Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS vs Rancilio Silvia Pro X

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

Scores higher on ease of use & learning curve, maintenance & cleaning, workflow & ergonomics.

The Silvia grown up: two boilers, two PIDs and soft infusion in a 25 cm wide body

Scores higher on shot quality & extraction, build quality & durability.

• +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.

• +Two boilers with a PID controller each, so brew and steam temperatures are both set exactly.
• +Variable Soft Infusion, an adjustable low pressure pre-infusion.
• +A brass group and chrome-plated brass portafilter, built like a commercial machine.
• +Only 250 mm wide, narrow for a dual boiler.
• +A pressure gauge and a display that doubles as a shot timer.

• −$2,195, and no grinder.
• −Rancilio's two sites disagree on basket size: 8/16 g on one, 8/18 g on the other.
• −No published pump type, warranty or warm-up time.
• −20 kg, which is a machine you place once and leave.