De'Longhi Magnifica S review: a dial and a steam wand

The De'Longhi Magnifica S is the bean-to-cup machine reviewers point to when the budget is about £300, and it suits you if you mostly drink espresso or black coffee and want it at the press of a button. It is £290.82 on Amazon at the time of writing (September 2026). It grinds, doses, tamps and brews by itself, but the milk is done by hand on a steam wand, so it is the wrong machine if you want lattes without lifting a jug. Expect the first 10 to 30 coffees to be weaker than you hoped: owners agree it needs setting up and bedding in.

Bean-to-cup machineDe'Longhi Magnifica S15 bar pump · Built-in grinder · Manual steam wand£290.82 on Amazon, checked September 2026Check price on Amazon

Who is the De'Longhi Magnifica S for?

Someone who drinks espresso, americanos or long black coffee, wants it from fresh beans without learning a portafilter, and does not want to spend much. De'Longhi lists a 15 bar pump, a 1.8 litre tank, a grounds container that holds 14 portions and 1,450W, in a body 23cm wide, 43cm deep and 34cm tall that weighs 9.3kg. The manual gives the bean container as 250g. There are two coffee sizes, each in a one-cup and two-cup version, plus hot water and steam.

The reviewers who know the range rate it for value. Coffeeness's Arne Preuss, a former barista, has kept it in his tests for years and sums it up as 'not the best, but it's definitely the best in its class'. Coffee Blog says it shares the brewing parts that matter with De'Longhi ECAM machines costing two or three times as much, and calls it usually the best value bean-to-cup machine De'Longhi sells.

What you give up for the price is convenience around the coffee rather than the coffee itself. There is no screen, the settings sit behind combinations of buttons that Preuss compares to an escape room, and milk drinks mean steaming a jug of milk yourself.

How good is the coffee?

Good espresso once it is set up, and weaker long coffee than you might expect. Preuss calls the crema exceptional and the espresso 'very good', but finds the long coffee ends up 'watery rather than full-bodied'. Coffee Kev, after a couple of hours with one, rated the espresso on a par with most bean-to-cup machines and the factory one-cup long coffee about the right strength for an americano.

The two-cup buttons are the trap. Coffee Kev found the machine grinds about the same amount of coffee whichever button you press and simply runs twice the water through it, so the two-cup long coffee came out weak. European Coffee Trip measured 8.5g to 13.5g of coffee per single espresso across the strength dial. Both channels give the same advice for a bigger drink: press a one-cup button twice rather than the two-cup button, and European Coffee Trip prefers two single espressos to the long coffee button.

Temperature is the other complaint, and De'Longhi's manual has a section of tips for hotter coffee: run the rinse cycle first to heat the spouts and the brew unit, warm the cup, and raise the brew temperature in the settings. One owner quoted on RedditRecs says a De'Longhi Dinamica makes hotter drinks than their Magnifica ever did. Several owners in a long r/superautomatic thread set the temperature to its maximum as one of the first changes.

What are the first few weeks like?

Disappointing, then fine, if the experience of owners is a guide. A new owner in r/superautomatic said every coffee from their Magnifica S tasted 'like hot garbage' after the first day. The replies were close to unanimous: throw away the first 10 coffees, expect 10 to 30 before the grinder beds in, set the temperature to maximum, and grind finer one step at a time. Six months later the same owner reported the problem solved.

The grinder needs handling the way De'Longhi describes. The manual says to turn the dial only while the grinder is running, one click at a time, and that each change shows only after at least two coffees. Coffee Blog counts 7 numbered steps with half steps between, 13 settings in all. How fine to go is where sources disagree: Coffee Kev set his half a step from the finest, European Coffee Trip got its best espresso at 2, and Preuss says the two finest settings are of little use because the grinder 'gets overwhelmed and tends to jam'. If the coffee starts to drip rather than flow, go back a click.

Beans matter more than settings. European Coffee Trip recommends coffee roasted for espresso machines but not necessarily dark, and steers you away from light filter roasts, which it says come out overly acidic and lacking body on these machines. The manual rules out caramelised or candied beans. Owners in the same Reddit thread split on oily dark roasts: some say they clog the grinder over time, others use nothing else. A medium or medium-dark roast that is not visibly oily keeps you out of that argument.

How good is the steam wand?

Better than its price suggests once you take the sleeve off. The wand comes with a panarello, a sleeve that pulls air into the milk to make foam for you. Coffee Kev found it makes stiff, big-bubbled foam, and got noticeably better milk by removing the sleeve and steaming with the bare pipe, which on this machine stays on without the cable tie he needs on a De'Longhi Dedica. He rated the steam power 'quite impressive'. European Coffee Trip was less impressed, calling it 'not very powerful', though usable.

Two routines help. Purge the wand into a cup before steaming, because the first thing out is water, as European Coffee Trip points out. And use a proper milk jug. De'Longhi's manual suggests about 100ml of cold milk per cappuccino and stops the steam after 3 minutes of continuous use. One owner quoted on RedditRecs says that with a little practice you can steam milk very nicely on it.

How much cleaning does it need?

A minute a day and ten minutes a month, which is less than an automatic milk system asks. Coffeeness says to empty and rinse the water tank, grounds container and drip tray daily, and the manual warns that the grounds container must be emptied whenever the drip tray comes out, even if it looks nearly empty. The steam wand needs wiping and a blast of steam after each use.

Once a month, the manual asks you to take out the brew unit (De'Longhi calls it the infuser) through the door on the side, soak it in water for about 5 minutes, rinse it under the tap without washing-up liquid, and brush away the coffee around it. European Coffee Trip does the same monthly. In r/superautomatic comparisons with Philips machines, owners recommend the De'Longhi for black coffee because its brew group 'requires less maintenance'.

Descaling is where the time goes. The machine tells you when, based on the water hardness you set, and Coffeeness expects about once a month. European Coffee Trip timed the cycle at 45 to 60 minutes. The supplied water filter lasts about two months, according to the manual, and De'Longhi says to use only its own descaler, 100ml a time, or risk faults not covered by the guarantee.

How long does a Magnifica S last?

A long time, on the owner reports we could read. In the r/superautomatic thread, one owner had used the same model for 10 years, another has Magnificas at the office and at their parents' house that are both over five years old 'with zero issues', and another has had a Magnifica XS producing good coffee for over 6 years. RedditRecs collects similar comments: a 2017 Magnifica working for eight years, and an older Magnifica S for ten.

Not every report is clean. One long-term owner on RedditRecs says theirs eventually got stuck showing the descale light while still making coffee. We could not find a failure that several owners report, which for a machine sold for this long is a good sign.

What does a year of coffee cost through it?

About £460 in beans at two drinks a day, at the median price of the whole bean coffee we track: 63p a cup on an 18g dose, across 812 products. Two a day for a year is 730 drinks, and 730 at 63p is £459.90. A single espresso on the Magnifica S uses less than 18g (European Coffee Trip measured 13.5g at the strongest setting), which brings the median down to about 47p a shot, but a double made with two presses uses more.

Against a £3.50 flat white, each drink at home saves about £2.87 in coffee, so the £290.82 machine has paid for itself after about 102 drinks: seven or eight weeks at two a day. That leaves out milk, which the café price includes and your home cup does not.

Consumables add a little. At one filter every two months you need six a year, and De'Longhi's own two-pack is £13.80 on Amazon at the time of writing, so about £41 a year. If the machine asks to descale monthly, De'Longhi's EcoDecalk in 10 x 100ml doses is about £26 on Amazon, enough for ten descales.

What are the alternatives?

If most of what you drink has milk in it, the Philips Series 2300 LatteGo is £369 on Amazon at the time of writing. Its two-part LatteGo jug makes cappuccino at one touch and rinses clean under a tap, at the cost, owners of Philips machines say, of a milder shot.

Bean-to-cup machinePhilips Series 2300 LatteGo15 bar pump · Ceramic grinder · LatteGo milk systemOne-touch cappuccino from a two-part milk jug.£369.00 on Amazon, checked September 2026Check price on AmazonRead the review

If two people drink different things, or one of you drinks decaf, the De'Longhi Rivelia is £592 on Amazon at the time of writing. It adds a touchscreen, an automatic milk carafe and two swappable 250g bean hoppers.

Bean-to-cup machineDe'Longhi Rivelia19 bar pump · Built-in grinder · LatteCrema Hot carafe16 one-touch drinks, two bean hoppers, LatteCrema Hot carafe.£592.00 on Amazon, checked September 2026Check price on AmazonRead the review

All three, compared on specs and a year of running costs, are in our shortlist. The best bean-to-cup coffee machine

What warranty do you get in the UK?

De'Longhi's UK product page includes a 2 year warranty, and 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). Use De'Longhi's descaler: its manual says the wrong product can cause faults the guarantee does not cover.