Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS vs De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo

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

Scores higher on shot quality & extraction, steam power & milk texturing, workflow & ergonomics.

A grinder, a real steam wand and cold brew in one machine

Scores higher on build quality & durability, 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.

• +Cold brew in under five minutes, from a function De'Longhi developed with the Specialty Coffee Association.
• +Three infusion temperatures, which De'Longhi calls Active Temperature Control.
• +A manual steam wand, so microfoam and latte art are genuinely possible.
• +A dosing and tamping guide in the box, which is the step beginners get wrong.
• +1600 watts and a 56 oz tank, in a machine 14.4 inches wide.

• −De'Longhi's own page says 8 grind settings in one place and 15 in another, and never resolves it.
• −No portafilter diameter is published, so you cannot check accessory fitment before buying.
• −No bean hopper capacity and no heat-up time are published.
• −One finish only, and no display: control is by button and dial.
• −The machine is sold under two SKUs at the same price and one of them is out of stock.