De'Longhi do a very good job of building low cost machines that last. They're a huge brand, they target the mainstream home appliance market so they need to keep their prices competitive, but they don't do it in ways that tend to compromise the longevity or durability of their machines.
So, yeah, they're mainly plastic (especially their lowest price machines), they're "no frills", they usually have pressurised baskets, or pressurisation in the portafilter (you can get around this, if you want to), but they're also usually the most capable for their cost, and they usually last well.
Features and Benefits
• 1 L Water Tank
• Compact size, 21cm w x 34 cm d x 26 cm t
• 150ml Stainless Steel Brew Boiler
• Pro Steam Wand (Panarello version also available
• Comes in a range of different colours
• 51mm portafilter - pressurised
In a nutshell, this is a portafilter espresso machine with a 150ml stainless steel boiler, and a proper steam wand, for under a hundred quid!
Just to put that into perspective, the Gaggia Classic Pro E24, even with the new higher capacity boiler (just because of the reduced thickness of the boiler material, being brass instead of the previously used Aluminium) has a slightly smaller boiler (now just under 130ml).
This isn't to say size is everything, but it's impressive that such a cheap espresso machine, from such a well known brand which is known for making machines that last, has a stainless steel 150ml boiler.
It has a manual shot dial similar to the Sage Duo Temp Pro, so ultra simple controls, not much electronics to go wrong, and it has a 51mm portafilter with a pressurised basket.
If you want to use pre-ground coffee or grind your own commodity beans (meaning big brand coffee beans with no roasted on date) then just use the supplied portafilter.
If you want to use freshly roasted coffee beans, and the ability to dial in, you'll just want to swap out the portafilter and the basket.
Most of the options when it comes to 51mm 2 eared portafilters that fit the Stilosa, will be bottomless, for example the Normcore bottomless portafilter is popular, as is the wooden handled 51mm portafilter from Ikape.
Just keep in mind that bottomless portafilters look great when you're dialled in, and they increase max cup height, plus they can give you some visual clues about what's happening with the extraction.
The issue though, with bottomless portafilters, is they're messy, until you're dialled in. You'll get what are known as spurters, which is espresso spraying from the basket at all angles, and it's messy and annoying.
If you have a capable grinder, though, and you can get well dialled in, once you've done that, bottomless portafilters are great.
If you want a spouted option, there aren't many, due to the popularity of bottomless portafilters I assume, but have a look at this 51mm spouted 2 eared portafilter, which is compatible with the Stilosa.
You will find many people recommending switching the basket to an IMS or VST precision basket, and I'd say that's fine as long as you have a decent, capable grinder.
Most sub £300 espresso grinders (I'm referring here to electric grinders, not manual) aren't quite up to the task of grinding fine enough with precision baskets, or high extraction baskets.
The stock basket that will come with the above suggestions, should be plenty high quality enough for using with other, more entry level grinders paired with the Stilosa.