Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS vs Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881
Ahead
The verdict
Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS is the better buy on our scoring, 7.6 to Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881's 7.1. It leads on shot quality & extraction and build quality & durability.
Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS costs $511.96 less.
Who each one suits
Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS
A household where more than one person makes milk drinks and nobody wants to learn to steam
Scores higher on shot quality & extraction, build quality & durability, value for money.
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881
A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen
How they score, criterion by criterion
Both are scored the same way against the rest of their category, from what their makers publish. The weight is how much each criterion moves the total. How the score works
| Criterion | Weight in category | Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS | Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shot Quality & Extraction | 22% | 6.5 | 5.8 |
| Build Quality & Durability | 16% | 8.2 | 7.2 |
| Steam Power & Milk Texturing | 16% | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Ease of Use & Learning Curve | 12% | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Maintenance & Cleaning | 12% | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| Workflow & Ergonomics | 12% | 8.8 | 8.8 |
| Value for Money | 10% | 5.6 | 3.5 |
What each one costs
| Price | $987.99 | $1,499.95 |
Where they differ
Every specification the two makers publish differently. Everything they match on is in the full table below.
| Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS | Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $987.99 | $1,499.95 |
| Best for | A household where more than one person makes milk drinks and nobody wants to learn to steam | A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen |
| What sets it apart | An automatic steam wand that sets milk temperature and texture, so the milk is not a skill you have to acquire | — |
| Automatic milk frother | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bean hopper | 227, published as 1/2 lb | 340, published as 12 oz |
| Built in Grinder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Burr Material | Hardened steel, conical | Hardened steel |
| Colour Options | Brushed Stainless Steel, Black Truffle, Sea Salt, Damson Blue, Black Stainless Steel | Brushed Stainless Steel, Damson Blue and Black Truffle |
| Custom Drinks Saved | 8, which can be named | — |
| Dimensions | 399 x 320 x 315, published as 15.7 x 12.6 x 12.4 in | 414 x 351 x 338, published as 16.3 x 13.8 x 13.3 in (W x D x H) |
| Display Type | — | Touchscreen |
| Dose Grams | 18 | — |
| Extraction Pressure | 9, which Breville calls a high pressure extraction after a low pressure pre-infusion | — |
| In Box Accessories | — | 54 mm portafilter, 480 ml milk jug, single and dual wall baskets, water filter holder, water hardness strip, Razor trimming tool, cleaning tablets, cleaning disc, brush, steam wand cleaning tool and descale powder |
| Machine Type | Semi-automatic espresso machine with an integrated grinder and a touchscreen | Semi-automatic espresso machine with built-in grinder and touchscreen |
| Milk Temperature Range | 104F to 167F, adjustable | — |
| Milk Texture Levels | 8 | — |
| Model | — | BES881 |
| Portafilter Material | — | Stainless steel |
| Portafilter | 54 mm | — |
| Portafilter Size | — | 54 mm |
| Power | 1680 W | 1750 W |
| Pre Infusion | ✓ | — |
| Preset Drinks | 5 | — |
| Price Note | — | $1,499.95 on breville.com |
| Pump pressure | 15 bar | — |
| Ships to | US | — |
| Ships to Note | Confirmed on Amazon US, which is where this link points. Availability in other Amazon stores has not been checked, and a regional store may substitute a different product. | — |
| Steam Wand Cleaning | Automatic cleaning function for the steam wand | — |
| Steam Wand Type | Automatic | Automatic, a hands-free milk texturing wand with a milk temperature sensor |
| Tamp Type | Manual, with a removable magnetic tamper | — |
| Tamping | — | The Impress Puck System, assisted tamping with dosing that corrects itself |
| Voltage | — | 120 V, 60 Hz |
| Warm-up time | 3, which Breville publishes as the ThermoJet system reaching extraction temperature | 3, Breville's figure for reaching extraction temperature |
| Warranty | 2 years | — |
| Water Tank | 1.98, published as 67 oz | 2, published as 67 fl oz |
| Weight | 9.9 kg | — |
Pros and cons
From each full review, written from the same published facts as the scores above.
Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS
- +Hands-free milk texturing with 8 texture levels and a temperature you choose between 104F and 167F.
- +A 30-setting hardened steel conical grinder built in, dosing to Breville's stated 18g.
- +ThermoJet heating that Breville publishes as reaching extraction temperature in 3 seconds.
- +Two-year warranty, double the one year Breville gives the Barista Express and the Infuser.
- +Five preset drinks plus eight you can create, name and save.
- −$999.95, which buys a super-automatic that also pulls the shot for you.
- −A 54mm portafilter, not the 58mm commercial size, so accessories are less interchangeable.
- −The tamp is still manual, so the one step most likely to ruin a shot is left to you.
- −Breville publishes no pre-infusion pressure and no shot volumes, only the 9 bar extraction.
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881
- +Hands-free milk texturing with settings for dairy, almond, oat and soy.
- +The Impress lever tamps at a set pressure and corrects the next dose.
- +Heats to extraction temperature in 3 seconds, Breville's ThermoJet figure.
- +Thirty grind settings on hardened steel Baratza burrs.
- +A 340 gram hopper, larger than the 227 grams on the Barista Touch.
- −$1,499.95, about $500 more than the Barista Touch listed on this site.
- −Breville publishes no pump pressure, pre-infusion detail, warranty or weight for it.
- −No pressure gauge is listed; the touchscreen is the feedback.
- −54 mm portafilter, not the 58 mm the Oracle Jet uses.
Every specification, side by side
| Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS | Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price | $987.99 | $1,499.95 |
| Who it suits | ||
| Best for | A household where more than one person makes milk drinks and nobody wants to learn to steam | A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen |
| What sets it apart | An automatic steam wand that sets milk temperature and texture, so the milk is not a skill you have to acquire | — |
| Specifications | ||
| Automatic milk frother | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bean hopper | 227, published as 1/2 lb | 340, published as 12 oz |
| Body Material | Stainless steel | Stainless steel |
| Boiler Type | ThermoJet heating system | ThermoJet heating system |
| Built in Grinder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Burr Material | Hardened steel, conical | Hardened steel |
| Colour Options | Brushed Stainless Steel, Black Truffle, Sea Salt, Damson Blue, Black Stainless Steel | Brushed Stainless Steel, Damson Blue and Black Truffle |
| Custom Drinks Saved | 8, which can be named | — |
| Dimensions | 399 x 320 x 315, published as 15.7 x 12.6 x 12.4 in | 414 x 351 x 338, published as 16.3 x 13.8 x 13.3 in (W x D x H) |
| Display Type | — | Touchscreen |
| Dose Grams | 18 | — |
| Extraction Pressure | 9, which Breville calls a high pressure extraction after a low pressure pre-infusion | — |
| Grind steps | 30 | 30 |
| In Box Accessories | — | 54 mm portafilter, 480 ml milk jug, single and dual wall baskets, water filter holder, water hardness strip, Razor trimming tool, cleaning tablets, cleaning disc, brush, steam wand cleaning tool and descale powder |
| Machine Type | Semi-automatic espresso machine with an integrated grinder and a touchscreen | Semi-automatic espresso machine with built-in grinder and touchscreen |
| Milk Temperature Range | 104F to 167F, adjustable | — |
| Milk Texture Levels | 8 | — |
| Model | — | BES881 |
| Portafilter Material | — | Stainless steel |
| Portafilter | 54 mm | — |
| Portafilter Size | — | 54 mm |
| Power | 1680 W | 1750 W |
| Pre Infusion | ✓ | — |
| Preset Drinks | 5 | — |
| Price Note | — | $1,499.95 on breville.com |
| Pump pressure | 15 bar | — |
| Ships to | US | — |
| Ships to Note | Confirmed on Amazon US, which is where this link points. Availability in other Amazon stores has not been checked, and a regional store may substitute a different product. | — |
| Steam Wand Cleaning | Automatic cleaning function for the steam wand | — |
| Steam Wand Type | Automatic | Automatic, a hands-free milk texturing wand with a milk temperature sensor |
| Tamp Type | Manual, with a removable magnetic tamper | — |
| Tamping | — | The Impress Puck System, assisted tamping with dosing that corrects itself |
| Voltage | — | 120 V, 60 Hz |
| Warm-up time | 3, which Breville publishes as the ThermoJet system reaching extraction temperature | 3, Breville's figure for reaching extraction temperature |
| Warranty | 2 years | — |
| Water Tank | 1.98, published as 67 oz | 2, published as 67 fl oz |
| Weight | 9.9 kg | — |
Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS vs Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881: common questions
Which is better, Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS or Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881?
Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS scores 7.6 against 7.1, both computed from published specifications rather than opinion.
Is Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS or Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 cheaper?
Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS starts at $987.99, and Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 at $1,499.95.
Who is Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS for?
A household where more than one person makes milk drinks and nobody wants to learn to steam
Who is Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 for?
A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen
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