Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 vs De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo
Ahead
The verdict
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 is narrowly ahead, 7.1 to De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo's 6.7. It leads on shot quality & extraction and steam power & milk texturing.
De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo costs $800 less.
Who each one suits
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881
A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen
Scores higher on shot quality & extraction, steam power & milk texturing, ease of use & learning curve.
De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo
A grinder, a real steam wand and cold brew in one machine
Scores higher on build quality & durability, value for money.
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 Impress BES881 | De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shot Quality & Extraction | 22% | 5.8 | 5.0 |
| Build Quality & Durability | 16% | 7.2 | 8.8 |
| Steam Power & Milk Texturing | 16% | 7.5 | 6.5 |
| Ease of Use & Learning Curve | 12% | 8.0 | 5.3 |
| Workflow & Ergonomics | 12% | 8.8 | 6.2 |
| Maintenance & Cleaning | 12% | 10.0 | 8.3 |
| Value for Money | 10% | 3.5 | 6.7 |
What each one costs
| Price | $1,499.95 | $699.95 |
Where they differ
Every specification the two makers publish differently. Everything they match on is in the full table below.
| Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 | De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1,499.95 | $699.95 |
| Best for | A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen | A grinder, a real steam wand and cold brew in one machine |
| What sets it apart | — | Cold extraction in under five minutes, a feature no other espresso machine here has |
| Automatic milk frother | ✓ | ✕ |
| Bean hopper | 340, published as 12 oz | — |
| Boiler Type | ThermoJet heating system | Thermoblock. De'Longhi does not publish how many |
| Built in Grinder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Burr Material | Hardened steel | — |
| Cold Brew | — | ✓ |
| Colour Options | Brushed Stainless Steel, Damson Blue and Black Truffle | Metal, the only finish De'Longhi lists |
| Cup clearance | — | 113, published as 4.45 in |
| Dimensions | 414 x 351 x 338, published as 16.3 x 13.8 x 13.3 in (W x D x H) | 285 x 365 x 403 mm |
| Display Type | Touchscreen | No display. Control is by button and dial |
| Grind steps | 30 | De'Longhi's own page gives two different answers, 8 and 15, and does not resolve them |
| 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 | A barista toolkit |
| Machine Type | Semi-automatic espresso machine with built-in grinder and touchscreen | Semi-automatic with an integrated grinder |
| Maker Claim | — | De'Longhi styles itself the #1 Worldwide Espresso Machine Maker, footnoted to an unnamed independent research institute for full year 2025 |
| Model | BES881 | — |
| Portafilter Material | Stainless steel | — |
| Portafilter Size | 54 mm | — |
| Power | 1750 W | 1600 W |
| Preset Recipes | — | 4 |
| Price Note | $1,499.95 on breville.com | — |
| Pump pressure | — | 15, with what De'Longhi calls 9 bar of high pressure during extraction after a low pressure pre-infusion |
| Sca Note | — | De'Longhi states the cold extraction technology was developed with the Specialty Coffee Association. That is a collaboration on a feature and not an SCA certification of the machine, so none is recorded |
| 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 Type | Automatic, a hands-free milk texturing wand with a milk temperature sensor | Manual, which De'Longhi calls a commercial-style steam wand |
| Tamping | The Impress Puck System, assisted tamping with dosing that corrects itself | — |
| Temperature Control | — | 3 infusion temperatures, which De'Longhi calls Active Temperature Control |
| Voltage | 120 V, 60 Hz | — |
| Warm-up time | 3, Breville's figure for reaching extraction temperature | — |
| Warranty | — | 2, or 3 with product registration |
| Water Tank | 2, published as 67 fl oz | 1.66, published as 56.13 oz |
| Weight | — | 11.7, published as 25.8 lb |
Pros and cons
From each full review, written from the same published facts as the scores above.
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.
De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo
- +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.
Every specification, side by side
| Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 | De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price | $1,499.95 | $699.95 |
| Who it suits | ||
| Best for | A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen | A grinder, a real steam wand and cold brew in one machine |
| What sets it apart | — | Cold extraction in under five minutes, a feature no other espresso machine here has |
| Specifications | ||
| Automatic milk frother | ✓ | ✕ |
| Bean hopper | 340, published as 12 oz | — |
| Body Material | Stainless steel | Stainless steel |
| Boiler Type | ThermoJet heating system | Thermoblock. De'Longhi does not publish how many |
| Built in Grinder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Burr Material | Hardened steel | — |
| Cold Brew | — | ✓ |
| Colour Options | Brushed Stainless Steel, Damson Blue and Black Truffle | Metal, the only finish De'Longhi lists |
| Cup clearance | — | 113, published as 4.45 in |
| Dimensions | 414 x 351 x 338, published as 16.3 x 13.8 x 13.3 in (W x D x H) | 285 x 365 x 403 mm |
| Display Type | Touchscreen | No display. Control is by button and dial |
| Grind steps | 30 | De'Longhi's own page gives two different answers, 8 and 15, and does not resolve them |
| 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 | A barista toolkit |
| Machine Type | Semi-automatic espresso machine with built-in grinder and touchscreen | Semi-automatic with an integrated grinder |
| Maker Claim | — | De'Longhi styles itself the #1 Worldwide Espresso Machine Maker, footnoted to an unnamed independent research institute for full year 2025 |
| Model | BES881 | — |
| Portafilter Material | Stainless steel | — |
| Portafilter Size | 54 mm | — |
| Power | 1750 W | 1600 W |
| Preset Recipes | — | 4 |
| Price Note | $1,499.95 on breville.com | — |
| Pump pressure | — | 15, with what De'Longhi calls 9 bar of high pressure during extraction after a low pressure pre-infusion |
| Sca Note | — | De'Longhi states the cold extraction technology was developed with the Specialty Coffee Association. That is a collaboration on a feature and not an SCA certification of the machine, so none is recorded |
| 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 Type | Automatic, a hands-free milk texturing wand with a milk temperature sensor | Manual, which De'Longhi calls a commercial-style steam wand |
| Tamping | The Impress Puck System, assisted tamping with dosing that corrects itself | — |
| Temperature Control | — | 3 infusion temperatures, which De'Longhi calls Active Temperature Control |
| Voltage | 120 V, 60 Hz | — |
| Warm-up time | 3, Breville's figure for reaching extraction temperature | — |
| Warranty | — | 2, or 3 with product registration |
| Water Tank | 2, published as 67 fl oz | 1.66, published as 56.13 oz |
| Weight | — | 11.7, published as 25.8 lb |
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 vs De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo: common questions
Which is better, Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 or De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo?
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 scores 7.1 against 6.7, both computed from published specifications rather than opinion. De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo is still ahead on build quality & durability.
Is Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 or De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo cheaper?
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 starts at $1,499.95, and De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo at $699.95.
Who is Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 for?
A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen
Who is De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo for?
A grinder, a real steam wand and cold brew in one machine
Keep comparing
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