Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Sage SES500BSS Bambino Plus Espresso Maker, 1600 W, Stainless Steel

350 total ratings, 93 with reviews

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From the United States

UK version of Breville Bambino highly recommend

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2021

Phenomenal machine and great value. It’s the UK version of the Breville Bambino so if you’re using it in the US you need a step up/down transformer and then it’ll work exactly as intended. I highly recommend this machine to anyone looking for an easy to make barista quality cup of coffee.

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Bird

Beware. Don’t buy this one!

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2020

Color: Stainless Steel

Beware of this pricey espresso maker. I am now on my third machine going into my second year from purchase. Customer service the first time was understanding and replaced immediately. It malfunctions after the cleaning cycle and does not reset. I was was surprised to have it happen again with the second machine. Same exact problem! This time with customer service it took two weeks and multiple calls explaining the problem for them to agree to have it sent for evaluation. They didn’t believe I was following the manual. The repair department deemed it “not functioning” and a new one was sent. I did check several Breville Bambino forums and have found this is a common problem as well as other issues. I’m surprised they haven’t taken it off the market if I and others are needing multiple replacements. Buy something else!

7 people found this helpful

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From other countries

BigM

Easy to make espresso

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2020

Color: Stainless SteelVerified Purchase

I am working in the area of coffee shops but am not a barista and only make espresso and pour over for myself. I never really got to make espresso for myself at home as I thought it is too much effort as well as all that equipment and stayed with pour over. With the Bambino being relatively small as well as affordable compared to more professional machines I gave it a go and have not regretted the move. It is a very well build machine, relatively easy to clean and maintain and very easy to use. It truly heats up fast so no waiting around for the boiler to heat up just for one cup in the afternoon. I use the non-pressurised baskets and they have provided very good results though on taste I have to admit I am not an expert. There is still enough flexibility in the machine if you are a bit geeky and try to control water amount out manually (i.e. I use a 15g espresso amount with about 30g espresso out in the cup). No control over temperature and pressure though. I have also bought a bottomless portafilter from China which was worth the wait and with a mirror it is great to watch the coffee coming through the basket for improving your tamping skills. Last but not least I can only recommend to invest in a very good grinder in order to get great result out of the machine. As the saying goes, garbage in garbage out. I can recommend the Eureka Specialita at basically the same price as the Bambino.

6 people found this helpful

Rev. Andy

Really good espresso machine

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2024

Color: Stainless SteelVerified Purchase

Makes a great cup of coffee. My only reservation is that the milk steamer has quite a high minimum level so I end up frothing more milk than I need when making a cup just for me.

Spoony’s

Easy to work

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2024

Color: Stainless SteelVerified Purchase

This is our first proper coffee machine with all the bits. Easy to use (YouTube video good). Would recommend 10/10. Look forward to my coffee every day now!

Rolandas

Great little machine!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2023

Color: Stainless SteelVerified Purchase

Im not an expert, so can not tell you how its compares to them commercial espresso machines . Its also my first espresso machine , so I cant tell you if it makes great espresso or average . But i can tell you that I am happy with it! I like the taste of espresso it makes!
I love that after turning it on its ready after a few seconds! You dont need to wait 5 min or even 20 min ( as with other machines) . I really like this feature!
It steams your milk automatically and does it rather well!
You can adjust amount of foam you want and also how hot you want it.
But if you want you can steam your milk yourself and it works even better!
The only negative i should mention is the temperature of espresso. I think its slightly to cool. So you will need to make sure you heat up your porta filter before pulling your espresso

6 people found this helpful

Dan

Sage know best.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2023

Color: Stainless SteelVerified Purchase

I don't like to write negative reviews, I would rather say nothing on most occasions. But occasionally, just occasionally, a company does something really anti-consumer with one of their products and I then think it is necessary to call them out on their behaviour. If we don't, we allow it to become the norm.

So this isn't a full review of the Sage Bambino Plus. That would go something along the lines of: it can make good coffee, but it does require some accessories and modifications to do so (precision basket, replacement portafilter and a couple of other things before you get to something good). I would give it 4 stars. Good, but not great. But I'm not here to talk about that, and it's definitely not getting 4 stars from me. I want to talk about one thing, and it's the cleaning cycle.

After the machine has made 200 coffees it needs cleaning and the machine starts flashing to let you know this. The cleaning cycle takes about 10 minutes and requires: 1) Fitting a rubber insert into the portafilter, together with a cleaning tablet. 2) Filling up the water filter. 3) A complicated sequence of button presses that I never remember and have to look up in the instructions every time - you first have to turn it off for some reason, then turn it back on, then hold down two buttons, then another button press (or something like that), and finally it will start. 4) Wait about 10 minutes, much noise ensues. 5) Clean up the mess it makes. You have to put a bowl under it to catch he water, but actually the vast majority of water goes into and then overfills the drip tray, spilling out over your counter. After each clean you have to empty and clean the drip tray and then dry your whole counter. The point is, it's not an insignificant task.

I don't mind the above, though. It's not great design that the cleaning cycle makes a mess that you have to clean up, but I can live with that. The thing that I mind. That I really, really mind and that every time makes me actually angry with the person at Sage that made the decision, is that when you hit 200 coffees and it's time for the machine to be cleaned, the machine is blocked until you clean it. That's it, no more coffee for you until the machine has been cleaned. Just made a coffee for your partner and now you want to make yourself one too and enjoy a rare moment of peace together? Nope, no coffee for you, not unless you first spend your time cleaning the machine. Got friends over and you're making coffee for them? Well, guess what, you're not anymore. Now you're cleaning the coffee machine. You've just made your coffee and literally all you want to do is froth some milk to put in it? Well, you just wasted that coffee because you're not frothing anything until you've cleaned the machine. All of these scenarios have happened to me in the year I've had the machine.

Don't think this can possibly be the case? I wouldn't be surprised if you don't because if you search online, you'll find people saying that all it takes is a certain button sequence and you can skip the cleaning. That would make sense, right? In fact, if you talk to Sage customer support (I know this because I have - when I pressed them on it, they just stopped replying to my emails), they'll tell you that. Except ... on the latest model it's not true. On the latest model, they changed it. On the latest model, you CAN'T SKIP THE CLEANING. They decided you shouldn't be able to any more.

Sage know best what you should be doing with your time. This machine knows best and you're a slave to it. It's such a bone-headed, anti-consumer decision. You don't care about your customers when you decide you know better than them. Stop doing things like this. I won't buy from Sage again.

74 people found this helpful

A reluctant DIYer

Prepare to be challenged

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2023

Color: Stainless SteelVerified Purchase

I waited months for this to be reduced in price as it came so highly recommended for beginners by independent online reviewers. My friend also purchased one at the same time. The machine itself is very well made and does everything it should. Unfortunately, the art of making espresso is not an easy one to master and involves a lot of wasted beans and patience. In all honesty, both my colleague and I have questioned the wisdom of our purchase - we just want a cup of coffee! We’re persevering for now, but take my advice and think very carefully about whether you want a new hobby or just a good coffee. If you want the second option, perhaps consider a fully automatic bean to cup machine.

22 people found this helpful

Matty D W

Broken twice in under a year -bad customer service

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2024

Color: Stainless SteelVerified Purchase

This is not a good machine and the customer service needed to ensure your product has a reasonable lifespan is entirely lacking.

We got this to replace our De’Longhi; and it felt like a real upgrade. It makes a better espresso than the De’Longhi and has a more robust feel to the machine. I’d previously had two different De’Longhi machine and each lasted about 2.5 years. The Bambino lasted 6 months before the pump completely stopped.

The product has a year warranty, so I contacted customer support and waited on the phone for an hour hoping to speak with someone but nobody answered, so they indicated they’d call
Me back. They called me back a week later. You must be with your machine when they call, so I couldn’t use my one chance after a week. So I had to call again and the same scenario happened. It took a week to speak with anyone.
The repairs then took about a week and a half and it was returned, working just fine.

Two months later it’s broken again, I’m back in the purgatory of warranty repairs and with a machine that has now broken twice.

Do not buy this machine, buy something that works for your money so you can avoid costly coffee shops. Definitely the De’Longhi turned out to be both a cheaper and better machine for my time and money.

One person found this helpful

Jon Thomson

Now ships with single-walled baskets too!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2020

Color: Stainless SteelVerified Purchase

Excellent process, speedy delivery and now the Bambino Plus ships with 2 twin-wall baskets for pre-ground coffee and 2 single-wall baskets for the "wanna-be baristas" who have a grinder which goes fine enough for espresso.
The machine comes with (almost) everything you'll need to get started brewing to café standard, including a milk jug, a water filter cartridge and a tamper. I paired mine with the Sage Smart Grinder Pro which I've had for a while and also rate highly. Not cheap, but worth it.
The instructions with the Bambino are not just "in English" but they were written in English and are very clear with plenty of illustrations.
I was seriously considering spending well over £1k for a "proper" espresso machine but I doubt if the results would have been any better!
As ever, the drip tray is too small - but that keeps the overall footprint down. I also had to reprogram the double shot volume - but it's a doddle. It's fully explained in the instructions.
Bear in mind that you'll need some cloths handy - a plush, dry one for polishing and drying the portafilter and a damp one for cleaning the steam wand. A rubber or silicone mat for tamping is also a good idea to avoid a lot of mess and you'll need something to knock out your used coffee pucks into (a knockbox).
Speaking of mess, my wife was dead against a proper espresso machine because she remembers the mess they can generate (we've had them before). So, I have been very careful to keep up with the clean-up. However, she was won around with the first cup of flat white!
I need ay no more.

36 people found this helpful

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