What it's like to use the $400 juicer that people are freaking out about

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Juicero

Screenshot

It's already being called "Juicegate".

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On Wednesday, Bloomberg broke the news that the high-end juicer backed by Silicon Valley's elite venture capitalists wasn't even needed to squeeze out the juice.

When it was launched a year ago, the $700 machine touted the tons of force it generated to squeeze out every last drop of juice from the fresh fruits and vegetables.

Bloomberg found that hand-squeezing the packets yielded nearly the same result.

Now, Juicero is on the defensive and is arguing that it's juicer (whose price was previously cut to $400) is needed because "the value of Juicero is more than a glass of cold-pressed juice. Much more," says its CEO Jeff Dunn.

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To Juicero, the value of the company is its connected juice press that can tell you when the juice is about to expire and saves you the two minutes of packet squeezing. Anyone who thinks otherwise can now return their press for a full refund, Dunn says.

When Business Insider's Alyson Shontell tried the Juicero machine (pre-Juicegate) in April 2016, she found herself saying "Oh my God," as she put down her first glass of Juicero-pressed juice.

Whether a $400 juicer is worth saving two minutes of hand-squeezing is a question you'll have to decide, but here's what it was like to use the Juicero machine when Business Insider first visited last April.