An expensive wi-fi-connected juicer called Juicero — from a much buzzed-over startup that's backed to the tune of $120 million by GV/Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers — apparently needs no wi-fi connection to produce juice from its proprietary packets. The device, which has been compared to Keurig K-cup machines, but like, for juice, can be circumvented entirely as Bloomberg discovered when it squeezed Juicero packets by hand into cups for a similar result.

Juicero sells those packets for $5 to $8 to Juicero hardware owners only. For the record, the wi-fi-enabled part is to "read" the packets and squeeze them differently according to their ingredients or whatever. On Tuesday, the company began shipping packets to 17 states — previously, it only shipped packs to three. And Juicero's main squeezing device costs $400 — a steal considering that was dropped from an initial price of $700. Bloomberg's tests seem to say you can save further by skipping the $400 payment altogether.

"Bloomberg performed its own press test, pitting a Juicero machine against a reporter’s grip," the publication writes. "The experiment found that squeezing the bag yields nearly the same amount of juice just as quickly—and in some cases, faster—than using the device." Specifically, "In Bloomberg’s squeeze tests, hands did the job quicker, but the device was slightly more thorough. Reporters were able to wring 7.5 ounces of juice in a minute and a half. The machine yielded 8 ounces in about two minutes."

David Krane, a partner at Google Ventures, said a few years ago that the Juicero was "the most complicated business that I’ve ever funded... It’s software. It’s consumer electronics. It’s produce and packaging.” And it sounds like it doesn't really have to be all those things!

"There is no doubt the packs can be squeezed without the machine,” Juicero investor Doug Chertok told Bloomberg. “I’m still a huge fan... I have no doubt that they’ll be very successful.”

Just making sure that everyone knows this, but, if you have teeth and a jaw and are capable of chewing, you can also eat fruits and vegetables in their healthier, raw, non-juiced form. But of course, you wouldn't have to pay extra for that, and for people who might invest in $700 juicers, where's the fun in that?

Previously: Good News, Plebs: Ridiculous $700 Wi-Fi Enabled Juicer Now Just $400!