DeLonghi Magnifica Start Review

DeLonghi consistently makes espresso machines that punch above their price point. The Magnifica S was a great example of this, and the newly updated DeLonghi Magnifica Start is no exception either. If you’re after a simple, budget-friendly way to enjoy great coffee at home, this entry-level machine is designed with you in mind.

For the TL;DR of our DeLonghi Magnifica Start review: You can buy the machine with manual or automatic milk frothing (but we don’t think the manual wand is worth it). With the automatic LatteCrema, it’s a superb entry-level machine that makes effortless lattes and cappuccinos. It delivers solid coffee quality with zero fuss – though the grinder is a bit loud. Otherwise, it’s a standout espresso machine in its price range.

Of course, no machine is perfect. We’ve put the Magnifica Start through its paces to see how it stacks up against its predecessor and the competition. Let’s dive in:

1. LatteCrema System

DeLonghi’s proprietary “LatteCrema System” foams both cow’s milk and milk alternatives exceptionally well. The carafe can be easily detached to store in the fridge if you have leftover milk and there are handly markers on the carafe to avoid milk wastage too.

It’s also dishwasher safe, which is our absolute favorite thing for milk systems to be.

2. 5 One-Touch Recipes

The official marketing says 5, but DeLonghi is counting hot water. So there are really 4 coffee recipes plus an option for making tea. It covers most people’s preferred coffee with:

• cappuccino
• latte macchiato
• espresso
• coffee

Each one can be customized in terms of strength, length, and coffee temperature. It can also make 2 espressos at the same time.

Functionally the cappuccino and latte macchiato are the same recipe – it even pours milk first for both. But you can make one stronger and one weaker to give you some variation.

PS: These drink options are ONLY on the Magnifica Start with LatteCrema. If you opt for the manual milk wand, the one-touch recipes are espresso, coffee, and Americano. You can then make any milk-based espresso drink manually.

3. Conical Burr Grinder

13 grind settings allow you to get the ideal extraction from your favorite espresso beans. However, the finest couple of settings are basically useless as the pump isn’t powerful enough but it performs very well in the middle range.

The biggest downside to this machine is that the grinder is very loud. Confusingly it’s louder than the older Magnifica models. But as long as you’re never trying to make coffee while everyone else is sleeping, it’s fine.

4. Simple Interface

The touch buttons make this an extremely simple machine to operate. While the options are limited, changing them is intuitive. Your strength choice lights up for each drink and you can quickly cycle to your preferred strength. Cleaning, making a double espresso, etc are all simple and clear.

Since the Magnifica Start is a simple “one touch” operation for the 4 coffee options, you need to spend a little time setting up your coffee recipes.

We found the 3rd finest grind size, the highest strength, the highest temperature, and an espresso output of 30g worked best for our medium roast espresso blend beans. We used a coffee scale to set up our preferred volume which is set by holding the drink button down until it flashes quickly. Press it again just before you get your ideal volume as there’s always a slight delay in stopping the flow.

When you’re customizing the milk-based drinks it’s the same process but you first set the milk volume, then the coffee volume.

Once we’d done this, it was just a case of pushing the button for the drink we wanted.

You can easily change the strength from drink to drink or choose to use the ground coffee bypass. But if you want to change volume or temperature then these new settings will be saved as the new standard.

But honestly, nothing about using this machine is complex. It’s a simple machine for people who just want fuss-free coffee.

There are other super automatic espresso machines in this price range that give you a little more in terms of customizability. It’s whether you feel you need to have more control or just want your coffee.

You’ll never get good coffee with bad beans. You don’t need to empty your bank account but a little investment goes a long way.

The hopper can hold 8.8oz of beans so you’ll likely also need to get an airtight container as this is smaller than many bags of coffee beans.

The grinder is loud and makes a high-pitched noise while grinding, but we can’t argue with the results. We are impressed with the excellent consistency which helps to give a good depth of flavor to your shots. This is a big upgrade on the Magnifica S.

There are 13 settings though the finest 2 are useless. The pump can’t generate enough pressure to push the water through the puck when the beans are very finely ground. We also felt the coarsest 3 produced weak, under-extracted coffee. But the mid-range works great and still offers some flexibility.

This is common on super-automatic machines – the full grind range is rarely useful so it’s not a specific knock on the Magnifica Start. Remember to only change the grind setting when the grinder is running though or you risk damaging it.

If you want to try out a new coffee before committing or make the occasional decaf, there’s also a ground coffee bypass chute.

The Looks

This is a good-looking espresso machine.

It’s available in silver or black, and we particularly like it in black with the white light-up buttons. Very minimalist, very slick.

Even though it is mostly plastic (it is a budget machine after all), it doesn’t look cheap. The milk carafe doesn’t even ruin the aesthetic. Overall about as good as you can hope for at this price.

This is genuinely a compact espresso machine too which is great news if you’re short on counter space. It’s only 9.25″ wide and 14″ high, easily leaving space for wall-mounted cabinets. It’s also 17″ deep, which is pretty standard on these machines.

The Build

For the Magnifica Start to be worth it over going to a coffee shop, it has to last a few years.

DeLonghi is one of the few manufacturers we trust to consistently produce high-quality espresso machines that last.

Everything fits together well and feels well-made. Whilst it’s mostly made of plastic, that’s to be expected at this price and nothing feels flimsy or likely to break.

There is a 1-year warranty for some confidence if you’re unlucky and there’s an issue straight out of the box.

The Magnifica Start feels like a big step up from the Magnifica S in taste.

Straight out of the box, we ran into issues with the default espresso being too long resulting in weak and bitter coffee. However, after playing around with the settings we got something pretty impressive.

Our preferred settings are: max strength, 3rd finest grind setting, and a 30g espresso output.

The espresso had much more depth than from the previous generation Magnifica S and it was a better balanced shot in general.

This machine won’t put up a challenge to the quality that top baristas pull. But it’s an enjoyable espresso from a very affordable machine. In terms of quality, we’d put it on an even playing field with the similarly priced competition.

Where it excels is the LatteCrema system from DeLonghi.

Okay, maybe the microfoam could be a little denser but you’ll get really great foam from regular cow’s milk and plant-based alternatives. The milk isn’t as hot as maybe some people would like, but for us the temperature was good.

There isn’t a lot of room for customization but that’s standard at this price point and it has enough for you to get the coffee you want. Overall, we’re really impressed.

Not every part of the machine is dishwasher safe but the hardest part to clean, the milk carafe, is. It’s so easy for milk containers and their connectors to be incorrectly cleaned meaning nasty, smelly bacteria build up. So we love that DeLonghi has a button to clean the connectors and that the carafe is dishwasher safe.

The drip tray is also dishwasher safe, but sadly you need to clean the water tank and used puck container by hand.

Using a water filter will cut down on how often you need to descale the Magnifica Start. (It also depends on how hard your water is.) Descaling is easy enough to do though. It takes around 25 minutes, and should only need to be done every few months, depending on how much you use your machine.

All this is pretty standard and sadly you’ll need to do this level of cleaning with nearly every super-automatic espresso machine.

Gaggia Magenta Prestige

This is maybe the best value-for-money super-automatic espresso machine you can buy currently.

The Gaggia Magenta Prestige offers 10 drinks, a ceramic grinder, great customization options, and has Gaggia’s high-quality design and build.

The only real downside with the Magenta Prestige is the same as the Magnifica Start: the grinder is a little loud.

Overall the Gaggia Magenta Prestige is a better machine than the Magnifica Start, though it’s often $150-200 more expensive. So you have to decide if the extra drink options and slightly better quality espresso are worth the extra money to you.

DeLonghi Magnifica Evo with LatteCrema

When sat next to the Magnifica Start, the Magnifica Evo looks very dated. But looks aren’t everything and it does benefit from having iced coffee and “My Latte” settings which are a gamechanger for lots of people.

The actual coffee quality is definitely a step down from the Magnifica Start though.

So unless you’re an avid iced coffee drinker, then we don’t see any reason to go for the more dated looks and lower espresso quality. Especially when the Magnifica Evo is the same price as the Start.

Read next: Our in-depth DeLonghi Magnifica Evo Review

The DeLonghi Magnifica Start is a fantastic entry-level espresso machine that delivers great coffee with minimal effort.

Aside from the loud grinder, there’s little to complain about – especially at this price point.

If you’re after more drink variety and a slight espresso upgrade, we’d get the Gaggia Magenta Prestige instead. Even though it comes at a higher cost.

But if you’re looking for a simple, reliable, and budget-friendly way to make quality coffee at home, this is a brilliant choice. To sum up our hands-on DeLonghi Magnifica Start review: it’s an excellent buy that outperforms it’s price point.

Don’t forget to buy your DeLonghi Magnifica Start today

Matt Woodburn-Simmonds

Matt's coffee obsession started in 2006 when working as a Barista. A tendency to turn up to work hungover kickstarted his coffee journey which quickly turned into a love affair. As he moved on to work as a Restaurant Manager and Sommelier, the obsession continued to grow. Now, his passion is helping others to enjoy better coffee at home.