De’Longhi Rivelia vs Dinamica Plus vs Eletta Explore: which should you buy?

Rivelia vs Dinamica Plus vs Eletta Explore at a glance

Head to head

The best result in each row is marked, based on my four weeks with each machine and De’Longhi’s specs. Rows where they are even have no winner.

These three share a lot under the hood, so the rows that differ are the ones that decide which you should buy.

Design, size and build

All three are slim, modern De’Longhis with a 3.5-inch color touchscreen, but they don’t look alike.

The De’Longhi Rivelia puts its screen flat on the top panel, next to the swappable bean hopper. It looks sleek, but you read it from above, which is awkward for kids and anyone sitting down.

The Dinamica Plus and Eletta Explore put the screen on the front, where you would expect it. The Dinamica Plus is the slimmest at about 9.3 inches wide; the Eletta Explore is about 10.2 inches wide and reaches almost 18 inches back toward the wall.

The Rivelia’s screen sits flat on top, next to its swappable bean hopper.

Depth on the counter

From De’Longhi’s specs and my tape measure; the Eletta needs the most depth.

Build quality is similar, with mostly plastic bodies and metal-look trim. The Dinamica Plus felt the most solid at about 21 pounds, and its stainless thermal carafe is the most premium accessory of the three.

The Rivelia’s side tank fills from the top without removing it, which I came to love. On the Dinamica Plus, the tank slides out from the front, and the brew unit sits behind it.

Our tip: Leave at least 3 inches above the Rivelia, because you lift its bean hopper straight up to swap beans.

Setup, Bean Adapt and the first week

Setup is guided on the touchscreen on all three and took me about 15 minutes each, including a water hardness test and the first rinses.

The Rivelia and Eletta Explore use Bean Adapt✕Bean AdaptA De’Longhi setup feature that asks about your beans, suggests a grind setting and sets dose and temperature to match.. You answer a few questions about your beans, and the machine suggests a grind and sets the dose and temperature. Instead of guessing at 13 grind settings, you start somewhere reasonable and fine-tune by taste.

The Dinamica Plus has no Bean Adapt, so I tuned it the old way. Grind setting 3, Extra Strong and an espresso shortened to about 0.7 fluid ounces gave me the best shot.

The Dinamica Plus needed manual tuning, but rewarded it with the densest espresso.

Our tip: Cut the default espresso volume on any De’Longhi to about 1 ounce and save it to your profile, because the factory shot is too long for a rich espresso.

Grinder and dose

All three use De’Longhi’s steel conical grinder with 13 settings, and all three dose by grinding for a set time based on the strength you choose.

On the Rivelia, intensity 5 ran the grinder for about 10 seconds and gave me roughly 15 grams. On the Dinamica Plus, the highest dose was also about 15 grams, and its Doppio+ runs a longer grind for a bigger double.

The Eletta Explore went highest. I timed it at about 1.5 grams per second, and its Doppio+ packed a dense puck of 15 to 16 grams.

Eletta Explore dose by strength level

My measurements at about 1.5 grams per second.

The Rivelia’s grinder has one complication: its swappable hoppers. After a swap, roughly 10 grams stays in the grinder, so the machine either grinds and discards it or mixes it into your next drink.

That’s about two-thirds of a single shot lost each time. One swap a day is fine; three swaps a day wastes about 30 grams of coffee.

Rivelia beans lost to swapping

Based on the roughly 10 g I measured left in the grinder after each swap.

Espresso quality

With the same medium-dark beans, the Dinamica Plus made the best espresso of the three, but only after I changed its defaults.

On Extra Strong with the grinder at 3 and the volume cut to about 0.7 fluid ounces, it pulled a dense, chocolatey shot with a thick crema✕CremaThe golden, foamy layer on a fresh espresso. It forms when pressure pushes oils and gases out of the coffee.. That’s roughly a 1:3 brew ratio✕Brew ratioThe weight of liquid espresso compared with the dry coffee. A 1:2 ratio means 15 g of coffee makes about 30 g of espresso., a little longer than a café shot but very close in character.

The Eletta Explore came second. Aiming for 15 grams in and 30 grams out, I set the volume so the pump stopped at about 22 grams, and the last drips carried it to almost exactly 30. My espresso measured about 76°C, or 169°F, in an unheated cup.

The Rivelia’s espresso was good, full-bodied and smooth at intensity 5 with about 15 grams, but slightly less intense than the other two.

All three offer a Doppio+✕Doppio+De’Longhi’s strongest espresso. It grinds for longer to pack a bigger dose, then brews a short, intense double. that grinds for about 10 seconds for a bigger dose. It was the best milk-drink base on every machine.

My espresso ratings

My scores out of 10 for body, crema, flavor and consistency.

The Eletta Explore doses up to 16 grams for its Doppio+.

Hot milk drinks

All three use De’Longhi’s LatteCrema✕LatteCremaDe’Longhi’s automatic milk carafe system. It draws milk from the carafe, mixes in air and steam, and pours foam straight into your cup. carafe, but the carafes are not the same.

The Dinamica Plus has a thermal stainless steel carafe with a foam dial. It kept milk cold on the counter longer, and its foam was rich and stable at all three levels.

The Rivelia’s hot carafe made sweet, well-textured foam that came out between 140°F and 149°F, right where milk tastes sweetest. The Eletta Explore’s 500 ml hot carafe made glossy microfoam at about 75% of the way toward thick foam.

Dinamica Plus foam by milk type

My scores out of 10 for texture and stability.

In side-by-side cappuccinos, I preferred the Dinamica Plus by a small margin, thanks to its denser espresso base. The Eletta Explore was close behind, and its foam dial gave me the most control.

For lattes and flat whites, all three were excellent. None will pour detailed latte art, but all three beat most bean-to-cup machines for texture.

The Dinamica Plus’s thermal carafe made the richest hot foam of the three.

Our tip: Use whole or barista oat milk straight from the fridge, because regular almond drinks barely foamed on any of these machines.

Iced drinks, cold foam and cold brew

This is where the Eletta Explore pulls away from the other two.

It has a second carafe for cold milk, about 390 ml, which whips milk into cold foam without heating it. It also has cold extraction✕Cold extractionBrewing coffee with cool water instead of hot. It tastes smoother and less bitter than hot coffee poured over ice., which brews cold brew-style coffee in about three minutes.

My cold brew left the spouts at about 37°C and dropped to 2 to 3°C over ice. It was smooth, low in bitterness and nothing like hot coffee poured over ice.

Eletta Explore drink temperatures

Measured with a probe thermometer in my kitchen.

The Dinamica Plus has an Over Ice drink that brews a stronger, shorter coffee to pour over ice. It was very good for a quick iced coffee, but there’s no cold foam.

The Rivelia brews hot coffee over ice too, with no cold carafe in the box. For iced lattes, it works, but they are never as cold or as smooth as the Eletta’s.

The Eletta Explore’s cold carafe makes cold foam without heating the milk.

Screen, profiles and the app

All three have a bright 3.5-inch color touchscreen, and all three are easy to read and quick to respond.

The Rivelia’s menu is the simplest. Coffee Routines learns your usual drinks, and its four profiles put each person’s favorites one tap away. My only complaint is the flat top position, which made it hard for my kids to see.

The Dinamica Plus has three profiles plus guest mode and a Bluetooth app. The app worked, but it was slow and only connected when I stood nearby.

The Eletta Explore has four profiles and the biggest menu by far, with more than 50 hot and cold recipes. Its app was also slow to connect and save changes.

The Eletta Explore’s menu is huge; profiles keep your favorites one tap away.

Our tip: Set up a profile for each person on day one, because it’s the feature that stops everyone from changing each other’s strength and size.

Cleaning and upkeep

All three have a removable brew unit✕Brew unitThe removable part inside the machine that presses the ground coffee, brews it and drops the used puck into the grounds drawer. that you rinse under the tap once a week. The Dinamica Plus’s unit sits behind the water tank, which makes it a little more awkward to reach.

Milk cleaning is the bigger difference. On every LatteCrema carafe, you run a short clean cycle after milk drinks and wash the parts. The Dinamica Plus’s clean cycle takes about 15 seconds, and it’s the reason its foam stayed consistent all month.

The Eletta Explore has two carafes to look after, and both needed a full hand wash every two to three days. That made it the most work of the three.

My weekly hands-on cleaning time

My estimate for two people making milk drinks daily, not counting automatic rinses.

How often you need descaling✕DescalingRunning a mild acid through the machine to dissolve the mineral scale that hard water leaves in the heater and pipes. depends on your water. On the Rivelia, I worked it out at about every three months with soft water, every two with medium and every month with hard water, without a filter.

Our tip: Store the milk carafe in the fridge between drinks, because cold milk foams better and the carafe stays cleaner.

Noise and speed

The Eletta Explore was the quietest. My first grind of the morning came in under 65 decibels, a low hum rather than the sharp whine I expect from bean-to-cup grinders.

The Rivelia measured 66 to 68 dB while grinding, about 10 seconds per drink. The Dinamica Plus sat in between.

Grinding noise, measured

Measured with a phone meter at about 3 feet. Normal conversation is around 60 dB.

Speed was similar on all three. The Dinamica Plus runs an automatic rinse of about 30 seconds on a cold start; tap your profile while it runs, and your first cappuccino is ready about a minute later.

A typical morning on each machine

To make the differences concrete, here is how a normal weekday morning for two people went on each machine: one double espresso and one cappuccino.

On the Rivelia, I tapped my profile, made my espresso, then my partner tapped hers for a cappuccino. The carafe ran its short clean, and the whole thing took about four minutes, most of it spent drinking.

On the Dinamica Plus, the 30-second start-up rinse ran into a cup while I filled the carafe. My shortened Extra Strong espresso came first, then a cappuccino from the thermal carafe, then the 15-second clean. About four and a half minutes in total.

On the Eletta Explore, the morning was the same, but afternoons changed. Most days, one of us made an iced cappuccino with cold foam or a cold brew around 3 p.m., which added a second carafe to rinse.

Water, beans and supplies

The Dinamica Plus’s 60-ounce tank lasted about two days for two people drinking a mix of espresso and milk drinks. The Rivelia’s 47-ounce tank emptied faster, but filling it from the top made that painless.

Each Rivelia hopper holds 8.8 ounces, or about 250 grams, so the two together hold about 17.6 ounces. The Eletta Explore’s single hopper holds about 300 grams.

Drinks per full tank on the Dinamica Plus

Rough maths allowing for rinse water. Your numbers depend on cup size.

Medium and medium-dark blends worked best on all three. On the Rivelia, I kept a regular blend in one hopper and a decaf in the other, which is exactly what the Bean Switch System is built for.

Avoid very oily beans on all three, because the oil builds up in the grinder and chute over time.

Each Rivelia hopper holds about 8.8 ounces and lifts out in seconds.

Four weeks with each, week by week

A month is long enough for the novelty to wear off. These were my notes as each machine became part of the routine.

The Rivelia became the machine my family used without thinking. Its profiles and simple menu meant no one asked me how to make anything.

The Dinamica Plus rewarded my tuning in week one with the best espresso of the month. I found it oddly satisfying to watch the drink counter climb past 150 by the end of the test.

The Eletta Explore changed what we drank. By week two, cold brew and iced cappuccinos had replaced most of our afternoon hot drinks, which is exactly why you buy one.

Our tip: Set the auto-off to 30 minutes if you only make coffee in the morning, because it saves energy without slowing down your first drink.

Common mistakes to avoid

Most of the disappointing drinks I made came from a few habits that apply to all three machines.

The mistake that cost me the most flavor was the first one. De’Longhi’s default espresso volumes are generous, and on all three machines, a shorter shot tasted noticeably richer and sweeter.

What I’d change on each one

No machine here is perfect, and after a month with each, I had one clear wish for every model.

On the Rivelia, I’d move the screen to the front. The flat top panel looks clean, but my kids couldn’t see it, and I found myself leaning over the machine every morning to check my drink.

On the Dinamica Plus, I’d fix the app and move the brew unit. The Bluetooth connection was slow enough that I stopped using it after week one, and reaching the brew unit behind the water tank turned a 30-second rinse into a small chore.

On the Eletta Explore, I’d make the cold carafe easier to clean. Two carafes give you the most drink choices of any machine here, but they also doubled my milk washing, and that is the one thing that might put off a busy family.

Real-life scenarios

These are the moments where one machine clearly pulled ahead in my kitchen.

Two carafes, hot and cold, make the Eletta Explore the most versatile of the three.

My scorecard

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

De’Longhi Rivelia

Overall: 8.5

De’Longhi Dinamica Plus

Overall: 8.6

De’Longhi Eletta Explore

Overall: 8.6

The Dinamica Plus and Eletta Explore tie overall, but for different reasons. One makes the best hot drinks; the other makes the widest range of drinks.

Which one should you buy?

Ask yourself one question first: do you drink iced coffee most days? If yes, buy the Eletta Explore, because nothing else here makes cold foam or cold brew.

If not, the choice is between flavor and convenience. The Dinamica Plus makes the better espresso and hot foam; the Rivelia is easier to share and handles decaf households best. Still weighing other options? I rank every model I’ve tested in my guide to the best De’Longhi super-automatic machines.

For a closer two-way look, see my Rivelia vs Dinamica Plus comparison, or my Magnifica Duo vs Rivelia vs Eletta Explore comparison if you are watching your budget.

For the best hot drinks of the three, the Dinamica Plus earns its place on the counter.

Rivelia vs Dinamica Plus vs Eletta Explore specifications

From manufacturer specifications and my own testing.

How I tested and compared them

I used each machine as my everyday coffee maker for four weeks, making espresso, Doppio+, long coffees, cappuccinos, flat whites and lattes, plus iced drinks on all three and cold brew and cold foam on the Eletta Explore.

I weighed doses and shots, measured coffee, milk and water temperatures with a probe thermometer and noise with a phone meter, and foamed whole, semi-skimmed, skim, oat and almond milk.

I ran every cleaning and descaling routine, swapped beans on the Rivelia, and compared my notes with De’Longhi’s specifications, owner documentation and published test data.

• Coffee: dose, crema, body and consistency.
• Milk: hot and cold foam, temperature and carafe care.
• Workflow: setup, profiles, menus and app.
• Ownership: cleaning, noise, capacity and footprint.