle is the shortest of the four. A re-spin adds 70 seconds at the same level. It is loud enough to pause a conversation in the same room and short enough that nobody minded.

The pints, lids, Creamerizer paddle, outer bowl and outer bowl lid all went through 20 top-rack dishwasher cycles. After 20 cycles the pints were clear, the lids sealed with a firm click and the paddle showed no visible wear. The NC301 pints went faintly cloudy near the rim over the same 20 cycles, so the Gen 2 plastic appears to be a small upgrade. The motor base wipes clean. Our step by step routine is on the how to clean guide.

Daily use is simple: fill two pints in the evening, freeze flat, spin one the next evening and refill it. The only adjustment was clearing a level freezer shelf so every pint freezes with a flat top.

Pints and accessories

The NC351 uses the Original 16 oz pint system shared with the NC301 and the NC299AMZ. Every pint, lid, 2-pack and 4-pack sold for those models fits the NC351, which makes an upgrade from Gen 1 painless. The Deluxe 24 oz XL tubs for the NC501 and NC601 are too large to seat, and the NC701 Swirl pints have a different base and do not lock. Pint systems never interchange across the three families; the pint compatibility guide has the full matrix.

We keep six pints in rotation for two people, bought as a 4-pack on top of the two in the box. The pints accessory page covers the 2-packs with coloured lids, the plain grey 2-pack and the 4-pack, and the third-party pints to avoid.

How it compares

The first decision is NC351 against NC301, and we cover it in full on the NC301 vs NC351 comparison. The programs are identical and the pints are identical. The NC351 is 2 dB quieter, 6 to 8 seconds faster per cycle, needed one re-spin on oat instead of two, came through 20 dishwasher cycles without clouding and comes in five colours to the NC301’s three. The NC301 is the one to pick only if you find it at a point where the saving is large, or if you want silver, rose gold or red.

The second decision is NC351 against NC601, which is really Creami against Creami Deluxe, and the Creami vs Creami Deluxe comparison walks through it. The NC601 has eleven programs including CreamiFit and Dairy-Free, 24 oz tubs that hold six scoops, and needed zero re-spins on our four bases. It is also 0.6 in wider, 1.9 in taller with the lid open, 1 dB louder and 33 seconds slower per tub. For one or two people the NC351 is the better fit; for three or more, or for daily protein and oat pints, the NC601 earns its extra size.

Pros and cons

After 30 days

After a month of daily use the NC351 shows no paddle wear at all, and the lid lock still clicks as positively as it did on the first day. The pints have been through the dishwasher about 20 times and remain clear. Nothing has loosened, cracked or started to rattle, and the 82 dB reading we took in week four matched week one.

The matte housing has been the quiet winner. It shows fingerprints far less than the Gen 1 gloss and has picked up no scuffs from being slid in and out from under the cabinets.

What we use has narrowed. The NC351 is our daily machine for protein pints, with Lite Ice Cream plus one re-spin as the routine. Ice Cream and Sorbet cover the weekends. We have not touched the Gelato program since week two, and Smoothie Bowl went unused once we confirmed that Lite Ice Cream gave the same result. Nothing broke and nothing needed a workaround.

Verdict

Buy the NC351 if you are cooking for one or two, want the quietest Creami we have measured and already own or plan to buy 16 oz pints. It scored 8.4 because it does everything the NC301 does with a shorter cycle, a cleaner dishwasher result and 2 dB less noise, and because the only re-spins it needed were the ones every 16 oz Creami needs. Choose the NC601 Deluxe if you want six scoops a tub or zero re-spins on protein, and the NC701 Scoop and Swirl if soft serve is the point. Every model is listed side by side on the products page.

Frequently asked questions

Full specifications