Since its launch in 2015, the Cook Expert by Magimix has not undergone a major revolution. However, the robot-cooker of the French manufacturer is available in several references. How to choose the best device within this range?
Launched in 2015, the very first version of the Magimix Cook Expert is still available in the French manufacturer’s catalog. In seven years, its launch price of €1,200 has dropped very little and there have been few times when we have found this robot-cooker below the €1,000 mark; it’s been barely six months that we can find it around 890 € on merchant sites.
In 2019, Magimix integrated Bluetooth connectivity into its multifunction food processor. All Cook Experts present on the market since the launch could accommodate a USB key in the engine block, allowing the device to be assigned the properties of Bluetooth connectivity. This allows you to control the robot-cooker from a mobile application as well as the scale (which arrived at the same time as the connectivity) that you just slide under the engine block to weigh the ingredients in the bowl. The display of the weighing is done directly on the screen of the smartphone, we have known more practical. This is where the Cook Expert Connect was born, launched at €1299.
To continue its momentum, Magimix has drawn its Cook Expert Premium XL. As its name suggests, this robot cooker gains a bowl with a larger capacity than that of its elders (4.8 l against 3.5 l), its motor is also more powerful and goes from 1700 W to 1800 W This robot does not come automatically with the Bluetooth connection kit but it can however accommodate it if the user wishes to obtain it alongside. Inevitably, these developments are minted and the growing Magimix Cook Expert, its price swells with it: it goes to 1400 €.
Finally, the latest version of the range is the Cook Expert XL Connect, which is none other than a Cook Expert Premium XL delivered with the connection kit (USB key + scale to slide under the engine block). Its price therefore reaches 1500 €, and it is the most expensive food processor on the market.
Four models, but always a single reference
There is no need to procrastinate too long: despite all these variations, the first generation Cook Expert, currently under the 900 € mark, remains the best reference within the range. Certainly, its bowl is smaller than that of the XL versions but it is enough to treat up to six people. As for the features related to connectivity, in our opinion, they remain very superficial. The fact of deporting the screen of the robot-cooker on the smartphone is of very little interest, on the contrary, it complicates the use that one can have of his device. Multiply the devices in the kitchen is never really practical, nor very hygienic in the case of a smartphone. As for the scale (optional and connected), it only makes sense if it is truly integrated into the food processor, as is the case with the Thermomix TM6 from Vorwerk, the Cookit from Bosch or more recently, the Moulinex i-Companion Touch Pro XL. The display of the weight on the smartphone is hardly obvious and we could fully be satisfied with the small kitchen scale (not connected) delivered with the original Cook Expert.
All the developments made by the French manufacturer on its robot-cooker seem far too timid to us to justify a price increase. Magimix wanted to bring little bits of answers to its ever-increasing number of competitors in an often competitive market, but never created a surprise. This does not detract from the intrinsic qualities of the Cook Expert, which is a French-made product that is felt in use. The materials are impeccable, do not move over time, the mixing is perfect, the cooking is precise and homogeneous and the recipes (accessible from the book provided and not integrated into the robot) are clear and tasty.