Breville Bambino Plus vs Barista Express

These two machines share more than they differ. Both use Breville's 54 mm stainless portafilter with 18 gram baskets, a 15 bar Italian pump that pre-infuses at low pressure and brews at 9 bar, and PID temperature control. Breville's spec pages list the same one and two shot volumetric buttons on both. The espresso hardware is close to identical.

The Barista Express bolts a grinder on top of that: a conical burr set with 16 settings that grinds straight into the portafilter, plus a dose trimmer and a pressure gauge on the front. It is the one-box answer. Its heater is a thermocoil that takes about half a minute to come up to temperature.

The Bambino Plus leaves the grinder out and spends the money on speed and milk. Breville's ThermoJet heater is ready in about three seconds, and the steam wand can texture milk automatically at three temperatures and three foam levels, then purges itself. Tom's Guide measured it at 7.6 inches wide and about 11 pounds, against about 13 inches and 24 pounds for the Barista Express in CNET's measurements.

On the cup, the deciding factor is the grinder, not the machine. Tom's Guide found the Bambino Plus made espresso with thick crema that tasted divine, but only after pairing it with a Comandante or Eureka grinder; Breville's own Dose Control Pro could not grind fine enough to reach a 25 second shot. The Barista Express's built-in grinder is the part reviewers call adequate: Wirecutter describes it that way, and Home-Barista members regularly recommend replacing it.

That means the Barista Express makes good espresso out of the box, and CNET measured a balanced 18.6 percent extraction from it, but its ceiling is set by the grinder on top. The Bambino Plus with a good standalone grinder has the higher ceiling, because you can pair it with burrs the Barista Express will never get.

Two smaller points. The Barista Express has a pressure gauge, which helps a beginner see whether a shot is choking or gushing; the Bambino Plus has no gauge, so you read the shot by time and taste. And Tom's Guide found the Bambino Plus vibrates during extraction and its group head is stiff to lock in, so you steady the machine with your other hand.

This is where the Bambino Plus pulls ahead. Its automatic mode steams a jug hands-free: Tom's Guide timed 200 ml in 1 minute 10 seconds and poured latte art with the result, though the texture came out closer to cappuccino foam than a flat white. Switch to manual and you get a proper wand, and because ThermoJet swaps from brew to steam in a couple of seconds there is no wait between the shot and the milk.

The Barista Express steams well too. Tom's Guide praised its creamy microfoam once the reviewer learned the single-hole wand, and the thermocoil also moves to steam quickly. But it is manual only, and for someone who has never steamed milk, the Bambino Plus's automatic mode removes the hardest part of making a latte.

One limit on the Bambino Plus: Tom's Guide notes the wand only moves up and down, not sideways, so you steam at a fixed angle and cannot do it with the portafilter locked in. The Barista Express's wand swivels.

The Bambino Plus sits a tier below the Barista Express on its own, but you have to add a grinder. Once you do, a Bambino Plus plus a Baratza Encore ESP or similar lands in the same tier as the Barista Express, sometimes a little above. Tom's Guide calls the Bambino Plus pricey for an entry-level machine, and that is fair if you compare it to a machine with a grinder inside.

The way to think about it: the Barista Express is the cheaper way to get everything today, and the Bambino Plus plus a separate grinder is the cheaper way to end up with a setup you will not replace. Home-Barista members have debated the all-in-one versus two-piece question for years and usually land on the two-piece setup making better espresso, with the all-in-one making the easier morning.

Buy the Bambino Plus if you drink mostly milk drinks, have a small kitchen, and are willing to buy or already own an espresso-capable grinder. Tom's Guide's Editor's Choice and Wirecutter's and Serious Eats' beginner recommendations all point the same way: it is the easiest machine to master out of the box.

Buy the Barista Express if you want one appliance with no extra shopping, you like reading a pressure gauge, and you drink more straight espresso than lattes. It is CNET's best espresso machine overall and Tom's Guide's Editor's Choice for exactly that reason. If you later outgrow its grinder, you can still use it as a machine with an external grinder feeding the portafilter.

If you already own a grinder, this is not close: the Bambino Plus. If you do not and do not want to, the Barista Express. See our best espresso machine guide and our under-500 picks for the rest of the field.