Breville is one of the biggest names in home coffee makers, and makes some of the best espresso machines I’ve tested here at TechRadar. Its semi-automatic machines guide you through each step of the coffee-making process, like a friendly barista in your own kitchen – but which one is right for you?
As TechRadar’s resident coffee expert, I’ve put together this shortlist of the top three Breville espresso machines I think you should consider, with guidance on the differences and similarities, and what to expect from each one.
In this article, I’m talking about the Australian Breville brand. Its products are sold under the brand name ‘Sage’ in the UK because there is a British company called Breville (owned by Newell Brands), which is unrelated and, confusingly, also makes kitchen appliances. Breville UK even has a ‘Barista’ line of espresso machines that are excellent, but aren’t the focus of this guide.
Beginner-friendly
Breville Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction
If you’re new to making espresso at home, the Breville Barista Touch Impress is an excellent option that guides your hand without bombarding you with more features and options than you need, explaining every step clearly via a bright touchscreen that makes any instruction manual redundant.
I thoroughly enjoyed testing this machine, which introduces you to barista skills in a friendly, easy-to-follow way. You’ll discover the effect of each variable on your finished drink (including dosage, grind size, tamp pressure, and brewing temperature), and the machine will offer feedback and suggestions if it doesn’t taste quite right.
The Puck Impress System, which tamps your freshly ground coffee with a pull of a handle, is particularly satisfying and greatly reduces mess compared to tamping by hand. Unlike the Breville Oracle Jet below, I didn’t have any issues with static electricity making coffee cling to the grinder.
This model, released earlier in 2025, is an upgraded version of the original Barista Touch Impress with the option to extract a shot of espresso using ambient temperature water directly from the tank, bypassing the ThermoJet heater. It works well, taking a couple of minutes to produce a nicely rounded, mellow-tasting shot that’s great as a foundation for various chilled drinks and cocktails. It’s worth noting, however, that the Barista Touch Impress doesn’t have a cold milk foaming system. For that, take a look at a machine like the De’Longhi Eletta Explore.
The Barista Touch Impress offers both manual and automatic milk steaming options, with settings for dairy and plant-based alternatives, but I found it worked considerably better with oat milk than full-fat dairy, which is unusual. I tend to prefer steaming milk manually, which is easy, and the pitcher provided has a nice, fine spout for pouring latte art.
Read our full Breville Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction review
Premium
Breville Oracle Jet
The Breville Oracle Jet is the newest and priciest machine in this roundup, and although it looks very similar to the Barista Touch Impress at first glance, there are some significant upgrades that refine the experience.
The most obvious of these is the absence of the Puck Impress System lever on the side of the Oracle Jet. That’s because its tamper is entirely automated, so there’s no need to do anything yourself. We found that the grinder could be a little messy (static is quite a common issue with semi-automatic espresso machines), but overall, the experience is nearly seamless.
The Oracle Jet has more grind settings than the Barista Touch Impress, which is something our reviewer Lee Bell really appreciated: “This is a really valuable feature, especially since I’ve found many of the best espresso machines require a lot of trial and error to get this right, which wastes time (and coffee). The Oracle Jet really doubles down on this, providing real-time feedback on extraction and guiding you in getting the perfect shot every time.
Less obvious is that the Oracle Jet has not one but two ThermoJet water heaters, with the second used to heat the group head. This should mean that your coffee is extracted more consistently each time because the temperature of the water doesn’t drop after it leaves the boiler. The temperature can be adjusted in increments of 1 degree centigrade or Fahrenheit.
The Oracle Jet is sometimes available for a discount, but it’s still a premium machine with a price tag to match. It’s also worth noting that it’s the largest and heaviest of the Breville espresso machines in this roundup, weighing over 26lbs / 12kg. It’s not something for compact kitchens.
Read our full Breville Oracle Jet review
Most affordable
Breville Barista Impress Express
The Barista Impress Express is another excellent espresso machine, and has the same smart dosing and taping system as the Breville Touch Impress at the top of this guide, for a more affordable price tag. That’s partly because it’s a slightly older model (we first reviewed it in 2022) and partly because it has physical controls rather than a color touchscreen.
Which system you prefer is a matter of personal preference. If you’re new to the world of home espresso, then you might find the display more helpful since it basically negates the need for an instruction manual, but the buttons and dials of the Impress Express are still simple to use. The Barista Impress Express still guides you through the process of making the perfect espresso, providing feedback on dosing and tamping via a small LCD display.
I particularly like the inclusion of a central pressure gauge too, which shows clearly whether the machine has achieved the correct pressure while pulling your shot, so you can see whether it’s likely to be under- or over-extracted straight away.
The Barista Impress Express has a very good manual steam wand, but doesn’t have an automatic milk-frothing option. Since the AutoMilq system is perhaps the weakest point of the Barista Touch Impress, I’d say that’s not an enormous loss.
Cold extraction only became a common feature in home espresso machines in the last 12 months, so it’s no surprise that it’s not offered with this slightly older machine. If you don’t mind that, though, and you’re happy to skip the touchscreen, the Barista Impress Express is an excellent mid-range option.
Read our full Breville Barista Express Impress review
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.
