This is the nicest hand mixer I have ever used. It looks great and feels solid and balanced.  It is noticeably less loud than other mixers, especially when you use the coated beaters (great feature!) Additional features that I like are the way the cord can be moved out of the way and locked into place and that it will stand nicely on its end.  I used this mixer for a variety of recipes and it performed great. I finally found its limit when I tried making meringues. It frothed eggs no problem but couldn't quite get a double batch of the egg and sugar mixture to form stiff peaks. It's possible I didn't mix long enough but the mixer's impressive weight was in this case a disadvantage. This mixer is too heavy if you are mixing for a long time. I won't be giving up my stand mixer, but I willbe using it less!