Yonanas Review – Classic vs Elite vs Dessert Bullet vs Vitamix Blender

Welcome to the ultimate Yonanas Review. In this guide, we’ll help you decide if it’s the right machine for you. We’ll be comparing…

Expect to find information on the following…

• Yonanas Classic vs Elite
• Swirlio vs Yonanas
• Yonanas vs Blender
• Yonanas vs Dessert Bullet
• Yonanas vs Vitamix

Yonanas Review Summary

In short, the Yonanas does what it’s intended to do: make delicious fruit-based soft-serve.

It’s affordable, fun for kids, and overall a good piece of equipment.

However, the Ninja BL660 is also good at making fruit soft-serve (video in the guide below) and is in a similar price range.

Plus, the Ninja is more versatile than the Yonanas since it can easily make sauces and smoothies.

In short, both are a good choice for the frozen dessert application, but the Ninja is a better value.

The Yonanas machine is fun to use and can be great for kids, but it is a “one trick pony”.

Related Article: Can You Put Ice Cubes in a Blender?

Yonanas Classic

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• The Yonanas is great at what it does which makes replacing real ice cream easy.
• Great for entertaining and for kids – unique and fun to use.
• Tends to be more affordable than other larger appliances. 
• However, it is sort of a “one trick pony” and you can make pretty good soft serve in any decent blender.

Ninja BL660

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• Because of it’s blade-system the Ninja BL660 is a great alternative for the Yonanas.
• It’s more budget friendly than other high-powered blenders, but can produce similar results to the Yonanas.
• You can also do a lot more things with it from smoothies, sauces and dry grinding.

If you’re in the market for a good blender, you may be interested in our Nutribullet vs Ninja comparison.

What is a Yonanas Machine?

The Yonanas is a device that uses 100% whole fruit to make ice cream or sorbet.

It can make “ice cream” out of almost any frozen fruit, including:

• Bananas
• Strawberries
• Mangos
• And more.

You can even add chocolate or cookies to it and create something more indulgent.

You Might Also Like: Vitamix 5200 vs 5300: Which Blender Should You Buy?

How Do You Use a Yonanas

The Yonanas is really simple to use:

• First, you need to take your frozen fruit and let it thaw out for a few minutes as per the user manual.
• Then, you turn on the Yonanas and push the fruit (ideally a frozen banana first) inside via the chute and plunger.
• Make sure you place a bowl under the bottom of the chute.
• You can then keep pushing more fruit through as desired.
• Finally, turn the machine off and remove the chute for cleaning.
• Clean with soapy water or put it in the dishwasher.

Read Also: Vitamix 7500 vs 5300: Which Blender Should You Buy?

Does the Yonanas Work?

The Yonanas does indeed work!

It makes 100% fruit/banana soft serve as intended (with a few caveats).

First, check out this user demonstration below to see it in action – then we’ll get to the caveats.

Here are the caveats…

One thing that many people don’t realize when they use the Yonanas is that the fruit should be slightly thawed. You need to it sit out for around 7-10 minutes (depending on the fruit).

You also shouldn’t run it for more than two minutes at a time. It’s designed to run for two minutes on and one minute off for a maximum of three cycles.

Recommended Article: Vitamix 6500 Blender Review

Here are the most common mistakes that people make when using the Yonanas. Tap or click the enlarge.

If you decide to get one, be sure to carefully read and follow the instructions so you’re not left scratching your head.

Is Yonanas Dishwaser Safe?

According to the Yonanas User Manual it is top rack dishwasher safe. However the base needs to be wiped down with a damp cloth and should never be immersed in liquid.

The components of the machine that are safe for the top rack of the dishwasher are the 5 parts of the chute assembly.

Yonanas Classic vs Elite

Comparison Chart

Yonanas Classic vs. Elite: What’s the Difference?

Given that they are both from the same product line designed to do the same thing, the Yonanas Classic and Yonanas Elite are actually very similar in many regards.

In the world of blenders and food processors, the price tag is often correlated to the warranty that the product comes with, and the Yonanas is no exception.

As you can see, the upgraded model – or the elite, has a warranty that’s2 years longer than its predecessor, but doesn’t offer much increase in power.

This indicates that what you’re paying for mostly is peace of mind. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but in our opinion, this is the major point to consider when choosing between the Elite and the Classic.

The other factors are going to be noise and aesthetic.

The Elite is designed to be a quieter unit, perfect for those who live in apartments or with members of the household who go to sleep early. The Elite also has a bit nicer look, is bigger, and is manufactured in a few different styles which have the potential to fit your decor.

So at the end of the day its the price, warranty, noisiness, and aesthetics that are going to be the differentiating factors. Consider these 4 points and choose what suits your lifestyle best.

Further Reading: Waring Blender vs Vitamix

Yonanas vs Blender

If you’re stuck between getting a Yonanas machine and a blender, here’s what you should consider.

Let me first say that the Yonanas is really good at what it does.

Assuming you pick ripe bananas and thaw them out like the instructions say, you’re going to be making delicious banana ice cream.

But the downside to the Yonanas is that it’s a one trick pony.

UPDATE 4/11/2018

I recently discovered that certain Ninja Blenders (with their multiple blade systems) are great at making banana ice cream too!

They also run in a similar price range to the Yonanas.

A great example of this is the Ninja BL660

You can make fruit ice cream, but that’s about it.

In the right blender you can do things like banana ice cream, hot soups, hummus, sauces, etc.

But you need a high-powered blender or a blender with a tamper if you want to make banana ice cream without any liquid.

For example, I’ll often times make frozen fruit ice cream in my Nutribullet.

Sidenote: To see my favorite NutriBullet blender check out this guide: Best NutriBullet

Yes, it comes out very thick and creamy, but I can’t do it without any liquid. I always just use a splash of soy milk. 

The reason is because I don’t have a tamper.

So my advice is this…

If you have your heart set on making banana ice cream and don’t have a lot of money to spend – go for the Yonanas.

If you have a bit of a budget and know you want to make smoothies, soups, hummus and sauces consider a powerful blender like the Vitamix 780.

Yonanas vs Vitamix

Vitamix 5300

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When you’re comparing a Yonanas to any Vitamix, we’re really talking about apples and oranges.

A Vitamix is a powerful blender that’s capable of making any kind of blended creation you can imagine – especially with the use of its tamper.

It can 100% make banana ice cream without a sweat – even if the fruit is frozen.

In fact, here’s a photo of banana ice cream I made in my Vitamix without the use of any liquid.

All Vitamix blenders also come with a minimum 5-year warranty, even the reconditioned ones.

The Yonanas on the other hand can only make frozen fruit desserts. That’s the only thing it was designed to do.

But – we’re also talking about two completely different price points.

You’ll usually find Vitamix blenders costing a good amount of money.

At the time of writing this, the MSRP on both Yonanas machines are much lower.

So honestly, it depends on your exact needs and what your budget allows.

If I could only pick one, it would be a Vitamix just because it’s so much more versatile.

And I would try to save a few bucks on getting are conditioned model.

But if I really was only interested in fruit-based ice cream and/or had another small blender that I used for smoothies and sauces – then the Yonanas would be the way to go.

Related Article: Yonanas Review – Classic vs Elite vs Dessert Bullet vs Vitamix Blender

Yonanas vs Ninja

Ninja BL660