Smeg BCC02
What’s the story?
The smallest and most affordable machine on test, this Smeg is just 18cm wide. But its brewing specs aren’t cut down: you get a thermoblock water heater and burr grinder, and can tailor the grind with a simple manual control. It’s also good-looking, with curvy ’50s styling in a choice of six finishes.
But this is the only machine here that can’t make two drinks at once. Controls are just a series of buttons on the top, to pick from eight drink types; there’s no app. And the frother is a wand – so you’ll need a little jug to froth milk in, then pour it onto your coffee. Pricier models do the whole shebang straight into your cup and have touchscreen controls.
Is it any good?
Eight drinks is a bit of an exaggeration: there are four buttons across the top, to make three lengths of black coffee plus hot water. Press a fifth button and they light up orange and make ‘light’ versions of the same three drinks (mellower, taller but with the same single shot of coffee) plus steam. If you want, say, a double espresso, you have to wait and then press the button a second time.
Icons are basic and it’s hard to remember which button does what. But
