The world of juicers has grown a lot over time and while there are many excellent products on the market, there are also a lot of cheaper options that fall short of expectations. These cheap juicers often originate from China due to the low labour costs available there and typically mimic the style of other, successful brands. On paper, this would make them seem like a good budget option for budding juicing enthusiasts. However, this is rarely the case, as they don’t exactly have a reputation for being high performers. This has led to us hearing a lot of stories about people who started with a cheap Chinese juicer, only to buy a new, higher-quality juicer in a matter of months. So, what is it about these juicers that makes them so untrustworthy when compared to premium brands?
Poor Build Quality
The first big issue for these cheap juicers often shows up in how poorly they are constructed. Typically, a Chinese model will hijack the design of a successful product from another brand and seek to make tweaks that will cut down on manufacturing costs. As a result, the parts are never of particularly high quality and they always feel flimsy.
These manufacturing shortcuts frequently lead to a multitude of issues down the line, when you start using the juicer. In fact, the first common problem occurs before you even start juicing, with the assembly of the device. Often, even for a first-time user, assembling your juicer out of the box should take less than a minute and the parts should easily slide together. However, in our experience assembling cheap models never goes that smoothly and even experienced users can be stuck forcing parts into place for well over 10 minutes. This is due to the parts being shaped inconsistently, with a lot of rough burghs.
The issues don’t stop there though. The juicing components are often easily broken due to their poor build quality and cheap brands rarely offer replacement parts. This means that if the screen breaks, 9 out of 10 times the juicer will be rendered useless. The parts are also made of low quality plastics, purchased at the cheapest prices. Therefore, chemical leeching is something to be aware of, as you won’t find any BPA free materials in these juicers.
Fakes and Forgeries
Build quality isn't the only troubling area with cheap Chinese juicers. In fact, some situations have arisen where they are just dangerous, due to poorly constructed power cables and internal elements. If an electrical fault happens, then the device can catch fire or even explode, often causing serious damage. The worst part is that you’d never know, as these juicers are often provided with fake European safety certification that can be very tough to distinguish from the real deal. Really, it’s a shame that these Chinese manufacturers can’t replicate the juicers they aim to copy as well as they forge important documentation.
The Moral Issues
These cheap juicers are only able to be sold at such low prices due to the incredibly cheap labour costs in China. This in turn brings about a huge moral battle, as typically, these juicers will be produced by people who are: overworked, underfed and underpaid. This isn’t always true, but often the cheaper the juicer, the more likely this is the case. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the hardships faced by people in other countries, so try to always remember this before buying from China.
Chinese manufacturers also bring about a moral conflict in how they design their products. While this isn’t always the case, a lot of manufacturers will simply take another companies design and replicate it with some minor changes to avoid law suites. This gives the impression that their device will be similar to the real product and removes the need for them to carry out research in the development stage. In the eyes of some this is a heavy breach of the law, but unfortunately it can be very tough for the company that was copied to pin the blame on a copycat manufacturer.
The Power of Premium
We can’t fairly assess these cheap Chinese juicers without also taking an in depth look at their premium counterparts, and when it comes to premium juicers, Korea is the king. Many of the most famous juicing brands in the world originate from Korea and often companies spend their time chasing at the heels of Korean giants such as: Hurom, Omega and Kuvings. So, what separates these brands from the rest? Well, the easy place to start is with the quality of the products themselves. Premium juicers are always made with best materials and are designed to last for decades. They also use BPA free plastics in all components to ensure that no chemicals leech into the juice being made, a move that we could only dream to see in Chinese models.
Performance is also a big area for premium juicers and in all scenarios a cheaper device will lose very convincingly in a battle of juice yields. This is often due to the shortcuts taken in the manufacturing process, that cause the motor to turn too quickly and the augur to be inefficiently shaped. Current premium juicers however, will always have optimised designs for maximum juice extraction.
Premium manufacturers also provide much better support to their customers and distributors. This often comes in the form of a long warranty and a quick response rate for technical issues. Therefore, in the event of an unexpected motor failure, help can be provided and the juicer will be fixed without further expense.
Hurom H-AA vs Chinese Cheap Juicer
Recently we went in search of a cheap Chinese juicer so we could compare it to a premium juicer. This video covers all that we found out during our tests and is a good way to visualise some of the previously mentioned issues.
They Aren’t All Bad
Based on what we’ve said, it’s clear to see that we don’t rate cheap Chinese models highly. However, we must emphasise that not all Chinese brands are bad news. Some genuinely put effort into creating a useful product that has been developed with research and testing. So, before you rule out a brand be sure to do plenty of research about it on trusted websites. It’s also a good idea to check the warranty being offered, as often the longer this is, the better the product is. One Chinese brand that we recommend is Sage, a company that has become renowned for some of the best centrifugal juicers on the market.
We also strongly believe that having a juicer is better than not having one at all. So, if you’re on an incredibly tight budget, then a cheaper Chinese model will help to get you started with a juicing adventure of your own. Just be sure not to raise your expectations too high and take necessary safety precautions when using it.
Final Thoughts
Realistically, cheap Chinese juicers do have a place in this community, but it’s important to keep their flaws in mind. Typically, they tend to break easily and in some situations, they may even be unsafe, if they have fake safety certification. You also should consider your moral position with them, as many are produced by mistreated workers and have designs copied straight from other honest manufacturers. However, if you can look past that, then they are one of your options for an extremely budget juicer.