Breville Dual Boiler with Smart Grinder BES920 / BCG820

Almost Perfect -- Except for the Black Finish – Update: At 30 months the black finish on the top cover started to bubble up in 3 places. One being where the water filler is underneath the door and the others in front corners. Moisture found its way up and got under the finish. While only cosmetic this is unforgivable in a product in this price range but full marks to Breville for fixing it. … Read more

As a coffee machine it is a solid 5 stars but it should never have left the design board with this soft and easily scratched coating.

Re the decalcify process estimated at 1 1/2 hours, now done it and it is not nearly as overwhelming as it first reads although takes a while.

<<<<<<>>>>> The iteration of the BES920 I purchased is the BES920BKS (black truffle finish). I could not speak highly enough of the machine for making coffee and being solidly built. It sets its own standard. I quickly learned its operation and even with the default settings make reliably consistent coffees as good as the majority of cafes. The steam is powerful and requires under a minute to microfroth its jug, all while the coffee is brewing.

It is reputedly built with high end parts that can be repaired/replaced unlike its 'appliance class' competitors. It seems Breville make ongoing running changes, eg changing the water filter type so old and new machines can be different from each other. It is weighty and has a high end feel. It is more home friendly than the semi-commercial domestic machines from the European manufacturers. An example is that heat up time of about 3 minutes; a highly regarded European machine (~$2,000 that I almost bought until I realised) takes 25 minutes. If you leave it on all day per commercial norms the European machine will use less electricity since it has a lower powered element, but how many do that in their home? The options to customise pours and steam include temperatures for brew and steam, pours by time or volume, preinfusion time and pressure, and auto-on for those so inclined. The European machines are not as flexible although those who prefer hands on operation would never notice anything missing on them.

The bads I have identified - (1) the black truffle coating seems soft. It is apparently baked enamel on the machine but the coating on the drip tray fascia, despite extreme care, is prone to scratching from moving cups and the portafilter on/off. After a deep scratch I applied an industrial black vinyl 38mm wide tape across the drip tray fascia to protect it from further damage and keep it looking good. I advise anyone buying the BES920BKS to apply something similar. I have provided feedback to Breville about the coating but not about my 'tape solution'. Maybe Breville will put a protective tape on the drip tray fascia in future? (2) the decalcify process while clearly described is 1 1/2 hours hands on - a bit much.

Summary: The BES920 has been highly reviewed since it was originally introduced. My opinion is it really is that good.

Impressed – I brought this machine as a clearance model(bes920) for $999, they’re now bep920, the difference is they’ve gone from 1700watt up to 2100 watt, no biggie because I brought solely on the reviews for the older model.. I’ve had it a week And so far absolutely love every bit of this machine, heats up quick, makes great consistent coffee and the… Read more

frother is better than I expected (that was important for me).. Can’t fault it and will give a update in due time.

Get hyped up about a dual boiler – Very easy to setup and use. Manual provided very clear and simple to follow.instructions. Easy to move around the bench with wheels that you can release and lock the machine into place. Minimal fuss for great results. Heated top shelf. Heats milk and froths nicely. With little hassle. Bought prominently for short blacks and have enjoyed… Read more

perfecting the taste. Can adjust machine to produce a nice hot coffee or to your preferred temperature. The machine has nice lines and clean look. Fits nicely in the corner of the bench.

Good machine, great coffee – Very early days, had it for 3 days....The BEP920BSS is my 1st Espresso Coffee machine. I did a fair bit of research before buying and chose this among many others as I wanted dual boiler (not thermoblock) for powerful steam and fast operation. I took a few hours playing with it to learn about it and to get it making coffee the way I personally… Read more

like it, I am a complete newby... With a little practice it's quite easy to use and to program. I found it consistent and fast once I worked out the grinder dose etc. I bought it new for AU$799 from Harvey Norman (grinder bought separately - both come as a kit called BES920 rather than just the machine which is BEP920). As some have has issues with their machine I decided to get the 4 year extended warranty (now 6 years in total as this is in addition to 2 year factory warranty) which was about $140, which is still only $840. A bargain, at this time I couldn't be happier with it. 6 MONTH UPDATE. July 2018 now, the machine has made 100s if not 000s of great cups of great coffee. Haven't found anything I don't like, it's a very good quite powerful all 'round machine. 10/10 for value, the coffee and features. 2 YEAR UPDATE. Still going strong, still makes great coffee and still no issues whatsoever. Remain very happy with this machine, strongly recommend. 6 YEAR UPDATE. End Aug 2022, nearly 6 years old now and still going strong and still able to make great coffee. Inner shower screen (upper) inside the group head is black plastic, ABS or something and has cracked in a few places (see photo showing old black plastic item and new SS item, plus picture of it installed). The symptom was the small coffee filter in the filter handle would separate from the handle and get stuck in the group head - quite difficult to remove. The cracks are possibly heat/age related but also may be due to my overfilling of the coffee filter and over tensioning with the group handle … so it may be my fault. I found an OEM replacement on line for about AU$35, quite expensive for a piece of plastic, also found an aftermarket version made of 304 Stainless Steel for about AU$65. I went for the SS version as should last indefinitely. Took only a couple of minutes and an Allen (hex) key and all back together…simples. I’ll see how it goes.

Dual Boiler Disappointment – Firstly let me state that we had a previous model of the Breville Dual Boiler, purchased in 2015 that was a fantastic machine until it died. In fact, that machine was so good we didn't hesitate in purchasing the same model in Dec 2023. Unfortunately our experience since then has been nothing but disappointing. Within 5 weeks of purchase the Coffee… Read more

Machine was starting to fail. Making a high pitched screeching sound when switched on and when the manual or 1 cup/2 cup buttons were selected - sounded more electrical as the lights behind the buttons would flicker and flash intermittingly. We took the machine back to place of purchase who promptly told us we would need to send away for repairs under warranty. We argued that as the machine was only 5 weeks old we would like a direct swap which Breville to their credit agreed to and 4 weeks later (without a coffee machine) we received our 2nd new coffee machine within 3 months.

8 weeks in to our 2nd coffee machine and the steam function has decided to pack it in and call it a day meaning no cappuccinos or flat whites in our house. We contacted Breville and they organised a courier to collect the machine and take away for repairs. That was two weeks ago and we are yet to receive an update on a) whether they received the machine - I had to call to make sure they had. b) what is wrong with the machine. c) when will the machine be returned to us.

We feel not only is this unacceptable quality, but also poor customer service and I believe both the quality of the appliances and the quality of the customer service to be at an unacceptable standard.

Unfortunately, we are now looking around for viable alternatives to replace the Dual Boiler and in good conscience we couldn't recommend this product to anyone for purchase.

There is so much to like about the Breville BES920 Dual Boiler. It is certainly a tool that can produce pretty good espresso based coffee. From my extra lunga macchiato, to various strength Piccolo - plus, cappuccino and creamy flat white. Delicious! Not as fast or as professionally done as a better quality espresso machine - but for its price -… Read more

excellent. The drawback is that Breville do not build their machines to last. My second machine gave me close to 3 years before the steam wand started dribbling madly. That wasn't too bad, but soon afterwards the machine became unusable due to the geyser emitting from the hot water outlet. At least this machine gave me 3 years - my first gave me less than 2 years before it needed its first repair. Then less than two years again before a waterfall started dripping from most of the way across the front of the machine. So whether it's planned obsolescence; shoddy planning; construction values and/or workmanship - I expected better. Surely at this price it is reasonable to expect that the machine be capable of doing what it's supposedly designed to do for more than 2-3 years. It's supposed to operate under pressure at high temperatures - which it does, but not for very long. Thankfully I still have a plunger and am quite capable at operating that.

Great stepping stone before you spend $4k+ – I've been very happy with my little BDB. I did quite a lot of research, and ultimately decided that - unless I was ready to spend $4k+ on a higher end Profitec or even a La Marzocco - I might as well just get the BDB. It has the convenience of quick heat-up (usually 3-4 mins), simultaneous espresso + steaming milk, and the espresso quality is… Read more

great. I ended up getting a bottomless portafilter from Aliexpress, but would certainly appreciate if the machine came with one. I don't have any bad things to say about the machine, other than it looks like a "consumer appliance". I'd appreciate some modernisation of the appearance, maybe trim down the bulk, and even a little LED light that lights up under the portafilter would be amazing. But - for what it is - and we're talking sub-$1.5k depending - you're hard pressed to complain.

Buy with caution - newer versions have BAD leak issues – I purchased my first BES920 8 years ago, the machine was excellent, after 7 years the harsh Brisbane water corroded the steam valve, as the machine was 7 years old decided not to repair but to replace, BAD error in judgement, I don’t know if Breville has changed some parts however the new machine was not a patch on the old one. Puck was wet after… Read more

most extractions, only ever happened on old machine when the user (me) ground to fine for water to filter through puck. steam was never as good, getting nice micro foam was hit and miss when the old machine was very rarely that I mucked up. Breville assured me when I learnt to use machine all would be OK, did not listen that I had been using same model machine and buying same beans from my local roaster for 7 years. Anyway after 6 months brew boiler would not stop at 93* when heating would keep going until 110 or I turned it off, warranty repair showed both boilers leaking that had damaged some internal components, all repaired (machine in workshop for 7 1/2 weeks) then once back was no better than when this machine was new, not a patch on original machine, then it started leaking steam again, (internet search shows this is now a common complaint) Breville agreed to replace machine, picked up replacement, when first turned on would flash hot water light no menu, no pump start, so Breville agreed to another replacement, I just got my money back

Last ever Breville coffee machine – The BES920 was the second Breville coffee machine we've owned. The first was a Creatista Nespresso machine. Both units suffered leaks do to poorly designed seals and plastic component failure. So far the BES920 has 5 new O rings, steam valve, steam safety valve, pipes and a triac board just to keep it going. Fortunately my electronics background… Read more

saved on labour costs and freight, otherwise repairs would have cost more than the original purchase price.

From now on we will be buying only semi/commercial machines with copper and brass components instead of plastic. We have ordered an Expobar Office machine due the build quality (search 'Expobar factory' on Youtube ) low cost of parts, and abundance of service centres.

Don't waste your money on plastic junk. Spend just a bit more and buy a semi/commercial grade machine in the first place.

Makes good coffee - but terrible aftersales – I’ve owned two of these. Whilst they make good coffee -the aftersales is hopeless I recently had to have a major repair done and I was without a machine for 3-4 weeks, this is very poor Now my portafiller has fallen apart (machine is 4 years old) and they want to charge $190 to replace a very small component of the machine - a machine that I… Read more

paid less than $1000 for.

This is very poor customer service - Breville I have had a few bad experiences with you lately, and you are turning one of your biggest advocates into a very angry customer

You need to do better to justify the premium price

Ok .... til it breaks! Again – Makes good coffee. We unfortunately cracked the head and $450 later got it back. We were told this is due to overfilling. We have been super careful and 3 years later same issue. Again it would be $590 to fix. Decided to buy different brand. It was expensive machine so this is disappointing. Show details

Limited life - If you purchase Get the extended warranty – I purchased the BES920 in Jan 2017 from Harvey Norman. I thought that it was fantastic producing cafe quality strong coffee. So I encouraged my brother and mother to also get one. Within a year the boiler broke and was fixed under warranty, I think that it should have been replaced. 2 years later (Jan 2020) out of warranty and boilers were totally… Read more

gone. Repair man said it would cost more to fix. Seems my brother had the same issue and his boilers broke within 3 years also. No coincidence, repairman told him it's a common fault. For $1000 I expect more than 3 years of use. Really annoyed and disappointed. 4 yr extended warranty and all would be fine. Produces great coffee but make sure you get the extended warranty.

machine stopped working just outside of warranty – Very disappointed. This machine was great, when it worked, up until a few months out of warranty. Now I have a $1200+ machine that is unusable, and i have to pay to get it fixed. Paying this much for a machine to last a couple of years is absurd, the quality should be much better than that but there are so many people posting stories of similar… Read more

issues with this machine, Breville clearly have some quality issues to address. Will be getting the repair quoted and going to ACCC if i have to, to ensure that Breville cover the repair costs of their faulty product. Have also had quality issues with other Breville appliances, this is the last straw and i will NOT be buying Breville again.

Easy to use, difficult to master – Hmmm ok, where do I start. First up, i'm no trained coffee expert. I bought this as an amateur due to its manual nature, and good reviews online, generally. Its a learning device I can use every day and its not in the few thousands and up price range as I've found espresso machines can be. I wanted to learn to make good coffee, but not have to… Read more

pay stupid amounts. Actually really good coffee, not just accepted morning caffeine.

The main obstacles I see in using this product will be inexperienced people who don't use the right coffee, and don't have a clear idea of what they're trying to achieve.

Its a manual device, with some automation / standard settings for shot temp, pre-infuse time and shot length. All are customisable through the digital display on the front and its associated buttons. There is a manual shot button along with a single and double shot, all customisable as stated.

So, if you dont have your grind size and amount right, you didnt tamp properly, and you miss that 9 bar extraction pressure shown on the dial on the front of the machine (i.e. see grind issues earlier), and perhaps your blend of espresso coffee needed a higher temp that the standard 93 degrees, and you havent done the work to figure out a recipe card, or ignored the one provided by some roasters for in and out measurements.... dont blame the machine?

Youtube is a wealth of info for "dialling in" coffee, involving changing grind sizes and ground weights and water temps and shot weight. Etc. Weighing ground coffee, and extracted shots in the cup, is usual.... something I was not aware of.

Im not surprised breville includes their grinder on their website with the dual boiler, which I also have.... this machine without a grinder that you can customise your powder with, makes no sense at all. Although, they do include baskets that are meant for use with pre-ground coffee, so there's that.

Using the manual shot button to control extraction time (which the digital display shows.. press manual and use the timer as required) and changing grind sizes, usually with an 18 gram shot for the provided basket, I have produced some shots that blew me away... I didnt know coffee could be sweet without sugar, and actually have hints of chocolate. No bitter aftertaste.... zero. Smooth, smoky flavour. Loads of crema. No snobbery thanks, just learning. Imagine what I'll manage after a few years of practice.

Aah the milk froth feature. The steam wand makes me look good... silky, inflated milk and a hint of froth..... its almost easy? The lever control on the right hand side is perfect, dunk the tip in, flip up the lever, keep the jug at a slight angle and voila, perfect milk. If only the grind could be so easy, and the latte art is entirely on you. The dual feature is so you can pull a shot and froth at the same time (seeing other machines only had one boiler for both) which is something I aspire to after I get my shot prep down... but it does help in making shots quickly, no need to wait for the boiler to heat again if you froth milk. Steam is instant and strong.

Its a solid piece of kit, built heavy, bigger than you think. Looks good in brushed steel. The top heats up by design, I keep my cups on it. There is a hot water feature controlled by a dial on the left of the machine with an outlet next to the steam wand, although its stream is rather weak. A steel tamper sits at far left next to the shot head, recessed slightly, attached by a magnet. Nice.

It can be noisy. The pumps grind as they fill and the water tank isnt that big... you can fill it from the top / front via a panel that has one of those double action press locks, ie press to open and press to close..... again, great feature, no need to pull out the water tank from the back. A water filter is included, although the replacement seems to be $20 AUD every few months.... seems high, unexpected extra cost.

Interestingly the manual strongly recommends tap water... on start up the machine asks for water hardness, which you determine by an included test strip, default is 3.

There is a removable drip tank directly under the shot head, which includes a dial you twist that allows you to wheel the device around without having to lift it. Twist, get it to where it needs to be, twist back, and its planted in place. Great feature.

You can set it to start at a given time, by the way, so you have a hot machine first thing in the AM, due to its clock.

I could type much more, I think Ive said enough. I think that this machine needs a grinder to make it work like its meant to, hence the bundle with breville. Its a machine you have to play with, to use, to change to suit your taste. And I think they have built that functionality into it.

I like it. I use it every day. I can make decent coffee as I can change the setting to suit, but every blend is different.

Happy with the buy :D

Highly capable and reasonably idiot-proof – Bought this machine to replace a Sunbeam which shuffled off its heating coil... See what I did there? This machine, for a mainstream consumer brand, produces amazing coffee if you know how to whisper to it sweetly. The manual, accessories and promotional materials that come with the machine all focus on consistency as being the key to producing… Read more

great espresso; with which I do not disagree. It uses a commercial sized (58mm) group head & portafilter, as well as dual boilers which enable simultaneous espresso extraction & milk texturing. Incremental temperature control and the shot timer are a nice touch. The supposed volumetric shot programming is a little spurious as it still seems to be just based on time, rather than actually being able to program in a volume of water to pump; happy to be proven wrong here if you know how to set a particular shot volume. Despite this minor shortcoming it's still relatively easy to pull quality shots with decent beans & grinder. The pressure gauge (needle) never goes beyond 9 Bar, leading me to wonder why the gauge itself actually goes to 13... A little like the speedometer in my car going all the way to 240 KM/h - you're not fooling anyone. I digress... Whilst seemingly foolproof, it's important, I'd suggest, not to habitually over-dose the basket as the valve mechanism which regulates this pressure so precisely is likely susceptible to being overworked. The Razor dosing tool helps in this regard by taking some of the guesswork out of dosing and the inclusion of a water hardness test strip highlights the importance of water quality to espresso; not to mention the longevity of your machine. The steam wand is simply a delight to use. A dedicated boiler produces instant and constant steam; no waiting for pumps to engage or exessive water to purge from the lines. Easily the best I've used in a consumer machine. What I simply cannot understand though, is the inclusion of a 'single' shot basket which steps inward at the bottom, rather than just being half the depth of the 'double' shot basket. The result is that it is incredibly difficult to find the goldilocks tamp pressure as the sloping sides of the basket increase pressure in the ground coffee in the basket and thus increase resistance to water flowing from the group. Disappointing in a machine with so many other excellent features and available points of customisation. Overall though, this machine makes it very easy to proficiently & consistently make excellent coffee. Highly recommended.

4 years review you get what you paid for – Using this machine daily. Good: Paid $799 and get a dual boiler Manual option, everything is adjustable Can do coffee a semi pro way given a good grinder (not the breville one IMO) Easy to clean , easy to move Looks ok Cons: Pressure getting funny after 2 years Customer service is quite bad, which is a surprise Conclusion: For the price I… Read more

paid, this is quite a decent machine and nobody can beat them so far. I have no regret at all. Please improve your pressure longevity