So this is DeLonghi's flagship machine, and it's definitely one of their best overall, but the only thing I would say is that some of their newer machines (the Rivelia and the Eletta Explore) have a lot of the same features.
Features and Benefits
- 18 One Touch Coffees: Espresso, coffee, long, doppio+, coffee pot, Americano, cappuccino, latte macchiato, cappuccino mix, caffe latte, flat white, cortado, espresso macchiato
- One Touch Milk Carafe
- 12 Grind Settings
- Water Tank (front accessed): 2.2 L
- Max Cup Height: 14 cm
- Dimensions (WxDxH): 26.2 x 48.5 x 39 cm
The Rivelia doesn't quite have the same premium look & feel as the Primadonna Soul, the Eletta Explore though, for me, comes very close to this in terms of the premium build quality and the features.
So if I were looking at this, I'd also be looking at the Eletta Explore, and asking myself what I'd be gaining, exactly, for the additional cost, as for me that's not entirely clear.
The app is pretty good, it works well as the interface for the bean adapt feature, which is De'Longhi's answer to barista assistance.
Bean adapt isn't a bad feature, it's not really "dialling in" as such, but it's something, it does help the user to attempt to get more satisfactory results with each bean, and it's very simple to use.
Like most coffee machine apps, it's not really all that useful, and I think a lot of people will find that they probably don't use it much, if at all, once the novelty wears off.
It can't take a cup out of the cupboard and put it on the drip tray for you, and yes you can wake it up from the app, but then it'll do a rinse of the group, so if you leave a cup on the drip tray and then order a coffee from your bed, your first coffee of the day will include some slightly rank rinse water.
I do think the price point of this machine vs the features compared to some of DeLonghi's cheaper machines including the Dinamica and particularly the Eletta Explore, is a bit too far into the point of diminishing returns.
Having said that, if you can grab this while it's on offer, it's a sturdy, well built machine so you should find it lasts long enough to make it great long term value for money, and it'll make pretty decent coffee considering it's a fully automatic bean to cup machine.
For more information on Delonghi coffee machines see: