Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 vs De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M
The verdict
De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M is narrowly ahead, 7.2 to Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881's 7.0. It leads on shot quality & extraction and build quality & durability.
De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M costs $500 less.
Who each one suits
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881
A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen
Scores higher on steam power & milk texturing, workflow & ergonomics.
De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M
Hands-on espresso with a grinder, assisted tamping and both an automatic and a manual milk system, plus cold brew in minutes
Scores higher on shot quality & extraction, 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 Maestro EC9885M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shot Quality & Extraction | 22% | 5.8 | 6.5 |
| Build Quality & Durability | 16% | 7.2 | 8.2 |
| Steam Power & Milk Texturing | 16% | 7.5 | 7.0 |
| Workflow & Ergonomics | 12% | 8.8 | 6.9 |
| Ease of Use & Learning Curve | 12% | 7.3 | 7.3 |
| Maintenance & Cleaning | 12% | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| Value for Money | 10% | 3.5 | 5.2 |
What each one costs
| Price | $1,499.95 | $999.95 |
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 Maestro EC9885M | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1,499.95 | $999.95 |
| Best for | A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen | Hands-on espresso with a grinder, assisted tamping and both an automatic and a manual milk system, plus cold brew in minutes |
| Automatic milk frother | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bean hopper | 340, published as 12 oz | — |
| Body Material | Stainless steel | Metal |
| Boiler Type | ThermoJet heating system | 1 Thermoblock + 1 heating system |
| Brew Temperature Levels | — | 5, Active Temperature Control |
| Built in Grinder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Burr Material | Hardened steel | — |
| Cold Extraction | — | ✓ |
| Colour Options | Brushed Stainless Steel, Damson Blue and Black Truffle | Metal |
| Cup clearance | — | 139, published as 5.46 in |
| Dimensions | 414 x 351 x 338, published as 16.3 x 13.8 x 13.3 in (W x D x H) | Published as 14 x 16.5 x 18.5 in, axes not labelled |
| Display Type | Touchscreen | LCD display with buttons and dial |
| Grind steps | 30 | 15 |
| 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 built-in grinder and touchscreen | Semi-automatic espresso machine with built-in grinder, assisted tamping and automatic milk system |
| Model | BES881 | EC9885M |
| One-touch drinks | — | 8: Espresso, Americano, Coffee, Flat White, Latte Macchiato, Cappuccino, Iced Espresso, Cold Brew |
| Portafilter Material | Stainless steel | — |
| Portafilter Size | 54 mm | — |
| Power | 1750 W | 1600, at 120 V |
| Pre Infusion | — | ✓ |
| Price Note | $1,499.95 on breville.com | $999.95 on delonghi.com, marked down 23% from $1,299.95 |
| Pump pressure | — | 19 bar |
| Steam Wand Type | Automatic, a hands-free milk texturing wand with a milk temperature sensor | Manual MyLatte Art steam wand, alongside the automatic LatteCrema Hot system |
| Tamping | The Impress Puck System, assisted tamping with dosing that corrects itself | Smart Tamping: pull the lever to tamp |
| Voltage | 120 V, 60 Hz | — |
| Warm-up time | 3, Breville's figure for reaching extraction temperature | — |
| Warranty Note | — | 2 years standard, plus 1 added year when the machine is registered: 3 in all, per De'Longhi's own warranty panel on the product page. |
| Warranty | — | 2 years |
| Water Tank | 2, published as 67 fl oz | 2.5, published as 84.54 oz |
| Weight | — | 16, published as 35.28 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 Maestro EC9885M
- +Two milk systems: one-touch LatteCrema Hot and a manual steam wand.
- +Built-in 15-setting grinder with Sensor Grinding and lever-operated Smart Tamping.
- +Cold brew and iced espresso in under five minutes.
- +Five brew temperatures, 8 presets, and a 2.5 litre tank.
- −Heavy at 35.28 lb and large at 14 x 16.5 x 18.5 in.
- −De'Longhi does not publish the portafilter size.
- −More automation means less room for fine manual control than a separate grinder and machine.
Every specification, side by side
| Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 | De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price | $1,499.95 | $999.95 |
| Who it suits | ||
| Best for | A grinder, assisted tamping and hands-free milk behind one touchscreen | Hands-on espresso with a grinder, assisted tamping and both an automatic and a manual milk system, plus cold brew in minutes |
| Specifications | ||
| Automatic milk frother | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bean hopper | 340, published as 12 oz | — |
| Body Material | Stainless steel | Metal |
| Boiler Type | ThermoJet heating system | 1 Thermoblock + 1 heating system |
| Brew Temperature Levels | — | 5, Active Temperature Control |
| Built in Grinder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Burr Material | Hardened steel | — |
| Cold Extraction | — | ✓ |
| Colour Options | Brushed Stainless Steel, Damson Blue and Black Truffle | Metal |
| Cup clearance | — | 139, published as 5.46 in |
| Dimensions | 414 x 351 x 338, published as 16.3 x 13.8 x 13.3 in (W x D x H) | Published as 14 x 16.5 x 18.5 in, axes not labelled |
| Display Type | Touchscreen | LCD display with buttons and dial |
| Grind steps | 30 | 15 |
| 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 built-in grinder and touchscreen | Semi-automatic espresso machine with built-in grinder, assisted tamping and automatic milk system |
| Model | BES881 | EC9885M |
| One-touch drinks | — | 8: Espresso, Americano, Coffee, Flat White, Latte Macchiato, Cappuccino, Iced Espresso, Cold Brew |
| Portafilter Material | Stainless steel | — |
| Portafilter Size | 54 mm | — |
| Power | 1750 W | 1600, at 120 V |
| Pre Infusion | — | ✓ |
| Price Note | $1,499.95 on breville.com | $999.95 on delonghi.com, marked down 23% from $1,299.95 |
| Pump pressure | — | 19 bar |
| Steam Wand Type | Automatic, a hands-free milk texturing wand with a milk temperature sensor | Manual MyLatte Art steam wand, alongside the automatic LatteCrema Hot system |
| Tamping | The Impress Puck System, assisted tamping with dosing that corrects itself | Smart Tamping: pull the lever to tamp |
| Voltage | 120 V, 60 Hz | — |
| Warm-up time | 3, Breville's figure for reaching extraction temperature | — |
| Warranty Note | — | 2 years standard, plus 1 added year when the machine is registered: 3 in all, per De'Longhi's own warranty panel on the product page. |
| Warranty | — | 2 years |
| Water Tank | 2, published as 67 fl oz | 2.5, published as 84.54 oz |
| Weight | — | 16, published as 35.28 lb |
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 vs De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M: common questions
Which is better, Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 or De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M?
De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M scores 7.2 against 7.0, both computed from published specifications rather than opinion. Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 is still ahead on steam power & milk texturing.
Is Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 or De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M cheaper?
Breville Barista Touch Impress BES881 starts at $1,499.95, and De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M at $999.95.
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 Maestro EC9885M for?
Hands-on espresso with a grinder, assisted tamping and both an automatic and a manual milk system, plus cold brew in minutes
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