De’Longhi vs Philips: which super-automatic brand is better?

De’Longhi vs Philips at a glance

Head to head

The better result in each row is marked, based on four weeks with each of the four machines and the manufacturer specs.

This is a brand-level table that compares the best of each brand. The rows that matter most depend on whether you care more about flavor or about cleaning.

The four machines I tested

I picked the two machines from each brand that most buyers cross-shop, and used each one as my only coffee maker for four weeks.

From De’Longhi: the Magnifica Evo, the brand’s sweet-spot automatic with a LatteCrema carafe and seven drinks, and the Rivelia, with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, four profiles and two swappable bean hoppers.

From Philips: the 2200 Series, a simple touch-panel machine whose frother hides a real steam tip, and the 3200 Series, with five one-touch drinks and the tubeless LatteGo jug.

All four work the same basic way. They grind whole beans, dose and press them into a puck, brew under pressure and drop the used puck into an internal drawer, so you never touch a portafilter or a tamper.

That shared design is why ease of use came out almost level. What separates the brands is what happens inside that process: how much coffee goes in, how the milk is frothed, and how much cleaning the milk side needs afterwards.

The Philips 3200 makes a layered latte macchiato at one touch with its LatteGo jug.

Dose: the hidden difference

This is the single most important thing in this comparison, and it is not on most spec sheets.

To see what each machine was really brewing, I stopped them right after grinding and weighed the coffee. On the highest strength, the Magnifica Evo used about 15 grams and the Rivelia up to about 15 grams.

The Philips 3200 used about 8 grams on its strongest setting, and the 2200 about 7.1 grams. A typical café double espresso uses 14 to 18 grams.

Coffee dose per espresso, weighed

Each figure is an average of several weighed doses.

In plain terms, the De’Longhis brew real espresso-sized doses, and the Philips machines brew something closer to a lungo✕LungoA longer espresso pulled with more water through the same coffee. It is lighter in body and less intense than a standard shot.. On the 2200’s medium size, about 6.5 grams made about 40 grams of espresso, a brew ratio✕Brew ratioThe weight of coffee in the basket compared with the weight of espresso in the cup. 15 g in and 30 g out is a 1:2 ratio. of roughly 1:6.

On the Rivelia, my go-to recipe of 15 grams in and 30 grams out gave a classic 1:2 ratio. That is the difference you taste in the cup.

Espresso quality

With a medium-dark blend at grind setting 3 and high strength, the Magnifica Evo’s espresso had a consistent crema and a full, aromatic body, with cocoa, toasted nuts and a little dried fruit. A refractometer put my shots at around 8 percent TDS✕TDS (total dissolved solids)The share of the drink that is dissolved coffee, measured with a refractometer. It shows how strong an espresso really is., a balanced result for an automatic.

The Rivelia’s 15-gram shots had the same full body, and its coffee crema became my default first cup of the day.

The Philips espresso was smooth, mild and pleasant. The 2200 tasted of dark chocolate with a little sweetness at the finish; the 3200 of gentle caramel and nuts, with very little bitterness.

If you find café espresso too intense, you may prefer the Philips cup. If you want a punchy, syrupy shot, the De’Longhis are in a different league.

My espresso scores

My scores out of 10 from each machine’s single review.

The Magnifica Evo’s 15 g dose gave the fullest espresso of the four.

Grinders and settings

Both De’Longhis use steel conical burrs with 13 settings, adjusted with a knob inside the hopper. Both Philips machines use a 100 percent ceramic grinder with 12 settings, adjusted the same way.

In practice, the grinders were rarely the limiting factor; the dose was. Moving two steps finer than the default gave the best balance on all four.

Our tip: On every machine here, turn the grind knob only while the grinder is running, one click at a time, and wait two drinks before judging the change.

Milk: LatteCrema vs LatteGo

Both brands make milk drinks at one touch, but their milk systems take opposite approaches.

De’Longhi’s LatteCrema✕LatteCrema systemDe’Longhi’s automatic milk carafe. It draws cold milk up a tube, mixes it with steam and air, and pours dense foam straight into your cup. carafe draws cold milk up a tube into the lid, where steam and air mix it into foam that pours straight into your cup. On the Evo, the foam was dense, fine and stable, closer to a soft meringue than a bubbly froth.

The carafe can live in the fridge between drinks, and the Evo’s MyLatte button uses exactly the milk you pour in, from a 2-ounce cortado to a full carafe latte.

Philips’ LatteGo✕LatteGoPhilips’ two-part milk jug with no tubes. Steam draws milk into a small chamber in the jug, mixes in air and pours foam directly into the cup. is a two-part jug with no tubes. Steam draws milk into a small chamber, mixes in air and pours foam into your cup; on the 3200 it was creamy and fairly fine, and latte macchiatos came out in clean layers.

The Philips 2200 has no LatteGo. Instead, it has a classic frother whose sleeve comes off to reveal a real steam tip, which made glossy microfoam and latte-art hearts by week three.

Milk scores, my testing

My milk-drink scores out of 10 from each single review.

De’Longhi’s carafe makes the denser foam; Philips’ jug is easier to clean.

Our tip: Keep the milk cold until the second you use it on either system, because cold milk makes denser foam and stays fresh longer in the carafe or jug.

Making mild Philips coffee taste stronger

Because the Philips espresso is mild, milk can easily drown it. On the 3200, I always used the strongest aroma for cappuccinos and latte macchiatos, and for a bigger hit I added an extra espresso on top.

On the 2200, I built milk drinks on a double espresso at the smallest size, which runs two full grind-and-brew cycles. That doubled the coffee without stretching one small dose.

On the De’Longhis, none of this was necessary. The high strength level gave a strong coffee core under the foam straight away, which is why their cappuccinos scored higher in my tasting.

Drinks and controls

The Magnifica Evo has seven one-touch drinks on a tilted touch panel: Espresso, Coffee, Over Ice, Cappuccino, Latte Macchiato, MyLatte and Hot Water. The Rivelia has 18 recipes on a 3.5-inch color touchscreen, with four user profiles.

The Philips 3200 has five one-touch drinks: espresso, coffee, Americano, cappuccino and latte macchiato. The 2200 has only espresso and coffee, plus hot water and steam.

One-touch drinks

Counted from each machine’s menu; hot water not included where it has its own button.

The Evo’s Over Ice drink brews a more concentrated, cooler coffee for a full glass of ice. Neither Philips has an iced setting, so I pulled two strong espressos over ice by hand.

None of the four makes cold milk foam. And the Evo has no button for warm milk on its own, which parents of young hot-chocolate drinkers will notice.

Over Ice and iced lattes

For iced drinks, fill the glass right to the top with ice before brewing, because less ice means more melting and a weaker drink. On the Evo, Over Ice brews about 100 ml of concentrated, cooler coffee designed for exactly that.

On the Philips machines, I brewed two strong espressos into a glass, let them cool for a minute, then poured them over ice and cold milk. It works, but it is a few more steps.

Our tip: For an iced latte on any of these machines, add the cold milk after the coffee, so the espresso chills on the ice first.

Cleaning and upkeep

Here is the good news: all four have a removable brew group✕Brew group (brew unit)The part that compresses the ground coffee, holds it while water passes through and then ejects the used puck. On these machines it slides out for rinsing. that slides out for a weekly rinse under the tap, with no cleaning tablets.

Philips’ brew group needs a thin layer of the included grease every couple of months. De’Longhi suggests checking and greasing the brew unit seals monthly.

The milk side is where they differ. On the Philips 3200, I rinsed the two LatteGo parts in about ten seconds after each milk drink and put them in the dishwasher daily. On the De’Longhis, I ran the carafe Clean function after each drink and took the lid apart for a proper wash once a week.

With the AquaClean filter replaced when prompted, Philips says you can go up to 5,000 cups without descaling✕DescalingRunning a mild acid through the machine to dissolve the mineral scale that hard water leaves behind in the heater and pipes.. A full descale on the Evo took about 45 minutes, most of which I could walk away from.

My hands-on cleaning time per day, with milk drinks

My estimate, not counting automatic rinses.

Our tip: Empty the grounds drawer every day or two on any of these, rather than waiting for the alert, because damp pucks grow mold fast.

Noise and speed

I measured the De’Longhis with a sound meter about a foot from the front. The Rivelia was the quietest of the four at 66 to 68 dB while grinding and brewing.

The Evo’s grinder hit 70 to 71 dB for its first five or six seconds, with milk frothing at 60 to 62 dB and the pump at about 60 dB. The Philips grinders were short, fairly loud bursts, normal for the class but noticeable in a quiet kitchen.

Noise I measured on the De’Longhis

Sound meter about a foot from the front of each machine.

On speed, the Evo was ready about 38 seconds after a cold start, and a cappuccino took about a minute from button to cup. On the Philips 3200, a cappuccino took a little over a minute, with almost no hands-on time.

Both brands rinse at start-up, so a cup under the spout is a good habit on all four. On the Evo, running a little hot water before the first espresso made the first shot as hot as the second.

Our tip: Run a few seconds of hot water into your cup before the first espresso of the day on any of these, because the first shot comes through cool pipes.

Size and build

All four are narrow. The Magnifica Evo is about 9.45 inches wide, 17.3 deep and 14.2 tall; the Rivelia about 9.6 by 16.9 by 15.2; and both Philips machines about 9.7 by 17 by 14.6 inches.

The Philips machines are noticeably lighter, at about 16.5 lb for the 2200 and 17.6 lb for the 3200, against about 21 lb for both De’Longhis.

All four are mostly plastic. The Evo has a stainless cup tray and a brushed-look front, the Philips 3200 a stainless drip tray cover, and nothing rattled on any of them in four weeks.

Small practical touches favor De’Longhi: the Evo’s front-loading tank means you never move the machine to refill it, and the Rivelia’s side tank drops in from above. My one Rivelia complaint is that its screen lies flat on top, which is awkward for kids and seated users.

At about 16.5 lb, the Philips 2200 is the lightest machine of the four.

Beans, water and filters

On a small-dose Philips, beans do a lot of the work. Fresh medium-dark blends with chocolate notes suited the gentle extraction best, and a blend with some Robusta added crema and caffeine for milk drinks.

On the De’Longhis, fresh medium and medium-dark roasts gave the best crema and body. Light roasts can taste sour on all four, and very dark, oily beans clog automatic grinders on every brand.

Use fresh, cold water and the filter if your water is hard, and skip distilled water. Philips includes an AquaClean filter in the box; De’Longhi includes a water filter too, and its descale light comes on based on the hardness you set.

Our tip: On a Philips, buy beans with a roast date in the last few weeks, because a small dose cannot hide stale coffee.

A month with each brand

Super-automatics feel almost identical on day one: unpack, fill, set the water hardness, pour away the first few drinks. The differences show up over the following weeks.

Week one

On the Philips machines, the first few coffees were flat while the grinders settled, and the default espresso tasted mild. On the 3200, the latte macchiato was an instant favorite; on the 2200, I spent the week learning to steam with the sleeve off.

On the De’Longhis, moving the grind from the middle of the range down to setting 3 made the biggest difference on the Evo. On the Rivelia, the Bean Adapt wizard suggested a sensible starting grind and I barely touched it.

Weeks two and three

By week two, I had moved both Philips grinders two steps finer and set the strongest aroma with the smallest volume. The espresso became rounder and sweeter, though still mild.

On the De’Longhis, the routine simply settled. The Evo’s carafe lived in the fridge, MyLatte cortados became a daily habit, and the Rivelia’s decaf hopper went on every afternoon.

Week four

Nothing broke, rattled or leaked on any of the four. The recurring annoyances were small: the Philips 3200’s drip tray needed emptying every day, and the Evo’s lack of a hot milk button came up whenever someone wanted warm milk on its own.

Value and long-term ownership

De’Longhi has used the same removable brew unit design across its automatic range for years, so replacement parts are easy to find. On the LatteCrema carafe, the small rubber O-rings and air holes are the first things to check if foam ever gets thin or sputters.

Philips also uses its standard removable brew group across the range, the same basic design found in much more expensive machines. Its AquaClean filters are an ongoing cost, but they cut descaling dramatically.

In value terms, the question is simple. If you would otherwise buy café espresso drinks, the De’Longhis get much closer to café strength. If you mainly want a convenient, mild morning cup and hate cleaning, the Philips machines deliver that for less effort.

The Philips 3200 trades intensity for convenience, and does that very well.

Our tip: Buy a spare water filter when you buy the machine, so you never skip a change and end up descaling early.

Real-life scenarios

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

For full-flavored espresso and dense foam, the Magnifica Evo was the one I reached for.

My scorecard

These scores come straight from my single reviews of each machine, all out of 10.

Overall score

Brand averages by category

De’Longhi leads clearly on espresso and milk, and Philips leads on cleaning. Ease of use is a tie: both brands are genuinely simple to live with.

Which brand should you buy?

It comes down to one question: what matters more to you, flavor or effortless cleaning? If it is flavor, buy a De’Longhi. If it is cleaning, buy a Philips.

For the detail behind each machine, read my Magnifica Evo, Rivelia, Philips 2200 and Philips 3200 reviews, or my Philips 2200 vs 3200 comparison.

For easy cleaning and mild coffee, the Philips 3200 is the sensible pick.

Two more worth knowing: the De’Longhi Rivelia is the pick for regular-and-decaf households and families who want profiles, and the Philips 2200 is the pick if you want to learn to steam milk yourself.

De’Longhi vs Philips specifications

From manufacturer specifications and my own testing.

How I tested and compared them

I used each of the four machines as my only coffee maker for four weeks, making espresso, coffee, Americanos, cappuccinos, latte macchiatos and iced drinks. Testing notes were written up together by Michael Reynolds and the HouseholdMe team.

I weighed doses by stopping each machine after grinding, measured drink volumes and temperatures, checked De’Longhi espresso with a refractometer and measured noise with a sound meter.

I followed every rinse, brew group, carafe and filter routine, then compared my notes with De’Longhi’s and Philips’ specifications and owner documentation.

• Coffee: dose, crema, body, flavor and consistency.
• Milk: foam texture, temperature, speed and drink range.
• Workflow: heat-up, controls, guidance and daily routine.
• Ownership: cleaning, water care, noise and footprint.