Customer Reviews Breville BBL550XL ikon Hemisphere™ Blender

We love this blender. It is nice looking, easy to clean and makes fantastic smoothies. It has some nice small features too, like the finger loop for removing the lid and a finger space in the plug for easy removal. There is cord storage in the bottom and I love the glass container. I researched blenders for weeks and read so many stories about them leaking etc. but this one has no such problems. It will leak if the bottom is not tightly closed, but that is not the problem of the machine, but the operator! I highly recommend this nicely priced model!

While this blender is more expensive as many others it is well worth. This is the best blender I've ever owned. The secret is obvious after each use take washer gasket out and clean it thoroughly.

I bought this to make smoothies and was very disappointed in its performance. Has a hard time chopping ice and frozen fruit. Clogged easily and no better than a very cheap brand. Looks good but that's all. Save your money. Sent it back pronto.

Love this blender! Quiet and smooth operation. I use it mostly for smoothies, and the smoothie button does it perfectly, handles ice cubes and frozen fruit with ease. Love the glass jar instead of plastic, it was a feature I was specifically looking for. I have had no problems with leaking or smells, quick wash of the blades/gasket and done. Just make sure the gasket is on the right way and tighten up well. I will update if I run into these problems in the future, but so far, so good. Very good!

About the leak people talk about, I did have the same problem but it was fixed just by taking bottom apart and redoing with just the right amount of tightening, Blender will not liquify like the big bucks blender (vitamix) when it will pour through a sieve you will feel particles. What I really like about it - it's pretty and fits under cabinets and made well and price. I didn't have the kind of money to buy Vita Mix.

I bought a refurbished one off of eBay. It was leaking at the base. I contacted Breville and they sent a new glass container full well knowing where I bought it from. I contacted them again when that jar was leaking. They seemed to understand the issue because they were so okay with sending out new jars. It must be an art rather than a science in getting those made (thinking like an engineer). But this last one did not leak and I have loved this blender ever since. It has taken every task I have given it. I forgot that at the center of a mango is a large seed. I put the whole mango in with other stuff, spinach, green beans, celery, etc. There were only a couple of peach-sized pieces of the seed left. So this did what the vitamix does and I paid a fraction of the cost. It has been over two years.

Performance is no better than any other consumer brand. It just looks better. Has a bad leaking problem and makes a real mess. A new seal is not available for this model.

I've had nothing but trouble with this blender. It's way too hard to disassemble and reattach. It takes me forever to put it back together where it doesn't leak and you have to be a weightlifter to screw it on and off. It looks great, but looks doesn't make it a good blender. Wish I could get my money back.