Coffee and espresso aficionados, we know you have questions about high end espresso machines. Like you, we take our coffee and espresso very, very seriously. That’s why we use and review so many coffee makers and espresso machines. Why should you spend your hard earned money to learn the good, the bad, and the mediocre of these machines? That’s why you have us!
The DeLonghi ECAM28465M Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine (view on Amazon) is a relatively expensive, full-featured machine that is worth the price.
Features of the DeLonghi Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine
When you spend a premium price for a product, you expect to get what you pay for. The DeLonghi Prima Donna comes with a great set of nice features compared with similarly priced espresso machines.
- Every Drink is Customized – This machine has all the bells-and-whistles to automatically produce the drinks you want all the way from bean to cup. Easily program how you like your beverage including temperature, strength, and milk-to-espresso ratio – the machine ‘remembers’ all the details.
- Automatic Cappuccino System – DeLonghi’s patented Automatic Cappuccino System creates perfectly layered espresso beverages (Cappuccino, Latte Macchiato and Caffè Latte), with dense, rich, long lasting foam every time.
- Can use ground coffee or beans.
- LED Display Panel – Easy to read and use, the LED digital display is a nice touch. The buttons are easy to read and make it super easy to use. It also has a memory bank. It has four 1-touch milk drinks, a timer to plan when you want your drinks and to turn off the machine, auto-shut off, and temperature adjustment. Oh, and if you have hard water? No problem. The DeLonghi will help with that by having a water hardness test kit and setting for which it adjusts accordingly.
- Memory Feature – The memory feature is extremely impressive…so much so that we want to highlight it. For customized beverages, set your preferences using the memory function. Choose from short, medium or long coffee, and choose from strong or extra mild aroma. Set and memorize the temperature you want from moderate to very hot. There are five strength settings for your coffee in addition to the four 1-touch drinks we mentioned above. That’s right – your machine makes your custom drinks…and with the timer, it can make them when you want them.
- Let’s Talk about Water – Earlier here in the features, we mentioned how this machine can even be used if you have hard water. In addition to that (which by itself is fairly impressive), the DeLonghi Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine has a 2-liter water tank. Yes, you read that right…2-liters. That’s a lot of coffee and espresso. But, don’t worry – you can also use it to make other hot drinks. This machine has a hot water spout that you can use to make hot chocolate or tea. See? Fun for the whole family!
- The Perfect Amount of Milk – During the brewing process, the integrated carafe adds just the amount of milk you want. And, you can easily remove from the carafe to keep freshly refrigerated. The unit is also designed such that no milk ever comes in contact with the machine – and is dishwasher safe.
Lots of Machines Make Latte – What’s So Impressive Here?
Well, aside from the fact that the machine does it for you with the push of a button, you don’t have to worry about using all the milk in a single day. We hope you’re sitting down for this because we don’t want you to spill your coffee and burn yourself. That lady who was burned by McDonald’s coffee had some pretty gnarly burns…so, sit down and put your coffee down where you won’t knock it over. Ready now? Great. You can remove the milk carafe and put it into your refrigerator for later. Yes, that’s right. You won’t be wasting milk.
Pros of the DeLonghi ECAM28465M Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine
The DeLonghi ECAM28465M Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine has many great features. If you’re looking for a compact yet elegant and perfect for daily use espresso machine, this is the one to consider. Here are some of the best things about the DeLonghi Prima Donna:
- It’s beautiful. The DeLonghi Prima Donna is a beautiful, all metal machine. It will look great in a kitchen with stainless steel appliances…or in any other kitchen, really. It is eye catching and elegant.
- You get a lot of options for strength. One of our favorite features about this machine is that you can pick the strength of your coffee. That and the instant 1-touch drinks make the machine easy and convenient to use. If you’re extremely busy and want to make a fantastic cup of coffee or espresso, this is a great machine.
- It lets you know when it needs you. Another great feature is that it will tell you if your water tank is low or if the grounds you have in the machine should be tossed into the trash.
- Self-contained burr grinder. Because the DeLonghi Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine has a self-contained burr grinder, coffee and espresso making has never been easier. No more using a stand-alone grinder and then transferring the grounds into your machine. Nope. This machine does it for you. It’s also quieter than you might expect.
Cons of the DeLonghi ECAM28465M Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine
Now that we’ve talked about some of the great features, let’s look at some of the things that made us not so happy. No machine is perfect. It’s important that you take the good features and the things that make you question why you bought the machine and weigh them against your own needs and wants because of the fairly sizeable chunk of money you’re thinking about investing into making espresso and coffee.
- Set-up can be a pain. While setup is well described in the manual and videos, it’s a bit more complicated than it could be. Setup is done through the LED panel, but we learned that it’s not just a light touch of the button when it asks which language you want to use. Nope. It will keep cycling through the available languages unless you hold the button down for a full three seconds. The DeLonghi ECAM28465M Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine comes with a DVD. Do yourself a favor and watch the DVD. This machine isn’t totally ready to use out of the box. Oh, and if necessary, make sure that you jump onto YouTube and watch the videos associated with set-up. Trust us.
- Temperature of the water and milk. So, let’s say you rush through the DVD and get the DeLonghi set up. You toss in your water and milk and you stand in anticipation to have your first steaming hot cup…and instead, you get something only moderately warm. Yes, initially the water and milk temperature aren’t that great. However, recall that temperature is one of the customizable settings –so remember to change the temperatures on the water and milk.
- You can’t make much at one time. If you just need one or two impressive cups of coffee or espresso, great. Yet, if you’re having company…you’re going to spend a lot of time with the DeLonghi. Yeah, it only makes a couple of cups at a time (depending on the size of the cup). So, your visitors may have to wait in line.
Final Verdict
So, is the DeLonghi ECAM28465M Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine worth the price? It’s certainly a front runner if you’re looking to invest in a sleek, smart machine. The features are great. You can use the memory storage to repeatedly make great drinks. It has a large milk carafe that is removable and can be stored in the fridge.
Although setup could be easier, the features and functionality of this product and the high quality drinks it produces make us conclude that the DeLonghi ECAM28465M Prima Donna Fully Automatic Espresso Machine is a great investment.
Other great choices to consider include the Gaggia RI8762 Anima Prestige and the Cuisinart (yes, really) EM-600 Buona Tazza Espresso Cappuccino Machine.