Braun PowerBlend 9 review: powerful, versatile and with good looks too

Braun PowerBlend 9 review in a sentence: A dazzling all-rounder that ticks all of the boxes for anyone needed a versatile blender.

As someone who has used Braun electric toothbrushes for years, I was keen to try the Braun PowerBlend 9. However, as someone who has also had a Braun electric toothbrush fail on me recently, I wondered about what sort of quality to expect. A sticker on the jug proudly proclaims the Braun PowerBlend 9 is designed in Germany, although it’s still made in China. No problem with that, of course, but this model has plenty of stiff competition.

Blenders are a bit like the best air fryer and the best bean to cup coffee machine models, as in, there are so many out there to choose from, as you’ll see from the listings in our best blenders guide. And, many will get the job done, even if you’ve gone for a more basic model. However, the Braun PowerBlend 9 model has some excellent features within its svelte black plastic lines, which is why I’ve been so eager to give it a whirl.

Braun PowerBlend 9 review: Price and availability

The Braun PowerBlend 9 JB9040BK is available to buy now from Amazon and is currently £137, which is a 10% saving on the original £153 asking price. In the US, Amazon has this model listed as the Braun JB9041BK TriForce Power Blender with Smoothie2Go, which is listed for $199.24, down from its original price of $299.95.

Braun PowerBlend 9 review: What is it?

The Braun PowerBlend 9 is one of many blenders on the market and comes with 1600 Watts of power that revs right up to 45,000rpm, 10 speed settings along with a Pulse button and a neat triangular jug design. This is said by Braun to ensure there are no blind spots during blending, which should result in smoother and more consistent results.

If you’re fanatical about the quality of your blended juices and smoothies, it’s an interesting feature to look out for. The Braun PowerBlend 9 will also allow you to get the texture of your blends just to your liking thanks to the specific settings that come as part of the control interface.

Adding to the appeal is the design, which is great to look at, with a mixture of black plastic core components and a clear jug, with the usual measurements down the side. A click-on plastic lid keeps ingredients secure inside the blending chamber and there’s a decent length 100cm power cable. The blade is made from stainless-steel, so should deliver durable performance and last for a decent amount of time, as you’d expect from a Braun appliance.

However, the cable storage cubby hole at the back of the unit is a bit tricky to get the lead in and out of, although once you’ve done it, this is a compact blender that can be stored in a cupboard with ease. Dimensions-wise, the Braun PowerBlend 9 is 43cm high, 20cm wide and 26cm deep. Inside the box, I also found a decent printed manual, which is always handy when you’re starting out along with a durable plastic tamper for pushing ingredients down into the jug when needed.

Braun PowerBlend 9 review: Is it any good?

I tend to make quite a lot of pretty straightforward things with my other blender; think fruit smoothies and milkshakes. Therefore, the Braun PowerBlend 9 gives me more than I need on the feature front, which is mainly because of the texture settings. These allow me to tweak my blends, ranging from smooth at the finest point through to medium and onwards to coarse. The latter is ideal when I want a chunky fruit smoothie, but it’s also going to be good for hearty soups too.

In fact, aside from juice and smoothies, I tend to make soup more frequently than anything else, so it forms my initial benchmark for how good a blender is going to be. The Braun PowerBlend 9 is perfectly suited to anyone who likes the option of being able to alter the consistency of something like a soup. Of course, it’s possible to manually control the way a soup turns out, but I was keen to try the different coarseness settings to see if this made the soup-making process even more low-maintenance than usual.

Braun PowerBlend 9 review: Performance

Starting with soup, I found the Braun PowerBlend 9 very straightforward to work out. In fact, it’s possible to get on your way without the way of the manual although the power switch on the right side of the unit was easy to miss and initially left me thinking the Braun PowerBlend 9 wasn’t working. Duh.

Aside from that, dispensing with the manual is basically because the front-facing control options are self-explanatory, as is the rotating dial, all of which is lit in a rather fetching shade of green when you touch the relevant mode option. The jug is nicely designed too, with measurements on the side for anyone more particular about their soup mixes.

I tend to wing it and add my ingredients the same way I always do it, and in the case of the Braun PowerBlend 9 the results ended up being as good as I’d hoped for. I made a couple of different batches of soup, with a coarse one first followed by a smoother portion. The appliance was quite noisy when I cranked it up, but that’s no different to every other blender on the market.

But, it's definitely consistent with its results. I also like the design of the jug, which makes pouring out contents easy and less messy than some circular jug models I’ve tried. It’s an added bonus, put it that way.

Following up with a couple of milkshakes and a smoothie, I was left feeling very positive about the Braun PowerBlend 9. It does all of the usual things a blender is expected to do, but offers a nice twist on the theme. Naturally, the Braun PowerBlend 9 can handle crushing ice with aplomb too.

Braun PowerBlend 9 review: Verdict

Overall, I’d say the Braun PowerBlend 9 is one of my current favourite kitchen appliances. From start to finish, it’s a wonderfully easy thing to use, with virtually no setup and little in the way of cleaning to do at the end either. The design works well for the most part, although the cable stow area at the back was a faff when it came to getting the lead out and back in again.

Aside from that, the jug design is impressive and works well, while the range of settings is another good reason to buy a Braun PowerBlend 9. Best of all though are the coarseness settings. For me, as someone who makes a lot of soup to suit a variety of different palettes, this is perhaps the best thing about the Braun PowerBlend 9. I’d buy it for that alone, but it’s a powerful and versatile all-rounder for non-soup fans too.

Braun PowerBlend 9 review: Alternatives to consider

I'm smitten with this Braun model, but if you want similar quality and a cool design, look towards the Smeg BLC02WHMUK High Performance Blender, which is very good.

Similarly, if you’re a big fan of the Smeg brand, a great alternative is the full-sized blender option, the Smeg BLF01. Its 800W motor cuts through frozen food and ice admirably and its Tritan jug holds an impressive 1.5-litres. It also comes with a 600ml bottle for drinks on the move.

A similar portable option is the Nutribullet 600 Series. Both models are the best at making smoothies but the Nutribullet option is small, efficient and is about half the price of the Smeg PBF01 Personal Blender.