THERE’S nothing like a good cup of coffee to get you going in the morning or revive you during the day and now you can have barista-style coffee at home thanks to the latest high-tech coffee machines.
No need to rely on good old instant, with the best coffee machines you can go crazy with a cappuccino, love your latte or make an amazing Americano and all with no real work on your part.
Simply pop in the pod, add the beans or ground coffee and away you go.
It’s going to take you longer to choose your machine than it will do to make your coffee. There’s so much choice, so just where do you start?
That’s where we come in. Read on for our tried and tested guide to the best coffee machines available in the UK today.
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Best coffee machines at a glance:
- Best overall coffee machine: Lavazza A Modo Mio Deśea Coffee Machine
- Best coffee machine with milk frother: Philips 5400 Series Bean to Cup
- Best pod coffee machine: Tassimo by Bosch Happy
- Best value coffee machine: De’Longhi Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS
- Best coffee machine for home: Philips L’Or Barista Sublime
Philips 5400 Series Bean to Cup
Philips 5400 Series, £679.99
Pros: Easy to use, variety of drinks, high-quality, easy to clean, quick, can make multiple drinks, grinds beans
Cons: Assembly is a bit complicated, need to figure out your settings
Rating: 5/5
As a frequent coffee drinker, there’s nothing I love more than freshly brewed coffee and the Philips 5400 LatteGo promises that every single time with the touch of a few buttons.
It takes up a bit of counter space and is a bit fiddly to assemble as you need to attach a few parts separately and set up the screen, but once it’s done that’s the hardest bit out of the way.
It has a sleek interface, and you can pick whatever coffee you want from extensive options that you normally wouldn’t be able to enjoy at home like latte macchiato, flat white,
Each drink has a customisable setting for you to personalise the ratio of caffeine and liquid per coffee and it also includes an extra shot function, which I personally enjoyed.
It does take a bit of trial and error to figure out what your ideal setting is. The first time I made a cappuccino, I hadn’t adjusted the setting so it turned out way too milky for me, but after figuring it out, it was one of the best at-home coffees I had.
While it’s easy to use, I’d say the machine is better for regular coffee drinkers who know what type and intensity of coffee they enjoy.
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It’s super easy to clean as there’s a self-cleaning function, and the drip tray and ground container can be easily removed, rinsed and reattached once dry.
Although it’s compatible with ground coffee, it works better with coffee beans as it has an in-built grinder and it can be hard to clean the section for ground beans. I once tried pouring water down it and it leaked. Not to mention, it's quite pricey.
But since I’ve used the machine, I’ve never had a coffee falter in quality and it’s even made me buy fewer coffees from shops as they pale in comparison to what I have at home.
Review by Natalie Chui.
Size: 24.6 x 37.2 x 43.3 cm, Weight: 8kg, Coffee compatibility: Coffee beans, ground coffee
De’Longhi Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS
De’Longhi Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS, £35
Pros: Steam nozzle for frothy milk, used ground espresso as well as pads and pods
Cons: None I can see
Rating: 4/5
A great option for wannabe baristas, this seems more like a traditional espresso machine.
It has a steam nozzle to froth milk and uses pods, pads or ground espresso.
I made a tasty flat white with fresh milk which was less synthetic than pods.
It's pricier than other pod machines, however, you can also use it with ground coffee and it's a worthy investment that produces high-quality coffees at ease.
One happy customer commented: ‘So far I'm very impressed and would recommend.’
It's currently out of stock, but you can sign up to be informed of when it's restocked by BEEM.
Review by Hayley Minn.
Size: H29.5 x W28.5 x L20.5cm, Weight: 4.33kg, Pod compatibility: Can be used with ground coffee, capsules and pods.
Where to buy coffee machines in the UK?
You can find the best coffee machine to suit your needs either online or on the high street. Retailers to check out include Amazon, homewares stores such as Robert Dyas and department stores, including John Lewis. Don’t forget to look at the websites of individual brands also.
We found the coffee machines reviewed here at
- Argos
- Beem
- De’Longhi
- Lavazza
- L’Or
- Nespresso
- Robert Dyas
- Tassimo
How much do coffee machines cost?
There are coffee machines to suit a variety of price points, from cheap to the eye-wateringly expensive.
Price also depends on the type of coffee machine and functionality it offers, so for example, a filter coffee machine is generally on par price-wise with a pod machine and both are going to cost less than a bean-to-cup machine.
Features will also affect the price, so a coffee maker with an integral milk frother is going to cost you more than one without.
The coffee machines we’ve featured here range in price from £34.99 up to £199.
What type of coffee machine do I need?
Choosing the best coffee machine for you is important, so we've rounded up some of the pros and cons of the various types below.
The pod coffee maker is probably the machine you'll see in kitchens around the UK most often.
They use small pods of pre-ground beans to create your drink and are usually the cheapest type of coffee machine you can buy as they have the fewest components.
On the one hand, capsule/pod machines are quick and easy to use and you don't have to have trained as a barista to get a consistent cup of Joe.
However, purists won't like that you can't tailor your brew to your taste like you can with a traditional coffee machine.
Another downside is that coffee machine pods usually won't work between rival brands, meaning that once you've got your machine you're locked into buying one brand of pods indefinitely.
If you're a traditionalist, only a ground coffee machine will do.
Unlike the pod and bean-to-cup coffee makers, you'll have to have a bit of practice to use one of these machines properly.
But once you do, you'll be able to create coffees perfectly tailored to your tastes.
On the plus side for ground coffee machines, you can create expert-level brews with beans of your own choice (provided they're ground to the right consistency of course).
Many of these machines will have their steam wand, so you can froth milk to your preferred consistency.
Your daily brew will be cheaper than a pod coffee machine too, as ground coffee is less expensive than pods.
On the downside, these machines are a bit more work day-to-day, they require practice to use properly and will also require a bit more elbow grease to keep them clean.
Bean-to-cup machines offer freshly ground coffee at the press of a button.
High-end models will let you choose from a variety of coffees, whether you prefer an Americano in the morning, or you like to kick start your day with a cappuccino.
These machines let you use a variety of beans depending on your preference, and will quickly prepare your preferred drink.
Many of them will include automatic milk frothing settings to offer impressive brews with little input from you.
Take note though, that bean-to-cup makers tend to be larger, more expensive and noisier.
They also require regular cleaning to ensure the mechanism doesn't get clogged up with the dregs of coffee past.
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