Breville Oracle Jet BES985 vs Rancilio Silvia Pro X

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

Scores higher on ease of use & learning curve, maintenance & cleaning, value for money.

The Silvia grown up: two boilers, two PIDs and soft infusion in a 25 cm wide body

Scores higher on steam power & milk texturing, build quality & durability, workflow & ergonomics.

• +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 boilers with a PID controller each, so brew and steam temperatures are both set exactly.
• +Variable Soft Infusion, an adjustable low pressure pre-infusion.
• +A brass group and chrome-plated brass portafilter, built like a commercial machine.
• +Only 250 mm wide, narrow for a dual boiler.
• +A pressure gauge and a display that doubles as a shot timer.

• −$2,195, and no grinder.
• −Rancilio's two sites disagree on basket size: 8/16 g on one, 8/18 g on the other.
• −No published pump type, warranty or warm-up time.
• −20 kg, which is a machine you place once and leave.