Breville Barista Express (BES870XL) vs Breville Barista Pro (BES878)
Stablemates — both from Breville, aimed at different mornings.
The Barista Pro (BES878) runs ~35% more (listed in different currencies) — and the gap buys nothing the data can taste.
Breville
US$699–749 · CA$745–800
The Barista Express remains the default recommendation for anyone who wants a single footprint to grind, dose, and pull a shot without buying separate gear. Accept that the integrated grinde…
Full record & live prices →
Breville
Strong consensusUS$699–849
The Barista Pro threads a real needle: genuine PID temperature control, a 30-setting conical grinder, and a 3-second heat-up in a single machine at a mid-range price. The ceiling on shot qua…
Full record & live prices →The split
Where they actually differ
Measured side by side, they tie on all 11 counts we track — the choice is price, size, and taste in hardware.
Barista Express (BES870XL)
Barista Pro (BES878)
The price
Barista Express (BES870XL) costs less, decisively
CA$745–800· US$699–849
weakerstronger
The counter’s vote
Looks barely figure in either machine’s record — the counter can sit this one out.
Barista Express (BES870XL): Sleek brushed-steel form factor demonstrably drove early adoption (kitchen-approval talk, "looks like a real espresso bar" comments in reviews); polarizes slightly on modern design language versus…
Barista Pro (BES878): Sleek, minimalist stainless design has broad kitchen approval, but polarizes against heirloom-lever and industrial aesthetics some espresso enthusiasts prefer.
Where they tie: milk & steam · shot ceiling · back-to-back drinks · ready when you are · reliability record — don’t let a spec sheet invent a difference.
On the counter
The size difference, to scale
So — which one?
Take the Barista Express (BES870XL) if —
- The difference stays in your pocket — or goes into beans
Take the Barista Pro (BES878) if —
Hard case to make: the Barista Express (BES870XL) leads everywhere the data separates them. This one is a deal-day purchase, not a first choice.
Measured, they're the same machine in different shells. Take the Barista Express (BES870XL) and put the difference into fresh, roast-dated beans.
Known weak points
Barista Express (BES870XL)
Pressurized basket design teaches bad technique; single boiler limits workflow (shot-then-steam bottleneck); grinder burrs wear quickly under espresso demand; group head thermal stability second-tier for the price; no commercial-style portafilter customization (proprietary basket fit).
Barista Pro (BES878)
Thermal stability issues under sustained pulling, solenoid wear (steam side), inconsistent pre-infusion calibration over time, non-standard 54mm portafilter locks accessory ecosystem.
For the row-by-row readers
The whole sheet, side by side
Matching rows fade back — the ink is where they differ.
Barista Express (BES870XL)
Barista Pro (BES878)
Type
Thermoblock / thermojet
Thermoblock / thermojet
Heat-up time
30 seconds
3 seconds
Steam power
2.5/5
2.5/5
Brew + steam at once
No
No
Guest recovery
2/5
2/5
Shot quality ceiling
3/5
3.5/5
PID temperature control
Yes
Yes
Milk system
Manual steam wand
Manual steam wand
One-touch drinks
2
2
Removable brew group
No
No
Hot-water tap
Yes
Yes
Cup clearance
10 cm
10.2 cm
Workflow demand
3/5
3/5
Maintenance
3/5
2.5/5
Noise
3/5
3.5/5
Build longevity
2.5/5
3/5
Dimensions
31.8 × 35.1 × 40.4 cm
35.6 × 40.6 × 39.4 cm
On film, together
How they run side by side, from around the community
Wrong match-up? Change one side → — any two on file compare.
Still torn?
This page weighs them against each other. The finder weighs them against your mornings.
Two minutes of questions — milk, noise, budget, space — scored across everything on file. It’s honest when the answer is neither of these.
Take the two-minute finder →