Breville vs De'Longhi: which coffee machine should you buy?

Breville and De’Longhi fill most of the coffee machine shelf at JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and The Good Guys, and they build machines for the same price points. This page lines them up model against model. Prices were checked at Breville, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, Kitchen Warehouse, Myer and Appliances Online on 18 October 2026; for the models also on Amazon Australia, check the current price on Amazon. De’Longhi’s own Australian store blocked our browser, so its specs here come from retailer listings. We have not used these machines side by side.

The short version

• Breville builds its manual machines around a 54 mm portafilter and PID temperature control, and states both. Its ThermoJet machines (Bambino, Bambino Plus, Barista Pro, Barista Touch) are rated ready in 3 seconds. Prices were identical across Breville’s store and the big chains on most models.
• De’Longhi uses thermoblock heating with “active temperature control”, costs less at every step, and sells a full bean-to-cup range (Magnifica, Rivelia, Eletta). The retailer pages we read did not state its portafilter sizes, and two of its specs (grind settings on the Arte, warranty on the Dedica Arte) differ between retailers.

Head to head

Compact machines: Bambino Plus vs Dedica Maestro Plus

Both texture milk automatically, which is the reason to buy either. The Bambino Plus ($487) has ThermoJet heating with PID, a 54 mm portafilter, a 1.9 L tank and both single and dual-wall baskets. The Dedica Maestro Plus ($369 at The Good Guys) has a thermoblock with three brew temperatures (92, 94 or 96°C), single-wall baskets that hold up to 20 g, three milk temperatures and three textures, and a 1.6 L tank. The De’Longhi is $118 cheaper and gives more milk settings; the Breville gives a stated portafilter size, so baskets and tampers are easy to buy. Neither has a grinder.

Grinder built in: Barista Express vs La Specialista Arte

The Barista Express ($649 at Breville, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys and Myer) has a 16-step conical burr grinder, thermocoil heating with PID, a pressure gauge, a 2 L tank and a two-year warranty. The La Specialista Arte ($497 at The Good Guys) has a thermoblock with active temperature control and three infusion temperatures, a manual My LatteArt wand and a barista kit with a metal tamper, dosing guide and mat. JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys list 15 grind settings for the EC9155MB2 sold in stores now; Amazon’s EC9155.MB listing says 8. The Arte has no pressure gauge listed and its tank is listed at 1.7 L by The Good Guys. For $152 more, the Express gives you the gauge and stated specs; the Arte is the better buy if the budget stops at $500, as the under $500 guide explains.

Assisted tamping: Barista Express Impress vs La Specialista Opera

Both brands now sell a machine that tamps for you. The Impress ($798 at JB Hi-Fi) has a lever tamp with a dose indicator, a 25-step grinder, thermocoil heating with PID and a pressure gauge. The Opera ($887.95 at Kitchen Warehouse, $899 elsewhere) has a tamping station, a 15-step sensor grinder, a thermoblock with PID that JB Hi-Fi says is primed in under 20 seconds, a pressure gauge, a 2 L tank and cold brew recipes. On paper they are close; the Impress has the finer grinder and costs less. The beginner guide ranks both against the Ninja Luxe Café.

Bean-to-cup: De’Longhi by default

Every Breville machine we found uses a portafilter you lock in by hand. Even the Oracle Jet ($3,149 at Breville), which grinds, doses and tamps for you, works that way, and the Barista Touch ($1,199) grinds and textures milk automatically but has you tamp. De’Longhi’s Magnifica S ($476.95), Magnifica Evo ($688 at JB Hi-Fi) and Rivelia ($1,107 at Appliances Online) cover the category, and Philips is the main rival there. The bean-to-cup guide compares them.

Pump pressure: ignore it

De’Longhi lists 15 bar on the Dedicas and Arte and 19 bar on the Opera and Rivelia; Breville lists 15 bar. Breville’s own pages describe its 15 bar pump delivering a 9 bar extraction, which is where espresso is brewed. A higher number on the box does not mean better coffee from either brand.

The one trap

Comparing a Breville and a De’Longhi on the box’s headline numbers. The useful comparison is heating and temperature control, grinder steps, whether milk is manual or automatic, and portafilter size if you plan to buy accessories. On those, Breville tells you more, De’Longhi charges you less, and the right choice depends on which of those you value. The espresso machine guide covers the other brands worth a look, including Sunbeam, Rancilio and Lelit.