I know it's not elite but I've been happy enough with a DeLonghi Magnifica Start and mine was on sale for under $600 USD but I don't know if you can get it for much lower.
I would recommend Delonghi magnifica plus. Where are you in Canada? I know a place locally that sells open boxes in Toronto which is basically new for $850 all in. I purchased magnifica start and magnifica plus from him and it has been working great for the past 6 Months.
The Dinamica Plus is my first and daily use super automatic. I'm just over 3000 cups brewed and it works well, including milk based drinks.
I've no experience with Ninja coffee makers but, for a near equal price point, I'd go with the Delonghi as it's known for good coffee machines and compared to a company that makes a little of everything. But they may be bias on my part.
I also own Delonghi's True Brew and Magnifica Start machines. They make great coffee (maybe the same internal "guts") but the milk drink integration on the Plus makes it a more comprehensive machine at the higher price point.
My Magnifica Start is a boss. High quality, strong shots and easy to maintain. It takes me about 30 seconds to clean the components once I’m finished in the morning.
Super automatics in general are made for beginners. I would suggest a Delonghi Magnifica Evo or Magnifica Start for the budget-minded. Delonghi machines produce the best espresso at every price point even beating machines like the Jura Z10 at $4,000. The DeLonghi Magnifica Plus makes the best espresso of any consumer super automatic and it's only about $1000.
[De'Longhi Magnifica Plus, Best Superautomatic](https://tomscoffeecorner.com/delonghi-magnifica-plus-review-best-superautomatic/)
The Magnifica plus produces the best espresso of any consumer home espresso machine currently available. It doses higher, grinds finer, and when dialed in can extract to SCA standard of 20-30 sec. No Jura or KitchenAid can do this. All currently made Phillips/Saeco/Gaggia dose lower at 8gm. While these machines produce a thinner bodied weaker espresso it's important to understand that this dose meets the SCA standard and exceeds what Nespresso uses in their single pods. However, the more modern interpretation of espresso is double that dose, which is more common in machines from De'Longhi, KitchenAid, and Jura.
I would recommend you double that budget but if you can't the cheapest in order are usually GE profile, Gaggia brera, or De'Longhi Magnifica start (steam wand version) when on sale.
The GE Profile actually has some good reviews. If you can live without the steam wand its $279 on amazon. [GE Profile review](https://www.coffeeness.de/en/ge-profile-automatic-espresso-machine-review/)
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Fast heat-up, easy for beginners; inconsistent shots, annoying cleaning.
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