Excellent and easy to use appliance. Simple install and setup. Visual screen for easy use is a plus. Easy to clean. Takes up no space at all. For the price you won’t find such a functional and beautiful unit. This is a no brainer. Buy it now, won’t be disappointed.

Like many people, I do not write reviews unless a product is, inmy opinion, either excellent or not worth a red cent.When I received this machine it waswith great anticipation.It's very stylish, well-designed and built, easy to clean, and makes a fantastic brew.The LED display is easy to navigate, making it simple to select the type of drink you want.And the manual instructions are very detailed and professional. Overall, it’s a great machine that delivers quality coffee without needing to go to a café. Perfect for gifting, too

Made great espresso for 2 days total 4 cups. Then stopped heating water, no steam, no hot coffee. Returned

I definitely recommend this, great quality. The functions are easy to use and very affordable.

I wanted an espresso machine that was budget friendly. I got this machine with the highest of hopes. It really is amazing. At first it didn’t work. I went onto the product page on Amazon and it said to get the water flowing by operating the steam function. I did as they said, and voilà, it works! I chose this machine because of its sleek design, and because it does not require pods. I look forward to my coffee in the morning now.

I start with my experiences, then describe what's going on behind the function provided to help you know how you could get a better experience than me, or to help explain why things will never really improve.To me a cup of espresso is a diversion, a moment of luxury, something to look forward to. I find it difficult to be in this mindset when using this machine because this machine's controls are maddeningly frustrating. This machine gives little to no confirmation that you've pressed a button, or that it's taking action based on what you've pressed, so you're left bewildered about whether you'll soon have a cup of espresso - or nothing at all. For one cup of espresso you can expect at least three cups of aggravation.Buttons are illuminated. They're easy to see at night when you may want to run hot water through to clean the machine and filter, but the morning sunshine overwhelms this machine's illumination and makes seeing what is indicated difficult. Even the regular light within a room can make it difficult to see which buttons are illuminated, something you might not guess from night use. That aside, the buttons have no tactile feedback and, though this machine knows how to beep - and it certainly does beep! - it doesn't beep when a button is pressed. Rather than having dedicated indicator lights to let you know what this machine is doing (could it be silently warming water now?? is it waiting for me to do something??), certain flashing patterns of buttons are supposed to be understood as current status. My difficulties? Either the buttons don't illuminate or flash at all, or I would see illuminated buttons, some flashing, in a pattern not described in the manual, so those flashing lights have no meaning for me.Ultimately, acting like the monkey before a typewriter, I keep pressing buttons hoping for something to happen, and it eventually does. Of course, if I want a single cup I focus on the dedicated button for this, and if I want steam I peck at its button.Let's get to what's truly important: espresso flavor. If the espresso produced was sweet, hearty, with a foamy head, all would be forgiven. I think by now you can predict that isn't how this story ends.Let's talk about the filter cup. In the general market, two kinds are made for espresso machines. The most common kind, used across Italy, looks like a perforated basket, like something you would use as a strainer in your kitchen sink. The other kind, operating on a different principle and relatively oblivious to poor machine setup, is a cup with a metal sandwich at the bottom. The inner, false bottom of that cup has many small holes through which the espresso is pressed, and the outer bottom, a separate layer of metal, has only a single hole through which all the collected espresso travels to fill your cup. This second kind of cup is sometimes called a pressurized basket. The idea is that the espresso machine isn't powerful enough to force hot water through coffee grounds on its own, so some resistance to flow is needed to help build up that pressure. It's this pressurized basket design that's included with this machine.I've included photos of the interior and exterior of one of the filter cups that comes with this machine. Have a look to see these hole patterns for yourself, many small ones on the inside and a single one outside at the bottom. We'll next go over how this affects the taste of espresso that's produced.When hot water is prevented from freely passing through your coffee grounds, as is the case for the type of filter cup included with this espresso machine, it will linger and continue to extract from the grounds. The more it extracts, the more bitter your espresso becomes. Pay attention to this: espresso is not supposed to be bitter. Good espresso actually has a sweet note to it. If you've gotten used to bitter espresso, and want to make more of that at home, sure, use a pressurized basket with a double bottom, as are provided with this machine. You may ask yourself, if a different basket is all that's needed for better espresso, and it's just a single layer cup (which is probably less expensive to make), why were they not included instead? That would be a very good question! The answer probably is that the espresso produced would be very dependent on the actual temperature and pressure used, and this machine does not let you control temperature or pressure, and may not be precise in how it does it, either. Over-pressuring would rush the water through a single layer cup, making a coffee-based tea, while use of the included pressurized baskets restricts flow to the point that it dominates in the control of the rate of production - no matter the pressure obtained from the machine itself (when pressure is above some minimum level).So this machine ends up being designed to make bitter espresso - even if you use ready canned high grade Italian-made espresso coffee grounds. Is there something you can do to make better espresso? Possibly. If you use coarser grounds they won't hold water back as much as traditional fine grounds. The coarser grounds may spend less time in the hot, pressurized water, and so won't release as much bitterness, leaving it trapped inside the larger coffee particles. Of course, the coffee flavor profile will not be the same when you use larger grounds. Some say under-extraction leads to a more sour flavor, and the espresso "cream" produced will be different, too. By the way, when using the included pressurized baskets, not a lot of the espresso "cream" is produced anyway, so maybe you wouldn't be losing all that much. (Isn't the espresso cream some of the best part, though?)Here are some thoughts I wrote down as I was using this espresso machine:- It is impossible to truly wash the pressurized basket filters. This is not a gripe against the manufacturer of this specific machine, it's a gripe against all who use this type of filter cup. Because there is a welded double bottom to each cup, the void between where the espresso departs from the grounds and goes through the false bottom, but before it drips out of the filter's true bottom underneath, can never, ever be cleaned. I run clear water through the included filter cup after making espresso and do get an initial tint to the water that goes through. Imagine washing the exterior, exposed part of the filter cup only, then putting that filter cup away. What might be accumulating inside the double bottom of the filter cup, where you'll never ever be able to clean? (I don't want to know!)- This espresso maker is ETL listed. This is a good thing. Many appliances from China have had no review and monitoring of their design and construction by an accredited safety organization like ETL (or UL). We're talking about an electric appliance here that's used with water, that heats water, and that can cause electric shock, burns, and a fire. It's nice to know we're working here with an espresso maker that has been reviewed for materials and function acceptable to an insurance company for safety.- The tallest cup you can put into this machine is about 4-1/16" high overall. Anything higher won't fit, or won't be easy to remove once there's liquid inside (since you'd have to tip it strongly to get it out).- When your fresh espresso is nice and hot, if you want to steam some milk you'll be starting from scratch since espresso and steamed milk come from separate machine functions that can't be run at the same time.- I often would start a process and get a double beep. Do you know what a double beep from this machine means? No? Neither do I. I was hoping you did know and could help me out. There's nothing in the manual about it that I could see. As I previously described, controlling this espresso maker can be a bewildering experience.- You can go through a procedure to set the maximum amount of water to use for "1 cup". That maximum amount is up to 100ml. That's 3-1/3 ounces. If you mess this up somehow, there is a procedure to restore the amounts dispensed back to factory original settings. There also is a setting for a "long cup" which can be even more.- It seems a good deal of plastic is used in areas that have to withstand the pressure load, high heat, or both. This doesn't seem like a design for long life. Thank you for the stainless steel exterior, but I would have preferred more of it in the food zone and where pressures and temperatures are greater.Overall, kudos to those who did the mechanical and plumbing design of this machine, and scorn for those who designed the user interface and controls. The price point for this espresso maker is very attractive compared to others that are available and are considered low-end but still acclaimed. Even so, is this money well-spent when you don't even like the result of what it makes, and can't be certain of how to get it to even do that? As you ponder this, I hope my experience has been a help to you in your evaluation and buying decision.

I ordered this originally to add to our coffee station in our kitchen however plans have now changed. I will say that its nothing against the machine, but it is now at my son's house because they fell in love with it. This expresso machine brings the bistro to your home and saves you a lot of money in the long run. There are options for brewing cold or hot and includes a frothing wand if you really want to make it fancy. There are two different cup sizes so you can decide how much of a kick of caffeine you need on any given day. The reservoir is over 30 ounces, so you don't have to refill with each cup of coffee which is a nice touch. With that said, keep in mind that a standard 12 cup carafe is 80 ounces so you will have to refill more frequently. In addition to how well it works, this expresso machine looks really stylish and would fit even fit into spaces decorated with a higher end style. We have a newer kitchen with the latest amenities and when we added this it actually made it look even fancier. If you are looking for a fun way to add expresso as an option in your home, this is a great option.