Braun TriForce Power Blender: two-minute review
The Braun TriForce Power Blender (known as the Braun PowerBlend 9 in the UK and Australia) brings all the benefits of the best blenders with a few extras, such as a hot Soup mode and Chop function, thrown in. It’s a highly customizable appliance, offering 18 preset blending options – six presets with three texture settings for each – plus 10 manual speeds, a Pulse feature and Clean mode. It comes with 2-liter triangular Tritan jug, a fixed blade and tamper.
The TriForce Power Blender is the flagship model in Braun’s countertop jug blender range. Its unique triangular, 2-liter jug sets it apart from other blenders I’ve used. Not just in terms of design, but also because this shape makes sure food rarely gets stuck to the sides. Everything is pulled towards the blades and blended quickly – up to four times faster than rival models, according to Braun.
It offers a wide range of intuitive presets – Smoothie, Soup, Chop, Ice Crush, Frozen Dessert, and Spread – making it super easy to not only make a selection of drinks, dips, butters, desserts at the touch of a button, but to get your ideal consistency time and again. During my tests, it produced an almost perfect smoothie in seconds, despite some tiny flecks of kale; its Spread setting is brilliant for making hummus because it cycles through blending and pulsing; and its Ice Crush feature worked as expected. The ice wasn’t as powdery as on other blenders I’ve tried, but it wasn’t far off.
Elsewhere, you can easily set or change the consistency of anything you make by cycling through the different textures – Smooth, Medium and Coarse – and the manual speeds are varied enough to bring an extra level of precision. The hot soup function is also a pleasant surprise. It turned cubes of vegetables and stock into warm, tasty, comforting soup in less than six minutes. Minimal hassle, minimal mess.
Speaking of mess, the TriForce Power Blender’s Clean mode works really well, which is a welcome feature considering you can’t remove the blades to clean underneath them. You can also put the jug safely in the dishwasher.
Despite its wide array of features, the TriForce is surprisingly compact, fitting neatly under my cabinets and light enough to move around and store easily. It measures 16.9 x 7.9 x 7.9″ / 43 x 20 x 20 cm (H x W x D) and weighs 10.1lbs / 4.6kg. The anti-slip feet and tidy cord storage are thoughtful touches that make it practical and safe for everyday use.
This blender can get loud, especially at higher speeds, reaching as high as 105db. This is equivalent to having a car horn blasting in your kitchen, which can be uncomfortable at times. But since it blends so quickly, at least it’s a short-lived racket.
In sort, if you’re looking for a high-performance blender that can do it all and a little more, and are happy to invest a bit more to get it, the Braun TriForce Power Blender is a great choice. It’s a powerful, intuitive addition to your kitchen and while it’s far from cheap, it is at least good value, specially if you can get it for one of the many discounts being offered regularly from third-party retailers. That’s the short version – read on for my full Braun TriForce / PowerBlend review.
Braun TriForce Power Blender review: price & availability
- List price: $249.95 / £199.99 / AU$299
- Available in US, UK and Australia
There are three Braun countertop blenders – the $99.95 entry-level Braun PureMix Power Blender (JB7200), the standard $249.95 Braun TriForce Power Blender (JB9040BK) and the $299.95 TriForce Power Blender with Smoothie2Go accessory (JB9040BK). This accessory turns the jug blender into a personal blender for an extra $50. I reviewed the standard TriForce model.
As 2-liter jug blenders go, the TriForce is one of the more expensive models on the market. Few countertop blenders exceed the $200 mark with the exception of those from high-end brands such as Vitamix and Smeg with the $649 Vitamix A3300 Ascent Series, or the $429.95 Smeg Professional Blender. The closest Braun rival, in terms of size and features is the Ninja HB150C/HB152 Foodi Heat-iQ Blender and this sells for $198. It’s slightly smaller, but has more automated settings.
In the US, you can buy the TriForce Power Blender from Braun directly, or via a number of third-party resellers including Walmart, Amazon and Target. At the time of writing, the TriForce Power Blender was being sold across these third-party sites for as much as $70 less than its RRP. In fact, only Braun was selling it for its full price.
In the UK, and Australia, the appliance is known as the Braun PowerBlend 9 and you can buy it directly from Braun, as well as Amazon, Debenhams and AO in the UK. In Australia, you can buy it from Braun, Harvey Norman and Appliances Online. Again, few sites in the UK and Australia regularly sell the PowerBlend 9 for its RRP and some regularly sell it for ~£100/AU$150 less.
The Braun TriForce Power Blender is a powerful appliance with a wide range of features that elevate it beyond a simple jug blender. From a hot soup function to a food processor-style chopping feature. As a result, it has a price to match. There are cheaper blenders that perform well against the Braun, but there are also more expensive models that don’t live up to its performance. So, while $249.95 seems a little high, it is decent value and you get some of the benefits of multiple appliances for the price of one. Plus, with a number of sites regularly dropping the price, you could get a really good deal.
- Value for money score: 4 out of 5
Braun TriForce Power Blender specifications
| Price: | $249.95 / £199.99 / AU$299 |
| Weight: | 10.1lb / 4.6kg |
| Size (H x W x D): | 16.9 x 7.9 x 7.9″ / 43 x 20 x 20cm |
| Jug capacity: | 64fl oz / 2L |
| Blending speeds: | 10 plus Pulse |
| Presets: | Smoothie; Soup; Chop; Ice Crush; Frozen Dessert; Spread |
| Textures: | 3 – Smooth, Medium, Coarse |
Braun TriForce Power Blender review: design & features
- 1600w motor, 2 liter BPA-Free Tritan jug
- 10 manual blending speeds + 6 presets, 3 textures, Pulse and Clean
- Triangular jug with fixed blades
The first thing I noticed about the Braun TriForce Power Blender is its triangular, 2-liter jug. Most jug blenders have circular or boxy jugs yet Braun has deliberately designed its jug in a way that means food rarely gets stuck to the sides. This is because the sides bring the food closer to the blades, and thus it’s constantly being pulled back towards the center due to the centrifugal force. Braun claims this guarantees “faster blended results in less time.”
The BPA-Free Tritan triangular jug then slides and locks into place on top of a rubber triangular base, while the jug’s lid, complete with small, detachable cap, locks onto the base via two large clips on each side.
Below the jug is a touchscreen display and rotating dial. Along the display are each of the preset buttons – Smoothie, Soup, Chop, Ice Crush, Frozen Dessert, and Spread – and while I appreciate how self-explanatory they all are, I don’t love the use of lowercase font throughout. It’s a very minor, almost ridiculous complaint, but it makes the machine look less professional than its price would suggest.
Below these buttons are the Manual and Pulse buttons above the Clean button, on the right-hand side, and the Start/Stop button that doubles up as the control dial in the center. This dial can be used to set the manual speed, when Manual mode is selected, or used to switch between the blender’s three iTexture settings: Smooth, Medium or Coarse.
This mix of presets and textures takes the total possible number of automated settings to 18. This extends to 29 settings when you add in the 10 manual speeds and the Pulse function. This is a very impressive number and could feel overwhelming. However, by making every button and setting easy to use and identify, Braun has avoided over-complicating things. This intuitive design even encouraged me to experiment with different settings without fear of breaking it or something going drastically wrong.
Despite its 2-liter jug and panel of impressive controls, the blender is surprisingly compact measuring 16.9 x 7.9 x 7.9″ / 43 x 20 x 20cm (H x W x D). It should fit easily under most kitchen cupboards, even with the jug attached, and will sit neatly in a corner.
It’s a lightweight blender too. The base and jug together weigh 10.1lb / 4.6 kg and this makes it easy to move around your countertop, or if you want to store it in a drawer or cupboard. It then has anti-slip feet on the bottom of the base, and a 3ft / 1m cord. Such is its compact and portable nature, the blender was one of the few appliances I was able to leave out on my limited countertops when my kitchen was being remodeled.
The use of black plastic and rubber follows suit with the majority of blenders on the market and while this means it will blend into most aesthetics, it’s hardly groundbreaking. The only element that gives the TriForce Power Blender a touch of flair is the green light used to illuminate the Start-Stop button and speed dial. That’s not to say it’s ugly; rather if you want something with striking looks, this blender may not be for you.
It’s also a shame that the blades aren’t removable but, thanks to the built-in cleaning mode and the fact the jug is dishwasher-safe, this is another minor flaw that’s easily remedied.
- Design score: 4.5 out of 5
Braun TriForce Power Blender review: performance
- Almost faultless results across various blending tests
- Blends quickly and effectively
- Presets perform better than manual settings
For my first test of the Braun TriForce Power Blender, I made a kale, blueberry and banana smoothie with almond milk. I add all of the ingredients to the jug, pressed the Smoothie button, selected the Smooth texture, and pushed the Start button. In as little as 20 seconds, the drink looked smooth and well blended but I let the Smoothie setting run to its default time of one minute before pouring the drink.
The resulting drink was almost velvety in texture. I could see tiny flecks of kale and blueberry skin when I looked at the drink, but they were so small I couldn’t taste them. If you choose the Medium texture, the total blending time is 44 seconds, and for Coarse it’s 42 seconds. I was impressed by how quickly the blender achieved these results, and in my experience it lives up to the brand’s claim that it creates food “60% finer and four times faster” than other models.
Next, I made hummus. I usually have to use a manual setting when making hummus on most blenders I review because they rarely have an appropriate, dedicated setting. On the Braun TriForce Power Blender I used the Spread setting, which the instruction manual says is designed for hummus, pesto and nut butters, and the blender ran for 2 minutes and 20 seconds cycling through a pattern of blending and pulsing.
The resulting hummus was the perfect consistency. It was smooth but thick, making it ideal for dipping vegetable sticks into, while also coating the inside of my mouth with flavor. What’s more, I didn’t once have to stop the blender to scrape the mixture from the edges, or press it down using the tamper.
Finally, I used the blender to make crushed ice using the Ice Crush setting. This setting causes the blender to operate in short bursts for 25 seconds to crush the ice to a powder. It worked well, in terms of quickly and effectively blending the ice cubes, but the result was less powdery than other blenders I’ve used. It was closer to the consistency of a sorbet. There is a very subtle distinction between the two, but whereas other blenders have turned the cubes to light powder, the Braun’s crushed ice was more wet so stuck together in clumps. You can easily use it to make frozen drinks but I felt the texture was slightly off.
In addition to the above tests, I also wanted to put the TriForce Power Blender’s Soup function to the test. The brand claims you can turn room-temperature ingredients into hot soup in almost six minutes. I tested this by adding chunks of cooked butternut squash, garlic, onion, carrot and a liter of vegetable stock to the blender. I pressed the Soup button, pushed Start and the blender began by chopping the ingredients, before blending and slowly heating them for five minutes and 45 seconds. The result was a slightly coarse, warm soup that lacked some of the depth of soup made on a stove, but was still tasty and comforting.
The only real downside to all of these pros is how loud the TriForce blender can be. On Speed 1 in Manual mode, it’s relatively quiet, averaging 63dB. It was easy to have a conversation with my partner or children while the blender was running at this speed.
However, during my Smoothie and hummus tests, this sound jumped up to an average of 97db. This is equivalent to the sound of a motorcycle engine and feels uncomfortable in such a confined space like my kitchen. On Manual Mode, Speed 9, the average reading was 91db, and it jumped to an average of 105db when crushing the ice cubes. This is equivalent to a phone playing at full volume and just below the sound of a car horn. Any sounds over 85dB for extended periods can cause hearing problems.
Thankfully, because the blender works so quickly and efficiently, these sounds run for less time than they do on other models so at least you don’t have to be subjected to them for longer than necessary.
Overall, the TriForce blender’s performance is a little hit and miss but largely positive. I was worried, given its wide range of features, that it would be a Jack of all trades, master of none but this is far from the case. I also appreciate the different ways I can customise my drinks and food and this makes up for any of the blender’s shortcomings in my opinion and experience. Mainly because if I want a different texture, or the presets don’t work as I want, I have a range of ways to correct it and tweak it until they do.
- Performance score: 4.5 out of 5
Should I buy the Braun TriForce Power Blender?
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value | The initally high price becomes better value when you consider all the things this blender can do. | 4/5 |
| Design | It’s not the most attractive, unique blender but it has a number of touches – triangular jug, easy-to-use controls – which make up for this. | 4.5/5 |
| Performance | It’s not perfect, but it’s very close and offers enough customisation to create drinks and food to your exact liking. | 4.5/5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
How I tested the Braun TriForce Power Blender
- I used it to blend drinks, food and ice
- I checked the noise level at different speeds
- I assessed how easy it was to clean
I used the Braun TriForce Power Blender in my own home for four weeks, making smoothies, sauces, hummus, soup and crushed ice.
I assessed how simple it was to set the blender up, how easy and intuitive it is to navigate the different presets and textures, how well it performed different tasks, its noise levels and how easy it was to clean.
I’ve been reviewing home and kitchen appliances for more than 15 years and have a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw on when assessing how well a product such as a blender performs.
Read more about how we test
First reviewed May 2024
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/foBs3fLSv6QjSoszB2pLA9-1200-80.jpg
Source link
