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Best Nespresso machines at a glance
- Best Nespresso machine for milky coffee: Nespresso Lattissima One by De’Longhi, £199
- Best Nespresso machine for quality espresso: Nespresso Vertuo Pop, £58.95
- Best blowout Nespresso machine: Nespresso Vertuo Creatista by Sage, £529
- Best mid-range Nespresso: Nespresso Vertuo Lattissima, £322.98
- Best Nespresso machine for drink versatility: Nespresso Vertuo Next, £95.03
- Best Nespresso for speedy coffee: Nespresso Creatista Pro by Sage, £499.95
- Best sleek Nespresso machine: Nespresso Creatista Plus by Sage, £299.95
- Best Nespresso for easy use: Nespresso Vertuo Plus, £88.95
Best Nespresso machines to buy in 2024
Nespresso Lattissima One by De’Longhi
Best Nespresso machine for milky coffee
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Star rating: 5/5
With a compact footprint, sleek look and ability to froth milk, this Nespresso machine impressed us on test. It’s a collaboration between coffee machine giants Nespresso and De’Longhi with lots of built-in useful features like an adjustable espresso tray to accommodate tall and short mugs.
This machine is great for milky coffees like cappuccinos and macchiatos. The milk system dismantles easily and is dishwasher safe, making clean up a breeze.
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Nespresso Vertuo Pop
Best Nespresso machine for quality espresso
Star rating: 4.5/5
At the more affordable end of Nespresso’s range, this compact machine could work well if you’re limited on kitchen space or on a budget. It’s available in a range of bright colours including Pacific Blue and Mango Yellow with the rounded design typical of the brand’s Vertuo models.
There’s a single button so it’s very straightforward to use, with your choice of drink being dictated by the pod you’ve chosen rather than needing to be manually selected on the machine. We found the lever to insert and remove pods a little stiff, but otherwise this is a fuss-free machine which produces high quality coffee in a selection of sizes thanks to the Vertuo pods.
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Nespresso Vertuo Creatista by Sage
Best blowout Nespresso machine
Star rating: 4.5/5
A collaboration between Nespresso and Sage, this machine is for use with Nespresso’s Vertuo pods which offer a selection of drink sizes. With an RRP of £649 there’s no getting around that this is pricey, but for your money you get a sleek, versatile machine which produces great-tasting coffee in a matter of minutes.
The look is reminiscent of Sage’s larger machines with stainless steel as the main material. It comes with an automatic steaming wand that can be programmed depending on your preference of microfoam texture. On test, the espresso we produced was rich and dark with a thick, bubbly crema.
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Nespresso Vertuo Lattissima
Best mid-range Nespresso
Star rating: 4.5/5
The Vertuo Lattissima is the latest release from Nespresso and is similar in design to the Vertuo Next and Vertuo Pop. It is a pretty expensive machine, but it comes with a steaming wand, which gives you lots of flexibility when it comes to drinks. The Vertuo pods mean you can enjoy a huge versatility in drink size, from an espresso to a carafe.
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Nespresso Vertuo Next
Best Nespresso machine for drink versatility
Star rating: 4.5/5
When it comes to coffee technology, the Nespresso Vertuo Next machine is impressively sophisticated. It has a single button, but can prepare five different-sized drinks (espresso, double espresso, gran lungo, mug and alto) and this is because each UFO-domed coffee pod has a barcode on its underside. The machine reads the pod, recognises the selection and sets about brewing it. Available in six colours, it’s also WiFi-enabled and Bluetooth-compatible.
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Nespresso Creatista Pro by Sage
Best Nespresso for speedy coffee
Star rating: 4/5
This coffee pod machine has an intuitive touchscreen, making it an easy piece of kit to use. It has features you wouldn’t usually expect on a coffee pod machine, like an adjustable drip tray and automatic steaming wand, which reflect both Sage’s high quality and the price of this model.
We liked that on automatic settings this model brews coffee and froths milk simultaneously, whereas with most models you need to insert a pod to brew the coffee first, then move on to frothing the milk. This makes it ideal when you’re in a hurry.
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Nespresso Creatista Plus by Sage
Best sleek Nespresso machine
Star rating: 4/5
With an RRP of just under £500, this is Sage’s most affordable coffee pod machine, but it still has a comprehensive range of features.
The machine has one of the most compact footprints in Sage’s range, making it a good choice if you have limited counter space. On test, we were impressed with how neat it was to use — we simply inserted our pod and selected the drink type we wanted. Once finished, the pod automatically goes into an easy-to-clean drawer, plus the removable drip tray is really easy to empty and clean.
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Nespresso Vertuo Plus
Best Nespresso for easy use
Star rating: 4/5
Also part of the Vertuo collection, this model uses centrifugal force to spin the domed caps during extraction, thus creating an iconic crema. We liked the simple styling of the Vertuo Plus, which carries statement flair in a more understated design than the Vertuo Next. Its chrome lever automatically lifts and closes the domed pod holder. Plus the water tank position is adjustable, to help fit around your countertop space.
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How to recycle Nespresso coffee pods in the UK
If you’ve got a Nespresso machine, you’re likely to get through several pods per day, and it’s important to take sustainability into account. Nespresso pods are recyclable, however this isn’t possible through normal bin collections so you’ll need to be organised to make sure they don’t go to landfill.
Nespresso has a scheme where you can order a free bag for recycling your pods online or pick one up in store. Once the bag is full you can arrange for it to be collected or drop it off with a number of services. The pods are then take to a reprocessing plant in the UK where the aluminium and coffee grounds are separated and recycled.
Discover more about how to recycle Nespresso pods. If you’re interested in more sustainable options, our friends at olive magazine have a helpful guide to the best eco-friendly coffee pods.
How to clean a Nespresso machine
Keeping your coffee machine clean is key not only to great tasting coffee, but also preserving the condition of your machine to extend its life. Cleaning your Nespresso machine will differ slightly depending on the model you’ve got, but your user manual should have everything you need, or there are detailed guides on the Nespresso website.
The most important areas to think about when cleaning are the milk system and descaling the water system. If your machine has a steaming wand and compartment for milk, these need to be cleaned regularly and thoroughly by purging the wand with steam and hand washing the milk system.
Depending on the water hardness where you live, you’ll need to descale your coffee machine every six to 12 months. You can buy descaling kits which make this a breeze.
How we tested Nespresso machines
We tested Nespresso machines against a set of criteria to determine a fair and balanced star rating. These criteria include ease of use, design, functionality, quality of coffee and sustainability. In 2024, we’re taking a tougher stance on packaging as part of our test for sustainability. This means that some more recently tested appliances have scored lower than they would have because of a large amount of plastic or polystyrene packaging.
We always test coffee pod machines on making coffee shop essentials espresso, double espresso and cappuccino. This not only allows us to fairly compare between models, but also to test the different functions of the machine, for example if it has a milk steaming wand.
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