NespressoEssenza Mini Original Espresso Machine by De'Longhi, 1.3 liters, Lime

What I like: Cute, small size. Heats quickly. Makes a consistent, good expresso. Many choices of pods from various manufacturers. Reasonably priced pods.What I don't like: really is just an expresso maker. Not good if you want a brew coffee. Without a mild frother, other expresso based products such as cappuccino, etc needs additional equipment.Overall, I've tested basically all the pod based systems. The Krups based, Illy based, and Starbucks based...they all brings something a bit different to the table. But, if expresso is your thing, without a doubt, the Nespresso Classic pods are the way to go. They make the most consistently good expresso. The Krups or K cup....good for tea, not much else. The Illy is more expensive and limited. And frankly doesn't taste as good. I also tested the Breville Barista Express. The Breville makes the best expresso without a doubt. It also have a mild frother to make cappuccinos. But the Breville takes longer to make the expresso. You have to dial in the grind fineness, the amount of grind, and tamp it correctly. Not hard to do. But if you don't get it right, your expresso is off. The Breville is by far my favorite machine, but if I want something quick, the Delonghi nespresso is great. If you want a good tasting cup of coffee...not expresso...none of these machine does well. A cheap $20 coffee brewer makes better brew coffee than any of these machines.

I wasn't familiar with nespresso machines until seeing my brother's during a recent visit. I decided to get one and chose this one based upon the small footprint, affordable price, good reviews, and use of the smaller original capsules. I am loving it. It heats up quickly, can make cup after cup with virtually no wait time between servings, and is super simple to operate. It produces a very pleasing rich crema and is easy to clean an maintain. Couldn't be happier with it!

I bought this for my boyfriend's birthday a few months ago and we are absolutely obsessed. The machine works perfectly, is very easy to use, and we haven't had any problems with it in the 6 months we've had it so far. The espresso comes out foamy and delicious. The only problem is we are basically addicted and it's an expensive habit (especially since the Nespresso pods are the best we've tried). Just a heads up, it's cheaper to buy the Nespresso pods from the Nespresso website (vs on Amazon) and they throw in a gift on orders of 100 pods. If you're thinking about going in on this... remember to consider the yearly cost of buying pods. I'd say it's worth it (but I'm also in too deep)EDIT in 2020: it still works a year and a half later, but definitely not as well as when it was brand new -- it makes a weird loud noise now when running and the water comes through A LOT slower (maybe the pressure is off). The espresso is still good, though, so I can't complain too much.

It's quite small, smaller than my Mr. Coffee drip coffee machine. It takes a small corner of my kitchen.It's very easy to use. Press any button to turn on and preheat. Then press the espresso / lungo (which makes a larger cup) button to make the coffee. It'll turn off automatically after 9 minutes.* Noise-wiseThe machine does make a noise when it makes the coffee, but I won't say it's too loud or noisy. I find it noisier in the cleaning cycle (running through water without pods), which concerned me initially.* DesignI heard it's different from the Breville model only from the design. There may be better deals at BB for the Breville model. But I just like the design of this model (the Breville model looks more flat and bland?). Also, Delonghi is an old and prestigious brand.* TasteI used a Breville espresso machine in the office (before the pandemic). I would say espresso made by Nespresso machine can't be a perfect replacement for espresso made by an espresso machine. It's slightly blander, but I wouldn't bother the difference. I'm not going to pay for a $500+ espresso machine at home anyway..I'm mixing espresso with warm milk for now, which tastes fine. But it doesn't taste as good as a latte for sure. So I'm planning to get a milk frother (although I thought I could do with mixing with warm milk without frothing it).

I almost sent this back. It looks cheap and is made cheap and a normal mug doesn’t fit without removing the drip tray. BUT the little thing blends a nice cup of expresso as well as Americanos. It’s tiny but delivers. The coffee is hot with a nice foam and doesn’t need to be put in the microwave like my Verissmo.The directions don’t tell you this but you can go to YouTube and watch a video to program your regular size coffee. That helped a lot.I would say it’s an expensive piece of plastic but I do like the coffee. The Nespresso pods offer some dark expresso choices that are as good, if not better, than Starbucks. It’s a keeper.

I got this little machine back in February of 2020, and it worked wonderfully for several months. Then we moved to the mountains near 10,000 feet elevation, and it got weird. It would "stutter" and only partially work, and we did everything possible to fix it. Ended up contacting Nespresso customer service, and they went above and beyond. Seriously above and beyond. They sent us not one, but two replacement machines. Neither one really fixed the problem, so both Nespresso and I decided the elevation was the problem and sending more machines would not fix the problem. My partner (who has ~5 espresso a day because he's a madman) and I dealt with it and still had our sad espressos, but at least they were still espresso and we didn't have to drive 20 minutes off our mountain to the nearest coffee shop to get one. Anyway, we moved back to low elevation six months later, and our machine is back to normal, making 5-8 espresso shots a day like a champ. So if you live at high elevation, this may not be the machine for you, but it will try its very best. And the company will, too. Seriously, you don't get that sort of service anymore. Thank you, Nespresso. My boyfriend would be lost without you.