This blender is like a Vitamix, but cheaper - Braun Powerblend 9 Jug Blender review

Blenders are getting better and techier by the second. Normally, leads to inflated price tags and complex systems, but not with the Braun PowerBlend 9. It's just like a Vitamix, but with a petite price tag. 

I’ve been testing the best blenders for years, so you could say that I've (almost) seen it all. Generally, I look for top-notch performance, across smoothies, dips, and ice cones. I also like easy controls, cleaning, and storage options too, but, I have a special soft spot for soup-making models, such as the Braun PowerBlend 9. 

Before testing this, I thought the Ninja Foodi was the best soup-making blender on the market, but the Braun claims to achieve the same results in half the time. I tested the Braun PowerBlend 9, challenged it relentlessly, and then I wrote up this review. And then, you’ll never guess what I did. I bought this blender. 

Specifications

Unboxing and first impressions

The Braun comes in a fairly big box, which could only be expected from a blender of this size. Whilst the external box and some of the packaging is cardboard (and completely recyclable), there are some soft plastic films and sheets that will be harder to get rid of sustainably. I normally drop them at Waitrose or Sainsbury's because these supermarkets often have soft plastic recycling bins. It's more effort, but worth it, in my opinion.

Once it's out the box, the Braun PowerBlend 9 looks great. It does a great job of balancing the traditional, essential parts of a blender with some more modern features. For example, all of the pre-sets sit on an electronic screen, but you don't lose the tactile dial that feels so central to a blender's aesthetic. It looks smart and slick, without drawing too much attention to itself. In short, it's a very welcome member of my kitchen counter.

Who would it suit?

I see the Braun PowerBlend 9 blender as the perfect option for families. There are a number of factors that contribute to this, spanning from the 3-litre jug capacity to the 18 different pre-sets and the incredible speed. It's supposed to be four times faster than the average blender, and, even on the soup settings, I've found it to be twice as quick as market-leading brands. It's credentials are incredible.

It's easy to use, so perfect for beginners, it gets brilliant results, and it's actually one of the cheapest jug blenders on the market. So, what's the catch? Nothing major, really. 

My first disclaimer is that with the Braun's great power comes an immense amount of noise. This is by far the loudest blender that I've tested, which is why it's so important that this works quickly. You wouldn't want to have to tolerate the noise for long. It's not ideal to use first thing in the morning or late at night, unless you are okay with having some very disgruntled housemates.

The fact that this has a 3-litre capacity is great, but not if you only plan on making single-servings of smoothies. This will be too big and woefully overqualified. Even though this is great, you'll get better results on single-servings of smoothies with smaller blenders.

Finally, the composition is something to account for. The jug is made from Tritan and the blades are stainless steel. That means that this is durable, shatter-resistant, heat-resistant, and lightweight. Whilst that's great news for most people, there are plenty of people who prefer the traditional glass jugs of older blenders. Tritan is safe and free from BPA and BPS, but some people like to err on the side of caution.

What is it like to use?

The Braun has a big base and it’s tall too. I actually couldn’t fit it under the kitchen cabinets, which is fine, because I store this in a cupboard. If you were planning on keeping yours eternally on display, you might need to do some shuffling around. 

Once I had found a space for this on the counter, I gave it a rinse and took a look at the controls. All the icons, numbers, and pre-sets are self-explanatory. You're supposed to have eighteen settings, which you probably do, but it looks more simple in reality. The pre-sets cover: smoothie, soup, chop, ice crush, frozen dessert, and spread. Then, you can select different speeds manually or a pulse setting. There's also a timer to let you know how long your blender has been running for. It's very neat. You won’t even need an instruction manual to use it. Hooray.

Test 1: smoothies and protein shakes

Blenders and smoothies go together like wine glasses and wine. They complete each other. That's why I place so much weight on these tests. As with every test, when I made my first smoothie in the Braun PowerBlend 9, I added banana, frozen berries, spinach, oats, and almond milk to the jug. Whilst this might not sound too taxing, a large frozen strawberry acts like an ice cube that’s studded with seeds. Put a handful of those in and you’ve got yourself a challenge. Spinach is also tricky to blend into nothing. I don’t know many people who like drinking a cup of blended spinach, so I always throw it in to see how well a blender can disguise it into the rest of the mix. 

When all the ingredients were in, I set the Braun to smoothie mode and the 45-second timer on the screen started counting. It's an ambitious time-frame, especially if your blender is trying to power through a full 3 litres of smoothie, but the Braun gets the job done. Not only is it quick, it's also really effective. My smoothie didn't have a single trace of spinach, seeds, or oats. It was silky smooth and beautiful to drink. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that this made one of the best smoothies I’ve ever had in the test kitchen.

There is just one caveat. The Braun was unbelievably loud. In fact, it was so loud that the team joked that I should buy ear defenders with the money that I could save by investing in the Braun over a Vitamix. And actually, I think I might need them. I registered it at 90 dB, which is about the same as a hairdryer, power tool, and a motorcycle. It's just below the dB of a nightclub, if that's your thing.

Test 2: soup

The soup test isn’t an official one that we put every blender through. However, if I  see a model that can make soup, I always test it. The Braun PowerBlend 9 works a little differently to most other soup-making blenders. Most models have a heating element inside them. This feature can make them rather difficult to wash up because you can't submerge them in water. The Braun, on the other hand, uses the friction of the blades to heat the soup up. It might sound unbelievable, but, once you've heard this blending, you'll know that it is very much possible.

The soup pre-set on the Braun reckons it needs seven and a half minutes to make a soup. That sounds ambitious - and I consider myself an optimist. It's my job to check these claims, so I added some chopped carrots, garlic, coriander, boiling water, and stock to the Braun PowerBlend 9 and set it running. Sure enough, after seven and a half (incredibly noisy) minutes, I lifted the lid off the blender and steam poured out. I tipped my soup into a bowl. It was smooth, it looked the part, and it was piping hot.

I've done this since with pea and mint soups, tomato soups, and even potato soups. Every time, the results surprise me. My one criticism is that sometimes the vigour with which this blends leaves the soup a little foamy and bubbly, rather than silky. The soup itself still tastes smooth, but it looks quite homemade.

Test 3: hummus and dips

The next test that I put the Braun through was making hummus. Now, this might not be on your weekly rota of cooking, but it’s a great test of how your blender handles dishes with lower water content. That might be dips, pastes, bases for dishes like curries.

There’s no dip setting on the Braun either, so I made use of the manual dial, which scrolls from 1-10 in terms of power. I started on 1, but that's really really slow. I ended up making the hummus in speed setting four, which is less noisy than the blending pre-set, but still effective.

To make the hummus, I emptied a can of chickpeas into the blender and then threw in three cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon juice, a tablespoon of tahini, and a teaspoon of cumin. The blending jug is quite big, which made me apprehensive about whether the chickpeas would blend properly. There was no need to worry though, this worked really well.

You can see in the picture above that the Braun PowerBlend 9 did a great job of making the hummus. At first, the Braun took the hummus to quite a chunky texture. Then, the blades seemed to reach their limit. The motor would whirr, nothing would happen, and then suddenly hummus would be spat inside the blender. So, I added a little more lemon and olive oil, stirred them around, and set the Braun running again. After a minute (the blender had worked for 2.5 minutes in total), the hummus was at the smoothest I think I could get it. It's about the same texture as a shop-bought hummus, which I think is pretty good.

Test 4: crushing ice

The final standard test that we put all of our blenders through is crushing ice. This is tough, it’s a bit like throwing rocks round, hoping that they’ll turn to sand (but a little less dramatic). Given that the Braun has a dedicated ice setting, I was hopeful that this would be able to whizz up some impressive crushed ice and it didn’t disappoint. 

I started small, with a handful of ice cubes. This is normally enough to stump most blenders, but the Braun misted them in seconds. So, I added a little more, and then a little more, and then a little more, until I had four cocktails worth of crushed ice. There's not a lot more to say, other than that this was as good as the Vitamix, but quicker.

Cleaning

Cleaning the Braun PowerBlend 9 is easy. There's a special clean setting, which you can use. This requires a drop of washing-up liquid and some water. Then, the blender will pulse and whirl the water around until every part of the blender is clean. You'll still need to touch up the lid yourself, especially the stopper in the top, but it does a good job.

I could actually clean it by hand, so that's what I stuck with. All of the blender can be submerged in water, which is unusual for a heating blender. I made the most of it, and, with the help of a longer cleaning brush, this was sparkling in no time. The control panel, because it's flat and shiny, will need a wipe down too.

The underneath of the blender is hard to hand dry, because there are lots of fiddly bits and inlets, so you'll probably want to leave this to air dry.

How does it compare?

Before I used the Braun PowerBlend 9, I was a dedicated Ninja Foodi Hot & Cold Blender owner. And, even now, I can see that it has some advantages. It's a similar price to the Braun PowerBlend 9 and, actually, it's often about £40 cheaper. The Foodi pitcher is made from more robust glass and the pre-sets cover some more useful settings, such as sautes and jams, as well as milkshakes and smoothie bowls. Performance-wise, it's quieter and better at making soups, but it's also slower too. The soup pre-set on the Ninja is 30 minutes long, whilst the Braun is just 7.5 minutes. You will get a smoother, non-foamy result, but, for some people, it's not worth the wait. I also found that odours seemed to linger a little more on the Ninja, which is probably because it can't be submerged.

After swapping out my Ninja for the Braun, I haven't really missed it. The cleaning is a lot easier, my smoothies are quicker and just as good. However, when I'm making a soup, I do dream of my Ninja Foodi Hot & Cold.

Should you buy it?

I've already let the cat out of the bag, but after testing the Braun PowerBlend 9, I ended up buying it. I'm very strict with buying appliances since I see a lot of cool products doing my job and it would cost me a fortune to buy them all. However, I was so impressed by the speed of the Braun and the price was so good that I did end up making the investment. 

If you've got a family of mouths to feed and you appreciate speedy blenders, this is the one for you. If you need a quiet blender or a small one for single-servings, there are other models on the market.

How we test

At woman&home, how we test blenders is a rigorous process. I have three standard tests that I put every single blender that we recommend through. The first is making a smoothie. This is a basic function that every blender should whizz through, so I make sure that we have it covered. I use frozen fruit, because this is not only icy and tough, but also seedy. I also add spinach and oats, because they're also fibrous and difficult to chop through. If my blender can break that down into a delicious drink, it's a wonderful success.

The next test is on hummus. This has a lower water content, so plenty of blenders struggle more to get super smooth results. It's not a recipe you'll use daily, but this test is great for assessing how well your blender will be able to handle thicker tasks, from smoothie bowls to pastes.

The final test is on ice. These are really hard to mist into crystals, but some blenders can do it. I always make sure to put blenders through this test, even though lots of them fail.

If a blender has other functions, I'll test them too. In the case of the Braun, I made soup using the soup function, but some models have ice cream and milkshake settings too. Whilst I'm running all of these tests, I'll also look at how noisy the blender is, how easy it is to use, what it looks like, and how it compares to the other models I've tested.

I'll give you an in-depth breakdown of where it sits on the blending market, whilst assessing whether it's good value for money and suitable for you and your kitchen. After all that, I come to a conclusion on whether you should buy it. By this time, you should have a comprehensive idea of exactly what this would be like to use. 

I don't sugar coat anything, because I want to make sure that you spend your money wisely. If there's a better blender out there, you'll know about it. The place to always start looking is in our best blenders buying guide, because that's where I put my favourites.