Ninja CREAMi Scoop & Swirl (4 Tub Bundle)

Right, let's be straight about this one. I've gone through the owner reviews so you don't have to, and the Swirl is essentially a regular CREAMi that's learned to pipe soft serve out of the front. That dispenser is the whole reason it exists, and whether it's worth the money comes down to one question: do you actually want soft serve, or do you just want nice ice cream? And I'll be honest — the reviews here are more split than for the plain CREAMi.

When it works, owners are delighted. The texture comes up smooth rather than icy, the one-touch programmes do the heavy lifting, and the novelty with children is real — several reviewers describe it becoming a weekend ritual. The four-tub bundle is the right call too, because the honest way to live with any CREAMi is to keep a few bases frozen and ready.

But this being a first-generation machine, the gripes are real and they cluster. The one I keep seeing is waste: when the machine reckons it's emptied the pint, owners report a good half-inch of ice cream still stuck in the bottom and gummed up around the nozzle. There are also a lot more parts than the original — an extra plunger lid, fiddlier pints that can leak if you don't lock them to 'closed' before filling — so cleaning is more of a chore. The soft serve melts fast once it's out, too.

Then the practicalities that apply to the whole range. It's a large, tall, heavy thing, wider than the standard CREAMi to fit the dispenser and too tall to tuck under most wall cabinets, so it ends up surrendering a permanent patch of worktop. Every CREAMi needs the base frozen solid for the best part of 24 hours — get the tub level, not at an angle — so this is a plan-ahead pudding, not a ten-minute job. And it's loud for the short burst it runs.

The criticism that stops me scoring it higher is value, and it comes up again and again. A meaningful number of owners reckon a cheaper Deluxe makes bigger batches and you can fake a soft-serve look with a piping bag for far less outlay. They're not wrong. So the Swirl earns its keep only if the dispenser genuinely appeals — for dedicated soft-serve households it's a treat; for everyone else you're paying a premium for theatre, and a fair few buyers have said as much.

The bottom line

A genuinely fun machine that delivers proper soft serve at home, but it's first-gen — expect waste, extra cleaning and a premium some owners openly regret. Buy it if you'll use the dispenser and have the space; for plain ice cream a cheaper CREAMi is the smarter spend.