Breville Barista Express BES870XL vs Breville Oracle Jet BES985

Somebody buying their first proper espresso setup who wants the grinder in the same box

Scores higher on value for money.

Cafe-standard espresso and hands-free milk without learning to grind, dose and tamp by hand

Scores higher on shot quality & extraction, build quality & durability, steam power & milk texturing.

• +An integrated conical burr grinder that doses on demand, so beans go from hopper to basket in one action
• +PID temperature regulation and low pressure pre-infusion
• +Stainless steel with a 1600W element, and a one-year warranty
• +$692.99 for a grinder and machine together, just under the $699.99 category median

• −A manual steam wand: milk is textured by hand
• −One year of cover, where the Barista Pro and Touch publish two
• −10kg, the heaviest machine in this category

• +Auto grind, dose and tamp into a 58 mm portafilter holding 22 g, the size cafe machines use.
• +Auto MilQ steams microfoam hands-free with 8 texture levels, settings for alternative milks and a temperature range of 104 to 167 F.
• +Barista Guidance detects an over or under extracted shot and helps you correct the grind.
• +Cold Brew in under 3 minutes and Cold Espresso in just over a minute, which almost no home machine offers.
• +Six finishes, from Brushed Stainless Steel to Black Truffle and Damson Blue.

• −Breville's product page does not publish pump pressure, power rating or water tank size; the tank and warranty figures here come from an authorised dealer.
• −At $1,999.95 list it costs more than twice the Barista Touch, which also grinds and steams automatically.
• −Heating is a ThermoJet group head rather than a boiler, and no steam capacity figure is published, so back-to-back milk drinks cannot be compared on paper.
• −It is built to make decisions for you, so someone who wants to learn espresso by feel will get less out of it than out of a semi-automatic machine.