Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was excited to receive this blender after much research. I enjoy making smoothies and this unit had favorable reviews. As I first put it together I noticed that three of the six plastic gears on the bottom of the blade assembly seemed particularly thinly spoked. I recalled the one review in which the owner mentioned that two of his six spokes had broken off. I pushed forward hoping that the Braun engineers knew what they were doing. Unfortunately, after maybe 10 smoothies and nothing else, I went to reassemble the blade assembly and notice one of the larger three spokes had broken off! I looked at the base unit and sure enough the small plastic piece was sitting next to the drive gear. How long will it be before one of the small ones breaks off? Otherwise, the blender is perfectly nice. Unfortunately, this design flaw is critical and I wouldn't expect any of these blenders to last more than a year or two. They need to beef up their blade assembly. Mine is going back. Save yourself the hassel, keep looking...