Breville · Model review

Breville Barista Pro Review

Name: Breville Barista Pro (BES878) Review
Item: Breville Barista Pro (BES878)
Rating: 4
Author: Stephen V.

The Barista Express with a faster heater, a finer grinder and a screen. What it is not is the machine that steams your milk for you.

By Stephen V., coffee enthusiastLast updated July 13, 2026How we review

The short answer

Buy the Barista Pro if you want the Barista Express with a three-second heat-up, a 30-setting grinder and an LCD — and you're happy steaming milk by hand. Do not buy it expecting automatic milk: it is manual. The cheaper Bambino Plus is the one that textures milk for you.

We earn a commission if you buy through a link on this page. It costs you nothing extra and it does not change what we recommend. Full disclosure.

Our verdict, scored

4.0/5

Espresso ceiling: 3.7; Slightly above the Barista Express, and only because the grinder feeding it is finer. The brew hardware itself is the same story: 54 mm, PID, pre-infusion.
The built-in grinder: 3.4; 30 settings against the Express's 16, with burrs Breville credits to Baratza. A real improvement — and still a grinder living inside an espresso machine.
Milk & steam: 3.2; Identical in kind to the Barista Express: a manual 360° swivel wand. The most expensive machine here scores no better on milk than the cheapest.
Speed & interface: 4.6; Three seconds to extraction temperature and an LCD that tells you what's happening. This is what you are actually paying for, and it's genuinely good.
Value: 3.6; The weakest score, and it's structural: it is the priciest machine in the range and the one that gives you the least for the step up, unless speed is what you value.

These are not test results.They are our editorial judgment, formed from the manufacturer's published specs, the current price, and what owners report publicly. We have not run this machine in a lab. Here is exactly how we score.

Who it's for

The Barista Pro is Breville's most expensive machine at this level, and it is bought for the wrong reason more often than any other machine we cover. So before anything else, here is the sentence that should decide your purchase.

With that established, the right buyer for this machine is a specific and entirely reasonable person: someone who wants the whole setup in one box, wants it ready in seconds rather than after a warm-up, wants more grind resolution than a Barista Express offers, and who wants to steam milk by hand — because a manual wand is the only route to latte art and to milk better than a preset can produce.

The wrong buyer is anyone who reads "Pro" as "easier." In this range, the more you spend, the more of the work is yours.

The manual steam wand — read this first

We have already said it once, but this is the fact the entire Breville range hinges on and it is worth being precise about, because getting it backwards is expensive.

Breville publishes a milk-texturing field on all three product pages. It reads manual for the Barista Express. It reads manual for the Barista Pro. It reads automatic, hands-free for the Bambino Plus, and only for the Bambino Plus. Three machines, three published fields, one automatic system — and it lives on the cheapest machine.

This is not a bad decision by Breville, incidentally. It is a coherent one. The Bambino Plus is aimed at someone who wants the drink and not the craft; the Barista Pro is aimed at someone who wants control, and a hands-free system takes control away. A 360° swivel wand you operate yourself has no ceiling — with practice it will out-perform any automatic system, and it is the only way you will ever pour a rosetta. The problem is not the design. The problem is that the price list implies the opposite, and almost every review on the internet lets you keep believing it.

Specs

Type	Semi-automatic, with built-in grinder
Portafilter	54 mm
Boiler	ThermoJet — ideal extraction temperature in 3 seconds
PID temperature control	Yes
Built-in grinder	Steel conical burrs, 30 grind settings, 250 g hopper
Milk	Manual — 360° swivel steam wand. NOT automatic, despite costing more than the Bambino Plus.
Pump pressure	15 bar
Pre-infusion	Yes
Heat-up time	3 seconds (Breville's own figure)
Water tank	2 L
Power	1680 W
Dimensions	13.5" W x 13.9" D x 13.5" H
Weight	20.92 lb (9.49 kg)
Warranty	2 years limited
In the box	Dosing funnel, 1- and 2-cup single- and dual-wall baskets, Razor dose-trimming tool, 480 ml stainless milk jug, cleaning kit, water filter

Specs for the Barista Pro, taken from Breville's own documentation — Breville BES878 product page

What the step up from the Express actually buys

Put the two machines side by side and strip out everything they share — 54 mm portafilter, PID temperature control, 15-bar pump, low-pressure pre-infusion, steel conical burrs, a 250 g hopper, a 2 L tank, a manual steam wand — and exactly three differences are left.

The heater

The Barista Pro uses a ThermoJet, which Breville says reaches ideal extraction temperature in 3 seconds. The Barista Express uses a Thermocoil, for which Breville publishes no heat-up time whatsoever — not on the product page, not in the manual. We are not going to guess at a number to fill that gap, but the shape of it is clear enough: if a machine could be sold as ready in three seconds, it would be.

Do not underrate this. The machines that end up unused on kitchen counters are rarely the ones that make bad coffee; they are the ones that make coffee slowly. Removing the warm-up is what turns espresso from something you plan into something you just do. It is the single strongest argument for the Barista Pro, and it is a good one.

The grinder

30 grind settings, against 16 on the Barista Express. Breville's own product page also credits the Pro's burrs to Baratza, which is not a name they throw around casually. Nearly double the resolution between too-coarse and too-fine is a genuine improvement, and the place you feel it is when you change beans — a lighter roast wants a different grind than a dark one, and on 16 steps you will sometimes find the setting you want falls between two clicks.

The interface

An LCD instead of dials and indicator lights. It shows shot timing and machine state, which means a beginner is told what is happening rather than left to deduce it. Worth something — just be clear that a screen does not change what comes out of the spout.

30 settings, and what they don't fix

The grinder is the biggest real upgrade in the Barista Pro, so it deserves a straight assessment rather than a cheer.

30 steps is better than 16. It is not, however, the same category of thing as a good standalone grinder. A grinder built into an espresso machine has to be small, quiet and cheap enough to live under a hopper on your counter; a standalone grinder has to be nothing except a grinder. Bigger burrs, finer adjustment, less retained coffee in the chute — those are the things that separate espresso that is fine from espresso that is genuinely good, and they are the things a built-in grinder gives up by definition.

Owners of both Breville all-in-ones commonly report the same two frictions, and 30 settings softens them rather than solving them: dark, oily beans are the hard case at the fine end of the range, and grounds left in the chute mean the first shot after a bean change is a write-off.

If you own a Barista Pro and the grinder is the thing frustrating you, the fix is the same one Barista Express owners reach for — same 54 mm portafilter, same situation, same answer. The grinders we'd pair with a Breville all-in-one are here.

Is it worth it? Our honest answer

Two comparisons decide this, and we will take a position on both rather than shrug.

Against the Barista Express: if espresso is going to be a daily habit, the three-second heat-up alone probably justifies the step up, and the finer grinder is a real bonus on top. If espresso is going to be a weekend thing, you are paying a meaningful premium to save a warm-up you were never in a hurry for. We put the two of them side by side in full here.

Against a Bambino Plus and a real grinder:this is the comparison the Barista Pro does not want you to make. For roughly what the Pro asks, you can buy the cheapest machine in the range and put a serious standalone grinder next to it. You would end up with better ground coffee than any built-in grinder produces, automatic hands-free milk, a three-second heat-up, a much smaller machine — and two independent pieces of kit you can upgrade or replace one at a time. The Barista Pro's reply is that it is one box, one footprint, one purchase, and it will still be grinding into the portafilter with the tamper built into the side of it. That is a real advantage and for many people it is the deciding one. But it is a convenience argument, not a coffee argument, and you should know which one you are buying.

The prices on this page are live and they move, so check them before you take our framing as gospel — the whole calculation shifts when one of these machines goes on offer.

How it compares

Barista Pro vs Barista Express — the head-to-head that matters most, and the one where the answer is closer than the price gap suggests.
The Bambino Plus review— the machine that has the automatic milk system the Barista Pro doesn't. Read it before you spend.
The best espresso machines with a built-in grinder — how the Barista Pro stacks up against everything else that grinds and brews in one box.

And for the whole Breville range in one view, including where the range stops making sense: our Breville brand guide.

What we know, and how we know it

Researched, not used

What we did

Took the specs from the manufacturer's own documentation — Breville's own BES878 product page. Not from a retailer listing, and not from another blog.
Priced it from Amazon's API, with the date we checked shown next to the number. If that price is more than 48 hours old, this page stops showing a number at all rather than show you a wrong one.
Formed a verdict from those specs, the price, and what owners publicly report.

Where we hedged, and why

The 3-second heat-up and the "up to 32% less energy" figure are both Breville's own claims, taken from their product page — we are quoting them and attributing them, not verifying them, because we have not used this machine. Breville does not publish whether the Barista Pro has a 3-way solenoid valve, so our spec table does not claim one either way. Where we describe grinder behaviour with oily beans or retention in the chute, that is what owners of Breville all-in-ones commonly report — it is not something we measured.

What we did not do

We do not run a lab. We have not pulled thousands of shots on this machine, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. We have not used this unit ourselves. Everything above is sourced research, and it is labelled as such. Where we have used a machine, we say so and show it.

How we're paid

If you buy through a link on this page, we earn a commission. It costs you nothing extra and it does not change what we recommend — we link to the better option for the buyer even when it earns us less. See how we review and our full disclosure.

What's good

ThermoJet heater — Breville's own figure is ideal extraction temperature in 3 seconds, versus a Thermocoil Express with no published heat-up time at all
30 grind settings, nearly double the Barista Express's 16. Breville's own page credits the burrs to Baratza
An LCD interface that shows you what the machine is doing, instead of leaving you to infer it from dials and lights
2-year warranty — twice what Breville gives the Barista Express
PID temperature control, low-pressure pre-infusion and a 15-bar pump: the espresso fundamentals are all present
Breville claims it uses up to 32% less energy annually than a Thermoblock system — their number, and a reasonable consequence of not idling a hot block

What isn't

Manual milk texturing. Breville's own spec sheet says so. The cheaper Bambino Plus is the automatic one, and this is the single most misunderstood fact in the range
The extraction hardware is essentially the Barista Express's — 54 mm, PID, 15-bar, pre-infusion. You are not buying a better shot, you are buying a faster morning
It is the widest of the three at 13.5 inches, and the most expensive, which is a lot of counter for a convenience upgrade
A built-in grinder is still a built-in grinder: 30 settings beats 16, but a standalone grinder beats both
54 mm portafilter, so the accessory aftermarket stays smaller and pricier than the 58 mm commercial standard
For roughly its money you could put a Bambino Plus next to a serious standalone grinder — and get automatic milk into the bargain

Frequently asked questions

Does the Breville Barista Pro have automatic milk frothing?

No. Breville's own spec sheet lists 'manual milk texturing' for the Barista Pro — the same wording it uses for the cheaper Barista Express. The only machine in this part of Breville's range with automatic hands-free milk texturing is the Bambino Plus, which is the cheapest of the three. Paying more here buys a grinder, a faster heater and an LCD, not milk automation.

What is the difference between the Breville Barista Pro and the Barista Express?

Three things, and no more. The Pro's ThermoJet heater reaches extraction temperature in 3 seconds (Breville's figure), while Breville publishes no heat-up time at all for the Express's Thermocoil. The Pro's grinder has 30 settings against the Express's 16. And the Pro has an LCD interface rather than dials and lights. Everything else — 54 mm portafilter, PID, 15-bar pump, pre-infusion, manual steam wand — is shared.

How many grind settings does the Barista Pro have?

30, per Breville, nearly double the 16 on the Barista Express. Breville's product page also credits the burrs to Baratza. The extra resolution matters most when you switch beans, since a light roast wants a noticeably different grind than a dark one and 16 steps can leave the setting you want falling between two clicks.

Is the Barista Pro worth it over the Barista Express?

If espresso will be a daily habit, probably yes: the three-second heat-up removes the warm-up that quietly kills the habit, and the finer grinder is a genuine bonus. If espresso will be a weekend ritual, you are paying a real premium to save a wait you were never in a hurry over. What the step up does not buy you is better milk — both machines have a manual steam wand.

Should I buy a Barista Pro, or a Bambino Plus plus a grinder?

For roughly what the Barista Pro asks, a Bambino Plus and a serious standalone grinder will produce better-ground coffee, give you automatic hands-free milk, take up less counter space, and let you upgrade the two halves independently. The Barista Pro's answer is that it is one box with one footprint and a grinder that doses straight into the portafilter. That convenience is real — but it is a convenience argument, not a coffee-quality one.

What size portafilter does the Barista Pro use?

54 mm, the same as every Breville machine at this level, rather than the 58 mm commercial standard used by café machines. It does not make the espresso worse, but it does mean the aftermarket for baskets, bottomless portafilters and tampers is smaller and more expensive than the enormous 58 mm market professionals buy from.

What is the warranty on the Breville Barista Pro?

Two years limited, per Breville's own product page — the same as the Bambino Plus, and twice the 1-year limited warranty Breville gives the Barista Express. If warranty length is part of your decision, note that it does not track price in this range in the way you would expect.

Sources

Specs come from the manufacturer's own documentation. Prices come from Amazon's API. Where a claim comes from what owners report, we link the thread and say so.