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☕ Buying Guides · 2026Eight Breville machines, four real decisions: grinder in the box or not, who textures the milk, how fast it heats, and the one on the 58 mm standard.
Written and reviewed by the CoffeeLabAdvisor editorial team · Published 3 October 2026 · Last updated 4 October 2026
Breville sells eight espresso machines that look like variations on one idea and are not. Four questions separate them, and the price is the least useful of them. One: do you want the grinder in the box? The Barista line has one built in; the Bambino line and the Dual Boiler do not, so you buy a grinder alongside. Two: who textures the milk? The Bambino Plus is the only machine here whose steam wand does it for you — every other model hands you a manual wand. Three: how fast does it heat? Most of the range uses ThermoJet; the Barista Express is the exception and takes noticeably longer from cold. Four: 54 mm or 58 mm? Only the Dual Boiler takes the 58 mm portafilter the rest of the espresso world is built around. Answer those and usually one machine is left.
Read down the two columns that matter to you rather than across the whole row. Most people are deciding between two neighbours, not eight machines.
| Model | Grinder built in | Steam wand | Heating | Portafilter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bambino | No | Manual | ThermoJet | 54 mm |
| Bambino Plus | No | Automatic | ThermoJet | 54 mm |
| Barista Express | Yes | Manual | ThermoCoil | 54 mm |
| Barista Express Impress | Yes | Manual | ThermoJet | 54 mm |
| Barista Pro | Yes | Manual | ThermoJet | 54 mm |
| Barista Touch | Yes | Automatic | ThermoJet | 54 mm |
| Barista Touch Impress | Yes | Automatic | ThermoJet | 54 mm |
| Dual Boiler | No | Manual | Dual boiler | 58 mm |
Specifications from our verified catalog entry for each machine, or from the listing recorded on its profile where we have not scored it. Prices are not written into this page — each card above resolves the current price when the page loads.
This is the fork that removes half the range. A Barista machine has a conical burr grinder built into it, so you buy one box and start. A Bambino does not, and neither does the Dual Boiler, so you are buying a grinder as well.
Built in is simpler and takes less counter. Separate is better coffee for the same total money at most budgets, because a dedicated grinder outperforms a built-in one and you can upgrade either half later. If you go that way, our grinder pairing pages name a specific match for each machine rather than a general shortlist.
Among the machines we have scored, the Bambino Plus is the only one with an automatic steam wand. You put the jug under it and it stops when the milk is where it should be. The Bambino, Barista Express, Barista Pro and Dual Boiler all give you a manual wand, which is a skill — a rewarding one, and a real one.
This matters more than most buyers expect, because milk is where home espresso usually disappoints. If the drink you actually make every day is a flat white and you have no interest in learning to texture, the automatic wand is worth more than any other upgrade on this page. If you want to learn, our milk guide covers the technique the manual wands need. The Barista Touch models also automate the milk, from a touchscreen.
Breville uses two heating systems across this range and the names do not announce the difference. ThermoJet machines reach brewing temperature in a few seconds. The Barista Express alone uses ThermoCoil, which takes meaningfully longer from cold.
That one line is the main practical difference between the Barista Express and the Barista Pro, and it is why the Pro costs more for a machine that looks nearly identical. If you make one coffee a morning and the machine is off the rest of the day, you feel it every day. We compare those two directly on Barista Express vs Barista Pro.
Seven of these machines take a 54 mm portafilter. The Dual Boiler takes 58 mm, which is the size most commercial machines and most aftermarket baskets, tampers and distribution tools are built for.
If you never intend to buy a bottomless portafilter or a precision basket, this is irrelevant and you should ignore it. If you expect to tinker, 58 mm opens a far larger accessory market, and it is part of what you are paying for at the top of the range — along with the dual boiler itself, which lets the machine brew and steam at the same time instead of switching between the two.
Working from the four questions rather than the price:
For whether any individual machine is good rather than which one fits, every model we have scored has a full review: the Bambino Plus, Barista Express, Barista Pro and Bambino among them. This page deliberately carries no scores — those belong on the reviews and award pages.
The five Breville machines in our catalog with a live new-condition listing, cheapest first. The Barista Express Impress, Barista Touch and Barista Touch Impress are covered in the table above from their own listings; we have not scored them, so they are not carded here. Each card shows the current price at the moment this page loads.
Semi-Automatic · Manual milk The best ultra-compact espresso machine under $400: 3-second heat-up and a 54mm group in the smallest footprint, but no grinder and a modest steam wand. Espresso-first buyers on a budget should start here.
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Semi-Automatic · Automatic milk The best entry-level espresso machine with an automatic steam wand: 3-second heat-up, 54mm group and excellent plant-milk support in a compact footprint. The ideal pick for milk-forward home drinkers.
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Semi-Automatic · Manual milk A capable all-in-one starter with a built-in grinder and 54mm group. Because the grinder is integrated, moving to a separate grinder changes the workflow rather than replacing a standalone component.
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Semi-Automatic · Manual milk The Breville Barista Pro is the best all-in-one espresso machine for most home buyers: 3-second heat-up, a capable built-in grinder, and reliable 54mm extractions. Its ceiling is raised further with a dedicated grinder, which is how our pairing award uses it.
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Semi-Automatic · Manual milk Listed as sold out at Whole Latte Love on 2026-08-18; confirm availability before recommending.
Check price on Amazon →The steam wand. The Bambino Plus textures milk automatically; the Bambino gives you a manual wand to do it yourself. Both use ThermoJet heating, both take a 54 mm portafilter and neither has a grinder built in.
The main difference is heating: the Pro uses ThermoJet and reaches temperature in seconds, while the Express uses ThermoCoil and takes longer from cold. If you make one coffee a morning from a cold machine you will notice it daily. Our head-to-head compares them on the rest.
The Barista line — Barista Express, Barista Express Impress, Barista Pro, Barista Touch and Barista Touch Impress. The Bambino, Bambino Plus and Dual Boiler do not, so budget for a separate grinder.
Assisted tamping. The machine helps compact the coffee puck rather than leaving you to judge the pressure by hand, which is one of the harder things to do consistently when you are starting out.
Only the Dual Boiler. The rest of the range is 54 mm. It matters if you intend to buy bottomless portafilters, precision baskets or distribution tools, since most aftermarket gear is made for 58 mm.
Yes. Neither Bambino has a grinder, so you are buying two boxes. That is not a drawback in itself — at most budgets a machine plus a dedicated grinder makes better coffee than one all-in-one for the same total.
If you mostly drink milk drinks, the Bambino Plus removes the hardest skill by texturing the milk for you. If you want one box and are willing to learn, the Barista Pro puts the grinder, the wand and fast heat-up in a single machine.
No. It sorts them by the decisions that separate them. Scores live on our individual reviews and award pages, which is where we publish them and the only place we do.
Sources for this page: Heating system, steam wand type, portafilter diameter and built-in grinder for the Bambino, Bambino Plus, Barista Express, Barista Pro and Dual Boiler: our verified catalog entry for each machine · Barista Express Impress, Barista Touch and Barista Touch Impress: each machine’s own Amazon listing copy as recorded on its profile, with the read date on that record · Scores and awards are deliberately absent from this page; they are published on the individual reviews and the equipment award pages We have not lab-tested brewers; where a figure is a manufacturer's, the page names the manufacturer, and machine capabilities come from our own published review records.