The E8 was also fairly quiet. Super automatic machines can make a lot of noise (they’re working hard!), but the decibel level of the grinding and brewing in the Jura was on the low side. We think the Jura E8 is a great machine and recommend it, especially if you aren’t an iced coffee person. Ultimately we chose the Delonghi Eletta Explore instead because it could just do a bit more and it had a lower price tag. We should note that there are Juras that can do everything the Delonghi can and more. They just come with price tags close to $4,000—and that was higher than we were ready to consider for this review.
Miele CM5310 Silence
Miele’s machine promised it would be the quietest super automatic machine we’d test and on that it delivered. The decibel level isn’t as if you’re pouring water into a Chemex, but the grinder is quite hushed compared to the Delonghi machines. The quality of the drinks from the Miele were also a big plus, with the tasting notes mentioned on the bean bag actually appearing, which is a challenge for any fully automated machine. The coffee though tasted a bit better than the espresso from the Miele though, the latter being a little flatter in flavor. If the Miele was as versatile as the Delonghi Eletta Explore or the Jura it would probably be the top pick here, but it is limited to seven coffee drinks (espresso, ristretto, long coffee, americano, cappuccino, latte macchiato, cafe latte). We think that’s enough for the majority of people, but the plus-up in terms of capabilities in the Delonghi gives an edge.
Philips Lattego
Philips super automatic machine was fine but didn’t wow us. Its interface is similar to the Delonghi Mangnifica above, which is to say, intuitive and easy to use. It offers five different drinks (espresso, coffee, americano, cappuccino, and latte) and the coffee you get in each ranks in the middle of what we tried. The real issue with the Lattego is with its milk, which had very little body. Even the milk cappuccino, which should be quite firm, was closer to steamed milk than it was to foam.
Delonghi Magnifica EVO with Milk Frother
The Magnifica is sort of a slimmed down version of the Eletta Explore both physically (it has a smaller footprint) and in terms of what it can do (it only makes seven different drinks). It made very nice espresso, but the milk didn’t come out quite as smooth as it did on the Eletta Explore. We liked that it was smaller and the fact that it’s $900 less than our top pick is no small thing, but given the limitations in terms of what it puts out, we actually think you’d be better off with one of the Breville semi-automatic machines. If you do want something fully automatic, you get a lot more machine by leveling up to the Eletta (or the Jura for that matter).
Espressione Concierge
The Concierge, which does come with a milk frother, produced fine single, double, or lungo coffees within a few minutes of powering up, but it felt more limited than the Jura E8, the Philips or either Delonghi. The machine was fine, but the competition has really leveled up what an all-in-one super automatic espresso machine can be.
Gaggia Anime Prestige
The coffee from the Gaggia was on the same level as the Espressione, but again, the machine is just very limited in what it can do when compared to the more robust Delonghi Eletta Explore and the Jura E8.
Flair Pro 2
We’ll admit that it isn’t exactly fair to compare the Flair Pro 2 to most of the other machines in this test because it is a fully manual lever machine. After some messy rounds of trial and error we were able to pull truly delicious shots of espresso with this, but in the meantime we made a bit of a mess with coffee splattered around the kitchen. The trick, should you go this route, is to allow for a short period of pre-infusion by not pressing the lever too hard (the included pressure gauge helps with this). The Flair does offer excellent portability, though, so if you’re looking to take good espresso (better, really, than the Wacaco—the other manual espresso maker we tested) on the road and don’t mind the learning curve associated with this machine, this is a smart choice.
9Barista
Like the Flair Pro 2, the 9Barista is a manual espresso maker that makes truly delicious espresso. Unlike the Flair Pro 2, the 9Barista was incredibly easy to operate. It looks a bit like a Mokapot redesigned by someone from the MoMa store and it makes much better coffee. If you want to go the manual route, this was our favorite machine. it will look beautiful sitting on your stovetop, which it may have to do because it is quite heavy. Our only quibble is that we had a hard time knocking the ground coffee out of the filter basket. Half the time we had to dig it out with a metal chopstick.