De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo

This is the machine to put next to the Barista Express before you buy either. Both give you a grinder, real pre-infusion and a manual steam wand in one box. The Arte Evo's grinder has fewer steps (8 versus 16), and it swaps Breville's digital PID for De'Longhi's Active Temperature Control, which offers three selectable brew temperatures but does not hold them as tightly. In exchange you get an all-steel body, a guided-tamp kit that flattens the beginner learning curve, and a cold-extraction mode that makes a real cold brew in about five minutes rather than overnight.

Reviewers with barista experience rate the shot quality highly and several call it their best home machine to date. The consistent complaint across the critical reviews is the grinder: a number of owners report it failing inside a year, and describe De'Longhi's warranty handling as slow. Treat the grinder as the risk on an otherwise very capable machine.

Pick it over the Barista Express if you want the steel build and the cold-brew trick; pick the Breville if you want the finer grinder and the tighter PID.

Positive reviews, several from self-described former baristas, praise consistent, hot, flavourful shots and rate it above previous Breville machines they owned. The critical reviews focus almost entirely on the integrated grinder failing early and on a frustrating warranty experience. Milk steaming and the cold-brew mode are both well reviewed.