Magimix 11613 Le Blender, Red Finish

After using an inferior brand blender which could not cope with making decent smoothies I did some research into which Blender to buy. Looking on some dedicated "Smoothie" websites the recommendation was for the Blendtec brand. However given these cost £350 upwards I had to look elsewhere. I then found the Magimix and started reading the reviews. Whilst there are always some negative reviews, the general consensus was that this was a good product. So I ordered it on my prime account and it duly arrived the next day. Upon opening the box I could see that this was a decent bit of kit. The glass jar felt very sturdy and when assembled it looks like it means business. I have started to make Green smoothies so I blend up Kale, Spinach, Cabbage, various fruits, along with Sunflower seeds and porridge oaks. The old blender could not make this smooth enough to drink with a straw, but the Magimix simply destroys these tough items into a smooth liquid. The one annoyance was that the Sunflower seeds need to be ground in the optional mill attachment, and I had not realised this beforehand so have had to order separately direct from Magimix spares as could not get cheaper on Amazon. So at this stage not sure how that attachment performs but if it is as good as the jar attachment then it will be great. The Blender has some auto settings for Smoothies, Soup, Ice and Desserts which are good as they perform to set times meaning you won't burn out the motor by overdoing it. As said the Smoothie program made my very smoothie into something I could drink, and the program takes 60 seconds. I cannot comment on how this performs on extend use as I do not want to risk burning it out but I did 2 programs in a row with a couple of minutes breathing space in between, and it was fine. It did feel a little odd when placing the jar on the blender base as it simply rests in by it's weight, whereas previous blenders have all had some form of twisting lock motion. However this is not an issue and in fact is a better more convenient approach as it is simply easy to take on and off. It is a dream to clean also, and in the attached user guide it shows you the auto clean method which is to put 1 Litre of water with 2 drips of washing up liquid in the jar and to put on speed 3 for 30 seconds. Rinse after that and it's ready to use again ! The user guide is pretty decent also, it's a week presented little book with some recipes in also, it's that extra effort that confirms you've bought something of quality.So the bottom line is that I am really impressed with this Blender and will update the review as time goes on to show how it performs after time.

I am not really experienced with using blenders, but when I read the negative comments on other brands like Philips that quickly broke down, I decided to trust the reviews of the other users about this great blender and ordered one. And so far I don't regret it!I started out with a raw food diet and wanted to have a good blender to make my green smoothies. In the raw food scene online, everyone is praising (hyping) the Vitamix blenders. Not only do I think they are absolutely hideous to look at, they are ridiculously expensive here in Europe. I mean 600 to 650 euro for a blender? Come on!!! Then they are talking about horsepowers which does not make sense at all. I prefer to compare the power consumption of the motor because usually the higher the power consumption, the stronger the motor is. Also important is the rotation speed of the blades. With a max of 15000 rpm, this machine is fit for the job. The faster the blades spin, the finer the contents will be blended.Now be warned, if you are living outside of the UK, you will receive this blender with the default huge power plug (what were they thinking when they made this the standard in the UK? :) ) Unfortunately countries like Portugal and The Netherlands have to use the UK amazon site as other sites often don't ship to these countries. Now with a device like this, it is not a problem. You buy a converter plug and there is no problem in using it. With a cellphone for example, where the plug is also the power adapter, the converter plug makes it extra big and clumsy to carry around. Since I am not planning on traveling with my blender, it is not a problem. (you could also put on another plug, but I don't know what this does to the warranty.)Now I inspected the coupling between the bowl and the motor. On the bowl side, it is made of metal, on the motor side it looks like some kind of rubber. It however looks sturdy and I trust the quality is fine.I went to the electronics store today here in Portugal and checked many blenders from Moulinex, Philips, Braun and some unknown brands to the rest of the world. NONE of them had metal couplings, it was all plastic and when I look at the Philips ones for instance, I can imagine why it breaks down so fast.The cutting blades on this blender are quite sturdy and made of thick metal. The ones from Philips and other brands looked like they were made from a recycled tin can. Besides that, most models have only a 500 to 600 watt motor. This might be just fine, but once you do a raw diet, this is a device you are actually going to use every day (instead of using it as a dust catcher). I can imagine that if you are using a 600 watt motor, that a tough blend job takes much more toll on the motor than with a 1200 watt one.In instruction videos for green smoothies, you often see people turning the speed dial. They even warn you that you have to make sure you set back the speed dial to low when starting up the blender and then turn up the speed. This because else the substances will get splashed all around causing the lid to be smudged as well. Not that this is a big thing but it is nicer if not.Now with this blender you don't have to take care of this at all. Just press start and you will see that the electronic control will automatically start slower and then speed up the motor. I love the automatic smoothie setting. It starts blending at a higher speed (after a slow start up of course) and then it varies the speed to make sure that all ingredients will have a chance to drop to the bottom and get blended as well. Then it will speed up again and automatically stop when the smoothie is finished.Now, of course I don't know how long this machine will last. I have no Idea how the quality of the Vitamix is compared to this one. I do know that the motor feels quite heavy, usually indicating high quality materials being used. I think that the glass bowl is a lot better than the plastic ones of other brands, but maybe I am wrong.I can easily see this machine working for 10 years without a hitch. Maybe I am wrong but I will tell you in 10 years from now :p. I don't know how long the Vitamix will work. They claim it will last a life time, but if that were true, they would offer a lifetime warranty but they don't.Now if you are doubting to buy this blender because it is expensive.. DON'T it seems to be a great blender. If you are doubting because actually you want a Vitamix... well don't buy this one and spend you hard earned money on the overpriced Vitamix.Now like my fellow reviewers said: Buy the blender.. you will not regret it!!!If you have further questions, please let me know.Cheers