The short answer
Buy the Barista Touch if you want milk drinks at the press of a button, saved profiles and a fast heat-up. Buy the Barista Express if you want to learn espresso and milk by hand - it makes very similar espresso and asks more of you.
Side by side
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Quick picks
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1. Choose this to learn the craft
Breville Barista Express
Mid tier · The all-in-one: espresso machine with a conical burr grinder built into the case.
A built-in grinder, PID temperature and a manual wand - you make every decision.
The Barista Express pairs a 54 mm stainless portafilter with an integrated conical burr grinder listed at 16 settings, heated by a PID-controlled thermocoil at 200 F, in a 15.9 x 13.1 x 12.4 inch body.
Its manual steam wand leaves milk texture in your hands, which is harder at first and the route to latte art.
You dose, tamp and time each shot yourself, which is exactly how you learn to read an extraction.
It is the simpler, less automated machine of the two, and it makes very good espresso once dialed in.
Specification
- Portafilter
- 54 mm stainless
- Grinder
- Integrated conical burr, 16 settings
- Heating
- Thermocoil, 200 F, PID controlled
- Footprint
- 15.9 x 13.1 x 12.4 in
What it does well
- One box, one price, one plug - nothing else to buy
- PID temperature control at this level is not a given
- Enormous owner base, so parts and answers are easy to find
Where it gives ground
- 16 grind settings is coarse resolution for espresso dialing
- The built-in grinder is the weakest component and cannot be upgraded
- Wide footprint for a single-boiler machine
Skip it if
Skip it if several people in the household want press-a-button milk drinks. That is the Touch's whole purpose - see the full review.
2. Choose this for automation
Breville Barista Touch
Upper-mid tier · The Barista Express idea with a touchscreen, fast heat-up and automatic milk texturing.
A touchscreen, a three-second heat-up and automatic milk texturing.
The Barista Touch keeps an integrated conical burr grinder - 30 settings on the US model - and moves every setting onto a touchscreen; the only physical button is power.
It heats to brewing temperature in about three seconds from standby, uses a 15 bar pump, and textures milk automatically, with adjustable temperature and texture.
It stores up to eight drink profiles, so each person in a household gets the same drink every time.
It ships with a 54 mm stainless portafilter, single and dual-wall baskets, a magnetized 54 mm tamper and a 480 ml pitcher.
Specification
- Grinder
- Integrated conical burr, 30 settings (US model)
- Heat-up
- About 3 seconds from standby
- Pump
- 15 bar
- Interface
- Touchscreen; power is the only physical button
- Milk
- Automatic texturing with adjustable temperature and texture
- Profiles
- Up to 8 saved drink profiles
- Included
- 54 mm stainless portafilter, single and dual-wall baskets, 54 mm magnetized tamper, 480 ml pitcher
What it does well
- Automates milk and programming without giving up the portafilter
- Saved profiles give each person in a household the same drink every time
- Fast heat-up from standby
Where it gives ground
- Its built-in grinder cannot be upgraded, like any all-in-one
- Sits above the Barista Express in Breville's range
- Automation means less hands-on learning than a manual wand
Skip it if
Skip it if learning the craft is the point. Its strength is automation, and the Express leaves more to you.
What the automation buys
In a household where only one person wants to learn to steam milk, automatic texturing means everyone else still gets a good drink. Saved profiles mean nobody has to remember anyone else's settings.
The finer grind steps and faster heat-up are real improvements too. For one careful person making one drink a day, they matter much less.