Breville Oracle Jet BES985 vs Gaggia E24 RI9380/46 Espresso Machine

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, steam power & milk texturing.

Commercial parts in a domestic machine, made in Italy and meant to be serviced

Scores higher on 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.

• +A commercial three-way solenoid valve, which releases pressure so the puck comes out dry
• +A 58mm stainless commercial portafilter and a commercial steam wand
• +Gaggia lists it as self serviceable, made in Italy, with a 2.1 litre tank
• +9 bar published as extraction pressure rather than a pump maximum

• −No built-in grinder
• −$449 buys no automation at all: every part of the shot is manual
• −No warranty term, wattage or weight is published