Jura ENA 8 vs DeLonghi Dinamica Plus

Jura and DeLonghi approach making espresso machines very differently. Jura aims for beautiful design, ease, and great quality but with fewer features. DeLonghi prefers to cram in as many features as possible for the price, even if some aren’t all that great. Comparing Jura ENA 8 vs DeLonghi Dinamica Plus is a perfect example of these two philosophies colliding at the same price point.

Having used both machines, I believe the Jura ENA 8 is undoubtedly the better espresso machine in both coffee and milk quality. It just depends if you think it’s worth the extra upfront price and running costs. The DeLonghi Dinamica Plus is also a superb machine and if you’re willing to compromise a little on your morning brew, it’s amazing value for money.

Which one is the perfect machine all depends on your exact espresso needs and desires. We’ve tested them both and are comparing all their features here so you can pick your own winner.

Overall the two machines are roughly the same size:

The Dinamica Plus is 1.4 inches narrower (9.3″ vs 10.7″) and 0.6″ shallower (16.9″ vs 17.5″). But the ENA 8 is 1 inch shorter (12.7″ vs 13.7″) which is important if you have cabinets above your countertop. That said, the differences are so small that it’s unlikely to make a difference unless you’re very tight on space.

The ENA 8 is definitely the better-looking espresso machine. I know looks are subjective, but it’s hard to argue the case for the Dinamica Plus. The new touchscreen design on the ENA 8 is stunning alongside the curved edges and crystal effect water carafe. If you’re looking for a minimalist appliance that’ll be a feature of your kitchen then this is it.

That fancy water tank only has a 37oz capacity though compared to the huge 60oz capacity of the Dinamica Plus. Probably only an issue if you use your machine very heavily but still noteworthy.

Both machines are plastic on the outside. But I think the finish on the ENA 8 feels more premium than the slightly shiny finish of the Dinamica Plus.

Jura upgraded the ENA 8 to take away the buttons and put in a touchscreen. But it’s not entirely an upgrade – I found it easier to use the buttons as the touchscreen isn’t the most sensitive or responsive. It’s also a recent change so there’s still a lot of stock around with the buttons so double check before buying.

The Dinamica Plus has a nice blend of soft-touch buttons and a touchscreen which makes navigating the menu and customizing the coffees a little easier for me. Maybe I’m just old though.

Winner

The ENA 8 is undoubtedly the better-looking machine. As long as you can fit the extra couple of inches onto your countertop and are ok with the smaller water carafe. The Dinamica Plus doesn’t look bad, Jura just makes gorgeous espresso makers.

Either way, you’ll get a 2-year warranty as standard. Though DeLonghi offers an additional year if you buy direct.

On pure espresso quality alone, the Jura ENA 8 is the better machine.

When they gave it a facelift, they also upgraded to Jura’s “Professional Aroma Grinder”. Doing so elevated an already good espresso to a whole new level.

It took us some time playing around with the settings to find the sweet spot for the most full-bodied espresso shots. But, for me, the magic happens when you shorten the size to 1oz (the standard size is 2oz), turn the dose up to max (10g), and use the 3rd finest grinder setting (this was for the medium-dark roast beans we used during testing.)

The DeLonghi Dinamica Plus also makes good espresso. Just not as good as the ENA 8. In fact, there are a couple of options that we think are just bad:

The “coffee pot” function makes 6 long coffees in a row but I found the weak, bitter coffee brewed basically undrinkable. And the “lungo” option isn’t great either – it almost always tasted bitter no matter which settings we used.

You do get more pre-programmed drinks with the DeLonghi – 13 vs 11. But since we think 2 of the DeLonghi options are awful, you’re looking at the same number of choices.

One nice feature of the Dinamica Plus is the “over ice” black coffee option. The machine tells you how many ice cubes to use (don’t freelance that part – it’s impressively accurate) and you get a pretty good iced coffee from it. It’s a nice feature, particularly in the summer months.

Winner

The coffee quality from the ENA 8 is definitely better than the Dinamica Plus. That new grinder plus all the fancy tech inside the Jura coffee maker really does make a difference.

The Dinamica Plus makes good espresso, but it just can’t reach the quality of the Jura.

The ENA 8 doesn’t let you customize the foam on your drink, only the volume. It does offer different foam styles for cappuccino, flat white, and cortado. But if you don’t like the texture, you can’t change it.

The Dinamica Plus takes the opposite approach – there’s a dial on the milk carafe that the machine will tell you to adjust depending on the drink. So if you think the cappuccino is too foamy, you can just turn it down.

I like having the flexibility but I still think the foam texture from the ENA 8 is superior to the Dinamica Plus.

Across all the ENA 8’s drinks, the milk texture was pretty close to what we expected except for the cortado which had too much foam. We’re willing to overlook it though as almost all super-automatics (and many baristas) do this when making a cortado.

The Dinamica Plus doesn’t get the texture right for a flat white. We tried 4 or 5 times but it just wasn’t silky enough for us. It’s still good, just not quite right.

So the ENA 8 definitely produces better milk foam, but with fewer options to adjust it.

If you’re going for the Dinamica Plus you have to be happy to sacrifice some milk quality for more freedom to play with it.

Winner

We’ll take better milk quality every time so it’s the Jura ENA 8 for us.

When it comes to espresso drinks with milk, we want the best quality milk possible rather than trusting that some slight settings adjustments will get it right. A manual wand will always be the best of the best so, in its absence, we’ll take the ENA 8.

Psst… If you don’t drink milk-based coffees, why pay for features you don’t need? The ENA 4 might be more up your street – see how it compares to the ENA 8, here.

Both machines have a beautiful color display to help you navigate the drinks options and then tailor them to your tastes. We found the ENA 8 much easier to use as it has precise units to choose from for coffee and milk volumes. So you can choose how many ounces of coffee and milk go into each drink.

The DeLonghi Dinamica Plus has nice buttons to make adjusting the amounts nice and simple, but there are no units of scale on the machine. So you have to guess based on the factory settings and how “full” the bar is. Once you get the hang of what changing the number of beans or size of coffee cup means, it becomes only slightly annoying.

The Dinamica Plus does have 3 user profiles though. So if a few people use the machine, they can save their own version of each drink to their profile. It’s something we’d very much like the ENA 8 to have.

Winner

It’s easier to use the ENA 8 because the units on the customization screen make perfecting your ratio and volume so much simpler. The DeLonghi is still very easy to use though so there’s not much to choose between them.

First of all, the WiFi Connect for the ENA 8 costs around $50 and is not included. It’s just a plastic dongle that you need to plug into the back of the machine so it will communicate with your phone. And it really annoys me that it’s not included since you’re already paying a lot. But maybe that’s why I’m not as rich as Jura!

The DeLonghi Connected app makes adjusting your drinks so much easier than the machine’s native menus. You can see the precise measurements in ml or oz of the drinks and adjust them to your liking.

I use an old Samsung phone and my wife has an iPhone, and the app worked fine for both of us. But I’ve spoken with other people who’ve struggled to get it to work. Hopefully it was just a bug that’s been fixed.

Jura’s app used to be hilariously bad, but they’ve really improved it recently and it’s now an excellent addition. It also means everyone can save their own version of each drink so the lack of user profiles isn’t such a big deal.

As the customization on the machine itself is more precise with the ENA 8, the app is less of a necessity. But it’s very handy, especially if (like me) your phone is surgically attached to your arm.

Winner

The DeLonghi app is our winner as it greatly improves the experience of customizing drinks on the Dinamica Plus. You also don’t have to extra, which is a big negative on the ENA 8.

You get better espresso, better milk, a better-looking machine, and easier customization. But you have to pay for all those extras.

If you’re in a household with several coffee drinkers then the user profiles on the DeLonghi might make it the better choice. Or maybe the ENA 8 simply isn’t worth the extra money for you.

The DeLonghi Dinamica Plus is still a very good espresso machine. In fact, it’s our favorite Delonghi espresso maker. But as coffee lovers, we’ll always choose to pay a little more for better coffee.

Two very strong competitors are the Gaggia Babila and DeLonghi Eletta Explore. Both are excellent super-automatic espresso machines coming in around the same price.

Gaggia Babila

The Gaggia Babila is perfect for people who like to perfect their espresso machine settings. While it doesn’t offer the variety of either the Jura ENA 8 or DeLonghi Dinamica Plus, it does have a manual steam wand and an amazing flow control dial. Combined, this means better coffee and milk.

Around the same price as the ENA 8, it can produce better espresso, with practice. Plus better milk as long as you do it yourself.

Read next: Take a deep dive into the Jura ENA 8 vs Gaggia Babila

DeLonghi Eletta Explore

The DeLonghi Eletta Explore is a little more expensive than the Dinamica Plus but is an absolute dream if you love iced coffee. In addition to all the regular hot drinks, you get a full raft of over-ice options including milky espresso drinks. So at the touch of a button, you can get iced coffee or iced latte.

The espresso isn’t quite as good as the Dinamica Plus and you have 2 milk carafes to clean (one for hot milk and one for cold.) But if you want choice and, more importantly, iced coffee then it’s an excellent option.

The Jura ENA 8 is undoubtedly a better machine in terms of the quality of the drinks it can make. It’s whether you feel this justifies spending a couple of hundred dollars more or not.

It’s also a better-looking espresso machine, but it will also be more expensive to run as you need Jura-branded cleaning and filters.

So are you willing to sacrifice some quality to save money and get the, still excellent, DeLonghi Dinamica Plus?

Or is it all about amazing coffee and the Jura ENA 8 is the only option?

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.