The only one that brews drip too
Ninja Luxe Café
- Recommends the grind
- Doses by weight
Cheaper alternatives to the Breville Barista Touch Impress
Guided shots, a grinder on board, or auto milk, all for much less.
Updated November 11, 2026
Same idea, every step by hand
Breville Barista Express
- Built-in burr grinder
- Hot water spout
Cheapest of the three
Breville Bambino Plus
- Hands-free milk frothing
- Heats in seconds
The original
Breville Barista Touch Impress
Worth it if: You want café drinks with no learning curve
- A touchscreen that walks you through each drink
- Assisted tamping with dose correction
Not worth it if: You enjoy dialing in shots yourself
Top of the range, and worth it
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What are you actually paying extra for with the Barista Touch Impress?
What the extra money buys
- A touchscreen that walks you through each drink
- Assisted tamping with dose correction
- Auto milk with settings for plant milks
Worth it if
- You want café drinks with no learning curve
- Several people in the house make coffee
Not worth it if
- You enjoy dialing in shots yourself
- You mostly drink straight espresso
Good to know
Why each one made the list, and our final recommendation.
Ninja Luxe Café
Like the Touch Impress, it holds your hand. TechRadar got a good shot nearly every time thanks to grind advice and dosing by weight. Its frother did well with dairy but less so with oat milk, and Top Ten Reviews notes a scale is built in.
Breville Barista Express
The Barista Express is the classic way into home espresso with a grinder on board. You tamp, time and steam milk yourself. Reviewers praise its shots and milk steaming, but it rewards patience rather than guiding you.
Breville Bambino Plus
It keeps the part many buyers love most, milk that froths itself to a set texture and temperature. TechRadar timed the heat-up at about three seconds. Tom's Guide found it easy from the box, but you need a separate grinder.
Final recommendation: For the same guided feel, the Ninja Luxe Café ES601 is the closest match and adds drip coffee. The Barista Express BES870XL suits anyone happy to learn by hand. The Bambino Plus BES500 is the cheapest way to automatic milk, if you add a grinder. Keep the Touch Impress BES881 for easy lattes with no practice.
Side by side
Specs from each maker. Price levels come from shop prices we checked recently; tap through for today's price.
| Model | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price level | Top of the range | Premium | Top of the range | Premium |
| Type | Manual espresso with grinder and touchscreen | Manual espresso with grinder and scale | Manual espresso with grinder | Manual espresso, no grinder |
| Milk | Auto MilQ | Automatic frother with whisk | Steam wand | Automatic steam wand |
| Drinks | – | Espresso, drip coffee, cold brew | – | Espresso, milk drinks |
| Grinder | Burr, 30 settings | Conical burr, 25 settings | 16 settings | None: needs a separate grinder |
| Pump pressure | – | 15 bar | 15 bar | 15 bar |
| Water tank | 67.6 oz | – | 67 oz | 64 oz |
| Shop | Check price on Amazon ↗ | Check price on Amazon ↗ | Check price on Amazon ↗ | Check price on Amazon ↗ |
Questions people ask
Is the Ninja Luxe Café as easy as the Barista Touch Impress?
Close. It suggests a grind and weighs each dose, so shots come out right quickly. It has no touchscreen or assisted tamping, and it's weaker with oat milk.
What does the Touch Impress do that the Barista Express doesn't?
It guides you on screen, helps tamp the right dose and froths milk on its own. The Express leaves all of that to you.
Can the Bambino Plus replace a Touch Impress?
For milk drinks, mostly yes, if you buy a good grinder. You lose the guided screen and built-in grinder.
Related guides
How we reached this
We compared the Breville Barista Touch Impress with the alternatives most often recommended by independent reviewers, then checked each against the makers' own specs and current prices.
We haven't tested these products ourselves. Our picks weigh independent expert reviews against each maker's published specs and the prices we checked. Opinions are ours; facts link to where they come from. How we choose.
Sources: Breville: Breville Barista Touch Impress, T3: Sage Barista Touch Impress review: the best coffee machine for barista-style drinks at home, Les Numériques: Test Sage Barista Touch Impress : une jolie cafetière pour les apprentis baristas, Ninja: Luxe Café Premier Espresso Machine, TechRadar: Ninja Luxe Café review, Top Ten Reviews: Ninja ES601 Luxe Café Premier Series review, Breville: Breville Barista Express, TechRadar: Sage the Barista Express espresso coffee maker review, Tom's Guide: Breville Barista Express review, Homes & Gardens: Breville Barista Express review: prepare for impressive espressos, Breville: the Bambino Plus, TechRadar: Breville Bambino Plus review, Tom's Guide: Breville Bambino Plus review.