Breville Oracle Jet BES985 vs De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9885M

Cafe-standard espresso and hands-free milk without learning to grind, dose and tamp by hand

Scores higher on shot quality & extraction, build quality & durability, ease of use & learning curve.

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 steam power & milk texturing, value for money.

• +Auto grind, dose and tamp into a 58 mm portafilter holding 22 g, the size cafe machines use.
• +Auto MilQ steams microfoam hands-free with 8 texture levels, settings for alternative milks and a temperature range of 104 to 167 F.
• +Barista Guidance detects an over or under extracted shot and helps you correct the grind.
• +Cold Brew in under 3 minutes and Cold Espresso in just over a minute, which almost no home machine offers.
• +Six finishes, from Brushed Stainless Steel to Black Truffle and Damson Blue.

• −Breville's product page does not publish pump pressure, power rating or water tank size; the tank and warranty figures here come from an authorised dealer.
• −At $1,999.95 list it costs more than twice the Barista Touch, which also grinds and steams automatically.
• −Heating is a ThermoJet group head rather than a boiler, and no steam capacity figure is published, so back-to-back milk drinks cannot be compared on paper.
• −It is built to make decisions for you, so someone who wants to learn espresso by feel will get less out of it than out of a semi-automatic machine.

• +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.