Breville The Barista Pro BES878BSS4JAN1 (Brushed Stainless Steel)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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

Great machine, excellent frothing, super fast heat up which I love – Purchased for work as the local coffee shop has deteriorated to undrinkable levels. As it turns out I love the super quick heat up time so much that I'm keeping it at home. Quality of the shot is good, grinder is as excellent as my independent grinder. I have seen others say they aren't happy with the steamer, mine is great, but you do need to… Read more

pre-purge it. A small price to pay for a machine that is ready to go as soon as you turn it on.

Love it !

Makes great coffee, but take the time to dial it in! *Update* at end of review – This coffee machine appears and feels to be well made, although a little plasticky in places. As to reliability - I've had no problems with it whatsoever. This machine replaced an old DeLonghi bean-to-cup fully automatic machine. Compared to that, this machine makes far better coffee - full bodied, rounded flavour with little or no bitterness. … Read more

Note that in general, making coffee with this machine is a pretty messy endeavour. You need to spend a little time wiping up coffee grounds and slight spillages and rinsing bits and pieces, after each session - unlike a fully automatic machine which requires much less cleaning.

The built-in grinder is pretty noisy (but the noise during extraction is reasonable). To avoid waking up my Significant Other with my 4.00am pre-work coffee making activities I use pre-ground coffee, thereby avoiding the grinder noise.

You do need to take the time to learn the correct grind amount, coarseness, tamping etc for your particular beans in order to produce a decent shot. I found that the default settings of the machine out of the box were way off what I needed, and my initial coffees were pretty awful. But persevere (I had to remove the top burr from the grinder and set from 6 to 3 to get the grind range fine enough), and you are rewarded with a great tasting coffee.

One star off for this review for the noisy and messy grinding process - the constant cleaning up with this machine is a bit of a pain.

This is not a cheap machine but, when used correctly, can make some fantastic coffee.

*UPDATE* The grinder has worn out on the machine. I'm now unable to get the coffee ground fine enough and the grind itself has become inconsistent, resulting in failed shots - either over or under extracted, with correspondingly unpleasant tasting coffee. This is VERY disappointing for an expensive machine that is only 17 months old. Note I also have a Breville microwave which has also developed a fault (the soft-close door no longer soft-closes). The microwave fault I can live with, but the coffee machine I will have repaired under warranty and it will then be sold. I will replace it with a non Breville appliance.

Given that I have two Breville appliances that have both developed faults I no longer recommend this coffee machine. Or any Breville appliance for that matter.

NOT recommended.

Bes878 barista downgrade – Breville used to make quality product I purchased barista express and it lasted a good 7 years with at least 5000 cups of coffee However with barista pro bes878 it has gone down in quality tremendously and just subpar This is due to the parts component that was used in the machine. The T connector valve cracks after a year of use thus spraying… Read more

water into the machine. Causing malfunction and flood (as indicated by other users) The in built grinder also cant grind extra fine. It only goes to medium grind after some usage

Its a nice cosmetic machine but rubbish internally. Just terrible