Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601) vs Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301)

Both grind over a built-in scale, suggest a grind setting after every shot and brew espresso and real drip coffee. The Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301) trades features for size: it is about a third smaller, has a finer 60-step grinder and a manual steam wand, and drops the Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601)'s automatic whisk frother, cold brew, cold-pressed espresso, cold foam and quad shot.

The short answer

Which one should you buy?

Every row below is resolved from the two catalog records, not from a preference of ours; where the records tie, the row says so.

Where each one stands

We publish a score only for award winners, on the award page that justifies it, so this comparison is decided on what the two machines do rather than on a number. In the words of the two review records: the Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601) is Good, consistent espresso with almost no skill, very consistent dosing, and drip coffee, cold brew and cold foam that testers rated. Grind guidance can over-correct, auto milk runs hot, and the US model lacks hot water and a single basket. The Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301) is The Luxe Café's grinder, scale and guidance in a much smaller body, with drip coffee testers rated perfect. Espresso volume varied in testing, the milk is manual, and the cold drinks and hot water are gone. One full review so far.

Spec by spec

* Pressure figures are manufacturer-published pump ratings. A pump rating is the pump's maximum, not the pressure at the coffee during a shot, and we have not measured brew pressure on either machine, so the two numbers are shown because the manufacturers publish them, not as comparable measures of extraction. † Marked figures are not confirmed on a manufacturer source for the exact model number listed above; we have left our tracked value in place rather than substitute an unverified one. Plant-milk ratings are our own documented 1–5 scoring, published on each review page.

Portafilter sizes for every machine we cover, with sources, are on our portafilter size chart; footprints are on the dimensions chart.

The price arithmetic

Both machines include their grinder — Built-in grinder: Yes and Yes — so there is no hidden second purchase on either side and the arithmetic is simply the two machine prices.

At live prices the Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601) costs about $149 more than the Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301). Prices at retail move, and this figure moves with them; what does not move is what the premium buys, which the sections below take row by row from the two records.

What is the same: the guided espresso

Both machines use Ninja's Barista Assist idea: the grinder sits over a scale, the machine checks how much it ground, and after each shot it recommends a finer or coarser setting based on how long the shot ran. Both use unpressurised double and Luxe baskets and an assisted tamper, and both brew real filter coffee in classic, rich and over-ice styles by switching the grinder to a coarse setting. Neither has hot water in the US.

Where they differ inside is the grinder: the Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301)'s has 60 settings against 25, so each step is finer. Tom's Coffee Corner, which has used both families, found the Minis' espresso full-bodied, and TechRadar rated the Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301)'s crema perfect every time, though it saw espresso volume vary at identical settings.

What the Mini gives up

The Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301) has no automatic milk. Its steam wand is manual, the non-burn design from the Luxe Café Pro according to Tom's Coffee Corner; you choose temperature and texture but hold the jug and stop it yourself. There is no whisk jug, so no cold foam, and no cold brew or cold-pressed espresso, which are two of the Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601)'s best-reviewed features. Drip sizes are smaller, a mug rather than up to 18 ounces, the smallest espresso is a double with no quad, and the tank holds 47 ounces against 70. Build is lighter, with plastic sides and back, and TechRadar found the Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301) light enough to slide as you lock in the portafilter.

If you want the small body with automatic milk, the Mini Plus adds a temperature-probed automatic wand to the Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301).

Which one to choose

The question is what you drink and where it goes. For lattes and cappuccinos at a press, iced drinks with cold foam, or a cold brew habit, the Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601) is the machine, and its evidence is far deeper. For a narrow counter, black coffee and occasional hand-steamed milk, the Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301) does the core job in much less space. Compare the live prices on the two cards; the gap between them moves with Amazon's offers.

Both carry Ninja's one-year US warranty. Our guide to every Luxe Café model covers the Pro and Mini Plus as well.

Where each one wins

And where each loses — from the same review records:

Reviewed on our published rubric

Reviewed

Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601)

Semi-Automatic · 53 mm portafilter · Built-in grinder · Automatic steam

$599.00Live Amazon price · as of 10/25/2026 10:25 AM

Good, consistent espresso with almost no skill, very consistent dosing, and drip coffee, cold brew and cold foam that testers rated. Grind guidance can over-correct, auto milk runs hot, and the US model lacks hot water and a single basket.

Check price on Amazon →

Reviewed on our published rubric

Reviewed

Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301)

Semi-Automatic · 54 mm portafilter · Built-in grinder · Manual steam

$449.99Live Amazon price · as of 10/25/2026 10:25 AM

The Luxe Café's grinder, scale and guidance in a much smaller body, with drip coffee testers rated perfect. Espresso volume varied in testing, the milk is manual, and the cold drinks and hot water are gone. One full review so far.

Check price on Amazon →

Frequently asked questions

Sources for this page: every score, spec, pro and con is rendered from the same two records that produce the Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601) review and the Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301) review; manufacturer figures carry the spec source recorded on each catalog entry (Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601): Ninja ES600 Series owner's guide (ES601 IB, 2024), sharkninja.com ES601 page and the Amazon listing B0D45PK5V4, read 2026-10-24: 25-setting conical burr grinder, weight-based dosing, assisted tamper, double and 40 g Luxe baskets, three brew temperatures, 70 oz tank, 1650 W, one-year US warranty, launched 25 July 2024. Ninja's page prints the shipping box as the size and a 0.06 lb weight; size and weight here are reviewers' measurements (CoffeeGeek 34 W x 33 D x 37.1 H cm, 11.7 kg; TechRadar 11.67 kg). 53mm portafilter and a thermoblock over the group per Tom's Coffee Corner (teardown), CoffeeGeek, Coffeeness and Expert Reviews. Hands-on: CoffeeGeek (233 recorded shots, Ninja-supplied), Coffeeness (bought), Tom's Coffee Corner, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, Expert Reviews, Top Ten Reviews, Chowhound (Ninja-supplied), Tasting Table, Coffee Kev (bought), WIRED.) (Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301): sharkninja.com ES301 page and the Amazon listing B0GVTV3QTR, read 2026-10-24 (no US owner's guide published for the Mini range): 60-setting conical burr grinder, built-in scale, manual steam wand, double and Luxe baskets, hot or iced drip coffee, 47 oz tank, 250 g hopper, 1650 W, 10.24 D x 12.17 W x 13.43 H in, 18.96 lb, one-year US warranty. Ninja lists 'boiler power' but not the heater type. 54mm portafilter per Tom's Coffee Corner only. Hands-on: TechRadar (full review) and Tom's Coffee Corner's Mini Plus review, which covers both Minis.). We have not physically tested either machine.

Keep going