Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus: Which Should You Buy?

The Breville Bambino and Bambino Plus share the same ThermoJet heating system, the same 54mm portafilter, the same 15-bar pump, and the same 3-second heat-up time. They pull the same espresso. The National Coffee Association recommends 20–30 seconds of contact time at a 1:2 ratio for espresso — both machines deliver that identically.

So what does the extra $150 actually buy? Three things: a 3-way solenoid valve (cleaner pucks, no post-shot dripping), an automatic milk frothing option alongside the manual steam wand, and a larger 64 oz water tank. That’s it. Same espresso, same heat-up, same extraction. The question is whether those three additions matter to your specific morning routine — and the answer depends entirely on how you make your coffee.

Side-by-Side Specs

Four specs differ meaningfully: steam wand type (manual-only vs automatic + manual), water tank size (47 oz vs 64 oz), width (6.25” vs 7.5”), and weight (11 lbs vs 12.4 lbs). The rest — portafilter size, pump pressure, heating system, dose control, heat-up time — are identical. Both machines sit on the same ThermoJet platform and share the same temperature characteristics.

When the Bambino Is the Better Buy

$50–$200

Breville Bambino

Best for: Budget-conscious beginners who want real espresso without the Plus markup

4.3 (2,854 reviews)

Same 3-second ThermoJet heat-up and 54mm portafilter as the Plus, minus auto-frothing — $150 saved

Pros

• +3-second heat-up — same ThermoJet system as the Bambino Plus
• +54mm portafilter with both pressurized and non-pressurized baskets
• +Compact footprint fits small kitchens
• +$150 cheaper than the Plus — spend the savings on a grinder

Cons

• −No automatic milk frothing — manual steam wand only
• −Portafilter and tamper feel lightweight and plastic
• −No on/off switch — always drawing standby power
• −No solenoid valve — water pools on puck after shot (cosmetic, not functional)

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If you steam milk manually and want to put the $150 savings toward a better grinder, the Bambino gives you the same espresso for less money.

The Bambino does everything the Plus does for pulling shots — same ThermoJet, same 3-second heat-up, same 54mm portafilter with both pressurized and non-pressurized baskets. On r/espresso, one owner used a Bambino for seven years before upgrading — not because the machine failed, but because they wanted a larger boiler for entertaining. The Bambino Plus has a shorter track record, but owners report six-year lifespans, and one used theirs to launch a coffee cart business before upgrading to a Decent Espresso machine. The Bambino is the most popular espresso machine on r/espresso by flair count, appearing in more setup posts than machines costing several times as much.

Where the Bambino genuinely wins:

• $150 saved. That’s the cost of a Baratza Encore — a standalone grinder that outperforms both Bambinos’ capabilities when paired with either machine. The community consensus is clear: the grinder matters more than the machine, and the Specialty Coffee Association’s standards emphasize grind consistency as the primary variable in extraction quality. Putting the savings toward a grinder produces a bigger quality improvement than upgrading to the Plus.
• Single-hole steam tip is better for learning. If you’re new to manual milk steaming, the Bambino’s single-hole tip gives you more control over smaller amounts of milk. The Plus’s 3-hole tip is faster but less forgiving for beginners. Both tips are interchangeable — you can swap them later.
• The blooming-shot hack. Without a solenoid valve, you can turn the pump off and restart it mid-shot to create a blooming extraction profile. On r/espresso, owners treat this as a feature, not a limitation — though it’s an advanced technique most beginners won’t use in their first few months. If you’re the kind of person who experiments with extraction profiles, the base Bambino gives you this option; the Plus’s solenoid valve makes it impossible.
• Slightly more compact. At 6.25” wide vs the Plus’s 7.5”, the Bambino fits tighter counter spaces. Both share the same 13.5” depth and 12” height.

The honest downside: Without a solenoid valve, the Bambino leaves water pooling on the puck after every shot. You need to move your cup and scale quickly, and the portafilter may spit. One r/espresso owner summarized it bluntly: “It isn’t worth it, it is a minor inconvenience — you need to move your cup and scale out of the way quickly, and you may get some portafilter spit. But a 3-way solenoid valve alone isn’t worth 50% extra.” A puck screen helps with extraction evenness and reduces the soupy-puck issue, but it doesn’t eliminate it.

When the Bambino Plus Is the Better Buy

$200–$500

Breville Bambino Plus

Best for: Beginners who want great espresso with minimal learning curve

4.1 (2,762 reviews)

3-second heat-up with automatic milk frothing — closest to cafe-quality with zero barista skills

Pros

• +3-second heat-up — fastest in this price range
• +Automatic milk frothing produces decent microfoam
• +Compact footprint fits small kitchens
• +54mm portafilter with pressurized and non-pressurized baskets

Cons

• −Reliability concerns — some owners report failures within 12–18 months
• −Struggles with lighter roasts without temperature surfing
• −Thermoblock heating less durable long-term than traditional boilers
• −Amazon pricing fluctuates — check current price before buying

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If you make milk drinks daily, want the convenience of auto-frothing even occasionally, or find the post-shot dripping on the base Bambino genuinely irritating, the Plus addresses all three.

The Bambino Plus adds a 3-way solenoid valve that cuts pressure immediately when you stop the shot — no dripping, cleaner pucks, and no need to rush your cup off the drip tray. It also adds automatic milk frothing: insert the jug, press a button, and get decent microfoam without manual technique. And the water tank is 64 oz vs the Bambino’s 47 oz — a 36% increase that means fewer refills if you’re making multiple drinks.

On r/espresso, the Bambino Plus has the highest positive-to-negative comment ratio of any espresso machine in a Reddit-wide sentiment analysis. One owner of a high-end Decent Espresso machine called the Bambino Plus “the best value in espresso machines.” A Rocket Appartamento owner considered selling their machine to “downgrade” to a Bambino Plus, and the top comment (301 upvotes) from a Bambino user read: “I am a bambino user with a trigger finger for consumerism and personally cannot find a good enough reason to change machine.”

Where the Plus genuinely wins:

• 3-way solenoid valve. Cleaner workflow, drier pucks, no portafilter spit. If the base Bambino’s post-shot dripping bothers you even a little, this is the fix. The valve also means the Plus’s drip tray handles spent water automatically — though some owners note the discharge can splash if the tray isn’t seated perfectly.
• Automatic milk frothing. Not competition-grade microfoam, but consistently decent — and zero learning curve. If you make lattes for a non-coffee-enthusiast partner or want a one-button option for mornings when technique feels like too much, the auto-frother earns its keep. You can still switch to manual steaming anytime using the same wand.
• 3-hole steam tip. Faster steaming for larger milk volumes. If you’re making two lattes back-to-back, the 3-hole tip saves noticeable time vs the Bambino’s single-hole. Again, tips are interchangeable — but it ships with the faster one.
• Larger water tank (64 oz vs 47 oz). You refill less often, especially if you run preheat shots (which both machines need for consistent extraction — see the buyer’s guide below).
• Stainless steel portafilter. Feels more substantial than the Bambino’s lighter portafilter. A small difference, but it registers.

The honest downside: The Plus’s auto-steaming system adds a maintenance surface the base Bambino doesn’t have. A secondhand Bambino Plus sold for €30 because the seller thought the steam wand was broken — it was just a clogged auto-steaming sensor that needed cleaning. The forced cleaning cycle is more intrusive too: blank preheat shots count toward the cycle counter, and owners report surprise 10-minute cleaning lockouts during their morning routine. One owner noted: “You will wake up to make your morning espresso and go to work and then surprise surprise you are stuck with a 10-minute+ process before you can even start making your drink.”

Buyer’s Guide: Which Bambino Fits Your Routine?

Temperature stability — the shared limitation neither spec sheet mentions

Both Bambinos use ThermoJet, and both share the same temperature characteristic: the PID controller maintains water at the heater outlet with remarkable precision, but by the time that water reaches the group head, it has cooled significantly through plastic tubing and a lightweight group head with minimal thermal mass.

A mechanical engineer on r/espresso ran detailed thermocouple tests and found that without a preheat shot, the Bambino produces water at the group head around 65–70°C — well below the heater outlet’s measured 95°C. With a preheat routine, the temperature stabilizes in the mid-80s through a normal 30-second pull. The takeaway: “You cannot have 3-second ready time and the thermal stability at the group head of a prosumer machine. Adding all of that metal would mean a 10-20 minute warm up period.” This is a design tradeoff, not a defect — and it applies equally to both models.

What this means in practice: always run a blank shot through the empty portafilter for 10–15 seconds before pulling espresso, then discard the water and dose your puck quickly while the portafilter is still warm. Breville recommends this in the manual, and it makes a noticeable difference in shot consistency. Medium and dark roasts work reliably on both machines with this routine. Light roasts require more elaborate preheat routines (multiple blank shots, boiling water in the portafilter) and may still produce inconsistent results — most long-term owners of both models stick to medium-dark and darker.

The solenoid valve question

This is the decision axis the community debates most. On the SERP-ranking Reddit thread “Bambino vs Bambino Plus?” (108 comments), the poster explicitly said they didn’t plan on using auto-frothing — the solenoid valve was the only thing they were weighing. The community answer: the valve alone isn’t worth the price premium at full retail. But the Plus package — valve, auto-milk option, stainless portafilter, 3-hole steam tip, larger tank — shifts the calculation, especially on discount.

If you’re the kind of person who tolerates minor inconveniences to save money (moving the cup quickly, the occasional portafilter spit), the base Bambino is genuinely fine. If you’re the kind of person who wants the workflow to just work cleanly every time, the Plus’s solenoid earns its keep.

The $150 question — where should the money actually go?

At $250 vs $400, the Plus is a 60% premium. Here’s what that $150 buys:

• 3-way solenoid valve (cleaner pucks, no dripping)
• Automatic milk frothing option
• 3-hole steam tip (faster steaming)
• 64 oz water tank (vs 47 oz)
• Stainless steel portafilter

And here’s what it doesn’t change:

• Same ThermoJet heating system and 3-second heat-up
• Same 54mm portafilter platform
• Same 15-bar pump and extraction pressure
• Same temperature stability characteristics
• Same button-only controls (neither has a display)

The community’s most common advice: if you don’t already own a grinder, buy the Bambino at $250 and spend $150 on a standalone grinder like the Baratza Encore. The grinder upgrade produces a bigger improvement in cup quality than the Bambino-to-Plus upgrade does. If you already have a grinder and the $150 is purely machine budget, the Plus is the better machine — but only if the solenoid valve or auto-milk matters to your routine.

For where both Bambinos fit in the broader Breville lineup — including the Barista Express, Barista Pro, and Touch — see our best Breville espresso machine guide. And for a deeper comparison of the Express vs Pro all-in-one machines, see our Barista Express vs Barista Pro comparison.

Who should pick which

Pick the Bambino if:

• You steam milk manually (or don’t make milk drinks at all)
• You want to allocate the $150 savings toward a standalone grinder
• You prefer a slightly more compact footprint
• You’re comfortable with the minor inconvenience of soupy pucks and post-shot dripping
• You want the blooming-shot extraction hack

Pick the Bambino Plus if:

• You make milk drinks daily and want the auto-frothing option (even occasionally)
• Clean post-shot workflow matters to you (solenoid valve)
• You already own a grinder and the $150 is purely machine budget
• You find a discounted Plus that narrows the price gap below $100
• You want the larger 64 oz water tank for fewer refills

Both machines are genuinely excellent at their price points. The Bambino is the r/espresso community’s most popular machine for a reason — and the Plus is the most positively reviewed espresso machine on Reddit by sentiment ratio. You’re not making a wrong choice either way. The question is whether the Plus’s additions match your specific routine — and if they don’t, the $150 is better spent on beans and a grinder.

For more beginner-friendly options across all brands, see our best espresso machine for beginners roundup.