Help me choose coffee machine!

[RealReginaPhalange]

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i narrowed it down to four below. Its for my husband’s 40th bday. Never had a coffee machine before. We usually drink instant nescafe, although he is much more coffee lover than me

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4335575?clickSR=slp:term:coffee%20machine:19:19:2

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2254562?clickSR=slp:term:coffee%20machine:1:19:1

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1123759?clickSR=slp:term:coffee%20machine:3:19:1

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9474479?clickSR=slp:term:coffee%20machine:8:19:1

We replaced an elderly Bosch with the Melitta; it was easy to use like any bean-to-cup machine, but it ended up having issues with the brewing unit and we did not get as many years out of it as we did with the Bosch. I was also never a fan of the milk frother setup, and apart from the initial few weeks, never really used the smart feature, so I do not think it was worth the extra for these features. From what you have linked, I would go with the De'Longhi, they have a good reputation for starter bean-to-cup machines.

To add another one to consider, we ended up moving from bean to cup machines and got the Ninja Luxe, not as easy or as quick as pressing a button, but so much easier to keep clean with it not having a brewing unit and the americanos taste better. Also, a good option if either of you likes cold coffee.

Worth having a look at these two websites, they are both good for reviewing coffee machines and might help you choose toms coffee corner and https://coffeeblog.co.uk/best-bean-to-cup-coffee-machines/

The ninja luxe is insanely good. The best thing I have ever bought. So much better than cafes. I haven’t bought a coffee out in about a year!

What sort of coffee does he drink? Does he drink one or a lot? And does he like it hot?

I have a bean to cup and it does make nice coffee BUT

-.they are loud

• they arent hot enough, so i have to engage in the performance of boiling the kettle to rinse the cup to heat it up first

-.the milk container only holds enough for a couple of milky coffees so if you're a family of four it's a bit of a faff. Equally, if only 1 of us is having coffee I often don't bother with it because I personally cba with the washing up and don't like really milky coffee so I misjudge the volume

• I often revert to a cafetiere or American jug and just microwave a bit of milk in a cup and froth it with one of those whizzers before adding coffee. It's absolutely not as good, but saves washing the big milk jug or frother

^this is a lot off faff to say that whilst the bean to cups machines make great coffee, in hindsight, knowing I prefer plenty of hot strong coffee, that I might have been better off buying an espresso maker with a steaming wand and jug.

It makes a difference how and when he takes coffee and what he likes.

If you drink a lot of coffee, several mugs a day, you probably want a filter machine of some kind. It makes a jug of coffee.

If you drink espresso, and are ready to fuss with a machine for every cup, then an espresso machine where you prep every cup is good.

Pod machines are cheap to buy and make a good drink very fast and easily, but work out expensive if you drink a lot.

After years of drinking only coffee, I have settled on a pod machine for my early morning drink and a flask of coffee to drink the rest of the day. I just put the coffee and water in the flask, no extra machine or mess. The grounds sink and the coffee pours cleanly.

I love my De’Longhi. Had one for 5 years and when I sent it to get serviced the courier lost it. CS easy to deal with and after a couple of weeks sent me a brand new machine (!) which is still going strong a few years on - can’t fault their customer service at all.

Second this, it’s reached a point I get homesick for my coffee machine when I travel.

Another vote for the Rivelia. It’s pricey but we use it every day and it’s more than paid for itself in saving us buying coffees.

Not bean to cup, but I bought this one recently and I love it.
Maestri House Espresso Machine,... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FN7J3V1X?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

We have this one too and we like it. It replaced our Phillips one, which was really good too. Ours gets heavy use so I would recommend either machine. Both are easy to clean.
I would say though, the Phillips ones are quieter

I have a nespresso (original capsules£”) and a milk frother. The original nespresso capsules have a large range of producers, including supermarkets but also a lot of online coffee roasters.

Fellow delonghi users…what kind of coffees can you make?🫣 apologies for a daft question! Can you make latte/cappucino etc, with foam/cream on the top? Or any other different variations?

Same!! We had original one for 10ish years, used MULTIPLE times a day then it started to leak so replaced it before it died completely. Replacement is nowhere near as good & is currently off to delonghi to be repaired after having it less than 2 years.

I used to have a pod coffe machine about 12 yrs ago, it was great but pods are bit pricey at the end of the day so it adds up. Are there any cheap ones now?

Yes, all of the above. I much prefer my bean to cup rather than pod machine.

Pretty much any coffee you fancy! My preferred coffee is a cappucino. If I’m having sugar I’ll have a cappucino mix because the espresso goes in first which makes it easier to dissolve the sugar.

With the Rivelia you can have 4 different profiles and can set each coffee to how you want it (mine is generally extra large with extra shot). You can vary how thick the forth is and how strong your coffee is.

My son is partial to a decaf latte macchiato. Partner tends to prefer a flat white.

Another Gaggia Classic fan here. Although you'll either need to also buy a grinder (I use a Mignon Specialita and it's been faultless for 6 years) or find pre-ground beans. What I like about the Classic is that it's manual so you can tweak everything to your liking - whenever I've used auto-frother machines it's never hot enough for me! The downside is it was a bit of a learning curve at first (although a great lockdown hobby!). We've also been able to do various bits of servicing and repairs to the Gaggia ourselves which has kept it running smoothly.

Once you've got a machine you'll then have to go through the magical world of coffee bean hunting to find ones you really like. I'd suggest avoiding beans you can buy in supermarkets and try and find a 'local' roaster in the UK where the beans will be much fresher. We must have gone through 30 bags of beans before finding ones we like - Dark Lochnagar from Roaring Stag in Scotland (no affiliation at all - just absolutely love their coffee!)

Another vote for Sage. Definitely the best. We have the Bambino.
https://www.reddit.com/r/espresso/comments/192rcdg/why_is_everyone_recommending_a_sage_bambino/
https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/apr/29/sage-bambino-plus-coffee-espresso-machine-review-uk
Sorry, you have clearly spent time researching coffee machines but you have missed the one that you really want!

After a lot of debate, we bought a Philips last autumn - the LatteGo 5500. We love it, it has enough profiles for all the family to customise their drinks, does iced coffees for the kids, and the milk frother is really easy to clean. We run with decaf beans only, so all can have as many drinks as we like all day. The downside of this is that the water tank is only 1,4 litres so we end up topping it up a lot. We debated the De'Longhi Rivelia, but couldn't justify the extra £150.

This is our first coffee machine, so we didn't know what we wanted, other than 'low faff'. It suits us well but, as pp have said, you need to consider what you want: how often you will use it, which drinks you will want, whether size & noise levels are important...
I definitely didn't want a pod machine: the machine is cheaper but consumables & waste much higher, and much less control over the strength etc.
The other thing we've learned is that the beans are key: I like a strong coffee, and only Lavazza decaff do the trick!

I can help with two of those models as I have had both the LatteGo 3300 and the DeLonghi magnifica

We got rid of the DeLonghi as it broke after about 3 years. It was leaking water. Other than that it was good overall. It w

I'd also suggest making sure you choose one that either has two slots for beans or the option of beans and ground coffee..

The reason is so that you can easily switch between decaf and regular. We keep regular beans in the machine and decsf ground coffee.

I don’t have a coffee machine but I’ve seen so many good reviews on the Ninja , on here and on other sites.

I started a thread a while ago on this then joined a coffee group on Facebook.

I now have a sage bambino which is great, I think the gaggia is also a good choice

The most important part is the grinder, I ended up getting the wrong one but am looking at a niche zero or a eureka model as mentioned upthread.

Then you need to get fresh roasted beans but this is very easy to buy online.

I love Latte, I bought the milk frother jug which I put 100ml of milk and add to the standard cup. Perfect! I’ll be honest I use the machine so much I just rinse the jug and do a proper wash every few days so I don’t see the long cleaning thing people have mentioned..
husband makes an Americano - get decent beans (personally I really like Lavazza)

We've had this one from Lakeland for about 18 months and are happy enough with it, you can use beans or ground coffee and it's pretty easy to clean. You'd need a separate milk frother if that's your kind of thing though.

https://ebay.us/m/QYtQR0

Would recommend Sage too. We have the Express Impress, we make a lot of flat whites. If that's bigger than you'd like there are smaller versions as have been recommended/mentioned above