If you like life's luxuries, you'll love the De'Longhi Eletta Explore

After testing the De'Longhi Eletta Explore, I gave it top marks. This is a rare accolade that only a handful of coffee makers get, but I thought the De'Longhi deserved it. One year later, having tested over sixty different coffee makers since, has anything changed?

If you want the quick answer, it's no. This is still one of the best coffee machines on the market. It can make over 50 different types of coffee, all tailored to the strength, temperature, and flavors that you enjoy. It's like having a live-in barista. You can make flawless cold brew and powerful espressos, so in that respect, it's perfect.

There is still one thing that plays on my mind: the price. Now that it's a year old, you can find second-hand models for less than the RRP ( which is a whopping $2,000), but they'll still be expensive. It's still worth it, but make sure you need (and will use) all of the functions before you take the plunge.

Specifications

Unboxing

De’Longhi is getting really good at environmentally conscious packaging. This arrived in a massive, heavy box, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found that it was protected with cardboard and recyclable bags.

In true De’Longhi style, this arrived packed with extras. The machine comes with a stylish travel mug, hot milk frothing attachment, cool milk frothing attachment, and much, more. It's everything you need to make good coffee. My one quibble here is that it's a lot to store – you’ll need a drawer to keep these safely together, but each one is useful. Complaining that you get too many freebies isn't fair.

De’Longhi is also brilliant with the setup process. Once I plugged the machine in, the screen instructed me to fill the bean hopper and water reservoir before it rinsed itself and was ready to go. I believe anybody could do this. It’s ridiculously easy.

Who would it suit?

The first discriminator for this coffee maker is the price. At close to $2000, you have to be ready to splurge. By way of a rough price comparison, if you buy a coffee from Starbucks every day, you will make your money back in 400 days. You will be back in pocket after a year and a month but it’s a huge upfront investment.

Next, this is a very hands-off coffee machine. If you don’t want to faff, but you want really good, quality coffee, you’ll enjoy using this machine. 

The people who will get the most out of this coffee machine will enjoy a range of hot and cold coffees. This has everything from a basic espresso to an iced espresso and cold brew option. You can be adventurous all year round and you’ll want to be for the price. 

What is it like to use?

I’m desperately searching for a critique of this machine so that I can sound a little less like an advertisement, but I can’t. It was a joy to use.

Test 1: Espresso

I start all my tests with an espresso. This required me to simply press the espresso button and the machine ground my beans and pulled a shot. It was surprisingly quiet for a bean-to-cup machine. I logged only 64 dB of noise, which is exceptional. My shot was well-extracted and beautifully aromatic. Some of the coffee splattered along the back, but only a little. 

Test 2: Americano

Making an Americano followed a similar process. It was 190 Fahrenheit and slightly sweet. I tried adjusting the strength on the personalized settings and was pleasantly surprised by how distinctive the different notes were. This is proof that even if you are a meddling barista like me, you can make your mark.

Test 3: Cappuccino

There are hot and cold milk foamers to make any coffee you require. I tested it on both oat and dairy milk and it was impressive all round. My milk was silky smooth and velvety. I didn’t have any unwanted air bubbles spoiling the texture, even when I frothed cold oat milk. This is why you have to pay the big bucks.

Cold brew and iced coffee

I couldn't resist making a cold brew. These normally require at least a 12 hour brew, but in under five minutes I had a perfect cold brew. It was slightly acidic, so not the best cold brew coffee maker, but as a fan of these drinks, I would willingly use this and save myself the hassle.

Cleaning, Storage, and Maintenance

This is a machine designed to display. It’s smart and sleek, but also big and heavy. You’ll need to make room on your countertops for this. 

The machine self washes when it thinks necessary and will warn you to place a cup underneath. I made ten coffees before I needed to clean out the grounds container, so it was a generally low maintenance machine.

It didn’t drip, but I would recommend having a microfiber cloth to hand to clean any splashes or finger marks on the screen away.

How does it rate online?

When this first came out, the De'Longhi Eletta Explore was immensely popular. People loved the hot and cold milk frothing functions and all found this easy to use. I found lots of comments about the cold brew function, which is clearly a big hit. Lots of customers also liked that their travel mugs can fit under the spout, which is a common problem with many other machines.

I loved the range of coffee options, but I'm a barista. Some people found the list to be overwhelming. It's a nice problem to have, but does highlight that for some people, simple is better. I saw a reviewer who found the grinder to be quite loud, but at 64 dBA, this was one of the quietest bean-to-cup machines that I've tested. Grinders will never be silent, but I think this is pretty good.

I had a look for any teething problems that might have appeared over the last year, but instead, I found plenty of proud owners who don't regret spending their money on the Eletta Explore. It's still a success.

How does it compare?

If you’re in the market for the Eletta Explore, you’ll probably browse our guide to the best coffee makers and the best espresso machines. The next best product to the De'Longhi Eletta Explore is the Philips 5400. It's a technically advanced machine that's quicker and quieter than most other bean-to-cup models, but I would put it on a par with the Eletta Explore.

The Philips can brew a range of different coffees as well as frothing hot and cold milk. You get eight different coffee options with the Philips and you can customize the kind of coffee you're drinking within that selection. That's versatile for a coffee maker, but it pales in comparison to the De'Longhi Eletta Explore's 52 different coffees. To some people, that range sounds brilliant, but to others it might sound overwhelming.

For the average coffee drinker, buying the Eletta Explore means that you’ll pay $1,000 extra for features that you don’t really need. The Eletta Explore is quieter and smarter and the adjustable settings mean that you won't suffer from the small sizes that the Philips 5400 delivers, but you need to weigh up the costs. Both machines will make excellent quality coffee, so if you know you’ll only want six different types, you can save money and space with the Philips 5400.

Should you buy it?

If you have the money to spend, I wouldn’t question it. You should buy this coffee maker. It’s a delight to use, feels extremely premium, and I haven't stopped thinking about it for a whole year. Every time a sale season rolls around, the De'Longhi Eletta Explore is the first thing I search for. However, if you just want simple, tasty coffee, there are plenty of other options on the market.

How We Test

Before we recommend a coffee maker, we take it to our test kitchen. Here, we use it to its full capabilities, so that we get a sense of who it would suit and how well it performs.

If an espresso machine has an integrated grinder, we test that first. Then, the marker of any good machine, we make an espresso. Once we have made those two, we make an Americano by adding hot water to an espresso and a cappuccino by adding frothy milk to an espresso. This means that we get to test the steam wand and hot water dispenser, if the machine has them.

We also unbox, clean, and store every machine. That way, we get a holistic experience with the machine. We base our feedback on a range of criteria: the coffee needs to taste good, the machine should be ergonomic and easy to use, and we love innovation. 

Our team of experts are all well versed in appliances and testing. In particular, our barista, Laura, tested this coffee maker. She has used a range of espresso machines, from commercial and pricy, to compact and affordable, so is ready to deliver a good analysis of every appliance. You can find out more on our dedicated how we test coffee machines page.