De'Longhi Magnifica Start Automatic Espresso Machine vs Philips Series 5500 LatteGo EP5544/90

A first bean-to-cup, where the machine grinds, doses and brews and you steam the milk

Twenty drinks including six iced, from a two-part milk system that rinses in seconds

Scores higher on drinks & milk system, cleaning & upkeep, grinder & grind control.

• +Two years of cover, and a third if you register, which is the longest available at this price.
• +Thirteen grind settings, the only lever a bean-to-cup gives you over the shot.
• +A 1.77 litre tank and dishwasher-safe removable parts.
• +A 5.46 inch cup clearance, so a travel mug fits under it.

• −A manual frother, not an automatic milk system, on a bean-to-cup at $699.99.
• −Three one-touch recipes, where the Dinamica at twice the price has far more.
• −De'Longhi does not state whether the brew group is removable, which decides how it is cleaned.
• −No burr material and no heat-up time are published.

• +Twenty drinks, all named by Philips, including six iced ones and a travel mug setting.
• +LatteGo is two parts with no tubes, and Philips states both go in the dishwasher.
• +A removable brew group, which is what lets you rinse the part that does the work.
• +AquaClean, which Philips says means no descaling for up to 5000 cups.
• +Four user profiles plus a guest, so a household is not re-setting strength every morning.

• −Philips publishes no price, and its own retailer list runs from $699.00 to $1,299.95.
• −The SKU most shops sell, EP5544/94, has no page on Philips' own site at all.
• −Philips' two pages for this series disagree on voltage and country of manufacture.
• −The AquaClean claim assumes eight filter replacements, which is a running cost to price in.