Breville BES920 is it really that good?

[BenAnderson129]

Hi guys, i have seen the Breville BES920 on loads of websites and even on this it has its own thread with thoughts on posts, twice. I was wondering if it is worth the money and really lives upto the amount of people getting the machine.

I live in the UK and can get it from Amazon for £1200. I would mainly use the machine for home use making espresso/americano and then latte's every now and again. The espresso/americano would be 1 maybe 2 at a time when making for friends and the same for latte's. I want a machine that will last and has a good size water tank as well as a hot water dispenser which saves me boiling the kettle when wanting an americano. I would rather have a dual boiler and not have to run the cold water through the machine to get the correct temperature.

I think this is the top end of my budget and if there are any other recommendations that are available in the UK and that would suit my needs i would be grateful. I have read up on loads and people have their own preference.

I hope this is the information you need to help me.

[Barry_Duncan]

Is it realy that good? I think so.

Welcome Ben,

I haven’t used the 920, however I have been using one of the first BES900 machines sold in Sydney, daily for nearly 3 ½ years. The only problem was a failed O ring after one year. It is still making me, and my friends, great coffee.

The problems of O rings and occasional portafilter spinouts were solved by redesign in the BES920.

When Breville were developing their dual boiler concept, their engineers and coffee advisors chose many features usually only available in high end and commercial machines.

They include temperature control to within 1 deg of that set with two PIDs, one with the embedded element in the group head.

Water entering the brew boiler is preheated by a heat exchanger in the steam boiler.

There is a shot clock and an espresso pressure gauge.

58mm stainless steel portafilter.

Dual SS boilers so that instant steaming can be done while brewing. Very useful when catering for friends.

Water tank can be filled at the front of the cup warmer.

Italian made pumps and some valves.

Over pressure valve and a three way solenoid valve.

Quick warm up of about 7 minutes.

Automatic turn on can be activated.

It has many other useful features that I can’t think of just now.

Barry

[samuellaw178]

Good (drink quality)? Definitely, in fact more than good.
Convenient & ease? Amazing.
Reliable? Not bad, unless you get a lemon from the start. Standard expected lifespan from what's being observed (with care & proper water) can be about few years.
Repairabilty? Not as easy compared to E61 boxes.

[scubasteve]

I have one and love it. Am thinking of upgrading the front though

[Bosco_Lever]

I think you need to do a bit more research online.
Check out bella barista, they sell the machine for the same amount of money but rebadged as SAGE.
They also sell s/s dual boiler machines which are superior to the BES 920 for the same amount of money.
If I had to choose between an appliance or one of the other offerings on that website, it would always be the other offering.
In Australia, the machine can be purchased for about AUD$1200 (on sale) which is about 600 British pounds.
In Australia we view and drool at the very low prices of top end European equipment available to you, and envy your buying power.

Anything but the BES920.

[BenAnderson129]

Thanks for all your replies. Looks likes its a decent machine.

I think you need to do a bit more research online.
Check out bella barista, they sell the machine for the same amount of money but rebadged as SAGE.
They also sell s/s dual boiler machines which are superior to the BES 920 for the same amount of money.
If I had to choose between an appliance or one of the other offerings on that website, it would always be the other offering.
In Australia, the machine can be purchased for about AUD$1200 (on sale) which is about 600 British pounds.
In Australia we view and drool at the very low prices of top end European equipment available to you, and envy your buying power.

Anything but the BES920.

Is there any around the same price range on Bella Barista that you reccomend

[samuellaw178]

Bosco is right on the money. It's surprising that the BDB are selling for 1.2k pound there. The dual boiler Bosco is talking about is the Expobar Leva Dual Boiler. Longevity and repairability are much higher on the Expobar, compared to Breville. I would take that over the BDB at that price too.

[BenAnderson129]

Bosco is right on the money. It's surprising that the BDB are selling for 1.2k pound there. The dual boiler Bosco is talking about is the Expobar Leva Dual Boiler. Longevity and repairability are much higher on the Expobar, compared to Breville. I would take that over the BDB at that price too.

Perfect thanks for letting me know, i will have a look at that machine now