Are you planning on purchasing a Ninja Foodi SP100 or a Ninja Foodi SP101? Both models are relatively new, offering users a compact but powerful way to cook all kinds of foods. The problem is, a lot of people seem to be mistaking the SP100 for the SP101 and vice versa. I’m sure a lot of people don’t even realize the difference between these two Ninja Foodi models. If you are one of them, read on to find out more 🙂
Just a note to say that I also have another article comparing all of the Ninja Foodi models on this website too, if you are interested 🙂
First of all, you will find a quick reference table below with all the main statistics of the SP100 and SP101 Ninja Foodi models. If you are in a hurry, you should be able to see the differences at a glance!
| Feature | Ninja SP100 Foodi™ Digital Air Fry Oven | Ninja SP101 Foodi 8-in-1 |
| Cooking Modes | air fry, air roast, air broil, bake, bagel, toast. | air fry, air roast, air broil, bake, bagel, toast, dehydrate. |
| Dimensions | 18 x 8 x 15 inches | 19.72 x 7.56 x 14.96 inches |
| Wattage | 1800 | 1800 |
| Weight | 16 pounds | 15.72 pounds |
| Material | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel |
| Check Out Price | View at Amazon | View at Amazon |
What are The Similarities Between the Ninja Foodi SP100 and SP101?
They Fold
When this particular range of air fryer ovens first came out, I did a whole other article talking about how amazing it was. Both of these air fryers fold up when not in use, an innovative feature that is not offered by other air fryer manufacturers (this is why I was impressed!). It’s an ingenious way to save space in your already cramped kitchen!!
Below are both of the models side by side. Can you tell which is which? It’s hard, right!! Click the image to see for yourself over at Amazon.
Cooking Modes
The SP 100 and SP 101 do in fact share the same cooking modes, as you can see above. Which are:
- Air Fry. The regular air fry cooking method that will cook your food using circulating hot air flow.
- Air Roast. You can get the same cooking results as a traditional oven with this mode, except with cooking times around 30-40% faster at a lower temperature than a regular oven.
- Air Broil. Known as grilling in some parts of the world, this cooking style will use the top set of heating elements to brown your food from the upper part of the cooking compartment.
- Bake. If you like the idea of making cakes or pies in your Ninja Foodi, this is the cooking mode for you!
- Bagel. Will toast bagels without burning the top by using slightly less heat in that area than the toast function below.
- Toast. Similar to broiling or grilling, but a mode specifically designed to toast bread.
Wattage
Both the Ninja Foodi SP100 and SP101 are quoted as being rated at 1800 watts. Pretty typical for an air fryer oven.
Dimensions
The form factor of this air fryer oven is very unique, going for a flatter but deeper footprint that means you can still cook a whole pizza in there! This form factor also aids the folding function mentioned above.
Yes, you will notice that the dimensions in my table above (which I got straight from the Amazon listings) are slightly different. But I think that Ninja are trolling us here, as side by side you would struggle to notice any difference in size between these two units.
Weight
Again I think that Ninja are trolling us with the slight difference in weight quoted in their Amazon listings! 0.3 of a pound is so little anyway, that it doesn’t make much difference either way 🙂
Design and Look
I think one of the reasons that people easily mix up the SP100 with the SP101 model is the fact that side by side these units look identical. They both have a stainless steel finish and use a very similar-looking layout and control panel. I wish that Ninja had used different materials for each model so that they would really stand out from each other!
What are The Differences Between the Ninja Foodi SP100 and SP101?
You Can Dehydrate
So finally we get to the subtle difference between the two models (that gets everyone confused). The SP101 also includes the dehydrate function, whereas the SP100 does not (the keen eyed among you would have noticed that already from the table above). It’s a small difference, but a key one if you like dehydrating!
Price
Just to confuse everyone even more, at the time of writing the SP100 without the dehydrate function is more expensive on Amazon than it’s fairer (or uglier) sister (or brother!). I am sure it’s just a weird anomaly that will be sorted by the time you read this!
But the point is, these two models are priced differently, so make sure to check both carefully before you decide which to buy!
Why Ninja?
So there you have it, the mystery is solved between the SP100 and SP101 Ninja Foodi air fryer ovens and all of their features.
So my question is…..Ninja why?? All this heartache and confusion for one small dehydrate function. Personally, I really don’t see the point! They should have just come out with the one model.
How do you make a dehydrate function? Well, it just means that the air fryer has the ability to be set to lower temperatures that wouldn’t often be used when doing regular air frying. This could easily have been included in both models! (correct me if I am mis-informed Ninja :)).
The only other thing is that you need to make sure that the air fryer oven has good ventilation if you want to dehydrate in it, but both models are identical on this front, anyway! So again, I wonder why Ninja went down this road? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
If you want to know more about how to dehydrate in an air fryer, I am the Air Fryer Bro so of course I have another article about that 🙂
