If you are considering an automatic espresso machine by DeLonghi, then you’ve come across Eletta Explore and Magnifica Evo.
Eletta Explore is DeLonghi’s higher-end automatic espresso machine, while Magnifica Evo is on the affordable side for anyone with a budget of less than $1000.
In this comparison guide, I will tell you what to expect from each DeLonghi coffee machine for the price you pay.
DeLonghi Eletta Explore vs Magnifica Evo – Top Differences
Model Varieties
There’s just one DeLonghi Eletta Explore model that does it all. However, Magnifica Evo is available in two versions:
DeLonghi Magnifica Evo with a classic frothing wand: this version has no milk-based coffee drinks in its presets, and milk frothing is done manually by you.
DeLonghi Magnifica Evo with LatteCrema: this is the version that includes an automatic milk frother. It also has milk-based coffee drinks in its presets. So you can prepare all coffee drinks with a single press of a button.
I will base this comparison on DeLonghi Eletta Explore vs Magnifica Evo with LatteCrema because it is the most popular choice.
Coffee Drink Presets
There’s a huge difference between what Eletta Explore can do on-demand vs what Magnifica Evo does.
DeLonghi Eletta Explore has 40 drink presets, while Magnifica Evo has 7 presets.
Eletta Explore’s drink presets include:
Espresso – Double Espresso – Lungo – Coffee – Americano – Hot Milk – Cold Milk- Flat White – Doppio – Latte Macchiato – Caffe Latte – Cortado – Tea – Iced Cappuccino – Cold Brew – Iced Latte Macchiato…
These are some of the main beverages, and other duplicates that would be a variation of the same recipes. So the number 40 is a bit of an inflation of what the machine can actually do, but you still get a lot of presets that Magnifica Evo doesn’t have.
Magnifica Evo’s presets are:
Espresso, Coffee, Over Ice, Latte Macchiato, Cappuccino, Hot Water
Iced Coffee Options
Over Ice vs Cold Brew Extraction
On the Magnifica Evo, you’ll find the Over Ice preset for iced coffees, but on the Eletta Explore, it says Cold Brew.
Is there a difference between these two settings?
Yes, there is!
DeLonghi’s Over Ice, which is available on many of their coffee machines, including DeLonghi TrueBrew, is a technology that does two things:
- It up-doses the coffee ground amount of a stronger tasting coffee
- It lowers the brewing temperature, slightly
- and it takes ice amount into consideration, to it brews have the beverage amount in coffee and the other half comes from ice amount. So brewing an 8 oz over ice, means the machine will dispense 4 oz of really strong coffee, the other 4 oz is ice in your cup.
The Over Ice setting is designed in a way to produce a strong-tasting iced coffee that won’t taste watered down.
What is Eletta Explore’s Cold Brew, then?
It is an actual cold brew.
Cold Brew extraction in DeLonghi Eletta Explore works by surpassing any heating element and pulsating the water in a slow flow over the coffee grounds to get your cold brew brewing. It’s a slower process than brewing hot, which is to be expected because coffee grounds don’t extract quickly when using cold water.
It uses ambient water temperature, and infuses the coffee under low pressure, and longer intervals, to enable a variety of cold and iced coffee recipes.
What comes out of the machine isn’t ice-cold coffee, but more like room-temperature brew that is cooled instantly when added to ice. Due to the low temperature of the water used to brew it, the coffee is a lot smoother and refreshing.
To-Go Function on DeLonghi Eletta Explore
DeLonghi Eletta Explore has a special feature called ‘To Go’ which you’ll find an icon for on the control panel. It’s programmed to brew larger sizes up to 16 oz..
- Piccolo: 8 oz
- Medio: 12 oz
- Grande: 16 oz
This feature works with coffee and milk-based espresso hot drinks. And the DeLonghi Eletta Explore includes a 16 oz travel mug, too.
If you enjoy your coffee on the go, you’ll appreciate how quick and easy this feature makes to-go coffee servings without the need to reprogram or adjust anything.
DeLonghi LatteCrema Frother
Both DeLonghi Eletta Explore and Magnifica Evo include the same LatteCrema milk frother. But, Eletta Explore being the premium coffee machine that it is, has a set of two LatteCrema frothers instead of one.
Elette Explore has two LatteCrema Frothers:
- Black-colored LatteCrema that heats and froths milk for hot coffee drinks
- White-colored LatteCrema that keeps milk cold and froths it for Iced coffee drinks.
DeLonghi Magnifica Evo has hot LatteCrema only, It can’t do cold milk froth.
What Kind of Milk to Use in DeLonghi LatteCrema?
For hot milk, you can use any type of dairy or non-dairy milk you like. However, the results of the froth will always vary depending on your milk type.
For cold froth, DeLonghi recommends low-fat or non-fat milk. For non-dairy milk, the lighter the fat content, the better the results.
Control Panels
DeLonghi Magnifica Evo uses touch buttons with cool illustrated colored buttons. There’s a limited number of presets on the DeLonghi Magnifica Evo, so you’ll find them all on the control panel clearly marked with the name and icon of the coffee drink.
DeLonghi Eletta Explore, on the other hand, has a much nicer control panel:
- It uses a combination of a display touch screen and touch buttons.
- On each side, you’ll find your buttons for Hot Coffee or Cold Coffee, To-Go and Favorite. Pressing on these buttons activates the full menu on the display screen.
- Using the touch screen, you can press on the coffee drink you want to brew, then you can start customizing it to your liking.
- The machine will also prompt you with what you need to do if your machine requires a ‘recipe’ that you should follow.
Because Eletta Explore has a lot more customization settings, as well as profile and memory settings, you’ll find the touch screen to be incredibly helpful in operating the machine.
Customization Settings and Memory Function
When comparing DeLonghi Magnifica Evo to Eletta Explore, it’s quite limited in what you can customize.
Magnifica Evo allows you to choose from three coffee strength settings. You can also reprogram coffee volumes by long pressing the dispensing button, and it will reprogram it to the new volume. The only Memory function on the Magnifica Evo is My Latte button, which allows you to save one recipe.
Eletta Explore allows for several customization and settings:
- Coffee Strength: 5 selections
- Volume Settings: 4 selections
These can be accessed upon selecting your recipe. The machine will then ask you if you want to alter any of these settings before it prepares your coffee.
Your adjusted settings on the Eletta Explore can be saved under a new recipe which you can name yourself. Or, under a user profile. It allows for a total of 4 user profiles.
Included Accessories
Your DeLonghi Eletta Explore will come included with everything you need:
2x LatteCrema Frothing systems, 16 oz travel mug, Ice cube tray, descaling solution, water filter, coffee scoop
DeLonghi Magnifica Evo includes:
Water filter, descaling solution, coffee scoop and one LatteCrema frothing jug.
Which One To Choose?
As you’ve just seen, Eletta Explore and Magnifica Evo are not equals. Not in features and not in the price range. So, do you go for the budget-friendly Magnifica Evo or do you splurge on the premium Eletta Explore?
What You Get with DeLonghi Eletta Explore
Here’s what really Eletta Explore different and worth its dollars:
Cold Brew Extraction
this cold brew method exists in Eletta Explore and one other super-automatic espresso machine: the Jura Z10. (read my comparison of Jura Z10 vs Eletta Explore). And it’s probably the reason this machine costs what it costs.
This technology makes true cold brew, which is a lot like cold brew that will traditionally take up to 8 hours to brew over your kitchen counter or fridge. But in the Eletta Explore? It takes under 5 minutes!
Customization Settings and Profiles
Having the option to create recipes, save them and create different user profiles is a great option when the coffee machine is being used a larger household or in an office. This means that each user will have their favorite recipes customized and saved for them, without the constant need to redo the settings.
Two LatteCrema Systems
Now, I truly don’t understand the science behind having two different frothers to make hot or cold milk froth. But if you frequently drink iced coffees, you’ll appreciate that the Eletta Explore has this option. But this alone is not worth upgrading to the Eletta Explore for. Cold froth can be easily achieved using other methods, like a simple $10 hand frother will do the trick.
What You Get with DeLonghi Magnifica Evo
Magnifica Evo is not as advanced as the Eletta Explore, but you get everything you need to make coffee, espresso and milk-based drinks with a press of a button, at a very reasonable price, which makes it the popular choice.
Of course, with the Magnifica Evo, you’re not getting true Cold Brew, but Over Ice coffee. Also, you’ll miss on the cold milk frother, but again, I don’t find that to be a huge issue as cold froth is truly easy to make using alternative methods.
How To Pick Between Eletta Explore and Magnifica Evo?
I find DeLonghi Eletta Explore to be worth it only if you find Cold Brew Extraction to be worth your time and money. This model excels in cold brew and iced coffees especially, and they will taste different than any other iced coffees you make using other automatic espresso machines.
As for other features, like user profiles, customization or touchscreen for example, I would actually recommend a coffee machine like Philips 4300 instead, which costs less and has the same customization and memory features (but it lacks iced coffee function).
If you simply want your latte, cappuccino and coffee with a press of a button and at a reasonable price, Magnifica Evo is an excellent choice that won’t break the bank.
Related Comparisons
- DeLonghi Magnifica Evo vs Philips 3200
- DeLonghi Magnifica Evo vs Philips 2200
- DeLonghi Eletta Explore vs Jura Z10
- DeLonghi Magnifica Evo vs Dinamica
