Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS vs Breville Infuser BES840XL

A household where more than one person makes milk drinks and nobody wants to learn to steam

Scores higher on steam power & milk texturing, build quality & durability, ease of use & learning curve.

Someone who already owns a grinder and wants the shot control without paying for a second one

Scores higher on shot quality & extraction, value for money.

• +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.

• +PID temperature control adjustable in two-degree steps, which is finer than most machines offer at any price
• +Low pressure pre-infusion and a 1.7 litre tank
• +$336.50, less than half the $699.99 median

• −No built-in grinder
• −A manual steam wand
• −One-year warranty, where Breville's newer machines publish two