Miele CM 5310 vs CM 6160: is the step up worth it?

Miele CM 5310 vs CM 6160 at a glance

Head to head

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

Keep in mind that the tally is not my verdict. The tank size matters every single day; the cup warmer barely matters at all.

Design, size and build

From across the room, these two look like siblings, and in a way they are. Both are compact, upright Miele machines with a single central spout that slides up and down.

The CM 5310 is the narrower one at 9.5 inches, but it’s also the deeper one at 18.1 inches. The CM 6160 is 9.9 inches wide and only 16.8 inches deep, so it actually sits further back from the counter edge.

Height is a tie at about 14.1 to 14.2 inches, and both slide under standard wall cabinets.

The CM 5310 is one of the narrowest milk-system machines I’ve tested.

The CM 6160 has the more polished face, with direct buttons for six drinks and a light around the spout that shows off each drink as it pours.

The CM 5310 keeps things simpler, with a few direct buttons and a small display for the rest. My unit was Obsidian Black, and its clean front looked tidy on a crowded counter.

Both tops are cup warmers, and both are passive. On the CM 5310, it took a good half hour to make any difference, so I warmed cups with hot water instead.

Depth on the counter

The CM 6160 is narrower front to back, while the CM 5310 is narrower side to side.

Our tip: Measure both width and depth before you choose, because the CM 5310 wins on width and the CM 6160 wins on depth.

Setup and controls

Setup took about 15 minutes on both: language, water hardness and the first rinse. The CM 6160 added Wi-Fi and five minutes in the app.

The CM 5310’s milk tube lives inside the machine behind the service door, which meant it never got lost in a drawer. The CM 6160 ships with a stainless steel milk rod on the end of its tube, which drops straight into a milk carton.

Day to day, the CM 6160 is quicker to drive. Six direct buttons cover espresso, coffee, cappuccino, latte macchiato, long coffee and espresso macchiato, so most mornings never touched the menu.

Our tip: Change one setting at a time and wait two or three drinks before judging, because coffee needs a couple of cycles to settle after any adjustment.

Profiles, modes and the app

This is the biggest everyday difference between the two machines.

The CM 5310 has no profiles. If two people want different strengths, one of you changes the settings on the fly. For a couple who drink much the same thing, that’s fine.

The CM 6160 has four profiles. Within a day, three of us had our own saved drinks, and nobody touched anyone else’s settings.

Operating modes on the CM 6160

Party mode was genuinely useful. At a dinner, I made eight milk drinks in a row without the machine stopping for routine prompts.

The app’s Barista Assistant asks what you like about a drink and adjusts the settings for you. I told it my espresso was a little thin, and it raised the coffee amount and turned on long pre-brewing, which matched what I’d worked out myself.

Six direct buttons mean most drinks on the CM 6160 are one press away.

Our tip: Set up every regular coffee drinker’s profile on the CM 6160 on day one, so nobody changes the shared factory drinks.

The drink menu

The CM 5310 covers the essentials: ristretto, espresso, coffee, long coffee, cappuccino, caffè latte, latte macchiato, hot milk, milk froth and hot water.

The CM 6160 lists 18, adding espresso macchiato, cappuccino Italiano, flat white and café au lait, plus tea water programs.

If your house drinks flat whites, that alone decides it. The CM 5310 can get close by trimming the milk on a caffè latte, but it isn’t a one-touch drink.

Drinks on the menu

Counted from each machine’s menu, including milk-only drinks and hot water.

Grinder and brew unit

Both machines grind with steel conical burrs✕Conical burrsTwo cone-shaped grinding parts, one inside the other. Beans are crushed between them, and the gap sets how fine the coffee is., and both brew in Miele’s AromaticSystem✕AromaticSystemMiele’s expanding brew chamber. It gets bigger as water flows in, so the ground coffee and water mix more thoroughly., a chamber that expands as water flows in. On both, the pucks came out evenly wet with no dry patches.

The CM 5310’s grinder is the newer, insulated design, and Miele says it cuts grinding noise by about half compared with the model it replaces. I went one step finer than the factory setting for a fuller espresso, and two steps finer for light roasts.

Both have a brew unit✕Brew unitThe part that presses the ground coffee, holds it while water passes through and then ejects the used puck. that slides out through a side door. Every week, I pulled it out and rinsed the coffee oils off under the tap, which took about a minute on either machine.

Our tip: Only change the grind while the grinder is running on either Miele, because turning it with the burrs stopped can jam beans.

Espresso quality

Straight espresso is nearly a tie, and both need the same two-minute tweak.

At factory settings, both pulled a pleasant but light shot. With a medium-dark blend, I got a hazelnut crema✕CremaThe golden, foamy layer on top of a fresh espresso, formed when pressure pushes oils and gases out of the coffee. and flavors of cocoa and toasted nuts on both, with low bitterness.

On both, I raised the coffee amount, shortened the water and turned on pre-brewing✕Pre-brewingA short soak of the ground coffee before the main brew, so water flows through the puck more evenly.. The CM 6160 adds short and long pre-brewing options, and long pre-brewing rounded its shot more than any other single change.

My espresso ratings by setting

My scores out of 10 for body, crema and flavor, same medium-dark beans.

Tuned, the CM 5310’s ristretto was my favorite straight shot of the month.

Long coffee and DoubleShot

Weak long coffee is the most common complaint about automatic machines. Both Mieles handle it, in different ways.

The CM 5310’s coffee button runs a better grind-to-water balance than a stretched espresso. It tasted clean and smooth, with gentle bitterness and enough body for a big mug. It became my second cup most mornings.

The CM 6160 adds DoubleShot✕DoubleShotMiele’s two-portion brew. The machine grinds and brews once, then grinds and brews again into the same cup, so a big drink stays strong without turning bitter.. Instead of pushing more water through one puck, it uses two portions of coffee for the same size drink. By week three, it was switched on in all three of our profiles.

Strength of the same size mug

Relative strength, from my tasting and how much coffee went into each drink.

DoubleShot also makes much better iced coffee. I brewed one straight over large ice cubes, and it stayed flavorful as the ice melted instead of turning watery.

If you want a stronger mug on the CM 5310, raise the coffee amount rather than cutting the water.

Our tip: Use DoubleShot on the CM 6160 whenever coffee meets ice or a lot of milk, because a single portion gets lost in a big drink.

Milk drinks

Both machines make good milk drinks. The CM 6160 makes great ones.

The CM 5310 uses a simple milk tube that you drop into your own glass or jug. Cappuccinos had a thick, creamy cap, latte macchiatos layered neatly and caffè lattes were smooth with thinner foam.

The CM 6160 works the milk twice, which is how Miele gets such dense, fine microfoam✕MicrofoamMilk foam with bubbles so small you can barely see them. It feels silky and glossy, which is what a good flat white or cappuccino needs.. My first cappuccino had a cap so fine I couldn’t see individual bubbles, and it was still there when I finished the cup.

Cappuccino foam on the CM 6160 was dense, fine and long-lasting.

Foam ratings with whole milk

My scores out of 10 for texture, stability and temperature.

How other milks foamed on the CM 6160

On the CM 5310, barista oat and semi-skimmed both scored 8.0 and skim 6.8.

No container in either box

Neither machine ships with a milk container. On the CM 5310, I used a small glass jug that went back in the fridge after every round.

On the CM 6160, the stainless steel milk rod drops straight into the carton, and I ended up preferring that, because there was no jug to wash at all.

Our tip: Use 2% milk on the CM 6160 for the best all-round foam, because it gives thick cappuccino foam and silky flat whites from the same carton.

Two drinks at once and the coffee pot

Both machines have OneTouch for Two, and it’s a small daily luxury for a couple. It works for espresso, coffee and milk drinks, and two cappuccinos took a little over two minutes on either machine.

Both also have a coffee pot mode that brews several cycles into a carafe under the spout. On the CM 5310, I filled a short thermal jug for four people twice. The CM 6160 brews three to eight cups in a row, and I filled a thermos for a day out.

Two-cup drink times

Timed on both machines, which matched within a few seconds.

The CM 6160 adds Party mode, which stops routine prompts during a long run of drinks. That matters more than it sounds when you have eight guests waiting.

OneTouch for Two fills both cups from the central spout on both machines.

Our tip: Measure your coffee pot or thermos before the first run, because the CM 5310’s spout tops out around 5.3 inches and the CM 6160’s around 5.5.

Drink temperature

Temperature is programmable per drink on both machines, and they landed within a degree or two of each other.

On the highest setting, my espresso read about 160°F in a warmed cup and about 151°F in a cold one. Long coffee came out around 158 to 162°F, and milk drinks finished around 145°F.

That milk temperature sits right in the 140 to 149°F range where milk tastes sweetest, which is also what research on cappuccino milk points to for flavor and stable foam.

Drink temperatures I measured

Probe readings straight after brewing, highest coffee setting, same on both machines within a degree or two.

Our tip: Run a little hot water into your cup and tip it out before an espresso, because a cold cup costs about nine degrees on a small drink.

Tea and hot water

If anyone in your home drinks tea, this section settles it.

The CM 6160 has tea programs for black, green, white, herbal and Japanese tea. Each dispenses water at a suitable temperature, then a timer counts down the steeping and beeps when it’s done. I didn’t expect to use it, and then I used it every afternoon.

The CM 5310 offers plain hot water. It’s fine for an americano or a mug of instant cocoa, but there’s no temperature choice and no timer.

Our tip: Use the CM 6160’s tea timer even for black tea, because it stops you leaving the bag in until it turns bitter.

Cleaning and upkeep

Cleaning is almost identical, and it’s one of the best things about both machines.

After milk drinks, both rinse the milk pipework automatically. The CM 6160 does it through an internal valve, so you don’t even need to put the tube in the drip tray. Both rinse the coffee path on startup and shutdown.

Every week, I took each brew unit out through the side door and rinsed it under the tap. On the CM 5310, the water tank and grounds container are dishwasher-safe; on the CM 6160, the parts marked with the dishwasher symbol, including the drip tray, can go in too.

My daily hands-on cleaning time

My estimate of hands-on time per day, not counting automatic rinses. Both machines matched.

The real difference is how often you empty things. With two people, I emptied the CM 5310’s grounds container every day. With three on the CM 6160, it was every day or two.

Noise

Both are quiet machines by any standard, and the CM 5310 is the quieter of the two by a whisker.

I measured the CM 5310 at about 58 to 62 dB while grinding and about 54 dB while brewing, with a phone meter at about 20 inches. The CM 6160 read about 60 to 63 dB grinding and about 55 dB brewing.

For context, a typical automatic machine I’ve tested grinds at around 68 to 72 dB. Because every 10 dB sounds roughly twice as loud, both Mieles sound about half as loud as an average machine.

Sound levels I measured

Phone sound meter readings at about 20 inches.

Capacity, beans and supplies

This is where the CM 5310’s compact size costs it most.

Its tank holds about 1.3 liters, or 44 ounces. With two people making four or five drinks a day, plus rinses, I filled it every single day. The CM 6160’s 1.8-liter tank, about 61 ounces, went further even with three of us.

Drinks per full tank

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

Hoppers follow the same pattern: about 7 ounces on the CM 5310, which lasted about a week for two, and about 10.6 ounces on the CM 6160.

Use whole beans within a few weeks of the roast date. Medium and medium-dark roasts worked best on both, and light roasts needed a finer grind. Spent pucks are excellent for the compost.

Our tip: Keep a filled water jug next to the CM 5310, because its small tank runs out quickly with milk drinks and rinses.

Real-life scenarios

These are the moments where one machine clearly pulled ahead during my testing.

For a family that shares one machine, the CM 6160 earned its place every morning.

My scorecard

These are my own scores out of 10. The first four come from my single reviews of each machine, and I added capacity and household sharing because they decide this matchup.

Miele CM 5310

Miele CM 5310 overall: 8.3 out of 10.

Miele CM 6160

Miele CM 6160 overall: 8.6 out of 10.

Overall, I rate the CM 6160 8.6 and the CM 5310 8.3. The coffee is close; the CM 6160 earns its extra points in milk, capacity and flexibility. The CM 5310 earns its place by doing the essentials quietly in a smaller space.

Which one should you buy?

It comes down to how many people use the machine and how much counter you have.

For one or two people in a small kitchen, the CM 5310 does everything that matters, quietly. For three or more, or anyone who drinks tea or flat whites, the CM 6160 is worth the step up. For the wider picture beyond this matchup, see my guide to the best super-automatic espresso machines.

If you’re also weighing the next model up, see my Miele CM 6160 vs CM 6360 comparison, my best Miele coffee machine guide and the Jura vs Miele brand comparison.

For most households, the CM 6160 is the Miele to buy.

Miele CM 5310 vs CM 6160 specifications

From manufacturer specifications and my own testing.

How I tested and compared them

I used each machine as my household’s everyday coffee maker for four weeks, making ristretto, espresso, coffee, long coffee, cappuccinos, caffè lattes, latte macchiatos and, on the CM 6160, flat whites and tea. A second HouseholdMe tester shared both machines, and we wrote the notes together.

I adjusted grind, coffee amount, water, temperature and pre-brewing, measured drink temperatures with a probe and noise with a phone meter at about 20 inches, and made milk drinks with whole, 2%, 1%, semi-skimmed, skim and oat milk.

I tested OneTouch for Two and the coffee pot on both, DoubleShot, the modes and the app on the CM 6160, ran every rinse and cleaning program and then checked my notes against Miele’s specifications and owner documentation.

• Coffee: espresso, long coffee, crema and consistency.
• Milk: foam texture, temperature and drink range.
• Workflow: controls, profiles, modes and two-cup drinks.
• Ownership: capacity, noise, cleaning and footprint.