Espresso machines: what YouTube's top 10 reviewers actually say
Consensus and disagreement by price tier, built from 944 full review transcripts. Compiled for Matt, Oct 13, 2026.
Every reviewer comment on finish, fingerprints and cleaning
| Machine | Reviewer | Finish | What they said | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACS Vostok | Lance Hedrick | Machine colors and panels are paid upgrades and are not included in the quoted price. | He notes he is leaving fingerprints when touching the hot group. | “of course the color of the machine and the panels are up like upgrades or their extra costs” 18:12 |
| Anza R2 | Lance Hedrick | Concrete body, porcelain/ceramic front and handle, brass fittings, and a stone (marble-style) top. A heavy stainless drip tray and grate, plus a 1L cylindrical glass tank. An all-white model with brass fittings also exists. Small chips appeared on the white top. | Cleaning is a pain point: you need a wet rag for splatters. The concrete is sealed, but he speculates the sealing may wear off and make it harder to keep clean. | “there's been a couple little chips that kind of want to come off, especially with this top white part.” 12:52 |
| Ascaso Baby T Plus | Seattle Coffee Gear | Matte white (the review unit), matte black, or full chrome; wooden steam lever; described as industrial but inviting | Wipe the machine down daily to get coffee off, particularly if you chose the white | “matte white like this machine here, a matte black, or in full chrome” 0:56 |
| Bezzera BZ13 | Whole Latte Love | Stock finish is polished stainless. Rosso Nero or Bianco body panels are available. An optional Rosewood upgrade (levers plus an angled portafilter) fits either version. The DE version has stock black trim and the Bezzera logo on the portafilter handles. | Only about the drip tray: the new wire-style tray stays cleaner and is less prone to scratching than cut and polished trays. Nothing said about fingerprints on the body. | “it stays cleaner is less prone to scratching than cut and Polished trays” 1:28 |
| Bezzera BZ13 | Whole Latte Love | 4 body colors and a variety of wood species for portafilter handles and steam and hot water levers | Wire-style drip tray stays cleaner and doesn't show scratches like cut and polished trays | “can be customized with 4 body colors and a variety of wood species” 3:25 |
| Bezzera Matrix | Whole Latte Love | Acrylic side panels that scatter color and light in a user-chosen color (clear white when off), an illuminated Bezzera logo on the back, and stock Rosewood wood components. Described as having a more 'extreme'/'wild' style. | Screen can be locked for 10 seconds so you can wipe it down | “the Matrix has these acrylic side panels that scatter color and light” 31:32 |
| Breville Barista Express Impress | Tom's Coffee Corner | Matte white / sea salt white with an almost pearl-like, slightly iridescent look; smooth, rounded surfaces | Easy to wipe down thanks to rounded edges and smooth surfaces (fingerprints not specifically mentioned) | “It's a beautiful machine, especially in the sea salt white.” 16:06 |
| Breville Barista Express Impress | Tom's Coffee Corner | More organically shaped and rounded off | Easier to wipe down and keep clean | “it's more rounded off it's easier to wipe down” 9:30 |
| Breville Oracle | Tom's Coffee Corner | Says Sage/Breville machines are really easy to wipe and clean off, with rounded corners that are easy to get a rag into. | “Really easy to clean off.” 3:49 | |
| Breville Oracle Jet | Tom's Coffee Corner | beveled edges | really nice for wiping down; beveled edges make cleaning easy | “this is really nice for wiping down that's one thing that I've noticed” 16:29 |
| Diletta Bello+ | Seattle Coffee Gear | Available in white (the unit shown), stainless steel and black | A hang tag warns against aggressive detergents or abrasive sponges on the body. She agrees, saying they would scratch it. | “this machine will come in the white that you see here stainless steel and black” 1:10 |
| Diletta Bello+ | Seattle Coffee Gear | Three colors: stainless steel, shiny black powder coat with stainless accents, and white powder coat with stainless accents. Internally it has a stainless steel frame and powder-coated steel. | Implies the stainless version needs a lot of polishing ('for those of you that like to do a lot of polishing'). | “and it comes in three different colors the stainless steel over there for those of you that like to do a lot of polishing” 0:00 |
| ECM Mechanika Max | Lance Hedrick | Stainless steel chassis with a chrome mirror finish he calls beautiful; chrome plated portafilter ends that look really nice | Fingers get on it and espresso sprays onto it. It gets streaky from steam when cleaning, which he says is typical of chrome E61s. | “the whole machine itself is has this mirror finish uh which is beautiful it does get really annoying to clean” 8:03 |
| El Rocio Manus S | Hoon's Coffee | Because it sits next to the kitchen stove, he says he must keep the side of the machine extra clean from grease | “I need maintain the side of the my machine you know extra clean that's for sure” 4:21 | |
| Fellow Espresso Series 1 | James Hoffmann | Large flat chromed-metal surface. The cheapest version comes with a plastic-handled portafilter; higher prices get different finishes. Fit and finish are generally praised. | A fingerprint magnet: the flat chrome surface and the side pick up fingerprints easily. He suggests keeping a separate cloth to hand to keep it shiny. | “This large, pretty, flat surface of chromed metal, don't touch that.” 28:55 |
| Gaggia Classic GT | Lance Hedrick | Stainless steel body, glass(-like) screen, plastic switch tabs and plastic portafilter handle | Stainless body shows fingerprints easily, and the screen smudges easily and needs frequent wiping | “yes it is stainless but it's not smudgeless” 4:14 |
| Izzo Vivi PID | Seattle Coffee Gear | Inky black powder coating over a stainless steel frame/casing, applied even under the drip tray. Oak knobs and portafilter handles. | The black coat hides murky water in the drip tray, so it still looks clean and new. Fingerprints were not discussed. | “this really nice inky black powder coating all around the stainless steel frame” 0:01 |
| Kazak Rota | The Real Sprometheus | Water chamber milled from stainless steel and covered in a black leather heat shield with lace detail matching the handle. | No comment on fingerprints on the machine itself. He says the black leather wrap bleeds dye, leaving gray smudges on his hands. | “the chamber itself is milled out of stainless steel and is covered in a leather heat shield” 1:50 |
| Lelit Anna (PL41TEM) | Coffee Kev | All polished stainless steel. He says it looks decent quality for the money and calls it 'thin steel but still nonetheless not steel Club plastic'. | Like all silver steel machines, it becomes covered in fingerprints as soon as you touch it, and it acts like a mirror, which is a pain when filming. | “like all silver steel machines it just turns into one great big fingerprint” 1:14 |
| Lelit Bianca | Kyle Rowsell | Walnut accents included out of the box. Sheet metal is thinner than on some other machines, though build quality is called excellent and very high. | Coffee spits onto the front fascia, and he cleans the machine extensively every two or three days, especially when using a bottomless portafilter. | “it spits coffee all over the front fascia and you got to keep it clean” 6:02 |
| Lelit Bianca | The Real Sprometheus | Has wood pieces that have kept a smooth, soft surface without drying out or warping | Finishes and surfaces clean up nicely with no lingering stains, even when splatters were left for days or weeks | “left for days or weeks at a time, still clean up” 3:11 |
| Lelit Bianca | Lance Hedrick | His unit is painted black; a white version exists. It has wooden accents. He fitted a maple kit because walnut was unavailable, and says he likes black with walnut. | The see-through drip tray with shiny steel inside makes drips very visible, so he feels he must constantly clean it. The mirror-finish sides make the water level hard to see. | “this one is the painted one the this one's black they have a white one and it has wooden accents” 1:10 |
| Lelit Bianca | Seattle Coffee Gear | White, stainless steel and black, with wood accents and rounded corners. The reviewer prefers black. | Espresso spatter shows up immediately on the white finish. The reviewer prefers black because it gives 'a little bit of grace' before needing to wipe the machine down. | “those spatters are going to show up immediately on the white” 3:44 |
| Lelit Bianca | Seattle Coffee Gear | Comes in white, black and stainless, with rounded corners and standard wood furniture | Prefers the all-black version because espresso spatter is less evident on it and it is easier to keep cleaner | “I like the all black on the back of this machine because when spatter shows up, it's not quite as evident” 2:45 |
| Lelit Elizabeth | Coffee Kev | Classic Italian look. On camera it is called very basic, even boring, but with a charm about it. | While showing a machine from the side during the Elizabeth look discussion, he says to ignore the fingerprints. It is not explicitly stated which machine is shown. | “yeah, it looks very basic, but I don't know. It's got a charm about it.” 12:03 |
| Lelit Elizabeth | Coffee Kev | Brushed stainless steel finish, which he calls great and says hides scratches | Doesn't really hide fingerprints | “The brush stainless steel finish is great. It'll hide scratches. It doesn't really hide fingerprints though.” 3:14 |
| Lelit Glenda (PL41PLUST) | Tom's Coffee Corner | Stainless steel; he thinks it looks okay and nothing special, and nice when polished | Called a fingerprint magnet when not polished; he says that's a big no-no for wife acceptance factor | “if you got like fingerprints on it it's really kind of a fingerprint magnet” 9:02 |
| Lelit Mara X (V2/X3) | Lance Hedrick | Brushed stainless steel body (this model), with wood on the knobs, peg, group lever, portafilter and tamper. It adds mirror-polished stainless strips with the Lelit logo and exposed screws. New larger star/pentagon knobs replace the daisy shape. | The mirror-polished strips are even more prone to smudges than the brushed stainless steel, and show undulations where they are screwed in. | “it's even more prone to smudges than the brushed stainless steel” 4:34 |
| Lelit Mara X (V2/X3) | Coffee Kev | Brushed stainless steel | Said while showing the V2: Lelit makes them all in 'fingerprint magnet' brushed stainless steel | “Of course, they make them all in fingerprint magnet flipping brushed stainless steel.” 13:54 |
| Lelit Victoria | Lance Hedrick | Brushed stainless steel body; all-stainless drip tray. Portafilter handle is textured plastic that feels thin. Water lid has a rubber grip. | Brushing helps a bit, but he says it still picks up fingerprints everywhere. He likes that the lid's rubber grip avoids fingerprints. | “the fact that it's brush helps a bit but even still you get fingerprints everywhere and I don't like that” 15:45 |
| Londinium Vectis | Lance Hedrick | Mirror finish; he finds the water-fill lid ugly and visible welding a little ugly | Mirror finish picks up fingerprints, so you're constantly wiping it down | “because this has like a mirror finish you get fingerprints on it so you're constantly wiping this machine down” 6:51 |
| Ninja Luxe Cafe (ES601) | Tom's Coffee Corner | He finds the many different surfaces harder to keep clean than the Breville, though he calls this subjective. | “I just find it's a little bit easier to keep clean than all the different surfaces on this machine” 9:30 | |
| Profitec Go | Whole Latte Love | Brushed stainless steel (Whole Latte Love exclusive), made almost exclusively of stainless steel | Fingerprint-resistant coating that the reviewer calls phenomenal and says helps the machine stay looking clean | “also contains a finger print resistant coating which is just absolutely phenomenal and really helps the machine stay looking clean” 2:36 |
| Profitec Move | Whole Latte Love | Sleek powder-coated stainless steel body; satin-finish stainless drip tray faceplate; stock American walnut handles and knobs, with swappable wood (smoked oak, olive wood) and concrete options | Satin drip tray faceplate is easier to keep clean than the mirror finish common on many machines | “it's aesthetically more sophisticated and easier to keep clean than the mirror finish you see on so many machines” 10:05 |
| Profitec Pro 500 | James Hoffmann | Lots of uninterrupted shiny stainless steel; boxy, nice-looking build | Fingerprint-attracting stainless steel | “fingerprint-attracting stainless steel. I think it looks quite nice.” 15:20 |
| Profitec Ride | Whole Latte Love | Black housing with a brushed stainless steel front panel; a more contemporary look than a standard shiny chrome box. Optional custom wood components are available. | Does not show fingerprints like polished steel does. | “I appreciate how it does not show fingerprints like polished steel does, and you will, too.” 1:46 |
| Quick Mill Pop-Up | Lance Hedrick | Mirror finish, also available in black. The steam knob has a wooden accent. | Looks nice when clean, but smudges on the mirror finish are very irksome. | “right when you get a smudge on it, that is the most irksome thing in the world” 6:55 |
| Rocket Appartamento | James Hoffmann | Lots of stainless steel; premium feel | Bad for fingerprints and polishing; a lot to keep clean | “bad from a fingerprint and polishing perspective, there's a lot to keep clean here” 3:17 |
| Strietman CT2 | Lance Hedrick | Brass, copper and stainless steel, with a choice of different woods for the handles; the tamper is made from the same wood. The drip tray is a piece of copper. | Water causes age spots and tarnish over time, giving it character. He wipes it down every time he makes coffee to keep it pristine. | “this is going to get age spots and whatnot from water getting on it and it'll kind of tarnish” 15:07 |
| Superkop | Lance Hedrick | CNC-milled stainless steel internals, food-safe polycarbonate water cup, and a wooden base | Hard to wipe espresso spurts off the wooden base | “it's a bit difficult to rub espresso spurts off of it” 11:09 |
| Superkop | Lance Hedrick | Cast aluminum body; optional wooden base; polycarbonate water chamber | The wooden base option has no wipeable finish, so it gets espresso stains | “it doesn't have any type of nice finish on it that's easily wipable” 32:35 |
| Synesso ES.1 | Lance Hedrick | Available in black, blue and white (colors mentioned); a rubber mat is supplied for the top, covering panel tracks | The tall cup clearance causes splatters, which are less noticeable on the black or blue versions than on the white | “it does cause splatters if you get the black or the blue it's not as bad as if you get the white” 36:24 |
| Wendougee Lita | James Hoffmann | Mix of solid metal and cheap plastic parts. The drain box is light plastic that he hopes gets upgraded; otherwise it doesn't feel like a cheap machine. | Drain box feels grubby quite easily. | “this drain box just feels a bit grubby quite easily” 19:56 |