The Breville Barista Express 845 and the Barista Pro 860 are both excellent all-in-one espresso machines from Breville sharing a similar purpose of bringing café-quality coffee home, but they cater to different users through their interface, speed, and price. In short, the Barista Express 845 is an entry-level favorite with manual controls and a great price point, while the Barista Pro 860 offers a premium experience with a fast-heating system and an intuitive digital display for an added cost.
This guide breaks down exactly what sets them apart so you can choose the right machine for your home coffee bar.
Breville Barista Express 845
The Barista Express 845 is one of the most popular and recommended machines for people starting out with home espresso. It integrates a high-quality conical burr grinder and a steam wand into a compact, affordable package. Its popularity comes from providing everything you need to go from bean to espresso in a single machine that balances user control with straightforward operation.
- What it is: A semi-automatic espresso machine with a built-in conical burr grinder and manual steam wand.
- Key features: Integrated conical burr grinder, 15 bar Italian pump, pressure gauge for dialing in espresso shots, hands-free grinding cradle, and a manual steam wand for texturing milk.
- Price: Around $700–$750
- Style: Classic industrial design with a brushed stainless steel finish, manual knobs, and an easy-to-read analog pressure gauge.
- Materials/Construction: Durable stainless steel build with some high-quality plastic components. Provides a sturdy and premium feel.
- Pros: Excellent value for an all-in-one machine. The tactile controls are great for learning the fundamentals of espresso. It consistently produces high-quality shots and offers a true hands-on barista experience. Compact footprint suits an average sized or smaller kitchen counter.
- Cons: Slower thermocoil heating system takes over 30 seconds to get to temperature. The learning curve is slightly steeper due to its manual nature. Some users may find the analog interface less precise than a digital one.
This machine is ideal for aspiring at-home baristas who want all-in-one functionality and enjoy the tactile, hands-on process of making espresso.
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Breville Barista Pro 860
The Barista Pro 860 is the upgraded successor to the Express, designed for home users who want faster performance and a more modern user experience. Its biggest improvement is the ThermoJet heating system, which gets the machine ready to pull shots in just three seconds. Combined with a sleek LCD interface, it streamlines the coffee-making process without sacrificing control.
- What it is: A step-up semi-automatic espresso machine featuring a rapid heat-up system, an LCD screen, and a powerful steam wand.
- Key features: Innovative ThermoJet heating system with a 3-second heat-up time. Intuitive LCD interface for grind and shot programming. Integrated conical burr grinder with more control and a wider range of settings. A powerful steam wand for better milk texturing to get closer to true microfoam.
- Price: Around $900–$1,000
- Style: Sleek and modern with a refined stainless steel finish and minimalist profile. The central feature is its clear, easy-to-use digital display.
- Materials/Construction: Robust, high-quality stainless steel build designed for frequent use and longevity. The fit and finish feel slightly more premium than the 845.
- Pros: Incredibly fast 3-second heat-up time is perfect for busy mornings. The LCD interface offers precise control over grind size, dose, and shot time in an intuitive format. It also offers a slightly better steaming process. Streamlined and modern design.
- Cons: Carries a significant price increase over the 845. Some traditionalists may prefer the tactile feel of manual controls. The slightly larger size still fits in an average kitchen, but has a different footprint than the 845.
The Barista Pro delivers professional performance and precision for the serious coffee enthusiast who values speed, convenience, and a contemporary workflow.
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Breville 845 vs. Breville 860 Comparison
Performance & Speed
The most significant practical difference between the Barista Express 845 and the Barista Pro 860 is speed. The 845 uses a traditional thermocoil heater that takes around a minute to heat up, which is standard for many home machines. In contrast, the 860 features Breville's advanced ThermoJet heating system, which is ready to brew in just three seconds. This is a dramatic improvement for anyone in a hurry or those who make multiple drinks back-to-back.
The 860's steam wand is also slightly more powerful, generating steam almost instantly after brewing. This leads to faster and potentially better and more fine-tuned milk texturing for latte art lovers versus the great but slower steam capabilities of the Barista Express 845. Both have the same commercial quality grinder, however, with nuanced differences related to digital readouts and greater control in settings, so both excel here, but differently depending on how much information and feedback a serious home barista craves.
User Experience & Interface
Control-wise, these two machines could be in different universes. The Barista Express 845 provides a more analog and old-school manual experience. With physical buttons, knobs, and an analog pressure gauge, you get direct, tactile feedback for every adjustment. This makes it a fantastic learning tool, though it might require some trial and error to dial in your perfect shot.
The Barista Pro 860 offers a much more streamlined, modern digital experience. Its intuitive LCD screen provides at-a-glance information on things like grind size, dosing duration, and shot time. It's much easier to replicate espresso based on data from last successful tries with an easier process because of this screen. Some old-school baristas might prefer the manual, but for speed, consistency, and repeatability, the screens just work and deliver fewer coffee pucks thrown into the trash, saving money on coffee while making great espresso and milk foam for a latte.
Style & Footprint
While constructed from high-quality brushed stainless steel, the two machines have distinct aesthetics. The Barista Express 845 has a classic, almost industrial design suitable for a warm and rustic kitchen with vintage design elements, highlighting form over pure minimalism. Its prominent pressure gauge feels like something from a professional café but is built for the size constraints necessary for at-home brewing.
The 860 has a sleek modern profile that's perfect for a minimalist, streamlined kitchen. The slightly larger machine than the 845 offers a simple yet effective style with a minimalist profile. In terms of dimensions, they are very similar, with the 845 measuring approximately 12 x 13 x 16 inches and the 860 coming in at nearly identical dimensions, both fitting comfortably on most average household kitchen counters.
Price & Value
The Barista Express 845 typically costs around $700–$750, providing an incredible amount of value as an all-in-one machine. For that price, you're getting a reliable espresso maker and a quality burr grinder, which is truly excellent for a beginner's at-home espresso journey, allowing them to experience the joy of brewing espresso the right way at home, rather than visiting a local (more expensive!) barista.
Priced at $900-$1,000, the Barista Pro's cost is justified by its superior heating time, intuitive interface, controls, and slightly higher performance for the more-dedicated at-home espresso enthusiast. Overall, if time, repeatability, and consistency are what you are looking for, and you will make drinks with the machine frequently, then the cost of the more expensive machine will justify itself for those espresso lovers.
Which One Should You Choose?
Both Breville machines excel in different ways for different people. Here’s a quicker summary to help with making your purchase decisions.
Choose the Barista Express 845 if: you want a classic espresso experience, enjoy the manual process, and are budget-conscious.
Choose the Barista Pro 860 if: you are a serious home coffee enthusiast who wants a faster, more integrated technology experience and doesn't mind spending a bit more.
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