The short answer
Choose the Bambino Plus for real 9-bar espresso and properly textured milk, if you will buy a grinder and learn the routine. Choose the Nespresso Vertuo for one-touch coffee and espresso-style drinks from barcoded pods, with nothing to learn.
Side by side
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Quick picks
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1. Choose this for real espresso
Breville Bambino Plus
Entry tier · The Bambino with automatic milk texturing added.
9-bar espresso and automatic milk texturing - with a grinder to buy.
The Bambino Plus uses a 54 mm portafilter with an 18 g dose, a 15 bar Italian pump running 9 bar extraction, and ThermoJet heating ready in 3 seconds.
Its automatic milk texturing, in a 480 ml jug, gets usable microfoam without practice.
It has no grinder, so the real budget is the machine plus a grinder that reaches espresso fineness.
You grind, dose and tamp every shot - that routine is the price of real espresso.
Specification
- Portafilter
- 54 mm stainless, 18 g dose
- Heating
- ThermoJet, ready in 3 seconds
- Pump
- 15 bar Italian pump, 9 bar extraction
- Milk
- Automatic texturing, 16 fl oz / 480 ml jug
- Footprint
- 11.9 x 7.4 x 14.3 in
What it does well
- Automatic milk texturing gets a usable microfoam without practice
- Same three-second heat-up as the standard Bambino
- Fits a narrow counter with a grinder beside it
Where it gives ground
- You are paying for the milk automation, not better espresso
- Still no grinder
- Auto-steam removes the control an enthusiast eventually wants
Skip it if
Skip it if you want coffee at the press of one button. The Vertuo asks nothing of you.
2. Choose this for one-touch coffee
Nespresso Vertuo Plus
Entry tier · A capsule machine that spins the pod instead of pressurizing it, brewing four cup sizes.
Barcoded pods that brew mug coffee and espresso with nothing to get wrong.
The Vertuo Plus spins the capsule at up to 7,000 rpm - Nespresso calls it Centrifusion - rather than pressurizing it.
A barcode on each pod sets the brew, across 5 oz and 8 oz coffee plus single and double espresso.
It heats in 15 to 20 seconds and holds 40 oz of water.
Vertuo pods are a closed system - no third-party capsules and no Original pods - so you are tied to Nespresso's catalog and pricing.
Specification
- Capsule system
- Vertuo only - not compatible with Original pods
- Extraction
- Centrifusion, capsule spins up to 7,000 rpm
- Cup sizes
- 5 oz and 8 oz coffee, plus single and double espresso
- Water tank
- 40 oz
- Heat-up
- 15-20 seconds
What it does well
- The widest cup-size range of any capsule machine - actual mug coffee, not just espresso
- Barcode on each pod sets the brew parameters, so there is nothing to get wrong
- 40 oz tank is large for a capsule machine
Where it gives ground
- Vertuo pods are a closed system - no third-party capsules and no Original pods
- Centrifusion is not 9 bar extraction, so the crema is aerated rather than emulsified
- You are locked into Nespresso's catalog and Nespresso's pricing for the machine's life
Skip it if
Skip it if you want espresso in the traditional sense. Centrifusion is not 9-bar extraction.
The honest trade
The Bambino Plus gives you control over the beans, the grind and the milk, and asks for a grinder and a few minutes of routine in return. The Vertuo removes every decision, and ties you to one company's pods for the machine's life.