That time of year when I have family asking if there is anything I want/need as they go about Christmas shopping. My 2 year old Ninja single serve has overall been pretty decent and may just run it back since its on sale now for about $70, but it is annoying how loud it is. Wondering if I need to up my smoothie making game, since I do use it just about daily.

Consider posting on the food board, but America's test kitchen has done some good review videos. I think Vitamix is pretty solid if you want to spend the money. I still use a $30 one I got from JC Penny in college like 15+ years ago.

Vitamix

Vitamix is definitely the best. Ours is still going strong and it's 11 or 12 years old.

But if all you're doing are smoothies, it's overkill IMO.

My Blendtec (comparable to Vitamix) just died after 15+ years. I bought a $90 Ninja blender and have been pleasantly surprised at the performance, no idea on longevity. My Blendtec blended everything but if you dont want to spend $4-500 at the moment, I think Ninja is solid.

I agree, I just think I have partial hearing loss after all these years of using the Ninja.

I can't imagine that a Ninja is louder than a Vitamix! You can't hear anything over it when it's running. Does a great job, though!

Nutribullet
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CTBHQZK?_encoding=UTF8&ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_TYX0QW0BCRGK9S6AB4FH&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_TYX0QW0BCRGK9S6AB4FH&social_share=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_TYX0QW0BCRGK9S6AB4FH&th=1

Great for singles. Pricing is higher than I remember...

Magic Bullet - essentially the cheap nutribullet

Vitamix, hands down. I bought my wife a Ninja and she returned it for a Vitamix. That was over 10 yrs ago. We use it multiple times a day and blends whatever we throw at it.

I like my magic bullet. It doesn't have a bunch of extra settings like the Ninja. But it's perfect for my smoothies

I was in the exact same boat a few months ago. My old Ninja worked fine but was insanely loud, especially early in the mornings. I ended up upgrading to a refurbished Vitamix from FactoryOutletStore, and honestly it's been a big step up in smoothness and noise level. I checked a bunch of FactoryOutletStore reviews beforehand because I wasn't sure about buying refurb, but most folks seemed to have good experiences and mine has been solid so far.
If you use your blender daily, it might be worth jumping up a tier.