not sure why volume is a concern. any blender worth their salt will probably be loud.
vitamix and blendtec are the two best, I would say. we have had blendtec for 6 or 7 years, used mostly for frozen fruit smoothies, and have had no issues. we love it. people who have vitamixes love those too.

I'm not looking for a big blender or for that matter a really expensive one. Just a small personal blender that will make a good smoothy or green drink, handle frozen fruit and hopefully last.

I've heard good things about Ninja, but have no experience myself.

I was considering a ninja, but they are really loud. Anyone have experience with one you really like that isn't really loud?

This comes up once/twice a year. Consistently only one or two have them. So I would not expect much response here. Amazon reviews are mostly those that have purchased. The ninja pro in the under 75$ price point is the most favorably reviewed. Under 50$ will not handle frozen fruit or ice very well.

Blenders are pretty loud across the board. Especially with frozen ingredients.

Nobody here owns one they really like and would recommend from personal use?

I don’t do a lot of blending, but I have used my Cuisinart mini-chopper for blending when I need/want to blend something. I haven’t purchased a blender because it works for the blending I do. The big disadvantage is its small size, but I do two batches if I am working with more volume. The loudness varies depending on what is blended/chopped. I have been using a mini-chopper for everything chop/blend for 10-15 years and am now on my second one. I chop nuts, make pesto, blend smoothies, mix butter and sugar, purée cooked vegetables, etc. I like that it is small, easy to pull out and use and doesn’t take up much storage space. Sure it is not for everyone, but works fine for me.

I am looking for one I can make smoothies with that does well with frozen fruit and spinach and isn't too loud.

Guess I am not the only person who does this as I see they now have a 4 cup size and several competitors.

I think anything that is chopping/blending ice will be loud. I don’t find the mini-chopper to be particularly loud for frozen berries or spinach, but I am not sensitive to short term noise. The little one is so small you might be able to dampen sound by throwing a towel over it if it bothers you.

I have a great big Vita-mix which will handle anything. I have shooter's ear protectors for using my grain mill. The Vita-mix isn't as loud, but I have the headset when I need it. I do shoo others out of the room when necessary.

It's not the motor that's so loud. I expect smaller motors would be proportionally louder having to work so hard, The real noise comes from the contents. You can get one of those clear, sound dampening hoods from a restaurant supply store. They don’t produce silence, but minimize the distance the loudness spreads.

Small immersion blenders aren’t as loud, but they take more time and are much better suited to soup than smoothies. The results are also less even. Hard ice might be a challenge. And might be loud.

Our cuisinart wasn't as loud as our blendtec. Then again, it didn't last.

I have a mini chopper as well - I only use it for dressings and sauces/pestos. Mine burned out after 4 years of use, so @shivece I think you've had extraordinary luck. I wouldn't use it at all for smoothies. I also have a big 14 cup food processor - and that one is too much of a pain and too hard to clean for regular smoothie use. My stick blender is a fairly good model - and I would only use that on thawed ingredients. Not sure how well it would do even on raw veggies.

Anything smashing up frozen fruit/ice is going to be loud. Our blendtec has a bigger motor that is louder, but it also pulverizes the fruit into smithereens within seconds so in reality we're only hearing it for a short period. DH would make smoothies before I woke up and it didn't bother me. We got the baby used to it, too, and now it's a fun game of "cover your ears."

I have an Oster BLSTMB, and it is very powerful (1200 watts). It is less noisy than my Vitamix, and will make smoothies with the touch of a button. In fact, to make smoothies, it runs through a series of cycles of fast and slow that ends up with a perfectly blended and smooth smoothie. It does just as good a job at making smoothies with ice cubes as my Vitamix blender does. I think I paid $65 for it, but the price appears to have gone up.

I'm not looking for a chopper. I have one. I'm not looking for something I can chop with. I also have a regular size blender. I just want a small personal blender that makes smoothies and green drinks and can handle frozen fruit. If it can't handle ice that's fine. Just want something small that I can make a quick smoothie in without having to take out and use my big blender.

DS bought me the big Ninja which has the option to make personal size smoothies. It came with two cups that attach to blender.

https://www.fleetfarm.com/store/detail/ninja-black-complete-kitchen-home-blender-system/0000000305389/1500?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImrb1o62x7QIVlY7ICh3oSwM6EAQYBiABEgJ5XfD_BwE

It does a great job but IT IS LOUD! My dog hates it with a passion. He also doesn't like the Cuisinart FP which isn't nearly as loud. He keeps getting weirder & weirder, though. Tonight he got upset when I grated a potato with the old style manual box grater! And grumbled every time I went near to the counter where those appliances live. Looking like I need two sets of those shooter's ear muffs. Do they come in dog sizes?

That Ninja blender set is Rube Goldberg complicated. For making smoothies, I would get the much simpler Ninja Bullet.

I have a vintage Osterizer, paid maybe $20 in antique store. Powerful, on high can feel the breeze from it. Frozen stuff no problem. I couldn't include a link, but there are a number of them on Etsy, probably eBay, too.