De'Longhi La Specialista Opera (EC9555M) vs Lelit Anna
A thermoblock against a single boiler — two philosophies of the same morning.
About CA$245 apart — the split below is what the gap buys.
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 →
Lelit
Strong consensusUS$599–699 · CA$830–1,075
The Anna PL41TEM puts real espresso infrastructure — brass boiler, PID, manometer, 3-way solenoid — into one of the narrowest footprints in the segment, hand-assembled in the same Italian fa…
Full record & live prices →The split
Where they actually differ
On 9 of 11 measures these two tie. The 2 rows below are the entire argument.
La Specialista Opera (EC9555M)
Anna
Ready when you are
La Specialista Opera (EC9555M) leads, decisively
40 sec· ~10 min
Push-button convenience
La Specialista Opera (EC9555M) leads, decisively
The price
Anna costs less, clearly
CA$1,195–1,200· CA$830–1,075
weakerstronger
The counter’s vote
Looks barely figure in either machine’s record — the counter can sit this one out.
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.
Anna: Polished steel exterior with metal switches and manometer cited repeatedly as "premium for the price" and kitchen-approval talk; design is functional elegance, not polarizing.
Where they tie: milk & steam · shot ceiling · back-to-back drinks · reliability record · forgiving to learn on — don’t let a spec sheet invent a difference.
On the counter
The size difference, to scale
So — which one?
Take the La Specialista Opera (EC9555M) if —
- Patience is not your virtue at 6 a.m.
- You want a button, not a ritual
Take the Anna if —
- The difference stays in your pocket — or goes into beans
The La Specialista Opera (EC9555M) at ~26% more buys real things: ready when you are and push-button convenience. If those aren't your mornings, the Anna does the job and keeps the difference in your pocket.
Known weak points
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.
Anna
Steaming capacity becomes bottleneck under repeated heavy use; no widespread electronic failure patterns documented, though single-boiler temperature swing management requires ritual attention.
For the row-by-row readers
The whole sheet, side by side
Matching rows fade back — the ink is where they differ.
La Specialista Opera (EC9555M)
Anna
Type
Thermoblock / thermojet
Single boiler
Heat-up time
40 seconds
~10 min
Steam power
3/5
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
5
—
Removable brew group
No
No
Hot-water tap
Yes
Yes
Cup clearance
10.5 cm
9 cm
Workflow demand
3/5
3/5
Maintenance
3/5
2.5/5
Noise
3/5
2.5/5
Build longevity
3/5
3.5/5
Dimensions
38 × 37 × 44.5 cm
23 × 38 × 34 cm
One owner each
“The Anna's level of finish is also surprising for a machine this price—the polished steel exterior with premium metal switches and a manometer that displays brew pressure in real time make this machine stand out.”
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 →