Millo blender uses magnetic power to blend quietly
Introducing the Millo, your personal magnet-powered smoothie maker.
The Millo, retailing at $637 (£499 in the UK, approximately AU$840 in Australia) is marketed as a smart, ultraportable battery-powered machine that can create single servings of blended food wherever you are, or go. The Millo supposedly mixes rather quietly, due to its unconventional motor and blade system that use magnets to spin. As it has fewer parts, the Millo should make less of a mess, and be easier to clean. Additionally, the blending jar is both dishwasher safe and hand washable.
Using magnets to blend
We all know how loud blenders can be. These machines typically allow a lot of motor power to escape in the form of heat, vibration, and noise. This is apparently no longer the case with the Millo. In design, it is more sleek maglev bullet train compared to traditional blenders that are closer to rickety subway cars.
A staple of blenders, the common interlocking mechanical gear design, is not present in the Millo. Instead, it uses magnets to transfer friction-free rotational force to its blades. This results in a more efficient drivetrain, and this should lead to Millo wasting less energy.
The Millo’s engineers have called this system the “air drive” as the mechanism utilizes a brushless electric motor paired with a magnetic coupler. The primary moving parts (stator and rotor) don’t physically connect, instead siting with an air gap between them. The Millo’s cup (inverted on the blender base) is held in place with magnetic force, exerting torque on the blade array whilst not actually touching it.
Smoothies, but ultraportable
This device was envisioned blending drinks not just for the road, but even on the road. The Millo’s onboard rechargeable battery has enough juice for ten blends on a single charge. If you have an AC outlet available, it will also happily run off wall power as well.
App and Touch control
In an interesting twist, there’s no screen or display on the Millo. Alternatively, owners of the Millo can control the blender through it’s Bluetooth connection – that is, via their phones & the mobile app. The app provides access to multiple blend recipes, and allows you to create your own too.
Don’t have your handset handy? The top of Millo’s disc-shaped base works as a touch control. The ring of multicolored LEDs here change their glowing hue to indicate the blender’s current status
Availability and Outlook
At full retail price, the Millo blender is a tad steep at $637 (£499 UK, ~AU$480 Australia) but for those who backed the project on Kickstarter, they can reserve a unit for $382 (£200, $501 ASD). The first production run (1,000 machines in all) is expected to ship by March 2018.
Having said all that, I’m skeptical of Millo’s chances for success. This is a common feeling I have for crowdfunded gadgets, and especially so for one so expensive. The Coolest Cooler and Arist coffee maker have already proven how hard it is to bring products to life.
Take into account that other appliances, such as the Hamilton Beach Stay or Go, will also whip up individual portions, but cost as little as $40. No, they’re not pretty, and will be noisy, but they function perfectly fine. Feel like splurging? The Nutri Ninja is only $90. Again, small and loud, but it will blend with the power of a Blendtec or Vitamix machine. For most, I imagine this will fit the bill just fine.
