De'LonghiMagnifica Evo Automatic Espresso & Coffee Machine with Automatic Milk Frother for Latte, Cappuccino, Iced Coffee, Built-in Grinder, ECAM29084SB

I have had two of these espresso machines. The first lasted over nine years. This is an Italian-designed, manufactured in China, super-automatic espresso machine. When it comes to espresso machines, “super-automatic” means that at one push of a button, it grinds whole beans, tamps the grind, and sends pressurized near-boiling water through the grind to make the espresso coffee.<b>Dimensions – “Will it fit on my kitchen counter?”</b>Unfortunately, there’s some contradictory dimension info in this listing. Product Description states “17 by 13 by 18 inches.” The listing’s Comparison section and Product Information section both state 15.3 x 11 x 14.4 inches. None of these matches my own careful measurements of my two machines:Width 11” (27.94 cm)Depth 14.75” (37.47 cm). This is from the center of the bow-front drip tray to the rear of the machine. For spacing, recommend adding 1-2 inches (2.54 cm – 5.08 cm) to give space for the power cord, which protrudes from the right-rear part of the machine.Height 14” (35.56 cm).Here are some additional things to think about on height spacing:Opening Bean Reservoir Lid (left-top of machine).You need another 4.25 to 4.5 inches (10.795 cm to 11.43 cm) of height clearance beneath your cabinets if you want to be able to fully open the bean compartment lid without rotating/moving the machine. I don’t have such additional clearance above my machine, but it’s not been a big deal for me to pull it out and rotate when adding beans. BTW, the bean reservoir lid will not stay up without holding it up.<b>Using the Cup Warmer.</b>On the right-top side, there’s a heated chromed rectangle for a couple of espresso cups, so if you want to make use of that you will need about 4 additional inches of height clearance.<b>Using the Ground Coffee Chute.</b>The top has a narrow door in the middle that you can use to put in already-ground coffee. The lid only sticks up a couple of inches when open, but you will want at least 4 inches of additional space to use it. Otherwise just pull the machine out/rotate from under the counter when you want to use this feature. I tend to just use whole beans so I hardly ever use it. I suppose if you had a friend or family member that wanted to put flavored coffee (ick 😊) in the machine they could use this.<b>What’s in the box?</b>Well, there’s a coffee machine. 😊 And a one-use bottle of cleaning solution. My previous machine had an instruction DVD in the box, but the latest one did not.<b>Construction</b>Body of machine and drip tray are silver-grey plastic. The slotted cover on the drip tray is polished stainless steel. The polished metal scratches easily from the bottoms of ceramic/porcelain cups and over time can show signs of wear. Wish they had an optional non-scratchable titanium tray (for only an additional $400 😊).<b>Noise</b>It’s loud when grinding the beans, making the coffee, and when using the steam wand to froth milk. No stealth cups of coffee here – everyone in the house is going to know you are making a cup and come around asking for some! But this is normal for this type of machine IMO.<b>Water</b>Best to use bottled water (unless you are fortunate to have good soft water). I used tap water with my first machine and mineral scale caused problems. I did descale each time the indicator light machine told me to. For my new machine, I buy a few $0.99/gallon jugs of drinking water at the grocery each week and that works well.<b>Water Reservoir</b>You can’t hook the machine to a water line or incorporate a filter unless you are into serious coffee machine modding. The one-liter water container is on the right side of the machine and pulls out from the front. The container is smoky-transparent only on the side. If your machine will be situated against a wall on the right side, you will not be able to view the water level without pulling the reservoir out (unless you are completely out of water, in which case there will be an indicator light, and most tellingly, your coffee cup will be dry 😊). Unfortunately, because the machine will not show a water-level alert until completely out, it is possible to push the two-cup button and end up with half a cup of (very strong) coffee.<b>Coffee Bean Reservoir</b>There is a lid on the top left of the machine that you open to add whole coffee beans. It is not airtight. I tend to put in a smaller amount of beans from a separate airtight container rather than fill the bean reservoir to the max and have the beans exposed to air for a long time. If you are a heavy user maybe this strategy is not for you, as you would go through beans quickly enough for it not to matter.There is an adjust knob for the coffee grain size inside the bean reservoir. Best not to touch this if you don’t have to; it’s been set by the manufacturer. If you need to adjust, please refer to manufacturer’s guidance.You can’t easily get beans out of the machine once you have put them in.If you want caffeinated espresso coffee in the morning and decaf in the evening, you could perhaps grind some decaf beans and put a scoop in the ground-coffee-compartment in the top.If you want a half-caf espresso, the only ways are to blend the beans to be 50-50, or to separately make a “bean” espresso and a ground coffee espresso and then mix them.<b>“Does it make normal Coffee?”</b>It’s espresso and IMO that’s normal coffee, dontcha know. 😊 This makes espresso-style coffee, meaning that it uses steam that passes through finely ground and packed (tamped) coffee beans. It makes one or two cups at a time (not randomly – you can choose!). Some have inquired whether this makes “regular” or “normal” coffee; presumably asking about brewed or drip coffee. Drip coffee uses hot water (less hot than espresso) that drips through a coarser grind of coffee bean than espresso.<b>Making Coffee</b>A push of the one-cup button gets you a 6-ounce (about 180 ml) cup of coffee. For more coffee, you have two choices. Push the two-cup button, or push the single-cup button and then quickly right after the machine stops, push-and-hold the single-cup button. The machine will continue to make coffee until you let go.There are two knobs you need to know about. The “beverage size” dial on the far left varies the amount of water that goes through the grounds. If you want a traditional small, strong shot of espresso, put the dial at about the nine o’clock position (thinking of analog clocks here). Less water through the same amount of coffee makes for an intensely flavored shot. The other knob is the “beverage strength” dial, which determines how much bean it will grind for the shot. Honestly, I just turn mine all the way up and leave it there.<b>Can you make two shots at a time?</b>Sure. I almost never do this because I am greedy and want all the coffee. 😊 But if you are the sharing type, there are two nozzles. Just position a cup under each. The nozzles can be raised or lowered a couple of inches to accommodate different cups. Note that coffee always comes out of both nozzles even if you select a single cup. You may want to experiment with the one or two-cup buttons as well as the “volume” knob to get the size and strength of coffee desired.<b>Can it make a Caffe Americano?</b>Yes. A caffe americano is one or two shots of espresso diluted with hot water to make it like the size and taste of a brewed cup of coffee. There are a couple of ways to go at this. One is to use the steam attachment (and hit the hot water button) to fill the cup 3/4 full of hot water, then set the beverage size dial pointer to about the 11 o’clock position to make a shot of espresso directly into the cup. Adjust beverage size pointer up or down according to desired strength. You could also try simply turning the size and strength dials to maximum, and push the single cup button – but hang around while it is working because when it just gets to the end of making a cup, quickly push and hold the single-cup button. The machine will continue to run hot water through the ground-coffee-puck, making a larger cup of more dilute espresso coffee.<b>Can it make a Caffe Crema?</b>Oh yes. For most people when they refer to a caffe crema or crema espresso, they are talking about a really long shot of espresso. Crema is that flavorful tan froth that sits on top of a freshly -made cup of espresso. The amount of crema will vary depending on your choice of beans.<b>Type of Beans</b>I’ve used many types of beans in this machine over the years. You don’t need beans labelled “Espresso Beans” to make espresso! Remember, espresso is about the way you make the coffee, not about the type of beans. I really like medium-roast beans from Guatemala, as they have good balance. But this is a place where individual tastes vary.OK. On the oily-bean question. I have used oily and non-oily beans and have had no issues with the machine. Others indicate that oily beans have caused them problems, presumably with gumming up the grinder.<b>Built-in Frothing Wand for Making Cappuccinos, etc.</b>The frothing wand swings out to the right of the machine. As with the comment on viewing the level in the water reservoir, if you intend to put the machine flush against something on the right side, you are going to have issues using the frothing wand.Where does the milk go? Is there a reservoir for milk? Use a flat-bottom container; there is no reservoir for milk. I use a Pyrex glass measuring cup but you can buy frothing pitchers made for this purpose. BTW, use cold cow’s milk (cold milk – the cow is hopefully at a comfortable temperature). For some reason best milk to use is 2%, not whole milk, but it all works.Does it come with a frothing container? No, but I use a glass measuring cup and it works fine.How does it make the frothed milk? When you swing the wand out and turn the lever, steam comes out of the wand. However, I have observed that the first 10-15 seconds there is just water coming out, until it builds up enough temperature to be solid steam. So, it’s better if you wait and pour that initial water off and not let it run into your milk; when it turns to steam, stick the wand into your cold milk and froth away. I’ve not yet been able to make the cool designs in the cups that I see on TV, but by accident one time mine looked just like Kramer on Seinfeld.<b>Can it make hot water for tea?</b>Yes, but it is not optimal. It comes out as mostly steam from the frothing wand. Extend the frothing wand, put a cup underneath and turn the dial on the far right until steam/hot water hisses out.<b>Some Maintenance is Advisable</b>There are things that you must do to keep things working tip-top. It requires more maintenance than a drip coffee machine.Coffee pucks. Each time you make a cup, the machine will push the used coffee grounds “puck” into an internal reservoir on the left side of the machine. When the container fills up, a light comes on and you can’t make more coffee until you dump them out. A word of caution here – the machine “counts” the number of pucks from the last time that you opened the front door of the machine. It assumes that when the door is opened, that the grounds are emptied and resets the count. So, don’t open the door without emptying the puck-reservoir. Otherwise, it will overflow and cause grounds to spill out into the floor of the machine.Cleaning the Infuser. You should periodically clean the infuser (this is what pushes the steam through the puck of ground coffee). I do mine every Sunday. Don’t try this with the machine powered on – it simply won’t work because the infuser moves to a place where it cannot be removed. With the machine powered off, open the front door and pull the drip tray out. Remember to always empty the pucks and water from the drip tray anytime you open the door. To clean the infuser, look for the red buttons in the middle. Using your thumb and forefinger, squeeze the buttons and pull. The infuser should come out in your hand. It will probably have coffee grounds and other shmuckus on it. Just rinse it off and use a paper towel to clean and dry it off. This is good opportunity to clean out any other coffee grinds that might have accumulated in the bottom of the machine. Then push the infuser back into place. The red buttons will click when it is fully seated. I believe you can find a video on the internet on cleaning the infuser.Descaling. The minerals in your water will build up over time and can cause issues if not removed. The machine will indicate with a blinking light that it must be descaled. This light comes on after a manufacturer-determined number of cycles. I recommend using bottled water if you have hard water. I used hard water on my first machine and while it lasted nine years, I battled mineral scale. Please use the descaling sequence described in the owner’s manual. The machine comes with a one-use bottle of descaling solution. I find it more economical to buy the four-use bottles of EcoDecalk on Amazon, which are currently about $15 per bottle.<b>Not Really Intended for Business Use</b>This is intended for residential use, so it is not built for the kind of duty cycle that commercial machines undergo. As far as I know, the machine does not have a National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) rating. Commercial espresso machines are typically in the thousands of dollars.<b>Programmable to turn on in the morning?</b>Not an option. But it makes your coffee on demand, so it is nice and fresh.

Let me state this up front: We're coffee snobs. We buy our our own fair-trade green coffee beans and roast them in a Hottop coffee roaster. That's largely because we prefer a "city roast" rather than what we perceive to be "burnt" (which is why you won't find me at a Starbucks). So it's no surprise that we have gone through several coffee and espresso machines; and travel with a small brewing setup. We even bought a Bonavita BV1900TS 8-Cup Carafe Coffee Brewer for the occasions when the "real" machine is on the fritz. So yeah... kind of obsessive, maybe.So when Amazon Vine offered me the Saeco HD8911/47 Saeco Incanto Classic Milk Frother Super Automatic Espresso Machine, I said Yes with alacrity. For the last several weeks, it's been sitting next to the DeLonghi ESAM3300 Magnifica Super-Automatic Espresso/Coffee Machine, which we've owned for two years. That's given us an opportunity to do true side-by-side testing. Or, to put it another way, it gives us an excuse to drink twice as much coffee.Let me set a context, first. Although these are both espresso machines, in point of fact we rarely make espresso and even more rarely use the milk steamer. Our goal is one-touch "give me a cup of coffee to drink NOW," because making a whole pot means either (a) you don't finish the pot, which means you're wasting good coffee or (b) you run out when you want another cup but don't want to invest the time for just a single cup. While we have an Aeropress and another independent Kickstart-provided unit for travel, that's still far more fussing, particularly when the aim is to grab another cup before yet another online meeting, not to wait around in the kitchen for water to boil.In any case, I have had the opportunity to use both these machines, which are in the same general price range, and I like to think my opinion can help you make a better decision. And thus a two-for-one review, with a bit more attention to the newer unit and to comparisons rather than standalone feature descriptions.Let me start out with the most important point: These are both excellent units, and each deserves a 5-star rating. You won't be sorry if you choose either one of these machines. Both fulfill their god-given (or at least manufacturer-given) role, which is to make good coffee appear at the touch of a button, and for that I am grateful.Rather, what follows is an intentionally nit-picking analysis. Because I know that when _I_ spend several hundred bucks on a kitchen item, I want to choose equipment that matches my needs. Let's see if yours match mine.The DeLonghi is a solid piece of equipment. As most other reviewers have written, it does an excellent job of grinding and brewing. It holds most of a bag of coffee (should you eschew the hipness or time-consuming process of roasting). It does require a bit of daily maintenance, and we've found the machine to be a bit fussy. It already went back to the shop once under warrantee (thus the backup coffee machine, when I realized I'd be stuck for weeks); since then it objected to a failed de-scaling, and now we have a red light stuck on. This has made me just an eensy bit cranky.Another dumb-but-real annoyance: A regular coffee mug fits fine under the spout of the DeLonghi; however, you're out of luck if you have an extra-tall mug (I've a favorite that says "Troublemaker" OH SURE ACT SURPRISED).Those quibbles aside, it takes 42 seconds to emit a cup of steaming "keep me awake juice," and I had no thought of replacing it.The Saeco Incanto is narrower than the DeLonghi, which means it doesn't take up as much room in your kitchen (though they're essentially the same height). I can use my tall mugs. It's faster to turn the unit on, and it doesn't insist that you clean things up quite so often. It has a visual display screen rather than buttons, which implies that it's easier to understand status messages (though in point of fact it isn't any more helpful).The Saeco's water tank is slightly larger. You can pour water into it rather than having to pull out the container for refills, which is a nice convenience. It's a good thing, too, since it's awkward to pull out the container. The Saeco also shuts off the grinding process when you open the lid on the coffee side ("Oh hey was I out of beans?"); it's a good safety feature, even if I've never been drawn to poke my fingers in the mechanism.The Saeco's default coffee setting uses less coffee than the DeLonghi. By eye, the coffee puck (biscuit? what do YOU call those things?) is about 10% smaller. The result is coffee with a bit less intense mouth feel, by which I mean, "I like the coffee from the DeLonghi a little better" and by which my husband means that the DeLonghi's cup is slightly less acidic. But I think that's only noticeable side-by-side, in the way that you'd never see the differences in two TVs unless you're looking at both of them in a big showroom.You can adjust the Saeco settings from its default (probably 5 oz) up to an 8 ounce cup of coffee but then it tastes over-brewed. It's probably better to adjust for a 4 ounce shot and do a double shot. When you do so it makes a pretty good cup of coffee!Initially, the Saeco seems a lot less fussy. But in reality it's just spreading out the fuss. For example, by default the unit turns itself off really fast. Even if you adjust the setting to the maximum, it shuts off in an hour. We often wander into the kitchen a few times in a morning to get a cup of coffee before a meeting starts, and it's annoying to wait for the Saeco to start up again when it's 8:58 and I've a 9am meeting. Worse, on each startup it shoots water to clean itself up, so it wastes more than the DeLonghi.Plus, removing the tray underneath the Saeco (to clean out water and pucks) is a bit of a pain. You have to push buttons on both sides of the unit and pull out the tray for cleaning, which (depending on your counter arrangements) can be inconvenient. There's a bit more jiggling-things-around than I like, and that's when the unit is new. On a slick countertop I'd be concerned about the whole thing sliding off.And it's necessary more often. The Saeco is touchy, displaying a message that the waste bin is full very early; sometimes it complains after two biscuits. That may be a failure of user interface, as we think it's saying, "Open me up!" rather than giving an explicit indicator. The DeLonghi accomplishes that with DasBlinkenLights, with which we've already become familiar.I read through this and conclude, "She must hate the Saeco." Honestly, I don't. I like both these machines quite a bit. I'm used to the DeLonghi, and I might have had more criticism of it when it was new (and likely did, because it replaced another espresso machine I'd liked and which no longer was made). But given an opportunity to compare-and-contrast, I find myself analyzing the merits of each one.Again, both of these are quite good and deserve 5 stars because they deliver what they promise. But if I was forced to keep only one, I'd hold onto the DeLonghi.