Breville Barista Express (BES870XL) vs De'Longhi La Specialista Opera (EC9555M)
Same class, different tax brackets.
About CA$425 apart — the split below is what the gap buys.
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 →
De'Longhi
US$849–899 · CA$1,195–1,200
The Opera is a well-specified all-in-one for someone who wants the tactile feel of pulling shots without sourcing a separate grinder or fussing with a standalone tamper. The built-in grinder…
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)
La Specialista Opera (EC9555M)
The price
Barista Express (BES870XL) costs less, decisively
CA$745–800· CA$1,195–1,200
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…
La Specialista Opera (EC9555M): Stainless steel design wins kitchen-approval talk in forums; aesthetic is professional appliance-neutral, neither polarizing nor distinctive — 2.5-range revealed preference.
Only the La Specialista Opera (EC9555M): the standard 58mm ecosystem.
Only the La Specialista Opera (EC9555M): no accessory lock-in.
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 La Specialista Opera (EC9555M) if —
- Baskets, tampers and mods transfer, forever
- Upgrades should never strand your kit
The measured differences here are small; the price gap is not. Take the Barista Express (BES870XL) and put the difference into fresh, roast-dated beans — they move the cup more than this split will.
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).
La Specialista Opera (EC9555M)
Steam wand solenoid leaks reported; single-boiler temperature stability under steam-immediately-after-espresso workflow; OPV pre-infusion tuning limitations out of the box.
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)
La Specialista Opera (EC9555M)
Type
Thermoblock / thermojet
Thermoblock / thermojet
Heat-up time
30 seconds
40 seconds
Steam power
2.5/5
3/5
Brew + steam at once
No
No
Guest recovery
2/5
2/5
Shot quality ceiling
3/5
3/5
PID temperature control
Yes
Yes
Milk system
Manual steam wand
Manual steam wand
One-touch drinks
2
5
Removable brew group
No
No
Hot-water tap
Yes
Yes
Cup clearance
10 cm
10.5 cm
Workflow demand
3/5
3/5
Maintenance
3/5
3/5
Noise
3/5
3/5
Build longevity
2.5/5
3/5
Dimensions
31.8 × 35.1 × 40.4 cm
38 × 37 × 44.5 cm
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 →