I’ve been using a mega-expensive juicer for a month. How does it compare to my Nutribullet?

In the UK, it’s estimated we spend around half a billion pounds on juice per year. That’s a lot of fruit and veg, and it also takes a sizeable chunk out of my weekly shopping budget. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, I’m finding it hard to justify spending $5/£4 on a litre of orange juice for the home. Instead, I’ve turned to my Nutribullet for my fresh juices.

But while I forego the luxury of buying shop-bought orange juice, others may not have the same problem. And by others, I of course mean rich people, who don’t have the same problem as I. But just because something is expensive, does it mean it’s better? To answer that question, I tested out the Sana 929 Ultimate Juicer, which will set you back a cool $1880/£1500.

I tested the Sana 929 Ultimate Juicer next to my trusted Nutribullet, which has kept me in vitamin C for a few years now. Easy to use and affordable, the Nutribullet is perhaps the most well-known juicer on the market. Juicer enthusiasts may argue the Nutribullet is not a juicer, and they’d be right. But it’s a pretty cost effective way of getting your vitamins. But at this price, the Sana 929 juicer needs to deliver perfect juice to justify its price point. So, does it?

Design & usability

At around 8kg, the Sana 929 Ultimate juicer is certainly a sturdy beast. That’ll be down to it being made entirely from stainless steel, from the drum and augur all the way down to the screens. It’s as shiny as a recently buffed suit of armour and weighty enough to knock out a horse.

At first, it’s a little awkward to assemble, but after a few tries I’m able to deconstruct this bad boy like it’s my own personal army rifle. This makes deep cleaning a simple task. It’s reassuring to know that every nook and cranny in this machine won’t collect rotting fruit residue and miscellaneous gunk.

The Sana juicer pulverises my fruits and veg with four speeds between between 40-120 RPM. I found the lower speed is ideal for soft fruits and veg, like bananas and grapes. Up the speed, and everything from spinach to sweet potatoes are whisked into a smooth liquid.

It separates the nutrient rich juice from what I would call ‘earthy gunk’, which collects as a brown-ish liquid in a tumblr below the juicer. This is supposed to happen, and is a process called ‘homogenisation’, which creates superfine liquids and disperses more solid materials from liquid. In translation, it’s supposed to keep the good stuff in and force the bad stuff out.

This is something my Nutribullet doesn’t do. Nor can it extract oil from nuts and seeds. The Sana 929 Ultimate Juicer can do both of these things, albeit with an additional charge of $250/£200 for a specialist ‘oil extractor’.

Taste test

For both the Nutribullet and the Sana 929 juicer, I used the exact same ingredients to the same measurements. That would be several carrots, two blood oranges, a banana and some ginger. Did I follow a recipe? Not at all, but it was solely inspired by what I had in my fridge at the time.

The Sana 929 juicer made light work of my carrots, and it pulverised my oranges into a fine liquid. I never realised how little juice one can obtain from a banana until I actually tried, which comes out of the Sana 929 as a mushy paste. That’s the banana’s fault, rather than the juicer though. I get little yield from the ginger, which mostly gets stuck within the mechanism. Overall though, I’m left with a refreshing, juice bar worthy glass of vegetable liquid.

How does the Nutribullet compare? For one, the Nutribullet squeeze out the juice from your fruit and vegetables. Rather, it purees whatever you put in, so is more of a smoothie maker than a juicer. Still, for ease of use, it’s hard to beat the Nutribullet, but there’s a marked taste difference between it and the Sana 929. Where the Sana 929 makes café grade juice from home, the Nutribullet blitzes my fruit and veg into a thick, blobby organism. When it comes to the taste test, there’s a clear winner. That would be the Sana 929.

Verdict

It’s pretty difficult to determine the nutritional value I’m getting from each juicer’s, erm, juice. With more time, I may notice the tangible difference of high cost juicing. I could feel more energised, more alert, more…alive. For ease, the Nutribullet is hard to beat. I bung in all my fruits and veg and blitz, but the overall quality leaves a lot to be desired. The Nutribullet isn’t a juicer though, so it can’t be punished for that.

If you’re looking for fresh, tasty and nutritious homemade juice, then the Sana 929 is the clear winner. However, is it worth the cost? For me, the Sana 929 juicer isn’t worth the squeeze.