KitchenAid Artisan Mini Stand Mixer Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

KitchenAid

As if bakers ’round the world didn’t already covet KitchenAid’s array of colorful stand mixers, the company is making it even harder to resist with its new Artisan Mini line.

Available in the US this summer for $400 and elsewhere later this year — that translates to roughly £280 in the UK and AU$540 in Australia at the current exchange rate — Artisan Mini’s are cute 3.5-quart versions of KitchenAid’s classic mixers.

It’s worth noting here that KitchenAid hasn’t downsized its iconic stand mixers since 1962, so this update is pretty significant. The new dimensions make the Artisan Mini “suited for limited counter space and ‘smaller batch’ lifestyles,” the company said in a release. Millennials and city dwellers, that means you.

Its existing models, some of which have been around for over 50 years, include mixers that range in price from $350 to over $1,000 — with sizes from 4.5 quarts up to 8 quarts. That makes the new Artisan Mini’s the smallest KitchenAid stand mixers, but not the cheapest. And cheap isn’t exactly a fair word to use when we’re talking about a single, nonessential kitchen appliance that costs 400 bucks.

There are literally top freezer refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines that cost less than that.

Other cool kitchen stuff:

• This machine promises to cook it all — and with Wi-Fi, too
• Nespresso’s smart coffee maker brews java over Bluetooth
• The kitchen catches up to the rest of the CNET Smart Home

Price aside, KitchenAid’s mixers have become something of a status symbol in the American home, a design piece that’s both functional and beautiful. And the fact that, as with earlier models, the Artisan Mini mixer comes in every color of the rainbow means there’s bound to be one to suit your kitchen decor.

We expect to see KitchenAid’s Artisan Mini mixers on display at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago this weekend, so stay tuned for hands-on pictures and video.