Breville Oracle Jet BES985 vs Lelit Mara X V2 PL62X

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.

Someone ready to learn espresso properly who wants dual-boiler-like steam from a compact heat exchanger machine

• +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 1.8 l AISI 316L stainless steel heat exchanger boiler, so brewing and steaming are both ready without waiting between them.
• +Warm, Hot and Extra Hot temperature settings on one button, simple enough to use from day one.
• +IMS precision baskets for single, double and 18 to 21 g doses, plus a blind basket for cleaning.
• +Double manometer showing pump and steam pressure, and mechanical pre-infusion.
• +Brushed stainless steel body, made in Italy, in a compact 225 mm wide footprint.

• −Lelit states a 24 minute warm-up, far longer than a thermoblock or ThermoJet machine.
• −No grinder, so a capable espresso grinder has to be budgeted on top.
• −An authorised dealer lists a 1 year warranty, shorter than the 2 years common on automatic machines, and Lelit's page does not state one.
• −Three temperature positions rather than a numeric readout, which limits fine control.