Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine BES500BSS vs Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine BES870XL

The Breville Barista Express and Breville Bambino Plus are sister machines aimed at different buyers. The Barista Express is the all-in-one solution — integrated grinder, full steam wand, the classic Breville semi-auto setup. The Bambino Plus is the compact alternative — faster warmup, automatic milk frothing, but no built-in grinder. Both pull excellent shots; the difference is workflow and counter space.

The Breville Bambino Plus drops the integrated grinder and shrinks the footprint, but gains two meaningful conveniences. The ThermoJet heating system reaches optimal extraction temperature in three seconds — no waiting on a boiler. The automatic milk texturing system handles microfoam without requiring you to learn steam wand technique — you just set temperature and froth level and walk away. Same 54mm portafilter, same 19g dose, same digital PID temperature control as the Barista Express. The trade-off: you need to buy or own a separate burr grinder, and you lose the manual creative control of a true steam wand.

The Breville Barista Express is the complete bean-to-cup countertop solution. The integrated conical burr grinder doses fresh grounds directly into the 54mm portafilter — no separate grinder to buy, no transfer step. Low-pressure pre-infusion gradually wets the puck for balanced extraction, digital PID temperature control holds brew temp steady shot to shot, and the powerful steam wand hand-textures microfoam milk for latte art. The trade-off is counter space — this is one of the larger countertop semi-autos — and the learning curve for manual steam wand technique. With over 27,000 verified Amazon ratings, it''s also the most thoroughly road-tested home espresso machine in our lineup.

Choose the Bambino Plus if counter space is tight, you already have a grinder, or you want three-second warmup and automatic milk frothing over manual control. Choose the Barista Express if you want the all-in-one workflow with built-in grinder, a real steam wand for latte art, and the most proven Breville espresso machine.