De'Longhi Magnifica, Automatic Bean to Cup Coffee Machine, Espresso, Cappuccino, ESAM 4200.S, Silve
ESAM4200.S
For your perfect Italian coffee
From freshly ground beans to outstanding, intense, aromatic coffee variety. Your personal favourite drinks at the touch of a button.
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Excellent quality in cup
Each one of our grinders is tested and calibrated to ensure precision for a perfect Espresso brewing
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Ideal coffee extraction
It hosts single and double cups grinding quantity. Tamping is automatic for a consistent result.
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Your perfect milk froth
Be your own barista by manually preparing your desired milk drinks thanks to the manual milk frother
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Your favourite beverages
2 1-touch recipes: Espresso, 2x espresso plus many more manual milk drinks
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Ease of use
Preparing any beverage has never been so easy thanks to the one touch technology
1 Freshly ground coffee 2 Brewing unit 3 Manual frother 4 Beverage variety 5 One touch
| Weight: | 10.5 kg |
| Dimensions: | 37.5 x 28.5 x 36 cm; 10.52 Kilograms |
| Brand: | De'Longhi |
| Model: | ESAM4200 |
| Colour: | Silver |
| Colour: | Silver |
8 years old this year and would happily buy another, if I had to!
My daughter will be 8 too later this year, so I must have bought this at the same time. It’s given me great service over that time, and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another. I probably use it for around 10-20 cups a week, and it gets cleaned our every 4-8 weeks depending on use. The only reason I’ve come back to this today and written this review its that it’s started to make a mess of the coffee grinds inside the machine, which have now started to infiltrate the coffee. The problem is the brewing unit, as the arm at the top has worn out of alignment so it’s not cleanly sweeping the brewed coffee into the waste bin. I’ve tried to adjust the screw and spring, but no joy. I did think I’d be buying a new machine, but it turns out you can buy a replacement part for just 30, so will give that a shot first. Otherwise, this makes wonderful coffee from beans at the touch of a button, with little maintenance required. Use it to make espresso shots though and add some boiling water, and not make longer ‘lungo’ type coffee from the machine, which don’t taste anywhere near as good.
Blown away.
I’m shocked at how good this thing is really. Firstly, the espresso and lattes are amazing! Don’t go for weak beans if you want latte. Go for the stronger ones as the frothy milk will make it smooth anyway. Instructions are definitely a bit naff and seem to miss out a few key moments in the initial set up. Watch some videos on YouTube to help. Every time you turn the machine on or off, it does a short cleaning cycle. You need to buy a milk jug and little espresso glasses. I’m a massive coffee fan and this has changed the way I drink coffee at home. I no longer go to a cafe and pay 3 a cup as this is honestly just as good. You just need to find the right beans, grind level and strength. I have mine turned to max strength minimum water and it makes the perfect espresso (which can then be used for latte)
Affordable easy great coffee!
Don’t normally write reviews but I spent so long trying to decide which bean to cup to buy I thought I would share. So my position before this purchase, generally drink black Americano, like strong coffee, appreciate good coffee but definitely not an aficionado. Day to day coffee I was using a Tassimo with Costa or Kenco pods but also used a stove top espresso.
So after many months trying to decide which bean to cup to go with I took the plunge with the De’Longhi ESAM4200. And it’s awesome, definitely not the fanciest machine you can buy but it is easy to use and makes good coffee. And it doesn’t cost a small fortune. I have mine set to about 75% volume, nearly full strength and selecting two cups delivers a mug sized serving of delicious coffee. It’s super easy to clean but yes you have to clean it so if you are looking for a magic maintenance free coffee machine this is not the machine for you!
If like me you have been looking at bean to cup machines for some time I cannot recommend this machine enough
Awesome
I had a capsules coffee machine but I wanted to be conscious about the environmental issues of disposal of the capsules once used so I wanted to change to a normal coffee machine. My mum has health problems and she cannot close the Italian ones as she needs to put too much effort to close it and she should do any hard movements with her arms. I had this coffee machine at work and it has been working greatly for more than 8 years already so I decided to buy one for home. It works great, the whole family loves it and the possibility of paying it in 5 months without interests helped me to decide. No regrets so far. You can buy expensive coffee beans but you can also find cheap one at the supermarket. We use filter water to help the machine to be clean longer and so far so good. The foam from the milk is awesome! Like a proper coffee. My sister in law bought it too, together with a few colleagues from work and everyone is happy.
Great value coffee machine.
We have been using this machine since last Summer (2019) and so far have been very pleased with how it performs. We mainly use it for expresso, americano’s and the odd cappucino but whatever we decide to make, it comes out great.
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POSITIVES:
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Machine is compact and doesn’t take up too much space.
The water reservoir is big enough to make several cups of coffee.
The controls are easy to use and intuitive. You don’t need a degree to work it.
It makes very good coffee. The crema is thick and it heats the water to just the right temperature.
It is easy to clean and maintain.
Descaling is easy, once you have read the instructions properly.
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NEGATIVES:
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The steam function isn’t that powerful and takes a while to heat milk.
For some reason, I have to turn the machine off after using the steamer to be able to make another coffee.
I do find that coffee dust and water tends to accumulate on the inside.
It can be a bit loud when it is working. You definitely can’t make a discrete coffee with this machine.
Good machine for price
I’ve had my coffee machine Magnifica for a week and finally found a good setting for my taste buds. I do buy the fresh beans and I also mix, just just to experiment so to find my perfect blend. So the machine itself is for me very easy to use and set up. The quality is what you should expect, for the price. It dose a job that it’s supposed to so I had no complaints until I bought some water tank filters, and unfortunately the filters are fairly big so take up water space in the tank which is noticeable when the tank needs filling more regularly, but it’s a small price to pay if you are keeping the machine internally clean and hopefully a longer life of the machine. I’m very pleased whith my decision to buy the Magnifica S and fingers crossed it will last until I get bored and want a more expensive machine.
Fantastic Machine Fantastic Coffee
This was my Christmas present to myself when I saw it’d been reduced on Black Friday as I’d wanted a proper coffee machine for a long time – not a pod thing – a really proper grown up coffee machine! I read a lot of reviews before choosing this model which seemed to have everything I wanted which was for it to be able to grind beans itself and from there produce a variety of coffees. And that means making the changes myself by having more or less coffee, adding milk, froth, etc. This isn’t a machine that’ll give you ready made Latte for example, you need to put in the effort yourself but it’s well worth it for a genuinely tasty and satisfying drink. It froths soya and almond milk easily for Cappuccino et al as well so if you’re a non-dairy person that’s handy. I would think it will froth most liquids to be honest although I’ve only tried the two above and cow’s milk.
It’s proving easy to clean too, it tells you when it wants water filling, grounds emptying etc but note that nothing is dishwasher safe. Not a problem for me as I’d like to take care of it rather than subject it to the ferocity of a dishwasher!
A quick rundown on making a coffee – it takes getting to know your machine. Don’t assume you’ll get something amazing from the first serving but be patient! You have to give it a few runs to get it up to spec and then you have several factors to get the drink you want:
– the strength/intensity/amount of coffee
– the amount of water you use in relation to it
– the size of the ground coffee pieces
– the coffee beans and roast you choose
… so you can see there are a lot of variations you can get from simply beans and water! And what a bonus to have those variations. It means I can cater to any taste at all rather than be limited to whatever the pod machine manufacturer thinks is the average request. Thats not for me – I’m not average!!
It’s taken me about 20 cups to find my personal favourite but now I’m there it’s pure bliss to simply switch the machine on and wait for it to do its magic each morning. From this base I can make variations to the serving for myself and others very easily.
It’s a pricey machine but you do get what you pay for and looked after properly it should last for years so could well end up being more economical than a cheaper machine. If you can get it on an offer like I did then all the better! It’s quite large but you’d expect that from a quality machine with the amount of stuff it has in it. Finally a note for DeLonghi – UK drinkers tend to drink coffee from mugs not cups (even espresso sometimes) and my one small gripe is that I can only just fit my mug under the spouts… can you make a slightly higher (.5cm) spout level in time for my next machine please?!!! 😉
When I realised how much better coffee tasted when the beans were freshly ground, I decided to treat myself to a bean-to-cup machine. It was a real indulgence, as I previously wouldn’t have dreamt of spending over 200 on a coffee maker. I have no regrets though, as it is typically used a minimum of twice every day, and I know I can offer guests a lovely cup of coffee. I’m rarely ever tempted to buy ‘to go’ coffee when I’m out anymore, so I’m pretty sure the machine has paid for itself by now.
I don’t think I’ve had to descale the machine more that twice a year, and I give the inside a good brushing out every couple of months to remove any coffee grinds that may have escaped the collection box. Be aware that the machine is a bit large and will occupy more that half of the depth of a standard worktop. I was able to push it into a corner on my worktop (space which was otherwise rather awkward to use) and it works quite well there without getting in my way. I quite like that I can buy bags of coffee beans which make numerous cups of coffee, as it seems much more environmentally friendly that opening a single-serving plastic or foil packet for each cup as in many coffee makers currently on the market. Thankfully I haven’t had any problems with this machine at all, so I would quite happily recommend it.
Some additional info: I’ve been using Coffee Masters Triple Certified, Organic, Fairtrade, Arabica Coffee Beans for the last year or so, and I’ve been quite happy with this coffee.
Good coffee
Wanted a bean to cup machine after many filter coffee machines previously. I stayed with a friend who had one, and it made me jealous. 2 years later, after reading many reviews… I decided on this one….
I was so excited when it arrived a day early, and stayed up past my bed time reading the manual and testing out the expresso strengths..
To be honest, the manual didn’t make much sense at first…. But after 4 attempts, I’ve got the hang of things.
I was very impressed with the frothy coffee I made today.
Just hoping I don’t overdose on caffeine…. Water? What’s that when you can make a cappuccino.
Other people have commented about the plastic look and feel. But as my first bean to cup… And looking at the price you could pay…. I am very happy with my purchase.
Care for your Machine
I’ve owned one these machines for seven years now, and it’s used to make two double shot cups almost every day. It never fails to produce an excellent Flat White once you have adjusted the controls to suit your preference. As with all things, the better the quality of bean, the better the result in your cup. I would disagree with one previous comment however, the red light indicating the machine needs descaling/cleaning should not be ignored. Would you ignore your car oil warning light ? Descaling is essential, and not only produces a ” cleaner ” coffee, but prolongs the machines life, and genuine De Longhi descaler is not expensive. I also ensure that infuser and all the bits you can see are given a clean every 3/4 weeks. I believe good maintenance rewards you with good performance, hopefully I can look forward to another seven years of ” Magnifica ” coffee.
Good!
Received mine this afternoon. setup took about 20 mins and wasn’t paticularly difficult. So far I’m very impressed with this. I was worried it would look and feel a bit cheap with it being mostly plastic but that’s not the case at all, I actually quite like the aesthetics of it.
It does make a bit of noise as others have suggested however even the professional ones do too, you can’t grind coffee beans without actually doing some grinding!
It seems pretty easy to use too. I’ve not messed about with the settings too much and within about 30 mins from opening the box I was able to make a lovely cappacino that was easily the equal of something you’d buy in a costa or starbucks. Once I faff about with the settings a biut more, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it even more.
Overall, I was quite dubious about this but have always wanted a bean to cup machine and took the plunge with this and I’m so far very happy that I did!
A few issues
I love this BUT I find the cleaning instructions very difficult to understand. It shows these red clips inside and what to do if it doesn’t fit back in but I can’t do it or understand it. Also the red ‘descaling’ light had been on since day 3 of use, it definitely didn’t need descaling that quickly, looked at the instructions and it said to set the water hardness by using the PH strip supplied. I did this but the red light is still on. Did it three more times but still the red light remains. When making multiple cups, the first 1.5 are ok but the third tastes quite bitter. I like this but for the money not as impressed as I should be.
Best Buy! Amazing machine
Love this machine! Best purchase I’ve made in a loooong time and myself and husband saved a fortune from not stopping in morning for coffee.
I think we could shop around more for beans but we’ve been using the whole beans from Aldi and they are perfect!
*update: we have tried variety of beans and the aldi ones (no 4) are honestly perfect especially for thr price. My real favourite are Frank and honest. 5 for a bag but still way cheaper than buying coffee everyday.
We did get a second machine as issues with first and I must admit the new one is a lot quieter than the first. Which is great!
Meat machine, doesn’t take up huge space and we watched a YouTube video to set machine up. Bought stainless steel jug for milk and that’s about it. Worth every penny
Heaven in a box.
I adore fresh coffee, I get a real craving for it and I get fulfillment at the press of a button. A whole sealed bean holds its flavour and freshness far better than any ready ground so beans to cup is the only way to go if you don’t want to be messing about grinding your own beans and you can guarantee the beans are ground to the right size, tamped down and water at the right temperature for a perfect result. I have followed the suggestion of other reviewers and use bottled spring water in the reservoir to reduce scaling and ensure that my espressos are not in any way tainted. I know this is a budget machine but for me it is almost perfect, looks good albeit being plastic and at the price I can easily live with that.Very easy to use and adjust water and coffee strength by just turning the appropriate knobs, setting it up to your requirements is also very straight forward. this is my first beans to cup machine so I haven’t anything to compare it with but suffice it to say I am completely satisfied with it, it does everything I want and I’m really looking forward to trying different beans. So now to the “almost perfect” bit, the steam wand is quite small so even when it is folded out it is difficult to see the milk in the jug when steaming, the nozzle is a bit too close to the body of the machine and the wand is rigid, a flexible section in the tube would help. Some criticism was made of the length of time you had to wait after steaming before the temperature dropped so you could brew your coffee, some said up to 10 minutes but if you turn off the steam generation and open the tap and let all of the residual steam out it’s seconds. Only other thing I would have liked is a leaflet telling how to make the different types of coffee, cappuccino, latte, flat white etc etc. There is some guidance information on the web site but it’s not that comprehensive. Still there’s plenty of videos on YouTube and the difference seems all to be in the preparation of the milk and you have to practice to get it right.
Really really good
I bought this a couple of days ago and the machine arrived yesterday. It was easy to set up, the instructions very clear. I added Lavazza Qualita Rosso beans and I have transformed my breakfast coffee experience. It’s smooth and very tasty. Gone are the days of too bitter or too weak coffee! Really think that this is a great investment at 300 quid. Obviously we’ll have to see how long it lasts but from what I’m reading it seems like a sturdy machine and although a lot of the parts are plastic, it seems sturdy enough.
Update 6 months on: Still going strong, love it. Much cheaper to run than the pod alternatives if you drink a lot of coffee which we do.
Only thing I would fault is that it’s quite noisy when it turns on and off and when you make the coffee.
Makes a great cuppa!
I have been impressed by everything about this machine. First Amazon delivered it next day with Prime. There are video instructions on the product page, but just used the one about the water hardness so far. There are clear instructions on initial set up as well as detailed instructions for cleaning and maintenance and comes with descaling tablets.
Without changing any settings, right away the first coffee was hot but not strong enough. So I changed the strength settings and now it’s fine. The milk frother does what it should and heats the milk, you can do it a bit longer to produce a more creamy foamy mix.
The only other thing I would do is make the coffee it a bit hotter to match the coffee shops so I will have a play with the settings and see how it goes. You can easily change the strength, drink volume and fill 1 or 2 cups at the same time.
This machine is excellent, it’s only day one but I hope the machine continues to produce lattes, expressos, cappucinos and americanos for the next few years!
Makes a lovely coffee, no fuss and so easy to use and maintai
This machine does what you want, it grinds the beans and uses pressurised hot water at 15bars to infuse and create a lovely cup of coffee with a white frothy top (just from the beans). This in all takes about the same time as it does to boil the kettle so it ends up quicker than making an instant brew (not that I buy that anymore). I was getting my coffee from a famous fast food chain but now I save that 2 a day and in about 150 days it will pay for itself!
It doesn’t do anything too fancy, and that is exactly what is so great about this machine, gives you options for strength and volume although it won’t fill a large mug on max setting, so if you use mugs maybe use lowest volume setting and run twice?
Machine Comes well packaged, with cleaning kit which is nice as eventually you will have to descale if you live in a hard water area as I do.
Easy to use, fun to drink!
I have had this machine for the last few months and it had been an ease and a pleasure to use. I generally use this when I’m working from home a couple times a day and have had no real problems so far.
Using this to make cappuccinos for my father has been fun. You can take off the milk pipe and rinse with water to clean. However there is quite a significant delay when trying to make another coffee after using the milk frother. I’ve heard there are hacks to speed this up, but unless you’re making many cups, it’s not that bit a deal.
It’s a bit hit and miss trying to find the perfect amount of coffee in terms of size and strength but by tweaking the dials you’ll eventually get there (do take a picture of your settings, my sister decided to mess around with mine so I had to retry).
Positives:
Easy to use
Easy to clean
Coffee grounds are easy to dispose of
Makes a damn good cup of coffee
Negatives:
Steam generator/milk frothier takes a bit of time to start and then to go back to ‘coffee mode’
All in all, this is a fantastic bean to cup machine and you’d be hard pressed to find one at this price that’s better.
Good coffee, good value
I bought this after several expensive repairs to a Krups predecessor and on the recommendation of a friend who had had one for a few months with good results. So far I’m happy although I can’t comment on long term reliability yet. The front loading water container is an improvement over the Krups although you still need to pull the unit out to fill the bean hopper from the top. Arguably the bean hopper is a touch small as it needs to be almost completely empty to get a full packet of beans in. Others here have noted that some water is consumed by the pre and post coffee making cleaning cycle which occurs automatically. The quality of the coffee is very good, definitely better than the Krups, and overall this coffee maker is good value for money.
Ok so this is my first bean to cup. However. I think it is fantastic.
It’s easy to clean
Makes amazing coffee
Really simple to use
Not huge
Visible water storage
Accessible water storage (without moving machine)
Downsides are
It’s slightly noisy but it does have to grind the beans
Takes a few minutes to reheat for the second cup. But it’s not unreasonable.
In brief I would say buy it!
Obviously I’ve not had it long so I hope it is hard wearing.
Love i
Ok so this is my first bean to cup. However. I think it is fantastic.
It’s easy to clean
Makes amazing coffee
Really simple to use
Not huge
Visible water storage
Accessible water storage (without moving machine)
Downsides are
It’s slightly noisy but it does have to grind the beans
Takes a few minutes to reheat for the second cup. But it’s not unreasonable.
In brief I would say buy it!
Obviously I’ve not had it long so I hope it is hard wearing.
Love i
Very decent upgrade for coffee lovers who don't want to go pod.
Very nice coffee maker. Bit of a faff first time descaling it but YouTube video makes it a bit clearer. Seems to be made of more plastic and less metal pieces than previous incarnations but still solidly put together. Seems quite expensive moving to this from a Bodum cafetiere however quality of finished coffee is very good and almost got the hang of barista-y swirly milk. Overall very impressed- only niggle is lack of handle to open the front, which seems to require dragging the pourer spout to open the whole front piece for emptying the used coffee pucks etc. Not sure what will happen in future with the burr grinder but we’ll see. Got this at a decent discount so very happy so far.
I was not a coffee drinker!!
I am not a coffee drinker, I have always found it a great disappointment as the flovour never lives up to the fragrance of roasting and grinding. I purchased the machine after about a years research ( I clearly was not in too much of a hurry). When it arrived, the day following my order, I got rather depressed as it looked to be a minefield to set up.
Well now I am an enthusiastic coffee drinker, this machine has changed my mind. The house smells deliciously of fresh coffee and with the right balance and the right beans I am treated to a superb cup of freshly ground coffee whenever I want one.
There is however a major drawback, one I did not anticipate, my wallet is feeling the draft, coffee beans are not free and the best can be a little expensive. But no regrets, it is worth every pound spent, and I have spent a few. Purchasing was a good decision.
Like me enjoy.
Years of use and still produces excellent coffee
I waited for a few years before finally reviewing this (over four I think) – and am pleased to say it’s a superb bit of kit.
I prefer Americano and have a good 3-4 cups every day – double shots!
This machine hands down beats any Coffee shop out there and is much better than my previous Gaggia – with a lovely rich crema every time.
It did take awhile to get the best settings for my taste and also the best beans, but now it just makes perfect espresso every single time at the touch of a button. But do not follow advice you may see about making Americano by setting it to max on the water dial – set the water dial to near min, coffee to near max, grind to near fine then just top it up with hot water like you are supposed to.
If this ever breaks I’ll buy another instantly.
Great choice
Very simple to use makes a lovely cup of coffee when you find beans that suit your taste we are still working on that ! The machine holds plenty of water and beans for us however there are only 2 of us most of the time having coffee but we have pretty big mugs of it all the same it’s so easy to fill up with beans or water it’s no trouble to do.
I like hot milk in my coffee and the steamer works very well producing that however I’ve not as yet had much luck in getting a good froth if I want a cappuccino but that could be due to the freshness of the milk or just technique so I will keep practicing.
My only concern is that the machine is a bit plastic so I’m not sure how well it will stand up to use over time but I chose this machine due to the amount of really good reviews it had and the excellent price I paid also helped in my choice.
Took a few days to master it, trial and error to make the perfect coffee for myself, but I got there in a day or two and it’s superb! Instructions are a bit of a nightmare. You Tube and Google have helped me loads! Ive had this for two months now. Wish I had broke the bank and brought one of these machines many moons ago. I have it in my small office, everyone who visits have remarked on what a fantastic full mug of coffee it makes. My only niggles… It is quite loud, but well worth the noise when you sip the coffee! The descaling process is a bit daft as it goes by how many cups it has poured rather than built up scale??? We only use bottled water so when the descaling light comes on we just descale with water and not the descaling liquid as we figured it will only need descaling every 6mths after looking at some coffee website forums. Apart from that it’s easy to clean, flushes through before its first use when you switch it on and before it shuts down when you switch it off. Huge water tank too which is a bonus!….Tried the Cappuccino / Latte using the milk frother, and found it very easy to use/clean etc…, again coffee website forums are worth a look before trying it out, but it only took a few goes to fathom how to make a perfect Cappuccino and Latte style drink. … I’ve boxed up and gave away my Tassimo, Nespresso and Senseo machines after buying this. Pretty sure you will too!
Time save
I have been happily using a De Longhi Dedica espresso machine and KG79 grinder for many years but have become increasing aware of how much time I spend faffing about to get those all important flat whites before I go to work. I bought the Magnifica as an experiment to see if it would save time and also as a benchmark to gauge my barista skills against.
The results are that, yes, the bean to cup machine is much quicker (and cleaner) than doing things manually. Results are consistent and adequate, as you might expect from a machine, once you’ve got the settings right for your particular beans. Probably the trickiest bit is getting the grind correct as you can only adjust whilst grinding is active but you don’t see the result until about two cups later.
I can still make a better cup of coffee by hand but this machine is certainly more convenient, especially if you are making coffee for more than one person.
A nightmare to clea
The machiine works well and it is easy to use (although at first it may intimidate you). The only flaw is that it is a total nightmare to clean. Noone of the parts are machine washable, but most importantly of all the dirt gets everywhere on th inside. There is NO WAY you can clean it all up. In this respect the design is very poor because they have not considered “after care”.
A small gripe is the position of the dials and the buttons. They are too close to each other so it happens that first thing in the morning you end up pressing the wrong button. Again, a smaller design flaw.
In any case, I got this machine at a discount, I have used it for a few months and I and quite happy about it.
Ah, a cup of espresso (bean to cup) will set you back about 9 g of cofee, so slightly more than my older machine.
An excellent product, producing great coffee similar to high-end machines
Having already owned the De’longhi Eletta (ECAM 44.660.B) I purchased this machine for our office. The internal components are similar to the Eletta and the shots of espresso produced are identical, despite the Eletta being twice the price. I found more flexibility in altering the grind settings in this machine compared to the Eletta as there is a manual knob to adjust grind amount and water dispensed on the front. The steam wand works well, however you will need to dispense all your espresso shots FIRST before steaming milk as the machine takes over 5 minutes to cool.
The water container is large enough to last a day for multiple users, however the coffee beans holder could do with more space. It would be wise to check how many beans there are at the start of each day and also check your worktop clearance as this machine is hefty and could contact cupboards that are placed above it. The instructions on how to use the machine are clear and it is very easy to sort out any problems using the FAQ. I would recommend this machine to anyone who wants a decent shot of espresso without paying double the price, however you may wish to go for a better model if you prefer milk-based drinks.
Ok so as far as making coffee goes, this machine is good. Not great. Just good. Which is great if you’re like me, some guy who wanted a machine that was like the Tassimo and Dolce Gusto machines on the market, but did not want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on those blasted pods and contribute more plastic waste to the world. Oh and with the ability to make more than 1 cup of coffee before having to refill the tank.
When I say the coffee produced is good, what I mean is unless you’re a real coffee aficionado the coffee that is produced will be more than sufficient to satisfy your needs for a proper cup of coffee in the morning without all the fuss.
So yes, this machine is good at making coffee. It has a coffee grind dial which you might as well not bother with because if you set it too fine then it won’t work. If you want to make an espresso-based coffee drink and want to pull a richer coffee which means having to change the grind setting, don’t bother. You won’t get a proper draw until your second grind, because there is still courser coffee grounds from the previous coffee.
I say stick it on a medium setting and your good to go, the process of changing the ground settings is too bothersome to be viable. Because coarse is better for bigger cups of coffee and fine is better for espresso. So medium is a happy “Medium”.
The steam wand works well. You can make both cappuccinos and lattes with this. However that metal plate you have seen in the picture is not actually a cup warmer, in theory, the cup shelf will get warm. But that’s only if you are making coffee like your a barista.
The water tank is very generous. I reckon I get like 4 ordinary mugs of coffee from this before having to refill this, which is nice because sometimes I have guests around and so it’s faster and easier to make coffee.
Ok, now onto the deal breaker. This machine is really awkward to clean properly. So all the parts you can take out and wash by hand, those are fine. What I’m talking about is the interior of the machine. Inside where you find the coffee waste and the infuse.
The interior of this thing is really badly designed unless they wanted to design something that was really good at collecting coffee grounds while not being easy to clean, then, in that case, it was designed really well.
The inside of this thing has so many nooks and crannies, where the stray coffee grounds can collect, are beyond a joke. You can’t easily wipe out the coffee ground. You have to dig them out with a q tip. Even that isn’t an easy job. I must have spent half an hour on it today and there are still bits of mouldy coffee grounds in the corners and places where no human hand get too.
In my opinion, this is where Delonghi have missed the mark. For the price point, it really should have been designed better.
Ok so as far as making coffee goes, this machine is good. Not great. Just good. Which is great if you’re like me, some guy who wanted a machine that was like the Tassimo and Dolce Gusto machines on the market, but did not want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on those blasted pods and contribute more plastic waste to the world. Oh and with the ability to make more than 1 cup of coffee before having to refill the tank.
When I say the coffee produced is good, what I mean is unless you’re a real coffee aficionado the coffee that is produced will be more than sufficient to satisfy your needs for a proper cup of coffee in the morning without all the fuss.
So yes, this machine is good at making coffee. It has a coffee grind dial which you might as well not bother with because if you set it too fine then it won’t work. If you want to make an espresso-based coffee drink and want to pull a richer coffee which means having to change the grind setting, don’t bother. You won’t get a proper draw until your second grind, because there is still courser coffee grounds from the previous coffee.
I say stick it on a medium setting and your good to go, the process of changing the ground settings is too bothersome to be viable. Because coarse is better for bigger cups of coffee and fine is better for espresso. So medium is a happy “Medium”.
The steam wand works well. You can make both cappuccinos and lattes with this. However that metal plate you have seen in the picture is not actually a cup warmer, in theory, the cup shelf will get warm. But that’s only if you are making coffee like your a barista.
The water tank is very generous. I reckon I get like 4 ordinary mugs of coffee from this before having to refill this, which is nice because sometimes I have guests around and so it’s faster and easier to make coffee.
Ok, now onto the deal breaker. This machine is really awkward to clean properly. So all the parts you can take out and wash by hand, those are fine. What I’m talking about is the interior of the machine. Inside where you find the coffee waste and the infuse.
The interior of this thing is really badly designed unless they wanted to design something that was really good at collecting coffee grounds while not being easy to clean, then, in that case, it was designed really well.
The inside of this thing has so many nooks and crannies, where the stray coffee grounds can collect, are beyond a joke. You can’t easily wipe out the coffee ground. You have to dig them out with a q tip. Even that isn’t an easy job. I must have spent half an hour on it today and there are still bits of mouldy coffee grounds in the corners and places where no human hand get too.
In my opinion, this is where Delonghi have missed the mark. For the price point, it really should have been designed better.
Having used coffee capsules for the last two years we looked forward to making the real thing, particularly a decent cappuccino and to be honest this De’Longhi Magnifica coffee maker does just that. Three things that are slightly annoying though:-
1. We’ve actually been using the machine approx. 2 months making an average of 4/5 cups of coffee most days and although we have the machine set up for the hardest water it still came up with the warning to descale the machine already. At 3-4 per time to descale the machine if it has to be done every month or so if our coffee intake goes up it could work out expensive.
2. As per the video the water spout and milk frother is close to the machine so you will need a container that is not tall and of a thin material to get it under the spout head.
3. Not sure of the content size of the water tank but it does appear to be on the small size.
Great, versatile coffee maker with little fuss.
I have been using this for only 6 weeks and I am very happy so far. I have moved up from a much smaller delonghi model that only used ground coffee & wasn’t automatic. I have had that one for years and so wanted to stick with the brand.
I had been looking at another been to cup machine, endorsed by a celebrity chef . This machine does not quite have all the whistles and bells of the other but thanks to an amazing Amazon discount was about a third of the price.
Admittedly, the plastic casing means it doesn’t win the beauty contest, and I was surprised at how noisy it is. However, I can set it to make coffee that satisfies the requirements of all the family, and can treat my visitors to a really decent cup of freshly ground. All with very little fuss or effort on my part. It is also very easy to clean and maintain.
Great machine not missed a beat since day one
Unboxing this machine and using the Euro-pic instructions may take a little getting used to. The main grinder (open door and look at the black plastic bit) arrives at a canted or wonky angle, which makes it look broken, but this is normal. Once you feed it with power water and beans, it whirs into life.
There is no LCD display, and we don’t miss it. There are some programming tweeks, who adjusts those? We didn’t. The only thing worth noting is that the water container is rather small for serious coffee heads and may be an awkward fill (from our carbon filtered system). Each time you wake it up from sleep, it annoyingly spurts out a fair amount of water into the drip tray before it is ready to dispense. Which uses water that would be better off in the coffee cup. We don’t grudge it though.
Final confidence in the 2 year warrantee, but if it carries on like this, we won’t need to use that. Great machine.
I knew my 10 year old manual delonghi espresso machine wasn’t really doing the business any more, but the comparison to what this machine gave me blew me away. It is VERY close to coffee shop quality espresso and probably capable of better if I spend the time to tune it. That said, the fact that it uses non-graduated dials to set strength and volume means switching between my wife’s an my preferences is not as user friendly as it might be. It is VERY easy to use. put cup under outlet, turn on, let machine flush itself (delivers some ‘dirty’ hot water to cup) throw this away, then deliver excellent espresso to now warmed cup. Switch off machine (or let eco function do this automatically). that’s it. Start your day. So convenient and such a nice espresso to start the day with. Easy to clean, fill etc. and at 200 a bargain. Easy to see why it’s a best seller. Only other criticism or hint really is to make coffee before using steam wand if that’s what you need to do, as once the machine reaches steam temp it is too hot to make coffee and needs quite a bit of time to cool down again to make coffees.
I purchased this machine as a gift for my wife, Personally I am not a coffee drinker. However I can comment on how easy this machine was to set up and install. The instructions are clear and I had the machine up and running in about 10 minutes. You do have to use it about 5 times before it produces ‘passable’ coffee so first time out don’t use the expensive beans! Also it is worth experimenting with the size of the grind. I watched some you tube videos of what an espresso should look like and tried to recreate from there. I’m aware people will have there own preference though, however good starting point is to make sure the burr grinder is full of beans and the set it to it’s finest setting and tune it from there I found this the easiest way to get to that perfect shot! The machine seems pretty well made, it is plastic but that’s the compromise to not paying out a lot of money, however build quality seems absolutely fine and what I expected. The machine is easy to clean and put back together. All in all it produces fantastic espresso according to my wife, build quality is reasonable and maintenance is pretty straightforwards – thumbs up from me!
I bought my Delonghi ESAM4200 in November 2012 and at the time of writing this review it is still working really well.
It makes really great espresso. I tend not to use the milk frother as I prefer to use a plunger type milk frother. I use a Bodum milk frother jug. That is just my preference and I know a lot of people do use the built-in milk frother and are happy with it.
This machine produces espresso with a lovely velvety creme. The machine is easy to keep clean and easy to use. To descale I used to use the delonghi descaling solution for the first couple of years but now I just use some diluted citric acid which is a lot cheaper.
As I mentioned, I have had this machine for nearly six years. We use it to make around four espressos per day.
About a year ago the quality of the espresso had fallen and used coffee grounds started to make a bit of a mess inside the machine. I discovered online that replacing 3 O’ Rings and lubricating the piston inside the brew unit would solve this. I bought the O’ Rings with food safe lubricant on ebay for 7.50 and it took about 5 minutes to change them. It was not difficult to do. After I did that the machine started performing as new again.
This machine has worked really well for us over the years. If I was to replace it I would probably go a step up into Delonghi’s premium range with fully automatic milk frothing capabilities. However, for a budget machine I think this is probably the best around.
I bought my Delonghi ESAM4200 in November 2012 and at the time of writing this review it is still working really well.
It makes really great espresso. I tend not to use the milk frother as I prefer to use a plunger type milk frother. I use a Bodum milk frother jug. That is just my preference and I know a lot of people do use the built-in milk frother and are happy with it.
This machine produces espresso with a lovely velvety creme. The machine is easy to keep clean and easy to use. To descale I used to use the delonghi descaling solution for the first couple of years but now I just use some diluted citric acid which is a lot cheaper.
As I mentioned, I have had this machine for nearly six years. We use it to make around four espressos per day.
About a year ago the quality of the espresso had fallen and used coffee grounds started to make a bit of a mess inside the machine. I discovered online that replacing 3 O’ Rings and lubricating the piston inside the brew unit would solve this. I bought the O’ Rings with food safe lubricant on ebay for 7.50 and it took about 5 minutes to change them. It was not difficult to do. After I did that the machine started performing as new again.
This machine has worked really well for us over the years. If I was to replace it I would probably go a step up into Delonghi’s premium range with fully automatic milk frothing capabilities. However, for a budget machine I think this is probably the best around.
This is an awesome coffee machine. Very good quality price ratio. You can adjust the grain size, quantity (stronger of softer taste) and even you can warm up milk for cappuccinos. Easy functionality and easy to clean. Time to time the machine asks you to clean it to eliminate limestone from the tubing system, but it is quite easy following the instructions. If I have to say something wrong, I would say it is noisy, but hey, a good coffee makes up for the noise.
I totally recommend this product for the coffee lovers.
I’ve sort of taken a step backwards by buying this – I previously had a separate espresso machine and grinder – but to be honest just wanted the push button ease for my usual Americano or espresso.
So far (and bear in mind I have limited barista skills) this produces a cup of coffee at least equal to what I was making before but taking a lot less effort.
Set up is ok (the manual could be a little clearer on setting for water hardness and temperature).
I read complaints about noise – but compared to my previous machines this isn’t really an unexpected problem or even an issue.
The one downside is having a space for ground coffee. I only use beans and this takes away space for putting more of the bag in.
The milk frother will be useful when friends come round and works fine.
Overall? If you’re trying to develop your barista skills and want a pro level machine this isn’t for you. If you want a very good cup of coffee easily at an amazing price you should get one.
What a revelation. I have been coffee-crazy since my student days back in the late 1980s. To think of it, I once had an espresso machine that I used for years without learning how to make a proper espresso (the days before the internet, we never felt the need to learn so much. I definitely didn’t have a tampering tool so must have been rubbish espresso as made without tampering). I moved on to french presses and recently bought a Nescafe EDG305.B Dolce Gusto Mini Me Coffee Capsule Machine by De’Longhi – Piano Black which makes a lovely cup of coffee. Then I moved on to a bean to cup, i-e. this machine. This is an amazing machine. I learned about different types of beans, read about coffee’s humble origins in Ethiopia and Yemen, the Islamic golden age of coffee and how it was introduced from the Middle East and Turkey to Europe The Devil’s Cup: Coffee, the Driving Force in History and how it was spread in the colonies of the New World and Indonesia by the European colonists. Now we live in the Western Golden Age of Coffee.
The machine itself is easy to set up. Make sure it is switched on at the back and the steam knob is set to the ‘off’ position. Read the instructions carefully although most of the factory settings are good enough to start with. I have used a few types of beans although I keep on coming back to Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans 1kg after every experiment. Espresso is nice. I make cappuccinos for my son with it. Transition from coffee to steam is seamless but from steam to coffee takes many minutes. Make sure you brew your shot of espresso BEFORE you froth your milk otherwise the frothed mild would go cold/ flat while you wait for coffee to be brewed if you do so AFTER you froth the milk. I bought this Milk Pitcher, Dailyart 600ml/20fl.oz. Stainless Steel Milk Cup Milk Frothing Pitcher Milk Jug for frothing the milk in. I drank a cappuccino from Costa the other day and it felt weak and powdery. The coffee from this machine is totally different from anything you can buy from Costa, Starbucks etc.
What a revelation. I have been coffee-crazy since my student days back in the late 1980s. To think of it, I once had an espresso machine that I used for years without learning how to make a proper espresso (the days before the internet, we never felt the need to learn so much. I definitely didn’t have a tampering tool so must have been rubbish espresso as made without tampering). I moved on to french presses and recently bought a Nescafe EDG305.B Dolce Gusto Mini Me Coffee Capsule Machine by De’Longhi – Piano Black which makes a lovely cup of coffee. Then I moved on to a bean to cup, i-e. this machine. This is an amazing machine. I learned about different types of beans, read about coffee’s humble origins in Ethiopia and Yemen, the Islamic golden age of coffee and how it was introduced from the Middle East and Turkey to Europe The Devil’s Cup: Coffee, the Driving Force in History and how it was spread in the colonies of the New World and Indonesia by the European colonists. Now we live in the Western Golden Age of Coffee.
The machine itself is easy to set up. Make sure it is switched on at the back and the steam knob is set to the ‘off’ position. Read the instructions carefully although most of the factory settings are good enough to start with. I have used a few types of beans although I keep on coming back to Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans 1kg after every experiment. Espresso is nice. I make cappuccinos for my son with it. Transition from coffee to steam is seamless but from steam to coffee takes many minutes. Make sure you brew your shot of espresso BEFORE you froth your milk otherwise the frothed mild would go cold/ flat while you wait for coffee to be brewed if you do so AFTER you froth the milk. I bought this Milk Pitcher, Dailyart 600ml/20fl.oz. Stainless Steel Milk Cup Milk Frothing Pitcher Milk Jug for frothing the milk in. I drank a cappuccino from Costa the other day and it felt weak and powdery. The coffee from this machine is totally different from anything you can buy from Costa, Starbucks etc.
Just after having finished my second ever cup using this machine. Honest cafe quality coffee, with a really strong kick to it. I’m used to AeroPress coffee which is nowhere near as strong. It’s great being able to have really delicious coffee with minimal effort, and for the coffee to actually wake me up. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to friends or family.
Great value machine for super coffee
Rightio. I waited a whole two months to write this review. It’s an expensive buy and I want to make sure I don’t just do a 5 star -honeymoon period endorsement.
It truly is terrific. The coffee is so good that you’ll prefer it to any high-street vendor’s offering. Fiddle with the settings (well explained in the booklet). For me perfect is just over the midmark on cup size, double size for a mug of coffee, maximum strength on the bean-counter 😉 and very hot for the water. I have the grind set toward the finer side of the midway mark.
The steam spout is super easy to use and even I can make perfect foam. This could be because the pressure is high enough, it certainly outperforms anything I’ve had before.
I clean the machine thoroughly inside once a week. I use a small paintbrush to really get the gunk and coffee-grind powder out properly. Judging by the amount of the stuff I remove it seems that this is important to keep the machine working at its best.
Great value. Highly recommended.
This is my first bean to cup machine after having a more traditional espresso machine previously. I was after the ease of one of the pod type machines but without the awful waste of resources that those stupid little pods entail. I tried to read as many reviews as I could about various machines and this one seemed to keep coming up as the best reviewed without spending thousands. While I love a coffee I’m by no means a coffee connoisseur/snob so I couldn’t justify spending ridiculous amounts.
Anyway – this arrived quickly – sooner than expected actually, and was very straightforward to set up. Then it’s just a case of running it a few times to get things set up how you like them. This is all also really straightforward. We’ve now got it set to pump out coffees just right and it’s fantastic! It’s easy, so much less hassle than the traditional espresso machine. We drink lattes and the milk frother on this is great too. It helps to know how to use a milk frother to get the best results – but there’s plenty of info on youtube about that if you’re not sure. Probably the only criticism I would make is the steam wand doesn’t sit out from the body of the machine far enough. It’s manageable, but would be better with a bit more distance to work with. As others have said there is a cool down period after using the steam but if you run water/steam through the wand after switching it off that mode it cools down much quicker.
I’m now looking forward to trying out different beans to see the difference in flavours. We’ve only had this a month so far and I really hope this machine lasts – assuming it does I would highly recommend it. It makes great coffee and is really straightforward, without having to resort to single use packaging for every cup of coffee you drink.
This is my first bean to cup machine after having a more traditional espresso machine previously. I was after the ease of one of the pod type machines but without the awful waste of resources that those stupid little pods entail. I tried to read as many reviews as I could about various machines and this one seemed to keep coming up as the best reviewed without spending thousands. While I love a coffee I’m by no means a coffee connoisseur/snob so I couldn’t justify spending ridiculous amounts.
Anyway – this arrived quickly – sooner than expected actually, and was very straightforward to set up. Then it’s just a case of running it a few times to get things set up how you like them. This is all also really straightforward. We’ve now got it set to pump out coffees just right and it’s fantastic! It’s easy, so much less hassle than the traditional espresso machine. We drink lattes and the milk frother on this is great too. It helps to know how to use a milk frother to get the best results – but there’s plenty of info on youtube about that if you’re not sure. Probably the only criticism I would make is the steam wand doesn’t sit out from the body of the machine far enough. It’s manageable, but would be better with a bit more distance to work with. As others have said there is a cool down period after using the steam but if you run water/steam through the wand after switching it off that mode it cools down much quicker.
I’m now looking forward to trying out different beans to see the difference in flavours. We’ve only had this a month so far and I really hope this machine lasts – assuming it does I would highly recommend it. It makes great coffee and is really straightforward, without having to resort to single use packaging for every cup of coffee you drink.
Nearly 5 stars
I’d love to give this 5 stars, but although this is a great machine it isn’t as good as the original “Magnifica” which I bought this to replace. Actually the main internal components are pretty much the same, but the have cheapened the front part of the products and replaced many of the previous metal parts with plastic. However, my biggest complaint is not something that DeLonghi can do anything about because this is just stupid EU regulations relating to energy saving, so now the machine automatically switches off after about 20 minutes instead of being allowed to stay on standby. This is annoying and means that the machine has to close itslef down (using energy) and then has to be switched on again ( using even more energy because it has to heat up again!). It’s still a great machine though and makes excellent coffee.
I love this coffee machine, restaurant quality coffee every time, I managed to get it under two hundred during Black Friday too so got a bargain, I’m a little wired on caffeine lately as it’s so nice I just end up having a few too many! Simple to use sand as I live In Cornwall with soft water I never really have to de-scale it unlike the northern water I grew up with, it’s a case of reading the instructions, i personally don’t like doing it, but there’s a little bit of setting up and a few buttons you need to learn, the machine does tell you when the water is empty or the coffee collector is full etc so it’s very clever, we use beans but you can use ground coffee, it also streams milk but I use cold most the time
I love this coffee machine, restaurant quality coffee every time, I managed to get it under two hundred during Black Friday too so got a bargain, I’m a little wired on caffeine lately as it’s so nice I just end up having a few too many! Simple to use sand as I live In Cornwall with soft water I never really have to de-scale it unlike the northern water I grew up with, it’s a case of reading the instructions, i personally don’t like doing it, but there’s a little bit of setting up and a few buttons you need to learn, the machine does tell you when the water is empty or the coffee collector is full etc so it’s very clever, we use beans but you can use ground coffee, it also streams milk but I use cold most the time
I make the Best Coffee in the Town!!?.
This is a pretty good little machine, it’s half the price of my last 4 delonghi machines & with them u had the messy dealings of having to deal with the used coffee grinds. As u see in the coffee shops, whereas with this little machine collects it all in a pot, and u empty it about every 8 cups, or mugs of coffee. It grinds the beans, or uses ground coffee so as I only have a couple of caffeinated coffee’s I use the ground coffee, then I have decaffe for the rest of the day or evening. It took a bit of getting used to it, but then once u’ve got the hang of it, its great. It’s always wise to descale regularly if u want your machine to last. It pays off in the long run. I’d recommend it definatly all day long! I’m always told I make the nicest coffee in the town!! Lol.
If you want to have coffee from freshly ground beans, it is excellent – but if you want mostly to use preground coffee, it is one cup at a time and there are better options on the market. If you want both, it does what you want. It is relatively noisy in operation, but so are most kitchen appliances which grind things. When family arrived and wanted coffee, it dispensed what was required quickly and effectively. A good piece of kit. May be a bit large for small kitchens with restricted workspace – check before you buy!
It was either going to gather dust or I’d become addicted to coffee and, worryingly, it’s the latter. I must be drinking about 4 cups a day and it’s all delicious. This machine is so easy to use, after a few attempts I was away. I just left it on its factory settings and it’s been fine. The milk frother thing isn’t fantastic, I used to work in a cafe and the commercial machines are way more powerful. However, I’m happy just adding milk and the coffee is absolutely lovely. I will just add, am lucky enough to live practically next door to a coffee bean stockist and they advised that oily beans are no good in bean to coffee machines. They recommend a dryer bean as oily beans can clog the machine. It’s hard to know which beans are dry or oily from a supermarket, but you can buy the following dry beans online: Daterra Sunrise (espresso strength – deeply, nutty flavour which is clean and crisp with strong aroma), Kenya AA (strong bean – flavoursome with a bright, fruity acidity), Guatemala Huehuetenango (medium flavour, smooth with a rich, chocolatey aroma). They work fantastically in the machine.
Update – May 2022: we have used this coffee machine every day since purchased. We estimate that we must have made over a thousand cups of coffee. It’s on its last legs now but we will be replacing. Wish it could be smaller though. Takes up a lot of room on the kitchen worktop!
I had had one of these machines before but it didn’t last very long. I replaced it with a Krups which had a ceramic grinder and which lasted longer but when I saw this De’Longhi advertised at such a good price (and Krups had changed the grinder to stainless steel) I decided to buy another one. It is again much flimsier than the Krups but functions well. The coffee is better, tastier, creamier but not as hot – even when using the instructions to increase the temperature. The only real disappointment is that with this newer Magnifica it is not possible to access the beans and as my partner now has to use decaffeinated beans and I do not, it is a fiddle to put in the exact amounts we each require. This may not affects others though so I have not downgraded my rating.
I had had one of these machines before but it didn’t last very long. I replaced it with a Krups which had a ceramic grinder and which lasted longer but when I saw this De’Longhi advertised at such a good price (and Krups had changed the grinder to stainless steel) I decided to buy another one. It is again much flimsier than the Krups but functions well. The coffee is better, tastier, creamier but not as hot – even when using the instructions to increase the temperature. The only real disappointment is that with this newer Magnifica it is not possible to access the beans and as my partner now has to use decaffeinated beans and I do not, it is a fiddle to put in the exact amounts we each require. This may not affects others though so I have not downgraded my rating.
I purchased this unit 10 months ago. I thought I would wait a while to see how it performed and it has excelled!. There are 3 adults who are all now hooked on this machine. We did a rough estimate and thinks Its probably dished up more than 800 cups of coffee.
Mostly we are making excellent espresso / americano coffees/ On a week end my son will craft an excellent cappuccino for my wife. To this you need to use the steam wand and manually inject steam into a small jug of milk. Its totally capable of providing enough steam you just need to develop your technique to get the foam just right.
For us its perfect. Compact, but performs exactly what we want it to do. 5 Stars.
I purchased this unit 10 months ago. I thought I would wait a while to see how it performed and it has excelled!. There are 3 adults who are all now hooked on this machine. We did a rough estimate and thinks Its probably dished up more than 800 cups of coffee.
Mostly we are making excellent espresso / americano coffees/ On a week end my son will craft an excellent cappuccino for my wife. To this you need to use the steam wand and manually inject steam into a small jug of milk. Its totally capable of providing enough steam you just need to develop your technique to get the foam just right.
For us its perfect. Compact, but performs exactly what we want it to do. 5 Stars.
Being waiting for ages for the price to come down so when I saw it was less than 200 I had to have it. It makes great coffee and I mean great. Had it about 2 weeks and I haven’t quite finished the large bag of Lavazza beans yet, I can’t believe how cheap it is to make fresh coffee, the amount of coffee I’ve had I would have probably spent three times more had I used instant. There is one down side though, I’ve been away for a couple of days and I so wish I could have taken the coffee maker with me, I soo missed it, a lot of people buy the coffee makers you have to put a capsule in, so expensive to use and the coffee is disgusting. For me the coffee is better than the coffee shops whether it be a latte, cappuccino, espresso with the Lavazza beans and to my taste anyway. Just pour in the beans and press a button, simples, steam milk for latte or cappuccino.
My 1st machine was broken from the factory, Amazon as always replaced order straight away no questions asked, 2nd machine delivered today ” 3rd Dec 2017″
By following the instructions page by page and completing Water Hardest Test, this was very easy to set up “even with disabilities”
Made 2 coffees to set up my desired strength and cup length ” I use a Starbuck Large Cappuccino cup can be brought from Starbuck uk 6.50″
OMG what a great machine, the coffee is strong and the milk steamer heated and frothed milk really up well.
I live for coffee & for year drank normal Nescafe instant ,6mths ago completely went off drinking normal coffee as I believe Nescafe changed their coffee beans or processing ,their instant coffee just went awful,
I am now back in love with my love for coffee, cappuccino, latte made at home with this machine are lovely & taste as good as buying coffee shop coffee, but will a 10th of the cost.
Well done De`Longhi excellent machine at a fantastic price, you dont need to spend 600,700,800+ for a bean to cup machine, this one does a great job.
My 1st machine was broken from the factory, Amazon as always replaced order straight away no questions asked, 2nd machine delivered today ” 3rd Dec 2017″
By following the instructions page by page and completing Water Hardest Test, this was very easy to set up “even with disabilities”
Made 2 coffees to set up my desired strength and cup length ” I use a Starbuck Large Cappuccino cup can be brought from Starbuck uk 6.50″
OMG what a great machine, the coffee is strong and the milk steamer heated and frothed milk really up well.
I live for coffee & for year drank normal Nescafe instant ,6mths ago completely went off drinking normal coffee as I believe Nescafe changed their coffee beans or processing ,their instant coffee just went awful,
I am now back in love with my love for coffee, cappuccino, latte made at home with this machine are lovely & taste as good as buying coffee shop coffee, but will a 10th of the cost.
Well done De`Longhi excellent machine at a fantastic price, you dont need to spend 600,700,800+ for a bean to cup machine, this one does a great job.
Great coffee machine, heats up in seconds (literally!) no more crappy instant coffees from now on, it actually gets hotter quicker than boiling the kettle.
Would advise using beans rather than ground coffee, it make more of a mess on the inside of the machine. The beans are ground well and there is an excellent crema and adjustable or your perfect strength. Steam wand is good for frothy coffees! All in all great buy, I wonder how long it will last as we drink coffee a lot in our house and there’s no going back to the old kettle now!
At last! A coffee machine that makes the same quality coffee every time and which has so many variables under your control that you will find the right combination for you.
I must have tried ten different coffee machines in my time trying to find something that delivered a strong coffee consistently and this is it. It will take some experimentation to get it right for your taste and you should calibrate it if you change your coffee blend. You will need to make 2 or 3 minimal coffees to get the grind right to deliver the oils in the first few moments. Then its a combination of how much water you want to deliver against the quantity of coffee ground. You can press a button for two cups but change the quantity delivered to one cup by the dial to get a strong coffee.
Steam wand is too close to the body for my liking since you want to steam your milk while rotating the cup and you just have to get used to it. I make the milk first in a cup and then deliver the coffee. The technique is to get to the steam and froth the milk. Then unselect the steam button and draw the hot steam and water into a jug. The main pump noise alerts you the water will now be cool enough to deliver coffee and in it goes.
Best machine I ever owned.
Cracking machine, worth every penny.
We have had this machine since just before Christmas and I cannot begin to describe how impressed I am with it. We didn’t want to spend a hug amount of money on a machine as in my experience of trying others even spending more does not mean a better cup of coffee. The first few cups were a bit worrying as they were very weak but after about half a dozen the machine settled down and the biggest thing I have noticed is how consistent the result is. Every single time a coffee is made it is exactly like the last one. Just perfect. Even manages to deal with decaf ground coffee very easily.. We like strong coffee and so have set the machine to produce a decent strong cup. The only problem we now have is that we are finding coffee shop coffee too weak and watery!
We drink black coffee but last week I had a visitor who wanted capuccino so attempted it and had an amazing result on the first try.
Update: Have been using this for two and a half months and if anything think it is even better than my initial review. Coffee is so consistent and so good that we are now choosing to go home for a coffee rather than go to a coffee shop as we get better at home. Cannot recommend highly enough.
It isn't often you buy something that lasts more than a year.
After moving from Canada back to the UK I wasn’t able to bring home my bean to up machine, it was pretty old and I thought it’s probably better to buy a new one, hence the Magnifica.
The first one I bought was at John Lewis then I saw the model up and a lower price than the one I purchased and quickly returned the other machine.
So how does it work?
It’s pretty straightforward there’s not many buttons and the manual can explain everything. Simply plug in and play (fill tank rinse, put settings, fill coffee beans, etc.). All in all great and user friendly.
How’s the coffee?
Espressos are great, for the price of the machine! Like really impressive. Milk based coffees are ok. You have to remove the extra black piece to make a latte otherwise it becomes very airy. Another gripe here is, you have to pour the shot before the milk otherwise you have to rinse the that section and return to the coffee aspect (this is obviously for advanced coffee drinkers who can probably afford a better machine, it doesn’t trouble the taste on an epic scale). Again, overall it’s pretty good, particularly for the price.
Additional notes
Descale processes are easy and you can pretty much use any brand or even vinegar. Tanks last reasonably long but it will be near a tap most probably. Good use of coffee, but this depends on your settings. Overall it’s a strong 4 out of 5 stars but due to the fact this machine has already lasted 4 years it would be wrong to give it anything less than 5 out of 5.
Good show De’Longhi
can’t believe this is 4 years old… it still works perfectly and make great coffee… the creme is just as thick as day one… HOWEVER I HAVE A MAJOR GRIPE… and this is nothing to do with the quality of the machine or the coffee it makes but more to do with one of the biggest scams these companies do on a regular basis and that’s the “cleaning” aspect… or should I say the red flashing button that kicks in after literally a month or so… of course the machine comes with one of those custom plastic De’Longhi sachets and whilst a bit complex the machine cleaning went okay. Hmmm, I thought, I made a point of only using bottled water [admittedly the 17p 2L ones you get from the supermarkets] as I knew the tap water was pretty chalky.
So guess what I did… yep, I just ignored the flashing light after the 2nd time it flashed [about 6 weeks later] and you now… nothing happened… the machine continued [and continues] to make great coffee. Hell those cleaning sachets were not cheap… about 6 quid each if I remember. Now if we divide six quid into a flashing light clean every 6 weeks we hit 208… pretty close to the price of a new machine. It’s like the printer ink con IMO.
Admittedly I used supermarket own brand cheap bottled water as I don’t have a water softener but this machine obviously doesn’t need to be ‘sachet. cleaned’ as ridiculously frequently as the circuit board tells it to.
All that aside the quality of the coffee is superb… there’s something deeply satisfying seeing a gorgeous thick creme every time… 4 years and still going strong… but just ignore that flashing light!
can’t believe this is 4 years old… it still works perfectly and make great coffee… the creme is just as thick as day one… HOWEVER I HAVE A MAJOR GRIPE… and this is nothing to do with the quality of the machine or the coffee it makes but more to do with one of the biggest scams these companies do on a regular basis and that’s the “cleaning” aspect… or should I say the red flashing button that kicks in after literally a month or so… of course the machine comes with one of those custom plastic De’Longhi sachets and whilst a bit complex the machine cleaning went okay. Hmmm, I thought, I made a point of only using bottled water [admittedly the 17p 2L ones you get from the supermarkets] as I knew the tap water was pretty chalky.
So guess what I did… yep, I just ignored the flashing light after the 2nd time it flashed [about 6 weeks later] and you now… nothing happened… the machine continued [and continues] to make great coffee. Hell those cleaning sachets were not cheap… about 6 quid each if I remember. Now if we divide six quid into a flashing light clean every 6 weeks we hit 208… pretty close to the price of a new machine. It’s like the printer ink con IMO.
Admittedly I used supermarket own brand cheap bottled water as I don’t have a water softener but this machine obviously doesn’t need to be ‘sachet. cleaned’ as ridiculously frequently as the circuit board tells it to.
All that aside the quality of the coffee is superb… there’s something deeply satisfying seeing a gorgeous thick creme every time… 4 years and still going strong… but just ignore that flashing light!
I don’t think I could live without this coffee machine anymore. THe usually messy process of grinding, loading the machine, disposing of spent beans and rinsing the stuff out has been replaced by two buttons!!! I love it, especially in the morning when I’m half asleep.
It is a sleek design that does not show dirt and matches most of my stainless steel stuff in the kitchen without actually being made of it. The drip tray is very roomy and so you can empty it at the same time as the container for spent beans, so no mess/trouble there! ALso ectremely easy to fill with water as the tank is front loading.
Beware however if you put the thing under kitchen cupboards it will be tight (although shouldn’t be impossible if they are the usual hight) to fill the bean compartment as it opens at the top.
The only future improvement that I can think of is that this machine does not alert you to lack of beans in the compartment and so it will make a nasty noise and proceed to make a watery brew rather than refuse to work until you refill. But it is an extremely small point.
Fantastic coffee - time after time - every time!
I never drank coffee at home, always been a tea man, but as someone doing 38000 miles a year driving good coffee on the road is a must. So I pondered long and hard on buying this machine, 3 months in fact – OMG why oh why did I wait so long!!! Three of us in the household use this morning noon an night now, I like straight Americano, the other two love their Cappuccino, with practice they have become self styled Barista’s :-). For variety in coffee tastes it is difficult to empty the bean reservoir if you want to change (we currently have 5 blends of beans in a very aromatic cupboard) so if you are trying it out buy ground coffee and make one cup at a time until you find your perfect blend. Strength is a “learning curve” but once you know where the settings are for your preference its so simple to get a perfect coffee every time. We don’t have issues with hard or soft water so not had any issues in over 4 months with lime scale so I cannot help you with advice on that issue, sorry. If you love frothy milk I definitely recommend a quality frothing jug (we bought the Andrew James .33L one after using cups for a few weeks ) as it really does impact the quality of the froth and this week we got 100 x 8oz takeaway cups for coffee on the go. If you love coffee, you will love this machine!!!
The machine is very economical on beans too, I have been amazed how long a 1kg bag lasts.
If you were to ask me would I recommend this, my answer would be “why the heck are you waiting”!
In the end, it comes down to just 2 choices.
Employ a Barista 24/7, or buy this machine.
Having owned a Gaggia Baby Class & a burr grinder, we are into a whole new territory with the De’Longhi.
Who’d have thought that making a range of excellent coffees could be so hassle free?
From an easy going Americano, to a tiny single shot Espresso that would fix holes in the road, its just very straightforward.
The most difficult part is getting it out of the box.
After that, fill up with (mineral) water. Add some FRESH coffee beans, and switch on.
Then off it goes, 1st doing its party trick of rinsing through the dispenser head.first.
The grind needed a slight tweak, otherwise it worked brilliantly straight out of the box.
Some clever person has designed out all the mess, error, hassle, maintenance out of making a wide range of coffees.
And if it needs, water, beans, descale, whatever, it tells you.
It is a bit noisy,but thats because it is doing its stuff.
Did a lot of research before deciding on this machine.
If you’re reading this, you’ve found a great machine at a good price.
Just press that order button, your search is over.
The Good. Freshly ground coffee is delicious
I have been using this for a couple of months now, so my review will reflect my somewhat limited experience..
The Good.
Freshly ground coffee is delicious, I upgraded from a tassimo (which I really liked) but this knocks it for six. Lattes, cappuccinos, Americanos, flat white, you name it, I can knock one up in minutes. Compared to tassimo discs its also better value for money. Operation is simple, although setting it up to your taste takes a little longer, but once set its pretty good at delivering consistent drinks. The milk frother heats up quickly and provides a good froth, especially if you use a metal milk jug and full fat milk.
The not so good.
Cleaning is a pain, the machine seems to spit out the empty grounds in roughly the direction of the bin, often there are coffee grounds spread liberally around the internals of the unit, which is a pain to clean out due to limited access. The unit also ‘self cleans’ before use, and this isnt quite enough to thoroughly clean the pipes, I have to run the clean programme a couple of times or more until clear water flows through the nozzle.
Those are minor quibbles though and for the price I am still very pleased with it, waking up every morning to a freshly ground brew is very satisfying, and although its a bit noisy, it doesn’t disturb the wife upstairs.
So far all the positive reviews I read prior to purchase were on the button. Well made – produces excellent results and we are very pleased with it so far. Bought it after a series of cheaper coffee machines some of which relied on coffee capsules which became a pain when manufacturers stopped producing them [Tesco being one of the guilty parties]. Also wanted a coffee machine that we could use beans or ground coffee in – since getting this we have given up on the ground coffee and mostly use beans. It’s easier and far less messy and there is nothing like the smell of freshly ground coffee – brilliant. Like all coffee machines it requires cleaning but it is far more straight forward than I was led to believe from some of the reviews. It is NOT any noisier than one would expect from a coffee grinder so don’t be put off. The steam function is excellent too. As to value for money: I think all coffee machines of this type are hugely overpriced, but as a punter, I think this was a very good buy at a reasonable price compared with many others available. The only difference between this model and the next one up at twice the price, seems to be the fact that this has “knobs” and “buttons” and not a touch screen.
Bought a cheap coffee machine last year to see whether we actually used it. My hubbie could never be bothered so it was down to me. We liked it, though it was a bit of a faff, but within a year it broke. Cheap make, no parts available.
Bean to cup seemed the way to go with a need for it to be simple enough for him indoors to use. Read far too many product reviews before I plumped for this one.
We have had it now for a few weeks and so far the machine fulfils those needs, and more. As recommended by previous reviewers I read the instructions, then had a go. I’d say we made 4 cups before we were happy with the result, and since then its been consistently good.
We buy beans from our fave coffee shop to their secret blend and this machine provides espresso, Americano and cappuccino beautifully.
Several have commented that it is noisy. When it cleans itself, you hear it (takes a few seconds), and when it grinds the beans you hear it, but as a bit of a sad being, this gives me a little shiver of happiness because I KNOW that gorgeous coffee on its way .
It has taken me a little while to write a review on this coffee machine as I wanted to make sure I had used it a few times before, so could give an honest review…….
After taking a long time deciding on which new bean to cup coffee machine to buy and reading many, many product reviews this one was finally settled on. I was a bit dubious as my previous machine was a Gaggia, but I needn’t have worried at all.
The machine warms quickly and is ready to make that first cup in the morning before I have even said good morning to my dogs. It is also quieter than my old machine when grinding the beans, in fact it makes more noise when pulling the water through than in grinding, but this is only for a few seconds. People who expect a bean to cup coffee machine to be silent will be disappointed, as it is never going to be if you want freshly ground coffee beans in each cup.
The quality of coffee made is incredibly good and even has the creamy ‘Barista’ foam on top without having to do any magical pours and tips. Everyone likes their coffee slightly differently so De’Longhi have designed a machine with the strength & volume adjustments on the front of the machine, making this an easy task and not a chore.
Delivery and packaging of product was superb as was the customer service.
Will not be worried about purchasing a De’Longhi coffee machine again.
I was a bit sceptical at first when I bought this product, but now can not praise it enough! My husband and I found our perfect settings by the third attempt and now I fear we will have a bit of an addiction problem to it as I am on my 3rd cup in about 1 hours time. Let me make a few suggestions for those just getting the product though:
-If all three lights are flashing simultaneously (it doesn’t address this in the manual) you need to run the steamer/water spout for a few minute to clear out the air bubbles.
-we set our grinder at 5
-we set our cup nob about 50-60% to the full option
-we set our bean at 70% to the max position
-always have an empty cup you can throw under the spout for when it shuts down as it flushes out the system and will save you from having to pull the tray out and clean it.
-sit back and enjoy!
My settings may not be the same as your tastes, but I hope it helps you find out a bit quicker what you would like. This has (for me) been a very worthwhile buy. Low maintenance and makes a quick coffee with little clean up. Looking forward to using it for years to come.
Some great reviews of this machine on here. Just wanted to add a note about reliability.
I’ve had this machine now for 4 years and it’s still going strong, making fantastic coffee. Seriously, I did a barista course recently, using top of the range professional machines used in retail coffee outlets and this machine just about rivals the coffee from those, except with much less hassle, fuss and maintenance. One thing I have noticed is that the machine doesn’t produce a very thick layer of crema, but the coffee is still good nonetheless. After the course, I was keen to buy a professional machine, but after coming home and having coffee from this one, I don’t think it’s worth the extra expenditure.
I recently moved house and after moving the machine to my new kitchen, was disappointed that it had stopped working. It seemed to start up as usual, but when at the first rinse, started making a horrible noise, a prolonged high pitched electronic buzz, as if the pump was malfunctioning. I easily opened the machine by removing the screws on the casing and this revealed the mechanism. On starting the machine again, this seemed to confirm that the noise was coming from the water pump. Luckily, the model number was on the side: Ulka EP5 Vibration Pump and I was delighted to discover that Amazon supply this pump for around 15 from a third party seller.
I bought it, in the hope that it would restore life to my valued machine. Fitting the pump was not difficult. A bit fiddly to get the old pump out of the housing, but all the electrical connections were not soldered, but little replaceable clips. After full installation, started the machine and, to my delight, it was working perfectly again. And has been producing great coffee ever since; as good as new!
(Note: please read the instructions supplied with the pump as failing to prime it properly can damage the boilers in the machine)
Update Dec 2018
I’ve now had this machine for 7 years. Still making great coffee, as good as on day 1! Couldn’t live without it.
Tip: to make cleaning even easier, I add a drop of washing up liquid to the drip tray and the bottom of the little waste bin after I empty it, before I place it back in the machine.
UPDATE AFTER EIGHT YEARS….
Still love our machine & still going strong after 8 years of daily use.
Regularly descale & have used white vinegar mixed with water instead of delonghi descaler – worked a treat.
Only issue it has now is it sometimes says coffee collector is full & needs emptying when half full. Empty the coffee ground collector & the light stops flashing. After 8 years I think I can live with this intermittent issue!
Looked at getting a newer model, but thought why? This works perfectly. Bought it for 253 in 2012 and it’s been worth every penny!
Oct 2012 original review:
Love my coffee machine. We have used this in Indonesia when we lived there & now three years after returning to UK it’s still going strong. Good coffee beans are more expensive here, but the machine still makes a mean cup of coffee. It has never let me down, has never broken – despite our relocation & move.
The children sometimes just froth up milk for their hot chocolates – they love it too. I have large cups, small cups and even a tall Denby cappucino mug – all fit under the adjustable spout.
I regularly descale it using delonghi descaler, maybe twice a year, three times at most. But we live in a hard water area. Having said that a litmus test is included so you can guage the hardness of your water so you can set the water hardness accordingly.
Only thing to remember – make & grind all the coffee’s first before frothing the milk – otherwise you’ll have to wait for the machine to heat up in between. If you do the frothing at the end, your coffee will be made really quickly.
Also, another tip, when I turn on the machine, I pop one of the cups I’m going to use under the spout. The hot water dispersing from the spout warms the first cup, whcih I pour into the second cup before throwing away – hot water warms up the cups
Final tip, use a stainless steel milk jug & keep it in the fridge so it’s really cold when you pour the milk in. Perfect frothy milk each time
**UPDATE: I’ve upped stars from 3 to 4; it may be plastic but it has been consistently reliable for a few months now. Hardly surprising it’s a popular machine.**
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Yes, bean-to-cup is great.
And I get a good coffee from this machine with a wicked crema and the milk frother works perfectly well and is eay to clean imo.
BUT I haven’t any experience of other bean-to-cup machines so don’t know how this COMPARES.
Construction seems all plastic and not very robust.
I worry that I’ll drop a part and it will smash.
The water reservoir is small and requires frequent refils.
And the machine makes slightly unnerving clicking and whirring sound during operation.
Although the grind is adjustable, there is no control over the tamp.
Three stars may seem harsh but I’m reviewing the machine and not the format.
I should also mention that the first machine I received died after a dozen coffees, not filling me with confidence regarding reliability (although I acknowledge those who have enjoyed prolonged use without failure). Also, Delonghi were not as forthcoming regarding returns as Amazon were, suggesting that I hadn’t descaled it or had mistreated it.
With my new ‘toy’, I am probably drinking far too much coffee. Good coffee at that. (I also find myself drinking less beer & wine as a result.)
I just hope it lasts.
Had this one week now and its had time to get used to me now, poor stupid humanoid that I am. It has now been elevated to the God class and is worshipped daily, not only by me but other members of the ESAM 4200 sect which is now rapidly growing in this area. People I’ve hardly spoken to are now popping in to see how I am, enquiring about my well-being and even staying to worship at the shrine. Amazing what this one machine has done in so short a time.
Seriously, this is one of the best buys ever for coffee geeks. It works perfectly (long may it do so as I cannot get a VAT receipt from Amazon despite going through the trauma of phoning them. As I bought some beans with my order it will only print a vatter for the beans) and produces superb expresso……I’m having fun now trying out different makes of bean. I like the fact that it self-rinses when turned off and on as this helps keep a same-as taste. The steamer for the cappucino is fairly basic but does the job. The coffee strength and volume knobs work well and do actually give a good degree of instant control…not all the flock like their socks blown off ! It’s simple to use and easy to clean and produces liquid ecstasy. Noisy, a bit……but who cares.
I love this machine because I love coffee and wanted a bean to cup machine and this one was very affordable. It does also make lovely coffee and very easily I did have difficulty at first with the instructions but went to YouTube and found videos for the machine which sorted me out very quickly.The downside of the machine is that if there’s more than one person wanting a milky coffee at any one time you are stuck, because once you have used the milk frother, the machine has to cool down for 10 minutes before it’s able to make another coffee. (Not correct – see update below) Mostly this does not bother me as I’m the only one using the machine in my house most of the time, but last week I did have a guest and we both wanted lattes so I made hers and she’s drunk hers before I could even make mine. The warning lights do go off a lot; the water tank is fairly small so it lights up when that is getting empty, the grounds tray can only cope with grounds from about 4-5 coffees so it lights up when it gets “full” and the other main thing it lights up for is when you’re out of beans. It uses more of those than i thought it would but still works out half the price per cup of coffee as a capsule machine. One last thing, a week or 2 after having the coffee had a strange smell and I couldn’t really smell the coffee any more, it was the smell that you get in the water that cleans the machine out. If your coffee smell and flavour is getting tainted just use the rinse button to give it an extra rinse or two and this should solve the problem, it did for me, plus properly washing the jug after the rinse water has been in it, it’s a horrible smell and can taint the milk too if you use the same jug for warming the milk.
Just as an update: The smelly water I talked about was just because I hadn’t washed out the water tank properly each time because I wasn’t sure if the top came off it, I had been trying to clean it through the hole in the top! One day however I just put the tank in a bowl of washing up water and the lid came off in the water – really easily, I felt a bit silly that it was so easy, but at least I don’t get smelly water (and therefore coffee) anymore! To remove the lid of the water tank easily, just put your fingers through the hole in the top and lift off.
Update 2: See comments – you can make more than 1 frothy coffee at a time; you just press the steam button so that it is off and let some steam out of the spout and the machine is ready to make more coffee in under a minute!
Coffee machine delivers well, but then I’m no barista. My husband however loves the cappuccino it makes and he is not the kind to love just about any coffee he tastes.
The Good : The frothing device is good. Froths milk really well. Do look on YouTube to see how frothing milk should be properly done. There are different settings for grinding coffee (coarse or fine ). Makes two cups of coffee simultaneously.
The Bad : Has to be cleaned regularly, quite often, hence my 4 star. My husband only makes a maximum of 2 cups a day and has to clean it more than once a month. It takes around 5 mins each time,not exactly hard work but it’s not what you’d rather be doing when you feel like some coffee and unless cleaned it won’t work. That would really put me off buying it, knowing I’m not rigorous myself . The other is the warming tray. Does not even increase it’s surface temperature by 1 degree let alone warm the cups but that does not bother me at all and not the reason for the 4 star.
Overall : a good machine that makes excellent choice but needs TLC ofte
Buy one
My second one of these – the first one lasted 6 years with a lot of very heavy use and one replacement thermostat which I fitted myself. The seals were starting to go towards the end – but spares are easily available and the new owner has resurrected the whole machine. The older model looked slightly nicer in my opinion and had a heated cup area on the top – just as this model looks like it has (shiny bit on top right) but doesn’t….is this what it means by Eco? Just missing out bits to manufacture it cheaper I suspect… just as the drip tray that was a nice piece of metal is now plastic – but then it was 6 years and in all fairness this new model was a bit cheaper than the old one – I shopped around in both cases. I am aware by the way that there are many models by this company but this is the restyled version of what I had. I was very happy with the last one and having had this one for a few months now I’m happy with it too. Remember – it makes great coffee (although get beans from the net/independent coffee supplier NOT the supermarkets etc), stop having coffee out (2.50/cup?) and it is an economical way to have great coffee. You can spend more on these bean to cup machines but this does the job so well. Spend the saved cash on decent beans! Oh – and if you want a limited choice of pre ground coffee individually and expensively packaged endorsed by Hollywood and more costly per cup then look elsewhere!
I am so glad I bought this machine
I read all the reviews, which were very helpful, especially all the tips learned from experience. I am so glad I bought this machine. I have only had it two weeks but it is a joy. I read the handbook and keep it near by – both good things to do. It makes excellent coffee from beans (I haven’t tried the ground option yet, but am glad it’s there.) You can adjust the grind and the amount in your cup. The milk frother works well, and I try to take off the tubes and drop them into a cup of water after use, to prevent clogging. A warning if you do this: it gets hot! Obvious but worth saying. If you don’t like froth, you can always avoid using it and heat a little milk in the microwave first. I put my cup underneath the spouts when I turn it on and the initial hot water rinse heats the cup before I make the coffee; I don’t like lukewarm drinks. Yes, it is noisy, but I have put two thin cork place mats underneath and that absorbs some of the sound. A minor niggle for an excellent product at a good price. ( I know of a similar one in the family that cost almost 100% more.)
I’ve had this machine for a few weeks now and so far I love it. It is very easy to use and makes a lovely, creamy coffee. It took a few goes to get to know the various settings but now I have a good feel for the machine and know how much to adjust the knobs to get the strength I want.
I’m marking down one star because the coffee does not come out at the intolerably hot temperature that I would like. If you add cold milk then, in my opinion, what you get is not hot enough. I am fussy with hot coffee though and like it to be so hot I have no choice but to sip slowly. This issue can easily be worked around by making an espresso and then adding hot water from a kettle (like they would in a cafe) OR by steaming up some lovely, frothy hot milk!
The second reason I’m marking down one star is because after you use the steam function the machine requires a few minutes to cool before you can make another coffee. This is really only an issue if you make yourself delicious drink without asking your wife if she would like one too and then you have to go back and make another… There’s probably a solution to this particular difficulty too but I haven’t thought of it yet…
The ESAM4200 silver makes simply the best espresso and cappuccino I have ever had in my life (using Whittard’s Old Brown Java beans). The crema is spectacularly good, and it makes frothing milk for cappuccino such a pleasure.
Given that there seem to be many reviewers giving lengthy tips about this machine I slightly feared that it would be difficult to use, but it isn’t at all. I can’t believe how easy it is. Let me put it this way: for decades I have been making coffee in a cafetiere and never found it difficult, but now that I have this machine I slightly dread having to use a cafetiere again, because by comparison that is a lot more messy and fiddly to clean than this bean-to-cup machine. When the light goes on, you simply open the front door (just pull), slide out the drip tray, dump the used coffee grounds into a bin (they are in nice neat little cylinders, not at all messy like when you empty a cafetiere), give it a quick rinse (stick under tap for a second or two), then shove it back in and push shut the front door. It takes seconds, not minutes, and it is so so so easy and non-messy. I LOVE it.
Such a shame the price has gone up. I would have ordered another one or two for gifts had it not been for that.
good coffee generally well designed machine
I bought this machine to replace a five year old bean-to-cup machine which had reached the end of its useful life. Compared with that machine this one gives great coffee (though the old one was great when we first got it). It is also easier to use and day-to-day maintenance is simpler because the design allows both the water reservoir and the used grounds collector to be removed from the front of the machine. Cleaning the brew mechanism has also proved to be simpler as it’s a simple shape that can easily be cleaned thoroughly (unlike the old machine which had a very complex mechanism that took some time to clean thoroughly).
On the down side there are a couple of things that the old machine had that this machine really probably should;
* The bean hopper has no sensor for when it empties so the machine is happy to make a nice cup of hot water
* The bean hopper lid has no sensor so you can open it whilst it is grinding beans which seems a little risky, though the design of the bean grinder makes access to the mechanism more restricted
Overall I like this machine, it’s easy to use, makes good coffee whether you want it short or long and is more controllable than our older machine due to the strength and volume dials. I also like that the machine will switch itself off after a preset period of time; no more forgetting to switch off. It also warms up faster.
Great tasting coffee
After finally arriving, am very pleased with this purchase. The machine is quite easy to use once you have read the instructions – yes, really read the instructions!! We are still experimenting with the grind/flow to get a perfect crema but very pleased with it so far!!
Contrary to previous reviews, I don’t find this machine all that noisy. I had a gaggia espresso machine prior which is far, far noisier! You really get a quick cup of great coffee without the hassle of the Gaggia. The only downside so far is that the coffee could be a little hotter but having said that, I have not warmed the cups prior.
I will mention here that the delivery service was appaling. Delivery was NOT following day despite being a amazon prime member, but took 5days! Despite this, it was well worth waiting for, I would recommend this machine to anyone loving a good cup of coffee!!
A very reliable machine
I have been looking for a bean to cup coffee machine for a very long time but they were either much too expensive or had bad reviews. This one was a reasonably good price and had some really good reviews,which persuaded me that this was the machine I was looking for. It is! The instructions are easy to follow and since it arrived it has made reliable fuss free coffee. It’s easy to clean and the various lights make perfect sense. The first time I used it (my husband beat me to the first brew!) I was slightly perplexed by its cleaning cycle, which it does every time it is switched on, but have quickly realised that not only does this mean we always get a fresh cup of coffee, if you use one of the cups you are going to make coffee in, it warms it up very nicely! The quality of coffee is lovely, it is delivered at the right rate so doesn’t take very long. I have a hectic morning routine, but there’s always time for a proper cup of coffee – can’t say exactly how long it takes but it’s usually ready before the toast if I put it on first! Very glad I bought this machine and I am looking forward to serving coffee the next time we have people round for coffee, without having to apologise for my inability to make a nice cup of coffee!
The name says it all; MAGNIFICA!
I accept that 270 is a lot less than 450, but it is still lots of money just to make coffee, so after lots and lots of hesitation, I took the plunge!
Ordered from Amazon on free 3 to 5 day delivery. It was sent next day service, arriving 24 hours after placing the order; bravo Amazon! The machine delivered good espresso from the first push of the button and is gradually improving as I fine tune the various settings.
IMPORTANT! As mentioned by others, read the destructions first!!
Also worth spending 15 or 20 minutes on, is the home-barista dot com website. It gives a full and detailed explanation of how to make a good espresso and more importantly why changes of the various parameters alter the finished product. If you understand what is going on in the machine, you will have more success, faster
Some have complained that the machine is noisy. I can only imagine they have never heard a commercial coffee grinder running in a bar or cafe!!! The machine is not totally silent, but it makes far less noise than a blender or food processor and even during the grind phase, probably no more than an electric whisk. The rest of the operation is a quiet “chunter”.
Overall I am very pleased with the machine. I am already making far better espresso than I ever did with a conventional 15 bar domestic machine and without the coffee grounds spread over the worktop! Happy to have bitten the bullet. I hope that with normal care and regular cleaning/descaling, it will serve me well for years to come. So far it has been in operation for only 4 days and is already finishing off the second 250gm bag of Lavazza!
I originally owned the capaccino making version of this product, with the digital screen display. It cost me 400 on Amazon, 4 years ago. I originally bought it because I could see on the DeLonghi site that spares were available. I had little faith in Italian appliances then, so felt at least if something went, it could be replaced.
But nothing did break or wear out. It just kept going. It made good coffee, the only disappointment was the lack of a steam lance to froth up a latte. After 4 reliable years, the digital display started giving erratic messages. The logic chip was obviously on the way out. I did look to getting it repaired but then saw this cheaper model. At 240 it was a no brainer. And it had a steam lance. And it warmed up much quicker. And it was a bit quieter. Obviously DeLonghi have refined and improved the product.
The first one I received was perfect except it kept telling me to empty the grinds tray when it was virtually empty, but Amazon supplied a replacement without fuss (they really are wonderful) and the new one is now in constant use.
So if you are after a good long lasting and cheap bean to cup machine, you will need a very good reason not to consider this one.
De'Longhi Magnifica ESAM4200
De’Longhi Magnifica ESAM4200 15-Bar Bean to Cup Espresso/Cappuccino Maker, Silver
We bought the De’Longhi Magnifica ESAM4200 15-Bar Bean to Cup Espresso/Cappuccino Maker, in Silver finish. The product was ordered on the 27th, and arrived on afternoon 30th
Delivery by Yodel, and all the on line tracking for the order was easily found and understood, in fact the package was actually delivered the day beofre shown on the tracking, which we appreciated. Delivery driver from Yodel was a young lady, and even at the end of the day she was cheerful and helpful.
But I had tried to call the local Yodel delivery office to check the time of delivery, and the number (0844!) just rang out until I gave up.
The machine was unpacked and checked, no fault, no damage.
Having read the reviews we read the instructions, and managed to get the first two cups wrong, which I believe is par for the course. I think the second cup was part rinse water, so be careful.
But having re-read the book and understood it, the next cup was great. Cappuccino coffee is fine. So far haven’t tried double strengths, but that will be soon. Looks like coffee time in our house is going to be something we look forward to!
I’d been promising myself a bean-to-cup machine for a while – and after researching, plumped for this one. Had a coffee machine a few years back – the usual variety with the cup/handle assembly that has to be twisted in and tapped out between cups – what a hassle – didn’t want one of those again. We have a Nespresso at work but the Nespresso range of coffee is pretty unexciting and unduly expensive. I wanted bean-to-cup. I found the first review here, from ‘Buddha’ very useful. I’ll try to be briefer. Cut a long story short – yeah, it takes a few trial runs to get the coffee just how you like it – adjustments to the amount of water, the strength, or the fineness of the grind, etc. It was worth the effort and even the coffees made before we got it dead right were pretty darned good.
My advice – the grind adjustment had the biggest effect on strength. After trying a few beans – we settled on Illy – a good strong cup that’s smoothe as well. Look out for the silver cannisters in the supermarket if you don’t know it. It’s more expensive than most – but it’s worth it and occasionally on offer.
Don’t be fooled by the espresso cups in the picture – the spout assembly height can be adjusted to let a good sized mug under there. If I have one complaint it’s the steamer knob (the large one to the right of the machine). It doesn’t turn easily, not sure why. It’s a minor gripe. I love the machine – the danger is you’ll drink too much coffee, because it’s just to quick and easy to make one! Glad I don’t have to wash out cafetieres any more!
I absolutely love this machine, My husband works away and was going to buy a much more expensive bean to cup machine like he uses at work but the reviews of this looked great so we chose it.
I didn’t use to drink much coffee but now I look forward to getting downstairs and making myself one. I hate reading instructions so as it was my husbands toy he did the reading and showed me – couldn’t be easier ( I’m a bit rubbish and impatient- if something is too difficult I just give up and don’t use it), once you’ve twizzled a couple of knobs to set strength and length of your coffee next time it’s all ready for you just turn on ( it cleans itself) then press for two cups ( as I want a whole mug – press one cup if you want an espresso ) and thats it, half hour later it cleans itself again (wondered what it was at first making the noise in my kitchen) then it turns itself off.
A light comes on to tell you when to empty the drip tray ( you empty any used coffee at same time) and it tells you when it needs water tank filling.
It brings out the child in me- makes me feel like I’m in a cafe!-it’s the easiest piece of machinery I’ve ever used and I love sourcing different coffee beans to try. Haven’t used the frother much as not really bothered with that but it does work if wanted. Hoping it lasts a long time as it’s now something I would hate to be without – the instant coffee hasn’t been used yet since we bought it. It is also excellent for family parties, people can just help themselves to it on the side.
It also makes your house smell gorgeous!
OK this is an upgrade from my DeLonghi EC710,which in itself makes fine coffee.
The reason i bought this one,The Magnifica .Its much easier than grinding coffee ,tamping it,etc.
With the Magnifica it,s all done for you.
Put your cup under spout,Draw some hot water in to cup,It Purges itself everytime it switches off(which wastes a minimal amount of water)and when switch on again,you will see both green lights in the single or double cup buttons at the top blinking off back on again
You can set it to Eco mode ,you can time this from 15 mins to 2 hour (i believe)?
The 2 dials beneath the 2 Coffee Cup Symbols adjust Amount on Left and Strength on the Right.
Makes a Great Crema,i don’t drink milk anymore well as much! Because you feel the Crema is that good, you don,t need milk
IMO.
Its not nearly as loud ,as some have said.
You can only put one scoop of ground coffee at a time, which is a Major drawback
It has room for enough beans to last the average coffee a week drinking 3 cups a day.
It has a 1.8 Litre water holder.which is adequate.
Little or no mess to clean up,A Light will come on when its time to refill and Empty Ground holder,easily done.
Easy to open,and clean.A light tells you when you need to empty Tamped coffee residue.
Do read the User Manual,and test your water hardness PH level.There is a strip for testing.and adjusting correctly.
So all in all a very very good entry machine
You can Adjust for water hardness,ECO Timer,Drink Heat.
Do adjust the Bean Grinder Dial to Approx middle way,around 3,though you may have to adjust for various beans.
Great buy all Around,Going strong after a Month of Domestic use!
Very Happy with this Machine.
I did a lot of research before buying the ESAM4200, including which type of ground coffee machine I wanted & how much was I prepared to spend. I wanted ‘the real deal’ eg proper coffee, so read reviews from Amazon buyers plus high street store buyers for ‘bean-to-cup’ machines up to 600. There were mostly positive comments for the ESAM4200 & it got the highest results overall, plus once primed with quality beans & water it operated with one finger – press a button!
THIS MACHINE IS AMAZING & MAKES FANTASTIC COFFEE!!! (With the right beans – quality coffee only comes from quality beans.) It can be set for personal preferences for coffee strength & how much water you’d like in your cup. I didn’t alter the default settings for the first coffees (as recommended) & thoroughly enjoyed experimenting, finally setting the strength & water dials to my own preference.
You have to heat the milk making the froth for latte’s & cappuccino’s etc, which is relatively easy & very satisfying to do. I bought a milk thermometer & 600ml jug at the same time as the ESAM4200, as well as Lavazzo beans, & looked at online video clips for barista & user tips on how to froth the milk & pour it. You do have to practice & experiment to become adept but it’s so much fun plus you get to drink the results!! Bonus!!
I’ve found a whole new world – the barista world, & a new art form making patterns & images on the milk froth. Check it out online, you’ll be amazed! Just google `latte art’ to find it & enjoy the wonderful coffee!!
The De’Longhi Magnifica ESAM4200 is a great machine; easy to use, easy to clean & maintain, easy to fill with beans & water, best of all the coffee is absolutely wonderful!!! I now drink an espresso while making my latte – utter bliss!!
ps: I’ve had my ESAM for over 6 months & it’s definitely worth the price – I thoroughly recommend it & would def buy it again!!
Outstanding Machine !
WOW!
I have owned this machine for 8 months now and realised I hadn’t written a review for it, so I though I should.
It has been simply brilliant so far.
I worked upto this machine from starting with a French press, then onto a coffee pod machine, then onto a espresso machine, then finally onto this bean to cup machine. I have never looked back !
Plusses….
Zero mess and fuss – coffee grounds come out in neat ‘pucks’
So easy to clean and maintain
Easy access to water tank
Very solid feeling
Excellent frothing function
Superb ‘fresh’ tasting coffee
Cosmetically nice looking
Minuses…..
I really cant think of too many – perhaps a little on the noisy side, but it doesnt bother me too much
………Thats it really
Brilliant coffee every time. Use some good beans and you get coffee that is easily as nice as any specialist high street seller – in my opinion, my coffee is better !
OK, I wondered for a while about spending nearly double what I could get a nice manual espresso machine for, but I really haven’t looked back. No manual grinding of beans and I certainly don’t miss the coffee grounds which always found their way onto the kitchen worktops…… or the used coffee grounds swilling around the sink edges.
Go buy one, you wont regret it!
This is the second Magnifica that i have owned.The first one i ruined by not replacing the the infuser properly and it ended up jammed in the roof of the machine.This new one is better than the old one in that it has better heat control on the coffee temperature and it is also more energy efficient.The only drawback is that the drip tray is mounted higher which limits the size of the cup that you can get underneath the coffee spout.The old machine managed about 10,000 cups in 3yrs with no problems,hopefully if i’m careful when cleaning it the new one will last much longer.Capsule machines tend to cost approximately 25-30p a cup,bean to cup about 8p but that obviously depends on the price of the coffe beans.Bean to cup machines are far more expensive to buy but if all you want is espresso or cappachino and drink 8-10 cups a day it takes about 6 months to recoup the extra expenditure.I cannot recommend the De’Longhi Magnifica any more highly so go get one now!
Having read through other reviews here, I took the plunge and ordered it. Although filter coffee makers are ideal for (eg after a dinner party) – I was after an espresso maker that was non-hassle (and therefore ideal for if one OR several people wanted a decent, cafe style coffee). Fundamentally I really like a few single cups of REAL coffee during the day … and making small amounts of filter coffee is tricky + with a manual espresso maker, a pain.
It it worth tweaking the grind amount somewhat (I made it slightly finer). Although it is a large and not hugely pretty device on the kitchen work surface – it is worth it for NOT having the hassle that assembling and cleaning / refilling a manual espresso maker entails. IMHO – best to get grind setting, strength setting and water amount setting right for YOUR MAINLY USED fave (and small) CUP …. it is easy from there to add water from the kettle for people who require a ‘taller’ or ‘weaker’ strength.
** FEB 2018 – Many years after my purchase, this device is still performing BRILLIANTLY 🙂 Make sure you use Delonghi descaler when the machine prompts you to. Re-grease the infuser part using proper food-safe grease and replace the rubber O-rings (only just replaced these late 2017). Should anything need replacing or fixing I am 99% confident that I can repair or replace any part myself – YouTube is your friend!
So far so good...
I recieved the item in good time and well packaged. It took a while to find a spot for it in the kitchen (may still have to relocate it… it is quite a space filler! not recommended for small kitchens) but looks good.
The operating instructions are clear, but a little bit… involved. Not confusing… but there are a lot of instructions for basically fairly straight-forward operation. This is the first coffee machine i’ve owned so my experience is limited.
The first few cups were a bit rubbish, but now that i have sorted out the setting, i am getting consistently silky smooth coffee and nicely frothed steamed milk. It does take some getting used to but so far, i am very pleased with it. As for the long term, my only worry is that mixing beans will be a bit odd… though i may not even notice.
Some of the components seem a little plasticky, but nothing so far has caused me concern, and a lot of it can be simply deconstructed for easy cleaning etc.
The reason i am not giving it 5/5 is due to the plasticky feel and the overly elaborate instructions… and also because it is my first coffee machine, to call it perfect would be unfair.
Fantastic Coffee
Had this Magnifica ESAM4200 for a week now, do I have any regrets spending a significant amount of money for a coffee machine???
NOT AT ALL – Best coffee I have ever tasted and, I DO like my coffee. So simple to operate and consistantly produces a very good cup of coffee.
I must reiterate other reviewers comments about reading the instructions thoroughly, it is well worth it and makes the whole process simple.
Am experimenting with different beans at the moment, having started with Tesco beans I have now purchased another couple of types and wil see if I can detect any significant difference – I will update this review in a few weeks to confirm, or not, my joy with this machine.
Not being a barista 🙂 I have yet to produce a really creamy froth/milk for my wifes cappuccino (she is enjoying them no matter!). Cant get the milk (semi-skimmed and out of fridge) to the creamy state that coats the back of a spoon as per youtube. ANY RECOMMENDATIONS WELCOME………
I have even grown to likethe looks of it, thought it a wee bit big when first out of box. It now looks good on the work-top in my kitchen.
Last word on this machine – if you are thinking about it then stop thinking and buy it……!!!! You will NOT regret it.
Seemingly like many other reviewers I bought this machine to replace a ten year old Gaggia automatic that had offered sterling service.
This unit is smaller and more compact, which is a definite plus for a kitchen machine. This does come at a cost however – the discarded puck hopper and the water tank are both smaller than I’d like. It’s also mandatory to remove the water tank to fill it which isn’t the case with my other two automatics which could both be jug filled. I think I’ll be replacing those seals before too long.
As with a lot of automatics the coffee isn’t really hot enough for many. It does a rinse on start up and shutdown which means you’re pulling the water tank a lot to fill it. The delivery volume is a pain, as it doesn’t quite pour a long enough coffee for me. There is a useful undocumented feature that allows you to top up your coffee – you just press and hold the coffee delivery button within three seconds of the initial coffee delivery finishing. That does mean you have to stand over the machine whilst it makes your coffee though.
The case and finish of the materials and buttons is cheap, which is a real shame as it does let the product down. Still, if handsome is as handsome does then it does make great tasting coffee.
If you’ve not had an automatic before then you won’t be disappointed. If you’re migrating from a different machine then it might not be everything you expect. On the whole though, it’s an honest product that does a good job.
I don’t often write reviews, but this machine deserves every good word said about it. I have owned one for 3.5 years now, and it’s still going strong. So if reliability is what has you sitting on the fence, jump off and buy one. On to the details.
We bought 3 of these in Germany; one as a wedding gift, one for us, and one for my office at work. Unfortunately, when I moved to the UK, I lost the one in the office (office personnel had “joint” purchased it). The one that was a wedding gift is used every day and is still running fine. The office one was used EXTENSIVELY and was still working at the 1.5 year point when I bid a tearful farewell to it. The one in my home… wow. I’m an espresso nut, having lived in Italy for four years. I work that thing to the bone; it has made at least 5 espressos ~every~ single day of those three years that I was home and is still running strong. The only “bad” cup of coffee that I’ve had from this thing is when I bought low-quality beans.
To address some specific things mentioned in other reviews, I’d just like to say that this thing makes crema so well that sugar will sit on top of it…if you know the trick. Use a properly-sized espresso cup and heat it before making your coffee. Rather than relying on the heater on top of the machine (the silver part in the picture), just boil some water in the kettle and dump it in the cup; it’s a lot faster. Adjust the dispensing spout — the part with two little silver spouts directly above the cups in the picture. That piece moves up and down. The closer you get it to your cup, the better the crema. Adjust your grind; regardless of what others may have experienced, I find the adjustable grind to be perfect. It is, however, VERY dependent on what type of beans you use. I’ve had to tweak it nearly every time I use a different type of beans to get it to the perfect grind. Also, if you find that the puck grounds get mouldy from sitting too long, my only comment is this — you’re not drinking enough coffee. 😉 Last note before pros/cons/tips — this machine requires that ~you~ put milk in a container and froth it for cappucino; it’s not “fully” automatic, but the frothing bit works great (when used with skill).
Pros
*Extremely reliable (3 machines monitored over 3.5 years with no flaws)
*Near-perfect espresso
*Capability to use pre-ground (separate compartment, one cup at a time) for the decaf crowd
*Great frothing tool for cappucino (see tips)
*Fully adjustable grind, strength (amount of coffee used) and water (for “long” coffees) with single or double cup buttons
*Auto shut-off after about 2hrs
Cons
*A touch on the noisy side during start up and when it grinds
*Can scramble your freeview signal (though this is the fault of house wiring/antenna, not the machine)
*Doesn’t know when I’m going to wake up and automatically have an espresso ready for me when I get to the kitchen
Tips
*Read the manual. No, really. Read the manual.
*Use quality coffee. Always. (Lavazza Rosso or Espresso is good, Il Pascucci from southern Italy if you can find it)
*Pay attention to getting your grind set right
*Heat your cups with boiling water before making the coffee
*Make all of your espresso shots BEFORE switching to frothing mode for cappucino
*Use the descaler that comes with it, then switch to white vinegar for cleaning (has worked for me for 2 years)
*Go on vacation to Italy and learn how to make proper espresso and how to froth milk — it really is an art
*Honestly — it takes time to perfect the frothing. Don’t give up until you’ve talked to someone that knows how.
So what am I doing on Amazon looking at these if mine is so reliable? Yep, you caught me … I’m thinking of buying another one for the office here…