Breville Barista Express vs Express Impress vs Barista Pro: the upgrade path explained

Barista Express vs Express Impress vs Barista Pro at a glance

Head to head

The better result in each row is marked, based on my testing and the manufacturer specs. Rows where the machines are level have no winner.

Keep in mind that the tally is not my verdict. Some rows matter far more than others, and which ones matter depends on what you drink.

The upgrade path in one picture

Think of the Barista Express as the starting point. Breville then offers two different upgrades, and each fixes a different weakness.

The Express Impress keeps the same thermocoil heater and gentle steam but fixes tamping and dosing. The Barista Pro keeps hand tamping but fixes speed, steam power and feedback.

So the right upgrade depends on what frustrates you on the classic. If it is tamping, choose the Impress. If it is waiting, choose the Pro.

My overall scores

My overall scores out of 10 from my single reviews.

Design, size and build

All three are brushed stainless steel machines with a built-in grinder, a bean hopper on top and a water tank at the back.

The Breville Barista Express is about 12.5 inches wide, 13.8 inches deep and 15.9 inches tall with the hopper on, at about 22 to 23 lb. The Breville Barista Express Impress is a little bigger, at about 12.9 by 14.9 by 16.1 inches and a similar weight.

The Breville Barista Pro is the widest, at about 14 by 13 by 16 inches, but the lightest, at about 20 lb. Its body is magnetic, which was handy for small tools.

The classic Barista Express, with its analog pressure gauge front and center.

The Express and Express Impress both have an analog pressure gauge. The Pro swaps it for an LCD that shows grind time, shot size and a shot timer.

Only the Pro has a low-water sensor. On the other two, I filled the tank the night before so I never ran dry mid-shot.

Height on the counter

Standard wall cabinets sit about 18 inches above the counter.

Our tip: Fill the tank the night before on the Express and Express Impress, because neither warns you when the water runs low.

Heat-up and warm-up

This is the Pro’s biggest advantage. Its ThermoJet✕ThermoJetBreville’s fast heater. Instead of keeping a boiler of water hot, it heats water on its way through, so the machine is ready in seconds. was ready in about 3 seconds, switched to full steam in about 5 and back to brewing in about 6.

The Express and Express Impress use a thermocoil✕ThermocoilA heater where water runs through a coiled metal tube that is kept hot. It is quicker than a boiler but slower than Breville’s ThermoJet. with PID control. The Express was ready about a minute after priming, and switch-on to my first latte took 4 to 5 minutes.

The Impress showed how much the group head matters. My espresso scored 5.5 straight away, 7.5 after a blank shot and 9.0 once the group had warmed for 15 to 20 minutes.

Express Impress espresso taste by warm-up, out of 10.

On the Pro, two blank shots on cold mornings, about 20 seconds, were enough.

Grinder and dose

All three grind straight into a 54 mm portafilter✕PortafilterThe handle with a metal basket that holds the ground coffee. You lock it into the machine, and hot water is pushed through the coffee in it., but they dose very differently.

The Express has conical burrs✕Conical burrsTwo cone-shaped grinding parts, one inside the other. Beans are crushed between them, and the gap between the burrs sets how fine the coffee is. with 16 outer-dial settings plus an inner burr adjustment. Out of the box, the inner burr sat at 6, and I moved it to 2 for medium-roast beans.

Its Grind Amount dial is time-based. My first timed dose was only about 8 grams, against a target of 15.4, and it drifted as beans aged or the hopper emptied.

The Express Impress has 25 settings plus an inner burr, which I moved from 5 to 3. Its dose meter watches each tamp, and my everyday dose of about 18 grams showed green on the meter.

The Pro has hardened steel conical burrs with 30 settings on a stepless collar and timed dosing in tenths of a second. On the same setting, my doses ranged from about 15.8 to 16.2 grams.

Our tip: Write your grind setting on the bean bag on all three, so you can go straight back to it when you buy the same coffee again.

Tamping: lever vs by hand

Tamping is the step that scares most beginners, and it is where the Express Impress earns its name.

Its lever presses the coffee with about 22 lb of force, the same every time. Sensors then read the dose, and the meter tells you if it was too low or too high and adjusts the next grind.

After a bean change, the meter was back in the green after about two shots. Holding the filter size button for 3 seconds reset its dose memory and trimmed about 3 seconds off the next grind.

Share of Express Impress tamps in the green zone, by week.

On the Express and the Pro, you tamp by hand with the included tamper. It is a skill you learn, and the results showed it.

Shot time variation over a week

Lower is more consistent. Measured on my shots and a beginner’s.

On the Pro, the stock tamper is slightly undersized. A 53.3 mm precision tamper filled the basket edge to edge and made my pucks more even.

Espresso quality

All three make excellent espresso once dialed in. The scores climb with each upgrade: 8.4, 8.6 and 8.7.

On the Express, I aimed for 15.4 grams in and about 30 grams out in 25 to 30 seconds. My first test shot hit 30 grams in 27 seconds but tasted sour and thin, and step 7 on the side dial fixed it.

Once dialed in, it pulled sweet, syrupy espresso, and the pressure gauge✕Pressure gaugeA dial that shows the pressure in the brew head during a shot. On these machines, the needle sitting in the middle of the espresso zone means the grind and dose are about right. helped me understand why each shot worked or didn’t.

The Express Impress pulled 18 grams in and 36 out in about 27 to 30 seconds with a fresh medium roast. Shots were consistent from the first morning, which is rare.

The Pro’s espresso recipe was 16 grams in, 32 out in 28 to 30 seconds. Its LCD shot timer made hitting my window easy.

The Express Impress pulled consistent shots from the first morning.

Shots in my target window by week

Share of shots in each machine’s target time window.

Temperature by roast

The Express Impress offers five temperatures from 91 to 95°C, and the Pro five PID settings from Low to High. Both made a real difference with light roasts.

On the Pro, light-roast sourness on my 0 to 10 scale dropped from 8 on Low to 2.5 on High. That was the clearest proof that temperature matters as much as grind.

Our tip: Program the two-cup button to your favorite yield on all three, because the factory volumes are rarely right for your beans.

Milk and steaming

This is where the Pro pulls clearly ahead, and where the Express and Impress share the same weakness.

The Pro’s four-hole steam tip textured 6 ounces of cold milk in about 30 seconds. The Express Impress took about 45 seconds for the same jug, and over a minute for a big cappuccino jug for two.

The Express and Impress also need about 15 to 20 seconds for the thermocoil to ramp up to steam, and neither can brew and steam at once. Pull the shot first, then steam.

Time to steam about 6 oz of cold milk, from my stopwatch.

The gentler steam is not all bad. On the Express, it was forgiving to learn on, and by week three I poured a heart most mornings and a simple rosetta on good days.

On all three, I stopped stretching at about 140 to 150°F. Research from the University of Camerino found the best foam structure in milk steamed to around 60°C.

The Barista Pro’s four-hole tip steamed milk in about 30 seconds.

Neither can brew and steam at the same time, and switching from steam back to brewing means waiting for the thermocoil to cool. Shot first, then milk, kept my flat white at about 4 minutes total on the Impress, including wiping the wand. Whole milk was the easiest for latte art on all three.

Americano and recipes

All three have a dedicated hot water outlet, so an americano is a double shot plus 4 to 6 ounces of hot water. On the Pro, the outlet gave a smooth, steady stream.

Adding water after the shot keeps the extraction short and avoids the bitter, drying notes of a long pour.

On the Pro, I pulled a shorter 1.75:1 shot for milk drinks, about 28 grams from 16 in. It cut through the milk better in flat whites.

Our tip: Use the hot water outlet to warm your cup while you flush the group, because it costs no extra time on any of the three.

Cleaning and upkeep

All three need the same basic routine. Knock out the puck and rinse the basket after each shot, purge and wipe the steam wand after each milk drink and empty the drip tray daily.

Each week, I brushed the group gasket and the grinder chute. When the Clean Me light came on, I ran a backflush✕BackflushA cleaning cycle where a blind disc stops water flowing out, so the machine pushes water and cleaner back through the group head to clear coffee oils. with a cleaning tablet, and the water filters need replacing every 2 to 3 months.

The Express Impress made the least mess. Its lever and funnel kept grounds off the counter, and it was quieter than most all-in-one machines.

The classic Express needs the most hands-on cleaning, mostly from hand tamping and slow steaming.

My estimate of hands-on cleaning time per day with two milk drinks.

Our tip: Keep a tea towel and a small scale beside the machine, because both make every shot faster and cleaner on all three.

Noise

None of the three is quiet while grinding, but the Express Impress was the calmest of the all-in-one machines I have used.

The Express’s grinder is loud for a few seconds, and its pump and wand add noise. The Pro’s grinder makes a short, fairly loud burst and its pump a steady hum.

Relative loudness from my side-by-side use. Shorter bars are quieter.

Water, beans and supplies

All three have a tank of about 67 ounces. The Express gave about 25 espressos, 17 lattes or 9 americanos per tank, and the Impress and Pro about 22 espressos, 16 flat whites or 9 americanos.

For two people, a tank lasted about two days on all three.

Rough maths from my testing. Your numbers depend on cup size.

Use filtered or fresh tap water and avoid pure distilled water, which can taste flat and confuse sensors. Fresh beans within a few weeks of roasting made the biggest difference, and the spent pucks went in the compost.

Our tip: Change beans less often on the Express, because every new bag means re-dialing its timed grinder from scratch.

Real-life scenarios

Specs only go so far. These are the situations where one machine clearly pulled ahead during my testing.

For beginners who dread tamping, the Express Impress is the gentlest way in.

My scorecard

These are my own scores out of 10 from my single reviews of each machine.

Breville Barista Express

Breville Barista Express Impress

Breville Barista Pro

Overall, I rate the Barista Pro 8.5, the Express Impress 8.3 and the Express 8.0. Each upgrade is real, but they upgrade different things.

Which one should you buy?

It comes down to one question: what frustrates you most about making espresso? If it is tamping, the Express Impress fixes it. If it is waiting for heat and steam, the Barista Pro fixes it. If nothing does yet and you want to learn, the classic Express is still a great teacher. Still weighing other options? I rank every model I’ve tested in my guide to the best Breville espresso machines.

For more detail, read my Barista Express review, Barista Express Impress review and Barista Pro review, or see my two-way Barista Express vs Barista Pro and Barista Express vs Express Impress comparisons.

For speed and milk drinks, the Barista Pro is the upgrade I would choose.

Barista Express vs Express Impress vs Barista Pro specifications

From manufacturer specifications and my own testing.

How I tested and compared them

I used each machine as my everyday espresso maker for four weeks, making espresso, ristretto-style shots, americanos, flat whites, lattes and cappuccinos on all three.

I weighed doses and yields on a 0.1-gram scale, logged every shot time against my target window, timed heat-up and steaming with a stopwatch and measured milk temperatures with a probe thermometer.

I brewed light, medium and dark roasts across the grind and temperature ranges, tracked the Express Impress dose meter week by week, ran every cleaning routine and compared my notes with Breville’s specifications and owner documentation.

• Coffee: dose, crema, body and consistency.
• Milk: foam texture, temperature and drink range.
• Workflow: controls, menus and daily routine.
• Ownership: noise, cleaning, water care and footprint.