Breville RM-BES880BSS1BUS1 Barista Touch Espresso vs De'Longhi Dinamica Plus Fully Automatic Espresso

Overview of the Breville Barista Touch and De'Longhi Dinamica Plus

The Breville Barista Touch is priced at $669.95, while the De'Longhi Dinamica Plus costs $1,499.95, making the Breville about 55% cheaper. Both machines offer unique features catering to different coffee enthusiasts, but their price points suggest they target distinct market segments. The Barista Touch focuses on delivering a hands-on, barista-quality experience, while the Dinamica Plus excels in automation and user customization.

User Experience and Ease of Use

The Breville Barista Touch features a user-friendly touch screen that simplifies the coffee-making process into three easy steps: Grind, Brew, and Milk. This intuitive system is designed to cater to both beginners and experienced users. In contrast, the De'Longhi Dinamica Plus boasts a 3.5-inch TFT full-touch screen with soft-touch buttons, allowing for quick navigation through its 24 one-touch drinks. While both machines are designed for ease of use, the Barista Touch's focus on a step-by-step approach may appeal to those who prefer a more hands-on experience.

Coffee Variety and Customization

When it comes to variety, the De'Longhi Dinamica Plus offers an impressive selection of 24 one-touch or customizable espresso drinks. This includes options like lattes, cappuccinos, and even iced coffee. The machine also supports up to four unique user profiles, allowing multiple users to save their preferences easily. The Breville Barista Touch, while offering the opportunity to create and save up to eight personalized coffees, focuses more on the quality of the espresso-making process with features like dose control grinding and optimal water pressure for extraction.

Grinder and Brewing Technology

Both machines come equipped with integrated grinders, but they differ in their approaches. The Breville Barista Touch features a precision conical burr grinder that delivers the right amount of coffee on demand, ensuring maximum flavor extraction. The De'Longhi Dinamica Plus, on the other hand, offers a built-in conical burr grinder with 13 adjustable settings, allowing users to customize the grind to their liking. This could be a deciding factor for coffee lovers who prioritize the freshness and grind size of their coffee.

Milk Frothing Capabilities

Milk frothing is a crucial aspect of espresso machines, and both the Breville Barista Touch and De'Longhi Dinamica Plus excel in this area. The Barista Touch features an automatic steam wand that allows users to adjust the milk temperature and texture, providing barista-quality microfoam for latte art. The De'Longhi Dinamica Plus utilizes its proprietary LatteCrema technology, which offers three frothing settings for creamy, rich foam. Both machines cater to milk-based drink enthusiasts, but the Barista Touch may appeal more to those who enjoy crafting their milk textures.

Design and Build Quality

In terms of design, the Breville Barista Touch has a sleek brushed stainless steel finish that gives it a professional look suitable for any kitchen. The De'Longhi Dinamica Plus also boasts a modern aesthetic with a colorful display that enhances its appeal. Both machines are designed to be compact, but the Barista Touch's user-friendly touch screen may provide a more streamlined experience. The build quality of both machines reflects their premium nature, but the Breville’s focus on a more traditional espresso-making process may resonate with purists.

Maintenance and Cleaning

Cleaning and maintenance are vital considerations for any espresso machine, and both the Breville Barista Touch and De'Longhi Dinamica Plus incorporate features to facilitate this. The Breville model includes a cleaning kit and has parts designed for easy cleaning, ensuring that users can maintain their machine with minimal hassle. The De'Longhi Dinamica Plus also emphasizes easy cleanup, with dishwasher-safe parts to simplify the maintenance process. This makes both machines user-friendly in terms of upkeep, although the specifics of each cleaning process may appeal to different user preferences.

Which should you buy?

Choosing between the Breville Barista Touch and the De'Longhi Dinamica Plus ultimately depends on your coffee preferences and budget. If you value a more hands-on approach to espresso making, enjoy the process of crafting your drinks, and prefer a more affordable option, the Breville Barista Touch at $669.95 is an excellent choice. However, if you desire a fully automatic machine that offers a wide variety of drinks at the touch of a button and the ability to save multiple user profiles, the De'Longhi Dinamica Plus, despite its higher price of $1,499.95, may be worth the investment for the convenience it provides.