If you're looking to buy a new blender, Breville are certainly worth a look. Breville has made a reputation for themselves of having reliable, easy to use blenders, so especially if you're a rookie when it comes to making your own dips and smoothies (and cocktails), they can get you the results you're after.
In this article. we'll be reviewing the Breville Hemisphere Control Blender and seeing how it holds up to the rest of the competition, from Breville or from other brands. By the time we're done, you'll be an expert in blenders and have all the information you need to make the right choice whether that's the Hemisphere Control blender, another blender on this list, or something else altogether.
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What’s So Good About the Hemisphere Control Blender?
As we've already mentioned, Breville's blenders are incredibly beginner-friendly, and the reason for that is that their blenders tend to be very clearly labeled, and every function is self-explanatory. Their pitchers usually have measuring lines, and they usually measure their speed settings by purpose instead of just a number. So instead of just seeing 1 through 5 and being required to guess what speed is best for whatever it is you're making, you'll see a button labeled "liquify" and know that that's the best choice for making juice. The Hemisphere Control blender is no exception, and you'll be able to take just one look at it and know exactly how to use all of its features.
Important Feature #1: Easy to Use
This is why you came to Breville. The Hemisphere Control blender has five different speeds: snow, mix, blend, liquefy, and puree. "Snow" is best for crushing ice into a snowy consistency. "Mix" is best for mixing liquids into a sauce or dressing. "Liquify" is best for making juices from fruits or vegetables. And "puree" is best for turning solid ingredients into a sauce or dip.
In addition to these labeled speeds, the blender also has three premade settings: "Ice crush," "pulse," and "smoothie". The ice crush setting is, of course, best for crushing ice; the "pulse" setting will be useful for blending harder foods like nuts; and the "smoothie" setting will make the perfect refreshing smoothie.
To make things even easier, Breville designed the Hemisphere Control with an LCD screen that provides a counter for every setting. If you use one of the presets, the LCD timer will count down from sixty and then stop, and if you use one of the standard speeds, it will count up. Either way, you don't need to worry about knowing when to stop, and since it stops automatically, you won't have to babysit the blender while you're using it.
Important Feature #2: Physical Design
In addition to the clear labels on this blender, Breville does a great job of giving it a design that's easy to use for everyone. It comes with the signature Breville Assist Lid, which has a ring on the edge that makes it easy to pull off. The center of the lid can be removed so that you can add ingredients to your mixture while blending, which is very important for certain recipes. (I don't recommend trying this if your blender is turned up to a higher speed.)
The actual pitcher, which has measurement lines in both cups and milliliters, has a volume of 1.5 liters, or 6 cups. This is somewhere in the medium range and shouldn't be too small unless you're blending for a lot of people - or maybe if you like to do weekly meal prep. The upside is that it's more compact and won't take up half your kitchen. It also has a cord storage ring on the bottom of the base, so it will be easier to move around or even pack up.
On top of all of this is the hemisphere feature which gives this blender its name. A lot of blenders are shaped like a flat square at the bottom, but the Hemisphere Control Blender has a bowl design at the bottom, so that chunks of food will easily slide into the stainless steel blades, and you don't have to worry about food getting trapped in the corners. Everything is designed to make sure you spend as little time as possible blending and as much time as possible drinking.
Important Feature #3: The Blades and Motor
To go with the bowl design, the Hemisphere Control has two types of blades. In addition to the sharp, serrated blades that do most of the work, this Breville blender has a set of contoured stainless steel blades that hugs close to the pitcher and prevents those pesky food traps from keeping your ingredients out of the mixture.
And now we have the motor. It feels strange to include this last since the motor - in tandem with the stainless steel blades, of course - is what actually does the blending, but that shows how much there is to talk about with Breville blenders. This blender has an unassuming 750-watt motor compared to the 1100 watts of the Fresh and Furious, or the 1500 watts of the strongest Breville blender, The Boss. While this means that it packs a bit less of a punch, the different settings seem to make up for that, and the upside of a weaker motor is that this blender is as quiet as it gets. Go ahead and treat yourself to a smoothie at midnight; nobody will wake up from this nearly inaudible blender.
Pros and Cons
That might have been a lot of information to process. Here, we've broken it all down into a quick pros and cons list.
Pros
- Incredibly easy to use
- Well-designed to avoid food traps
- Whisper-quiet
Cons
- Motor is on the weaker side
- Older models are missing the auto-clean function of some other Breville products such as The Boss and the Fresh and Furious.
What Do the Reviews Say?
Reviews are overall pretty positive for this blender. Like with most blenders from Breville, reviewers tend to focus on the preset options and the labeled speeds, and of course on the bowl system. Some say that it's a bit expensive, and while it's worth the money, it might be better to go with a cheaper option if you won't be using the full range of features the Hemisphere Control offers.
How Does It Compare?
At this point, you know everything there is to know about the Hemisphere Control Blender, from its preset settings, to its labeled pitcher and speed settings, to the quietness of its motor. But it still might not be what you're looking for, or you may just want to scout out the competition.
In this next section, we pit the Hemisphere Control against some of the leading competition - both from Breville and from other brands - in a way that highlights the pros and cons of both products so that you can make the best decision for your needs.
vs Vitamix 5200
I'll say it right off the bat: The Vitamix 5200 is the better blender when it comes to the main task...blending. Plus, at 2 liters, its pitcher is 25% bigger than the pitcher of this Breville blender. So if those are the features you're concerned with, the Vitamix is definitely the blender for you.
All of that being said, there are plenty of reasons to stick with the Breville blender. The Vitamix is missing the clear labeling system that Breville has, and you're also missing out on the presets of the Hemisphere Control blender. On top of that, the Vitamix 5200 has a price that falls in a much higher price range, so unless you absolutely need this blender and have the money to pay for it, I'd definitely stick with the Hemisphere Control. The Vitamix's motor is so strong that it can actually generate enough friction to heat up your liquids at its top speed. This blender is not messing around.
vs Breville Fresh and Furious
Here I'm happy to make a clear recommendation: The Fresh & Furious is better. It's more affordable and it comes with 5 preset functions. Most other features are the same. Nuff said.
vs Breville The Boss
The Boss is Breville's answer to Vitamix, a brand that focuses on bigger blenders for customers who are more sure that they want the best (and most expensive) blender available. The Boss, however, has the same Breville features that make the Hemisphere Control so easy to use, so if that's a big selling point for you, there's more to talk about.
While it doesn't reach the insane speeds of the Vitamix, The Boss has the same 2-liter pitcher, and it comes with a motor that puts out 1500 watts, which is double the Hemisphere Control. It also costs about $370. So while it's cheaper than the Vitamix by a solid margin, it's far more expensive than the Hemisphere Control. If you want the Hemisphere Control on steroids and you're willing to pay for it, then The Boss is what you're looking for.
vs Ninja Professional Blender
Once again, the Hemisphere Control Blender is the physical underdog of the matchup. That says something about the Breville blender, but in this case, it mostly points to how massive the Ninja Professional blender is. This blender comes in at a whopping 72 oz., or more than two liters, bigger than both the Vitamix and Breville's The Boss.
If you want to host a party and show off your new smoothie or cocktail recipe, you have to buy the Ninja Professional blender. That being said, compared to its size, the Ninja blender has a pretty weak motor of 1100 watts, so you may see a dip in performance if you use all two-liters-and-change that the pitcher offers.
The Ninja is lacking the presets and labeled speeds of the Hemisphere Control blender and only has three-speed settings total, so that's another hit to the Ninja product. However, despite being bigger, and more powerful, the Ninja Professional Blender is actually cheaper than the Hemisphere Professional blender.
The size could be a pro or a con because, while it means more drinks, it also means one more appliance to find room for. If you don't mind the clutter or want the bigger pitcher, this is probably the blender for you, especially considering its price. If you want the simpler and more versatile option, plus the bowl design, then you should go with the Hemisphere Control blender.
vs Calphalon Blender
Calphalon blenders like their AutoSpeed model have similar motor speeds and jar sizes to Breville's hemisphere control and Fresh & Furious models, but they're cheaper. Should you just get a Calphalon then? You'd be well justified!
The only thing you miss are the presets of Breville blenders, in particular, the auto-clean function which doesn't come on a Calphalon. If you don't need that "walk away" convenience, Calphalon is a good money-saving choice.
Verdict
As a quick summary, we'll recap what you might like or dislike about the Hemisphere Control blender, and what other choices might be better for you.
The Hemisphere Control Blender gives you an intuitive design that you'll be able to use right away, has a circular bottom that keeps food from getting stuck in the corners, is very versatile, and is quiet on top of all that. It costs about $200.
If the Hemisphere Control is too small for you, but you want to stick with the Breville design, then you'll want to go with The Boss. It's more or less the Hemisphere Control but much bigger. Or if you're not attached to Breville, then you might want the Vitamix, which is very expensive but packs the biggest punch.
If you put either size or price above everything, then the massive Ninja Professional blender, which has a volume of over 2 liters and costs just a bit over $100, is the best choice for you.
Once everything is said and done, deciding which blender is best for you will mostly come to a tradeoff. Breville's Hemisphere Control blender is smaller than the other products in this article, but it's also cheaper than The Boss and the Vitamix 5200, and probably quieter due to its smaller motor. The choice is yours, and we hope this review helps make that decision easier.
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