If you’ve been looking for a mid-range semi automatic espresso machine for home use, you’ve done right by considering La Specialista by DeLonghi. This machine comes as a direct competitor to the beloved Barista Express by Breville, and is the first of its kind by DeLonghi, a brand that usually excelled in making smaller Espresso machines (like the Dedica) or super automatic espresso machines.
In this post, you’ll read about the features of all three DeLonghi La Specialista machines, how they compare to each other and how they compare to the Breville Barista Express as well as other Breville machines.
La Specialista Original vs. Prestigio (EC9355M) vs Maestro (EC9665M) vs Arte (EC9155MB)
Ever since the release of the La Specialista (the original), three upgraded models have been added to the line: La Specialista Prestigio and La Specialista Maestro and La Specialista Arte. Let’s have a look at the upgraded models to help you decide which is best for your needs…
La Specialista Arte vs Prestigio
The Prestigio is the mid-range machine in the La Specialista line, while the Arte model is the entry-level machine.
The differences are the following:
- Prestigio has the integrated tamper. After grinder, you pull down a lever and it will tamp and give you the perfect level puck to extract your Espresso. Arte does not have this feature, it comes with a stainless steel tamper that you manually use, which gives room for error, but it’s a task that you’ll do perfectly with practice.
- Heating systems are different. Prestigio has two heating systems, one for extraction and another for steaming, while you can’t do the two things at the same time, switching between brewing and steaming is almost instant. With the Arte, you have to wait a bit when switching between the two tasks.
- Prestigio is a 19-bar pressure pump, while the Arte is 15-bars. This isn’t something that you’ll feel the difference of really, at most espresso machines will only use 9 bars of pressure to extract, but it’s an indication that Prestigio is more powerful than the Arte.
- Included accessories: Prestigio and Arte both include a frothing jug. Arte also includes a tamper and tamping mat, which is what DeLonghi called ‘Barista Kit’. Since Prestigio has an integrated tamper, there’s no need for a tamper.
Which Do You Pick? Prestigio or Arte?
If the La Specialista Prestigio is within your budget, it’s the better pick for sure. The integrated tamper is great for a sure perfect result, instead of spending countless hours trying to get things right. Also, the quick heat up time and switch between steaming and brewing is awesome.
La Specialista Arte isn’t bad at all, it’s a great machine for its price if you’re willing to give up some convenience.
Related: La Specialista Arte vs Barista Express
La Specialista Maestro vs Prestigio
Maestro is La Specialista’s high end model packed with automated features, but also has manual settings if you’re ever in the mood to do your coffee drinks manually.
Control Panel
Maestro’s control panel has several buttons and displays. The display on the grinder’s side will show you your dose level, gives you indications of which step you’re at and guidance. On the middle, there’s Pressure gauge, and then over the steam wand/automatic frother side, there’s a display with preset drinks like latte, cappuccino, flat white, long black and more.
Preset Drinks
Maestro has a set of milk based drinks to select from, in addition to the espresso, coffee or americano settings that the Prestigio has.
If you want to automatically prepare a milk based drink, you’ll need to use the LatteCrema built-in frother instead of the steam wand, which will automatically froth and dispense the milk into your cup. If you want to steam manually, you can simply select Espresso, then switch to steaming.
Temperature Settings
- Prestigio, like the Arte model, has three temperature settings, which is pretty standard for many DeLonghi machines.
- Maestro has 5 temperature settings.
Which Should You Buy? Prestigio or Maestro?
It really depends on what you need. the Maestro model has some really great upgrades over the Prestigio, like the automated frothing or LCD displays with indications or preset drink menu and additional programmability overall. But all of these come at a cost. If you don’t the extra bells and whistles, you’ll be great with either machine. Both Prestigio and Maestro have 8 grind settings and integrated tamping, which are the two steps that make or break an espresso shot and both machines got those covered for you.
Espresso, Americano or Coffee – What’s The Difference Between These Settings
As you’ve seen by now, all La Specialista models have a switch for espresso, Americano and Coffee. What is the difference between these settings?
- Espresso is just that, either a single or double shots of espresso, as per your selection.
- Americano is a espresso diluted with hot water. So the machine will do a single or double shots of espresso, then follow it with hot water using the dedicated hot water spout located behind the group head.
- Coffee, on the other hand, is not exactly drip coffee as you would expect. It’s basically a long shot of espresso (without the added hot water).
La Specialista vs La Specialista Prestigio
The first La Specialista, now discontinued, is a step down from all other La Specialista machines. While it has many of their features, like the tamping station, built-in grinder, programmable settings… it also used a Paranello steaming wand, which is a very basic frother that can’t create micro foam texture like a professional steam wand.
La Specialista line now starts with the Arte model as the entry-level, followed by the Prestigio then Maestro model.
Features of La Specialista Prestigio EC9355M
This model is a direct upgrade of the original La Specialista. It has a few upgrades but can make a difference to your experience:
To start, the Prestigio model has 8 grind settings instead of 6. This means you can tweak your grind even more. For this reason, this model does not come with a dual- wall basket for your portafilter since you won’t need it anymore – the single wall basket will be enough.
The second upgrade is the steam wand. The original La Specialista has a semi-automatic steam wand where you just place your milk jug and select the type of foam you want. The Prestigio model has a more professional wand and you’re in total control of how you steam your milk. This type of wand requires some practice until you get things right, but you’ll be happier with the results of this type of steaming that the automatic.
You also have three temperature settings to choose from.
Features of La Specialista Maestro EC9665M
The Maestro model is the highest upgrade of all La Specialista models. It has several upgrades to enhance your user experience:
- Like the Prestigio model, it has 8 grind settings instead of the original’s 6 settings.
- All La Specialista models have the pressure gauge that displays the pressure level your machine is currently using. However, the Maestro has two additional displays, on the left, you’ll find a digital display that shows you which stage the machine is operating at and the level of dosing. The display on the right allows you to select from preset recipes. It has 6 preset recipes: espresso, Americano, coffee (uses lower pressure), cappuccino and flat white.
- When it comes to steaming milk, you have two options to choose from: a professional steam wand or the LatteCrema system, which is a plug-in automatic frother. When selecting a milk based recipe, the frother will use a preset amount of milk and froth it to match the recipe and automatically dispense it to the cup.
- Maestro has 5 temperature settings to choose from.
Features of La Specialista Arte EC9155MB
Arte comes as a cost-effective alternative to the Prestegio and Maestro and Original model. It comes with a few less features, but they could be features that you don’t need to begin with, so wouldn’t it be great to give up on a few things to get a better price?
- To start, Arte does not have the integrated smart tamper that other models has. But it does include a tamper, you’ll have to tamp manually, though.
- It has a thermocoil heater, but it’s a single heater machine. What that means for you is that there’s going to be a bit of a wait between extracting espresso and steaming milk.
- It has three temperature settings and active temperature control.
- It has a built-in grinder with 8 grind settings.
- It also has a hot water dispenser.
It comes with a pack of accessories to get you started: milk jug, tamper, dosing funnel, a tamping mat as well as the portafilter with baskets.
What are you giving up on when going for the Arte model?
You’ll get a machine with a single heater. No built-in automatic tamper.
That’s not a bad deal, if you ask me. This is a great pick if you’re someone willing to learn the proper way to tamp and steam milk. These things require a bit of a learning curve but are not hard to learn.
Features of La Specialista Espresso Machine (Original Discontinued Model)
- Built-in coffee grinder with adjustable settings and smart sensor to deliver consistent grind and optimal dose every time.
- Built-in smart tamping station: just as your beans have been filled in the portafilter, pull a lever down for the built in tamper to tamp your coffee perfectly and evenly.
- Active temperature control helps keep your machine’s temperature optimal and stable for espresso extraction and steaming.
- Incredibly fast one second start up time.
- Dual heating system, so you don’t have to wait between coffee extraction and milk frothing.
- Pannarello steam wand style allows you to create professional textured milk for cappuccino or latte without any work on your part. Simply adjust the steam wand to the type of texture you want to create.
- Built-in hot water dispenser for Americanos or tea.
- Pre-set buttons for espresso, americano or coffee. You also have a ‘My’ button to program your own recipe.
- Rinse button rinses the group head and portafilter to heat it or clean it.
- Gauge allows you to see what temperature your machine is operating on and when it has reached optimal temperature.
- 2 liter water reservoir capacity.
- 250gr hopper capacity.
- Includes: 2 filter baskets, dual-wall single and dual-wall double baskets.
- Also includes a stainless steel frothing jug.
Click here to learn more about the DeLonghi La Specialista, read the customer reviews and buy it.
Other Comparisons
DeLonghi La Specialista vs. Breville Barista Express
As I already mentioned, the DeLonghi La Specialista comes as a direct competitor of the popular Barista Express. As the time I write this post, the DeLonghi La Specialista is higher in price than the Barista Express, so there’s a price difference to start with. But performance and features wise, which machine do you choose?
Now, both machines have quite similar features:
Built-in grinder, hot water on demand, temperature gauge, button controls, hands-free grinding directly into portafilter.
So at this point, it would be easier to see what differences these two machines have:
Grind Settings: the Barista Express has 18 grind settings giving you a variety of options when it comes to grinding different coffee beans and how it can turn out. The La Specialista only goes from 1 to 6 in grind settings, so it’s less options when it comes to coffee ground.
Included Filter Baskets: the La Specialista comes with two filter baskets, a single shot dual wall basket and a double shot dual basket. The Barista Express includes four baskets in total, a single and double shot baskets, single and dual walled. Dual wall baskets are usually a better choice for someone who is still not advanced in dosing and extracting espresso, as it controls pressure better.
Steaming Wands: DeLonghi has been known for its Cappuccino system on their espresso machines for a long time. They use pannarello wands that require no work on your part to get the right texture either for cappuccino or latte. You simply have to set a selector and let it do the work. This is a great choice for a beginner or anyone who is not keen on practicing the art of milk texturing. On the other hand, the Barista Express has a more traditional frothing wand, which will require some practice to get the milk to the right texture, so it’s not as straight forward as a pannarello wand, but it is a better choice for someone who wants to learn the professional way of texturing milk.
Built-in Tamper: The DeLonghi La Specialista has a smart tamper. The built-in tamper, smartly located inside the same head where the portafilter goes to collect the coffee grind from the grinder, requires one single pull of a level (located on the side of the machine) to tamp the coffee perfectly. You don’t have to worry about any mess or any uneven tamping, this built-in tamper does it just right, every single time! The Barista Express has a tamper that is magnetically attached to the machine, but tamping is done manually. And just like milk texturing, tamping is an acquired skill.
Pre-sets: La Specialista has three pre set drinks, espresso, coffee and americano. Upon selecting coffee or Americano, hot water is added to your espresso shot (in different volumes according to recipe). Water pours in automatically and you don’t have to even move your mug, as the hot water nozzle is conveniently located right by the portafilter. On the Barista Express, the hot water nozzle is slightly behind the portafilter, so you do have to relocate your mug slightly and you have to manually start the hot water.
Dimensions: La Specialista is slightly larger than the Barista Express. One noticeable difference is the height of the bean hopper on the La Specialista vs. the hopper on the Barista Express. This might be a problem for someone who is limited on space or cabinet height, so do check the dimensions and compare them to your available space.
Should You Buy the DeLonghi La Specialista or Breville Barista Express?
As you can see, there’s really not much difference in these two machines. However, one wins over the other in terms on advancement:
If you want the manual experience, but do not want to work on learning skills like milk texturing, playing with coffee grind or tamping, the La Specialista would make a better choice. Having less grind settings is not necessarily a bad thing, not everyone wants to get experimental with grind fineness. So, initially, you’ll need to try out from a limited number of settings to get your shot right, then you’ll be good to go. The automatic tamping is great, too. You don’t have to worry about an uneven tamp, which leads to a bad shot, or the mess that comes along with tamping. Last but not least, the Pannarello wand makes milk texturing such a breeze.
On the other hand, the Barista Express gives you more room to experiment and practice. If you’re new to semi automatic machines, you’ll most likely need to make a few shots before you get it right. Same goes for tamping and milk texturing. Since it’s somewhat manual, you’ll have to practice until you get things right. So if you feel like you want to acquire some barista skills, and don’t mind the practice and experimenting part of it, you’ll certainly enjoy using the Barista Express.
You can learn more about the Barista Express on the following links:
Although the Barista Express is the most comparable to the La Specialista, we see a lot of questions about comparing it to other machines by Breville. So here are some more comparisons…
DeLonghi La Specialista vs. Breville Barista Touch
Now you’ve learned the difference between La Specialista and Barista Express, you can now learn about how it compared to the upgraded version of the barista express, which is the Barista Touch. You can read about the difference between the Barista Express vs. Barista Touch here. But let’s compare it to the La Specialista…
The Barista Touch has a lot of features that the La Specialista lacks that makes it easier for a beginner to make an excellent cup at first try. It has a lot of automated settings that make it a breeze, but it also has many overrides to make you customize your drinks.
The Touch Screen:
This nice touch screen gives you access to so many options to customize your drinks. But to start, you’ll find a lot of preset recipes: espresso, latte, cappuccino, flat white and more. Click on the image of your preferred drink, and choose to either brew to current recipe or customize your own. Things you can customize are: coffee strength, milk temperature and texture as well as volumes.
La Specialista does have three presets: espresso, coffee and americano.
Save your Customization:
The Barista Touch also allows you to save up to 8 customized recipes and name them so you don’t have to play with the settings each time you brew.
Automatic milk temperature and texturing:
The Breville Touch has a great steam wand that does the work for you. It allows you to adjust the milk temperature and texture to suit your taste. You can expect professional micro-foam quality that you can use to create beautiful latte art.
La Specialista vs. Breville Barista Pro
Breville Barista Pro falls somewhere between the Barista Express and Barista Touch. Unlike the Barista Express, the Pro version has a screen that displays information and guides you through every step. However, the screen isn’t as sophisticated as the Breville Barista Touch’s.
The Breville Barista Pro does not have pre-sets and can’t save customized recipes. Also, it doesn’t have automatic milk heating and texturing. So it’s up to par with the La Specialista.
How do they compare, though?
The biggest difference here is the LCD display. This display shows you the progress of the grinding, extraction and all other precise information in animations. This helps you understand exactly what’s happening during the brewing process and makes it easier to take notes for your next brew.
Other than that, the La Specialista excels in features like the automatic tamping, the pre-set drinks and the Pannarello steam wand which makes a better choice for a beginner.
La Specialista vs. Breville Oracle
The Breville Oracle in on another level compared to all previously mentioned machines. However, surprisingly, the La Specialista has two features in common with the Oracle:
First is the automatic tamping, the other is the long black or coffee preset.
So kudos to DeLonghi for including great features in the La Specialista for a relatively affordable price.
Other than that, the Oracle features:
- Automatic milk texturing and temperature settings.
- Dual boilers, so you can extract and steam at the same time.
- LCD display.
- 58mm portafilter.
- Triple heat system with a dedicated steam boiler and dedicated espresso boiler and a heated group head.
If you’d like more detailed information on the Breville Oracle, click here.
