Breville Blend Active ColourMix family blender review

Cons:

● Needs storage space for four cups

Star rating: 4/5

Available from Argos (£39.99)

Read our round-up of the best smoothie blenders.

Convenient, easy-to-clean and packaged with an array of smoothie bottles and lids for all the family, the Breville Blend Active ColourMix is one of the most approachable and user-friendly smoothie-makers we’ve come across. Setting up the Blend Active ColourMix is very easy – simply choose one of the four cups included with the machine (two are 600ml, the other two are 300ml), then attach the blade array and slot the blade attachment into the base unit. Once that’s done, twist the cup clockwise until it locks into place, then press the blend button.

We appreciate the simple mechanics of pressing a button to activate the appliance, as this allows for easier control than is the case with other smoothie-makers that activate as soon as the blades and cup are locked into the base. The instruction manual offers clear, concise instructions on how to use the smoothie-maker (interspersed with long, dense safety warnings). The diagrams included make obvious how the appliance should be used, and there are some recipes to get you started – we were quite taken with the Super Thick Berry smoothie.

In terms of noise while operating, this smoothie-maker is middle-of-the-road. We can’t imagine many customers complaining about it, but nor would we recommend this smoothie-maker to someone who wants a really quiet appliance. The base unit is neat and easy to store, with a very small footprint and storage for the power cable within its base. Its design is contemporary and colourful, and it would look right at home in a family kitchen. However, the inclusion of four drinks bottles means you’ll need extra storage space.

While this smoothie-maker doesn’t have a wealth of features, the selection of drinks bottles, with their brightly-coloured sports lids, are a family-friendly selling point. The cups are lightweight, but feel well made. They didn’t leak at all during testing, and the thick plastic of the lids is nicer to drink from than some other sports caps we’ve tested.

We found this smoothie-maker particularly easy to clean as well. Its simple, clean-edged components don’t allow dirt or smoothie residue many places to hide. It blends well, too. In our testing, it achieved a great quality of smoothie in under 30 seconds, with a variety of ingredients blended evenly. The Blend Active comes lightly and reasonably packaged, too, in recyclable materials.

Available from Argos (£39.99)

Breville Blend Active specifications:
Power: 300W
Blend capacity: 600ml
Blade type: 4-blade array
Weight: 2.14 kg

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This review was last updated in June 2020. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.