Breville The Barista Pro BES878

Have used this machine for 3 months. Purchased after our 4 year old DeLonghi stopped working. We purchased at a better quality level, hoping for a better result (the old machine had broken down once during the warranty period as well as the final failure). Breville provide a swathe of "how to" videos but it still took some time to get the settings… Read more

right. (I finished up using other instructional videos from You Tube). Once it was set up correctly it has produced very nice coffee. The knob to turn from hot water to steam and off gets very difficult to turn after the machine has been used for a time. It gets difficult to the point that sometimes the steam isn't activated because it doesn't fully turn. It feels like the knob, or the function it activates, is about to break. It actually creaks as the knob is turned. After the descale function has been run the use of the knob is back to normal but from there it gradually gets difficult again. This is not unusual, it's not a new problem and it's not limited to this model of machine. The problem is widely discussed on the internet and has (according to the blogs) been brought to the attention of Breville on many occasions over a reasonably long period. I'm not in a position to dump this machine (and I don't want to because it is turning out good coffee), but I have ordered a retro-fit handle to fit over the knob to give additional leverage for the times when it is being difficult. My concern is that the problem may well shorten the life of the machine and my retrofit may be grounds for any future warranty claim being denied. After reading the multiple complaints on the web I haven't bothered to bring this to the attention of Breville. They obviously know about it. This problem may or may not be a deal breaker for some but, had I been aware of it, I would have settled on a better quality De Longhi.

Update - purchased one of those better quality De Longhi machines and this Breville machine is now stored in the garage wrapped in plastic and taped up in the De Longhi Box. It will be handy as a fill in when the De Longhi inevitably breaks down as all coffee machines do.

Good while it lasts. But I’d expect longer than 3.5 years. Had the flow meter fail at the 3 year mark. We paid for it to be replaced at an authorised Breville Dealer (organised through Breville). The new flow meter was only given 3 months warranty and a 6 month guarantee and it failed a week after 6 months. Now to either fix AGAIN or just go… Read more

with a completely different and new machine. But of a shame. All our small kitchen appliances are Breville but none have had this short of a lifespan.

Coffee lovers rejoice! – Wow, what an amazingly easy device to operate! The inbuilt grinder makes it so easy to grind your favourite coffee blend without having to have a separate grinder. It's easy to make a great pour without having to guess the pressure. Delicious barista style coffee everytime! You'll impress friends and family when they visit with your barista skills no doubt! Show details

Great all rounder. Just right to brew a good cuppa – Brewing coffee to the taste you like is very subjective. In my humble opinion Breville’s Barista Pro has the right amount of features and compromises to achieve your favourite brew at home at a mostly affordable price point. Because brewing coffee is very subjective I’d rather point out things to “consider” and things that are plain good in my… Read more

opinion. Things to consider and pay attention to: 1. By reading previous reviews you can form statistics of “common faults” - if you are in position get an extended warranty as an insurance policy. 2. The price fluctuates - time it well to get it at the right price. If you are a frequent commercial coffee drinker you can even save money by perfecting your coffee taste. 3. The machine isn’t that complex at all, but for some there might be a slight learning curve while you tune the machine to brew your perfect cuppa. 4. Standard accessories are OK, but you may consider purchasing some aftermarket alternatives to make this great machine even better What is great?: 1. Amazing gear for the price asked. E.g. quality, features, user experience. 2. Acceptable quality and functionality of built in grinder. 3. Great levels of tun-ability and intuitive display to do so 4. After turning on machine almost immediately ready to brew coffee 5. Easy to maintain and clean Because brewing coffee is so subjective I decided not to create a video about that. YouTube already has a lot of great content to help you tune your machine so you can brew the perfect coffee to your taste buds. However, I created a video where I unbox the machine and show what’s included. In the description of the video I also provided links where you can get on budget accessories which will make this good machine great in overall brewing experience. After using this machine for a while I would recommend getting one. However, it is too early to comment on its longevity. Here is unboxing video for those who are interested or just want to check out the video description for accessories mentioned: https://youtu.be/S1qoMzis7WI

Love this machine! Wish I bought it earlier! – Coffee quality is awesome. Consistent espresso shots. Handy in-built grinder auto timed grinder. Digital display easy to use. Quick to heat up and use. Froth wand is consistent. Looks pretty slick in kitchen. Definitely recommend! Show details

Value for money & delicious coffee! – This manual, fully adjustable, coffee machine is ideal for making barista coffee at home. The beans can be ground to perfection by adjusting the grind with the dial on the side and the intuitive interface saves this so you don't have to adjust this everytime. The blade ensures you don't overfill the coffee basket. The machine heats up super quick… Read more

with the ThermoJet heating system and it textures milk like a dream. Sipping home made barista style coffee has never tasted so good thanks to the Breville Barista Pro

Amazing little machine – I've never owned a coffee machine before but I couldn't live without it now. It was simple to setup, very easy to clean and even prompts me when it needs an internal clean. Makes a beautiful cup of coffee with multiple changes to suit you (default worked the best for me). Would definitely get another one! Show details

Finicky and frustrating – I have found it impossible to dial in a good cup. Coming from the dual boiler - which has been great - I bought this for the holiday house. It is too clever by half, working completely add odds with how it is described in the manual, and which even Breville support did not know at first. That is, this machine attempts to adjust time automatically… Read more

to obtain a preset volume in the cup, though with the problem below, this only serves to provide another variable (time) to juggle when trying to dial it in - leading to chasing one's tail and wasting tons of coffee. I am almost ready to buy the next kilo batch before I've been able to vaguely dial it in, only to have to go through it all again. (OK, that was an exaggeration, but you get the idea.) It is very difficult to get a grind between choking or running very loose. So the machine either extracts for ages to get the set volume, or finishes in say 15 seconds for the same volume, or just loses it and conks at 10ml or so if the puck is a little tight. I'm finding it practically impossible to dial it in - and am settling for a somewhat underextracted sour cup at 15 seconds, because the next setting on either dosage time or grind chokes it. There seems to be no fault - this seems to be just how it is, and I'd put it down to poor development testing before green lighting it for production. (My hunch is that there is a good concept here that almost came together but the accountants monstered the engineers: the pump seems under-powered, leading to choking when it should not, and the thermoblock may also is underpowered, so if you get coffee beans out of the fridge it is too pissy to cope with heating the required flow and your extraction is too cold. ) A much regretted and frustrating purchase - the older Express model, would have been better.

Easily the hardest working item in our house – This machine can make delicious coffee, the inbuilt grinder makes the machine compact, and the small hopper is ideal for domestic use. Breville branded consumables such as descalers, cleaning tablets, and filters are available and never in short supply. We diligently clean at the recommended intervals and have owned two of them for over three… Read more

years - they both perform equally. First coffee of the day, I run water through the group head to heat all the parts and get things nice and toasty. This results in a better pour straight off the bat.

Pros 1) Compact, good looking, simple to use 2) Cheap to maintain, easy to keep clean, access to filters and supplies 3) Adjustable grinder, both dose and coarseness/fineness 4) Lights to tell you when to Descale and when to Clean 5) Reasonably quiet, and it's quick to heat up if it's been off (see my tip above)

Cons 1) Few tiny scuffs on the drip tray where the black has worn off 2) The descaling process is manually driven

Great value coffee machine – Solid daily use machine, makes great coffee. Grinder loud noise is the only downside, and won't be using them when the house is asleep. Have owned and used the machine for the last 2-years. Make sure you watch and learn how to operate the machine (for any beginner) and ensure that machine is kept cleaned (with the correct cleaning tablets and… Read more

descaling). Steamer wand also needs to regularly unblock using the included needle. Good value considering the other models in the market.

Do not buy – Absolute waste of money, worked well for about a year then the problems started. Was in and out service under warranty for a good 6 months. Once the warranty ended I tried to get it fixed privately and nobody could find what was wrong with it. I ended up throwing it in the bin and upgrading to the Breville dual boiler. If you have the money to spend on the barista pro in highly recommended you look at other options or the dual boiler by Breville Show details

Morning goodness – We bought this a while ago during Covid when our local barista had to close and we couldn’t stomach fast food coffees. unfortunately we received a faulty machine having to go in for repairs twice until I contacted Breville who arranged a replacement. Since we’ve got the replacement, the machine has been amazing. Never had a bad coffee. so easy to… Read more

use clean. I would highly recommend and have this machine and the company to family and friends. Buy beans from our local coffee shop after trying their coffee and liking it we decided to bring it home. I use the Breville descaling products and filters that are available to purchase separately to ensure that my machine is looked after. We only use filtered water in our machine as well as we are in an area with hard water.

Perfect, must drink a shot! – Coffee lovers know how dear espresso outlets are getting, I just can’t afford it anymore weekly basis!! A long time coming I thought of buying a coffee machine, I headed online straight to the “Great” Bing-Lee to purchase a savings. Affordable, terrific condition and delivery so on time with a map on your phone to let you know where they are… Read more

delivering to your door.My exsperience with bing-lee is a pleasure, very good products.. I’m a very Happy customer. Thanks Guys “ALOT” see you soon…

Value for money! Cafe quality coffee – As a daily coffee drinker I invested in this coffee machine and it was the best thing I ever did. Coffee is always on point and taste as good as a cafe purchased coffee. As living cost rise this has been a great value for money and an investment. So easy to use and clean. Only down fall is the milk frothier gets blocked up frequently even after… Read more

being cleaned after immediate use and takes a minute when you’re in a rush to re-clean the filter when going to use it. Overall I rate this product and the best part is you can use any type of fresh beans and you can even purchase it from your favourite cafe!

Machine failed - long warranty repair – Coffee machine worked well but broke down after 10 months of use. It is now more than 2 months the machine has gone for warranty repair and I still haven't gotten it back, so I have been cranky for more than 2 months without coffee. No one seems to be able to do anything. The Good Guys is waiting on the repairer and Breville also apparently cannot… Read more

do anything because the repair is lodged through The Good Guys. The machine is highly rated, but I probably look for an alternative elsewhere due to the extended repair downtime.

Beware - black drip tray paint is poorly manufactured – Makes a good coffee but please refer to photos of what has happened to my drip tray. ALL PAINT PEELED OFF. Was handwashed. The machine wasn’t even 3 months old. Update: replacement sent out by Breville despite them telling me it was not covered under warranty :-) Show details

Good little machine, could be great with some tweaks – Great little machine Not had good coffee machine before so cant really compare the coffee taste to others....but I like what it turns out. Pros - Fresh - grind and make - very quick to heat/make - colour - matt black looks good (tho chips) - pop up drain 'empty me' useful - back draw for accessories Cons - water not hot in water outlet - not… Read more

great for tea (despite breville assuring it would be) - porter filter doesnt align with coffee shoot so fresh coffee spills over back when filling, have to keep pausing and move/tamping to not loose coffee every time - Shiny silver (back and grill) - doesnt look great, scratches easily, shows marks and splashes - black coating on metal chipping on edges (limited use - 6 coffees a week) - scratches showing rust so its not SS underneath - onscreen maintenance descriptions not clearest - neither is manual very clear, I rely on YouTube - Grind clean message won't clear despite taking grinder apart - Adjusting/ Dialling in grind I'm still not clear how to judge this.... - promo learn to use was limited time to use, but there was no expiry date on the voucher so I missed it.

Had this for 3 months and grinder died this morning – ***Final Update 18AUG22*** - updated STAR rating Breville stepped in and replaced the original unit and provided some complementary consumables for the new machine. Thank you Natalie at Breville. Breville stated that in order to get a swifter turnaround moving forward, better to contact them directly before taking the unit back into the… Read more

retailer.

***UPDATE 8AUG22*** - STAR rating currently (just) still at 2: Contacted Breville directly and provided a link to this review covering the issues with their coffee machine. Received a case number and an email stating that "A member of our customer service team will be in touch." - nothing to date.

Ownership from 20MAR22 to yesterday is 20 weeks (16 weeks/3 months of actual use). It has now been a full 4 weeks since the unit was handed back for warranty repair. Still not looked at. Add at least another 2 weeks for parts order, a week to repair and get back to me, we are at at east 7 weeks away - warranty repair getting very close to half the time we have owned the unit. Very poor.

FYI - purchased a $70 Aldi pod machine. If the Aldi machine lasts 16 weeks/3 months and I replace it x15 times (which is still under the purchase price of the Breville), I will get 3.75 years of use which is almost double the Breville warranty. FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

***UPDATE 3AUG22*** - STAR rating dropped to 2: Coming up to four weeks and the service agent has not even looked at the machine. Agent stated that it would be at least an additional two weeks for parts once they looked at it. We have owned it 3 months prior to failure. Now looking to be at the repairers for at least half this time again. **Harvey Norman just rang me to state it would be at least another 1.5 weeks till the machine even gets looked at. So at this pace, we will have owned and used it for 3 months, have it being repaired for at least 2 months...pretty average for a $1000 coffee machine. ore updates to follow.

11JUL22 - Ok, so the grinder function died this morning during operation...burning smell (not nice). The unit is only 3 months old. Have been very happy with it as a coffee machine up to this morning. Our previous unit lasted 7 years (also a Breville). Took it straight into Harvey Norman's where I purchased it from in March 2022 and they have started the process for it to be sent away & assessed for repair or replacement. I was told that 4 weeks is average for this process (which seems extreme) - but ok. It will be interesting to come back and update this review with the outcome and score Breville's Customer Service and After Sales Support. This area is the biggy for me. No one wants to spend a large amount of cash for a piece of crap but should your purchase fail that is when you get to see what the "Brand" is really like in regards to QUALITY. Will get back to update this review in 4 weeks!

Great coffee and home – After previously owning the Barista Express we were ready for an upgrade to a more automated machine . Very easy to program and set for your perfect brew , with clear instructions. Perfect for espresso martini’s. !! The black is sleek looking though have found the enamel is starting to chip , particularly around the tray . We have had some… Read more

struggles with the wand blocking therefore losing steam pressure . Breville advised cleaning the nozzle which we have to do every time as purging after every use doesn’t clear it .

The steam also doesn’t last long enough for one jug of milk and cuts off, though we just wait a few seconds and it’s ready to go again.

Overall, very happy with the machine with great coffee at home , will def buy breville again

Braville Barista Pro: the perfect coffee machine for your home – I’ve had this coffee machine for over 2 years now. This is the perfect coffee machine for the home. If you’re looking to make cafe quality coffees at home, this would be the one. The machine is a little pricey, but it brews high quality coffee and it can be very consistent if the amount of coffee grind is consistent. The machine's got a Digital… Read more

temperature control (PID) technology detects and minimizes any fluctuation during extraction, ensuring the temperature is kept at its optimum range, every time.

The Barista Pro is perfect if your looking for some or all of these characteristics: - Easier and more convenient espresso brewing (with fewer things to control). - Sleek and modern design. - Brews delicious & high end espresso. - Comes with an integrated coffee grinder with 30 grind sizes. - Powerful heating for creamy and rich foam.

The only con I have experienced is, the coffee grinder might not be the best at storing and keeping coffee beans fresh so I wouldn’t fill it up unless making coffee for lots of guests.

I highly recommended this machine if you consider yourself a coffee connoisseur starting your day off from home.

More pain than pleasure – I received my first barista pro machine for Mother’s Day 2020, In the first 11 months of its life it was a great machine and a life changer for a tired parent. Then the steam switch stopped working. It went in for repair for 6 weeks, and upon switching on for the first time at home it leaked over my benchtop and still didn’t steam. Breville were… Read more

great at issuing an authorisation number to replace the machine at my place of purchase which was completed same day. The second machine lasted 7 months before the buttons stopped working and the machine was unresponsive aside from switching on and off. This time the new machine spent 8 weeks in for repair. The machine has been home and working for 3 weeks and is suddenly unresponsive again. I’ve followed every maintenance requirement and cared for the machines however I was informed today that unfortunately the warranty has expired a month ago as I’ve had the machines collectively for the duration of the warranty period. This includes the extensive time spent at the repair centres.

I would not recommend this machine.

Hard to achieve consistency – Its cheaper to run than my nespresso but cant get as good tasting coffee coffee consistently. Im sure this is me not the machine, but wish the was some more obvious dialling in support I posted this review (which I think is pretty fair and balanced) on Breville.com but they denied it. Pretty hacked off about that so posting it here. Show details

Broke within a year | Worst customer service – Machine broke within a year. I first contacted Breville on 2/12/21 and the service received was terrible. They never submitted the case details, ignored my several emails over multiple days resulting in me having to call Breville again and wait on the phone for over 30 Min for the second time. I was told the machine would only take one to one and… Read more

a half weeks to fix. After speaking to the second representative it turned out the details of the issue with the machine that you collected were incorrect. Despite this the second representative was able to fix the request up and submitted it. I dropped it at the designated store that day and it has now been 6 weeks and Breville has not provided any updates and is still not replying to any of my emails. It is still not fixed or replaced. Do not believe what you hear about Breville customer service, it is extremely poor and is extremely frustrating. I would not buy from them again or recommend to a friend.

Was going good now broken after 18 months - Fixed – Was working fine, consistent coffee. Now pumps water into the outlet tray when turned on at the power point. Doesn't stop until the tank is empty. Machine is unusable. Tried to contact Breville but all there support staff are at training so no phone service, the recorded message said try online. Added a ticket online - 2 days later still no… Read more

response.

If the machine hadn't broken we'd still be using it, reasonable coffee machine.

Update: We have finally been able to get our machine fixed. Turned out a roach had gotten in to the control board and shorted the circuitry.