De'Longhi Dedica EC685 review: cheap, slim and forgiving

The De'Longhi Dedica EC685 is the cheapest sensible way into pump espresso: £173.75 on Amazon at the time of writing (September 2026), 14.9cm wide, and designed to make crema from supermarket pre-ground coffee without a grinder. Buy it if your budget stops under £200 or your kitchen has no room for anything wider. Skip it if you want silky flat whites or lighter, fruitier coffee, because reviewers agree that is where it falls short, and the upgrades that fix it cost money you could put toward a Sage Bambino Plus.

Espresso machineDe'Longhi Dedica Style EC68515 bar pump · Thermoblock · Panarello steam wand£173.75 on Amazon, checked September 2026Check price on Amazon

Who is the De'Longhi Dedica EC685 for?

Someone who wants espresso and cappuccino at home for under £200, uses pre-ground coffee, and has a narrow gap on the worktop. De'Longhi lists a 15 bar pump, a Thermoblock heater, a 1.1 litre removable tank and 1,300W, in a body 149mm wide, 330mm deep and 305mm tall that weighs 4.22kg. It also takes ESE pods, the flat paper pads of pre-portioned coffee, in a basket of their own.

It is sold as the Dedica Style. TechRadar's Helen McCue notes that the EC685 replaced the earlier EC680 and added a two-setting milk wand and a two-level drip tray that takes taller cups.

The baskets explain most of the machine. All three are pressurised (double-walled), which means the basket rather than the coffee creates the resistance. Tom's Coffee Corner shows why that helps a beginner: supermarket pre-ground espresso, a light tamp with the plastic tamper, and the shot still comes out with crema. Coffeeness's Arne Preuss, a former barista, calls the pressurised baskets an 'effective band-aid' for the machine's weaknesses, one that costs some flavour.

What is the espresso like out of the box?

Acceptable with pre-ground espresso blends, and on the cool side. McCue got a smooth, intense espresso once her tamping was right, measured it at 65°C in the cup at the default setting, and notes there are three temperature settings to choose from. Preuss is less kind about those settings, which he nicknames 'completely useless', 'useless' and 'the only choice'.

James Hoffmann's 2020 test of machines under £500 is the most detailed account. He had to modify the portafilter to fit a non-pressurised basket, found the shot tasted 'slightly cool', and said light roasts would be 'an enormous uphill battle' while medium to dark espresso roasts could give a good experience. His summary was that it is 'okay, for the money', but 'a machine at that price point that says to me it's worth spending more'.

Coffee Kev takes the opposite view for ordinary coffee drinkers: if value for money is the priority, he rates the Dedica Style one of the best machines on the market. The difference is expectation. For a cappuccino from supermarket coffee, reviewers agree it is enough. For espresso you would drink neat and pay attention to, it is where people start spending.

How good is the milk wand?

Better than most wands of its type, and still the weak point for flat whites. The EC685 has a panarello, a sleeve that draws air into the milk for you, with two settings: hot milk and cappuccino foam. Coffee Kev calls it 'the best panarello I've ever used', and says you can control the texture by switching from the foam setting to hot milk partway through. McCue steamed 150ml of milk in 30 seconds.

Hoffmann found it the hardest of his five machines to get silky milk from: pleasantly fluffy, but difficult to pour a latte with. De'Longhi does not include a milk jug, McCue notes, so budget for one.

The routine has one rule. After steaming, the machine asks you to run a cooling cycle before it will pull another espresso, so TechRadar's advice is to pull every shot first and steam all the milk at the end.

What do owners change first?

The tamper, then the portafilter, then the wand. This is where the Dedica's low price starts to climb.

• A metal 51mm tamper. Preuss calls the plastic one in the box 'absolute junk', and Tom's Coffee Corner suggests replacing it too.
• A bottomless portafilter with a single wall basket. De'Longhi builds the pressurisation into the portafilter itself, Coffee Kev explains, so standard baskets need an aftermarket portafilter. With fresh beans, a grinder and a single wall basket, Tom's Coffee Corner pulls a properly extracted shot from it.
• The panarello comes off. Coffee Kev and Tom's Coffee Corner both remove the sleeve and cable-tie the rubber pipe on, then use the bare wand like a conventional steam wand.

Add those up and the case for the Dedica weakens. A grinder Coffee Kev would pair with an espresso machine, such as the Baratza Encore ESP at £159.95 on Amazon at the time of writing, costs nearly as much as the Dedica itself. The Sage Bambino Plus, at £349.95, already comes with single wall baskets, a metal tamper and a milk jug.

What annoys owners?

• It is light. Hoffmann had to grip it to lock the portafilter in, and occasionally pressed buttons doing so.
• The drip tray is small, though Hoffmann and Tom's Coffee Corner both note it has a float to warn you before it overflows.
• There is no three-way solenoid valve, so Tom's Coffee Corner waits about a minute after a shot before removing the portafilter, to avoid a spray of coffee. He counts it as a plus, because the pucks knock out cleanly.
• There is little room under the spouts. Cups up to 12cm fit only with the drip tray removed, and McCue needed small espresso cups to brew two at once.
• The cup warmer divides opinion: Tom's Coffee Corner says it barely gets warm, while Preuss says it gets 'surprisingly toasty'.

We could not open enough long-term ownership reports to name a common failure. The complaints that recur across reviewers are about design, not breakdowns.

What does a year of coffee cost through it?

About £518 in coffee at two drinks a day if you buy pre-ground at the median price we track: 71p a cup on an 18g dose, across 483 ground coffees. That makes £692.05 for the first year including the machine, against £2,555 to £2,920 for two flat whites a day at £3.50 to £4.

Against a £3.50 flat white, each pre-ground drink at home saves about £2.79 in coffee, so the Dedica pays for itself in about 63 drinks, around a month at two a day, before milk. Whole beans at our 63p median would save about £58 a year over pre-ground at two a day, which takes nearly three years to repay a £159.95 grinder on price alone.

Descaling is the one regular running cost. Coffeeness notes the machine flashes its lights when it is due, and De'Longhi's EcoDecalk descaler is about £12 for 500ml on Amazon at the time of writing.

What are the alternatives?

The Sage Bambino Plus, if you can stretch to £349.95. Coffee Kev notes it has a 9 bar over-pressure valve and pump-controlled pre-infusion, it comes with single wall baskets, and its automatic milk steaming is the feature Hoffmann rated most highly. It still needs a grinder for fresh beans.

Espresso machineSage Bambino Plus15 bar pump · ThermoJet · Automatic steam wandAutomatic milk, single and dual wall baskets, metal tamper.£349.95 on Amazon, checked September 2026Check price on AmazonRead the review

All three beginner machines, compared on specs and a year of running costs, are in our shortlist. The best espresso machine for beginners

What warranty do you get in the UK?

De'Longhi UK says all of its coffee machines carry a minimum 2 year guarantee from the date of purchase. Separately, GOV.UK's guidance says a seller must repair or replace a faulty item returned within six months unless it can prove the fault was not there when you bought it, and that you have up to six years to claim (five in Scotland).