"We love our Breville 550XL. My husband and I bought it about 3 years ago and use it several times a week for our breakfast of blended apples, for fruit smoothies with the occasional veggie thrown in, for pureeing steamed vegetables, and for blending liquid ingredients for baking. We have had a few instances of leakage, as others have mentioned, but learned to make sure the gasket was placed correctly and then tightened the blade assembly. We regularly remove and dissemble the blade assembly for cleaning (most parts get tossed into the dishwasher for very easy cleaning).

This week, my husband attempted to add some tough greens to our morning smoothie, resulting in some melting of the black rubber seal under the blades. We didn't want to try using the blender again because we didn't want to eat little bits of black rubber, so I came here to the website to see if I could order a replacement part. To my delight, the replacement blade assembly is only $15! I just ordered one, and now we look forward to extending the life of the best blender we've ever owned.

I should mention that we have had one other minor problem with the blender, but we've managed to work around it. The pitcher fits onto the base with a kind of tongue-and-groove configuration. Two of the plastic "tongues" on the inside of the bottom of the pitcher broke off within our first few months of using the blender. The only problem this causes is that the blender now only works when the pitcher handle is on the left side, not when it is on the right. That's not really a problem now, as long as more "tongues" don't break.
"

"I like this blender. The best ever. I purchased it back on October 2010; a year ago and working great. I use it everyday; sometimes twice a day. My son loves the smoothies and shakes. Even just to have apple juice with crush ice... amazing delicious. I have done all the recipes from the book and have created my own.
It is easy to clean. If you don't clean your blender, it will smell. You must follow cleaning instructions, it is not a big deal."

"I bought this blender on November 20, 2010, by recommendation from Macy's store clerk. I thought it was pretty expensive for a blender until I saw the smoothie and ice crushing speed buttons and I was sold. It was REAlly Great! It makes Great Smoothies! In three months time it began to smell, I thought it was the motor since it was barely new, but now it's a real foul odor that I cannot wash away. After reading the reviews I see my next step is to take it apart and wash the blades and clean the gasket, and pray that it doesn't leak when I put it back together, (providing I can get it apart). To be continued...

lynette"

"We received this blender as a gift from our wedding registry. At first, it seemed ok for typical smoothies and mixed drinks, though it wasn't as efficient as our old rinky-dink blender.

The big problems started when we tried to clean the thing because a nasty smell emerged. However, it's impossible to disassemble! The directions clearly indicate how to remove the bottom part, but you need superhuman hand strength to pull this off. Worse piece of garbage ever. The problem with these super fancy products is that they forget the little things, such as maintenance!

Never buy from Breville. I plan to tell everyone I know in NY!"

"Like others have commented, this blender has rubber/plastic parts that disintegrate and end up in your food. I called and they said it was the blade assembly which was out of warranty. My problem is that they have known that this product is dangerous for some time and therefore should have offered to replace my blade assembly when I called.
I purchased this product from Macy's. Tomorrow I will go to Macy's and tell them how disappointed I am with them and you"

"I like the bowl/blade design and think that, given a more powerful motor, it could be a suitable all purpose blender. Sadly, this is not the blender for making green smoothies. It stalled on my first attempt to blend a number of raw fruits and vegetables in a liquid base.

I was able to buy this for half the suggested retail price and will pass it along to a family member once I am established in my new house and can purchase a VitaMix or Blendtec, both of which have more than twice the power and much longer warranties. Of course, one can expect to pay more than twice as much when buying either.

I'm not knocking the Ikon Hemisphere. I'm simply saying that it is not the blender for my needs."

"I bought this blender a few months back.. I had previously been a repeat offender of buying blenders under $40 for many years. However, I had the opportunity to upgrade and wasn't quite ready to make the leap to $400 territory.. and the Breville fit the bill perfectly in comparison. What a pleasant surprise it was to blend with this unit for the first time. I couldn't believe how much quieter this is than any blender I had ever used before. I've since used it for green shakes, standard smoothies and even to blend some sauces and its smooth as silk and quiet. I like how you can push a button and the cycle is timed so I dont have to watch it blend or worry about walking away to get the phone. It runs its cycle and is ready for me. I find cleaning it is pretty straightforward. I think for the price, power and quiet motor.. you can't go wrong."

"I have had my Breville blender for 2 months - it has outlasted every other blender I have ever bought. It blends fantastically. I do get occasional leakage, but I find that it's usually because I didn't tighten the bottom enough, and it's just a bit of dripping. I love love love it. It was worth every penny and I will be buying more appliances from Breville. "

"We have used our Breville Ikon Hemisphere Blender for over 6 mos. We make multiple frozen smoothies in one day and it has lasted. Prior to purchasing this, we burnt out 3 or 4 standard blenders from other manufacturers in a month or less.

We would purchase one again!"

"After having an inefficient and ear-splitting Cuisinart for a few years, this blender was a joy from the beginning. It happily crunched ice and made high protein smoothies for me during my treatment of chemotherapy. My daughter has been using hers practically daily from the time we gave it to her two years ago and she is now making baby food.
The downside to my experience is that when I gently placed the glass container upside down on my granite counter-top, the spout went "snick" and fell apart. I was able to smooth the sharp edges and continue using it. A few weeks ago, it started to leak intermittently and we discovered it is a problem with the rubber gasket not staying on straight. Perhaps we also need a new one. Then, for no apparent reason, my blender did not work this week. It simply did not turn on. I have come to the Breville online site to see how my blender can be repaired. I simply cannot consider buying another brand."