Magnifica Evo ECAM29043SB

Delonghi is a pretty good choice. If you manage to find the right settings to suit your taste, it will make great coffee. All-in-all, a little advice, if I may. I don't think I need to tell you that DeLonghi has different models, such as Magnifica, Dinamica, Eletta, PrimaDonna, and so on. And there are variations within each model—e.g. the Magnifica S is considered a basic model, but the Magnifica Evo Plus, for example, offers milk frothing and touch controls. But here's the "trick"—inside, both are the same machine. Same water pump, same grinder, same boiler, and so on. Only the Evo Plus is roughly 30% more expensive than the S. Of course, if you want a milk + coffee drink, the S may not be the right choice (although with a little practice, you can steam milk very nicely with the S's steam wand.) So what I'm trying to say is that you always have to consider what you're buying the machine for, because in my experience, most people think that a stylish milk jug and a colorful touchscreen mean that the machine has some kind of advanced technology—but that's not the case. The technical differences are between the different models, almost never within a single model. Oh, and this stands for most of the brands as well... almost.

Delonghi bean to cup with a manual milk frother

I bought the $399 refurbished Delonghi Magnifica Evo from Woot/Amazon and coming from a manual Breville Barista and a Baratza Sette 270 grinder I’m actually really impressed and will probably just roll with the Magnifica going forward. If purchased brand new they would be about the same price as the Delonghi and vice versa FWIW. I don’t need the freshest beans to produce a decent enough shot for cappuccinos and lattes. Clean up is a relative breeze. Other members of the household can figure out how to use it quite easily compared to a manual espresso machine even if it had a lot of bells and whistles. Will I still keep and use the Breville+Baratza? Of course, especially if I find particularly fresh and tasty beans. But for an everyday coffee machine I would choose the Delonghi (I think the Magnifica Start is identical in terms of coffee making abilities to the Evo but with less settings out of the box and a smaller price IIRC) ETA: currently using bean setting 3 (largest), and hottest brewing setting. I haven’t messed with custom stuff like water amount used per shot but I have only had the thing for about a week so give me some more time

I have had mine for almost 2 years now. I have no desire to get something else.

I wanted to buy semi automatic so bad but my wife who was expecting a child told me that we won’t have time to do all that espresso things. Now I just press an “espresso” button on my DeLonghi Magnifica Evo and that’s it. I know that it is not a “proper” espresso but hey I just want to quickly have a coffee while playing with my kid in the mornings.

The magnifica evo would be the budget option in the states I think at $550, but doesn't have the easy user experience and a screen.

I bought a Philips and returned it. It’s comparable to a Keurig level coffee. Coffee has been watery for the 2 weeks I owned it. Even at maximum strength and finest grind, I was never able to get a good flow, the flow was always too fast. I then bought a delonghi magnifica, night and day compared to the Philips.