Review · By The Lab · July 15, 2026
Breville Bambino Plus (BES500) Review
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The Breville Bambino Plus (BES500) is a ~$500 compact espresso machine that heats up in about 3 seconds and steams milk for you with automatic texturing — the best small-kitchen espresso machine you can buy, as long as you pair it with a real grinder. It pulls shots that embarrass machines twice its size.
The café spelled it "Rami" this morning. The Bambino spelled it ristretto — silently, in under a minute, on a countertop the size of a cereal box. Here's why this little thing keeps winning.
The verdict
The Bambino Plus is the least machine you can buy and still make genuinely good espresso. Small, fast, and smarter than it has any right to be — the catch is the grinder you still have to buy.
01.The specs that actually matter
Instead of a big boiler that takes 15–30 minutes to stabilize, a thin heating element flash-heats only the water you're about to use. Press the button, it's ready in about 3 seconds. That's not a typo, and it changes how often you'll actually make espresso.
A digital brain that holds brew temperature steady shot after shot. Temperature swings are why cheap-machine espresso tastes sour one day and burnt the next. The Bambino doesn't swing.
It gently wets the coffee first so water doesn't punch a hole through the puck, then squeezes at the correct 9 bars — the number real espresso actually needs, not the "19 bar!!!" bragging you see on boxes. More bars past 9 is noise, not flavor.
Stick the jug under the wand, pick a temperature and foam level, walk away. The machine steams and stops itself. It's genuinely good microfoam — good enough for latte art once your pour catches up.
Smaller than the 58mm commercial standard, but the same size Breville uses across its home lineup, so accessories are everywhere. The included pressurized baskets are training wheels — switch to the non-pressurized ones once your grinder can keep up.
You bring your own, and pre-ground coffee will waste everything this machine does well. Budget for a burr grinder or buy a different machine. There is no third option.
02.Who it's for (and who it's not)
Buy the Bambino Plus if you want real espresso and real milk drinks with minimum counter space, minimum waiting, and minimum ceremony. It's the machine for people who like coffee more than they like equipment — and the classic first serious machine, because when you upgrade someday, it makes a perfect office or guest-room unit.
Skip it if you already know you want to ride a pressure gauge and tweak brew temperature by the degree. The Bambino hides its engineering; tinkerers should look at the Breville Dual Boiler instead.
03.The score sheet
+What rules
- 3-second heat-up means you'll actually use it every day instead of "when you have time."
- Auto milk texturing produces real microfoam while you get the cups out. Manual mode still exists when you want to practice.
- The footprint is tiny — about 7.6 inches wide. It fits where other espresso machines simply don't.
–What's annoying
- No grinder, and it needs a good one. The real price of ownership is ~$500 plus whatever your grinder costs.
- The portafilter and drip tray feel light in the hand. Nothing here is built like a tank, because tanks don't fit in studio apartments.
- The water tank is small and sits at the back — you'll be refilling it more often than you'd like.
- Longevity is the open question. It performs beautifully out of the box, but owner reports thin out after year two — steam-wand temperature sensors and clogged baskets are the recurring themes, and a few units fail well inside the first year. Register the warranty.
04.How it stacks up
The Bambino is the bottom rung of a very tall Breville ladder. See the whole lineup.
Breville brand hubWant simultaneous brew and steam plus full manual control? That's the other end of the ladder.
Breville Dual Boiler reviewSee how the Bambino stacks up against everything else in its bracket. Spoiler: well.
Best espresso machine under $500
05.FAQ
- Does the Bambino Plus have a grinder?
- No, and this is the most important thing on this page. A ~$500 machine fed pre-ground supermarket coffee makes ~$50 espresso. Buy a burr grinder.
- What's the difference between the Bambino and the Bambino Plus?
- The Plus adds automatic milk texturing and a slightly bigger drip tray for roughly $200 more. If you drink lattes, the auto-steam is worth it. If you drink straight espresso, save the money and buy the regular Bambino.
- Can it really heat up in 3 seconds?
- Yes — for brewing. The ThermoJet heats water on demand instead of keeping a tank hot. Your first shot of the day is still better after a quick warming flush through the portafilter, which takes seconds, not the half-hour a big boiler demands.
- Is the Bambino Plus good for beginners?
- It's arguably the beginner machine — fast, forgiving, and cheap enough to leave grinder money in the budget. You'll outgrow its adjustability before you outgrow its shot quality.
Bottom line
The Bambino Plus is the answer to "what's the smallest, cheapest machine that makes espresso I won't apologize for?" It heats instantly, steams milk by itself, and pulls proper 9-bar shots — provided you feed it freshly ground coffee. The machine is not the weak link here. Your grinder is. Fix that, and this little box will quietly outperform its price tag for years.