We tested this bare-bones espresso machine to see if it’s worth checking out

Because pulling espresso requires some serious machinery, most at-home models worth using start at around $500. That’s why it’s so surprising to find the De’Longhi EC260BK, also know as the Stilosa. It costs just over $100 while other budget espresso machines typically start in the $250 area. 

Even more surprising, the BestReviews Testing Lab found it can make reasonably good espresso. It was even better than some of the more expensive machines we tested. It still won’t win any awards, and it has its fair share of frustrating flaws, but it undoubtedly gets the job done for anyone on a tight budget.

What is the De’Longhi Stilosa?

It’s easy to shoot water out of the steam wand instead of steam. Be careful.

Dimensions: 8.07” D x 13.5” W x 11.22” H | Brewing Size Options: Single and double espresso shots | Pod Compatibility: No | Water Reservoir Capacity: 33.8 oz | Brew Time: About 1 minute to warm up, followed by roughly 30 seconds for a properly extracted single espresso shot

The De’Longhi EC260BK “Stilosa” is positioned as an ultra-budget espresso machine. It strips out all possible features and additions to keep its cost around $100. This includes limiting the amount and quality of accessories, which we were particularly frustrated by. It doesn’t come with a milk-frothing jug, something that wouldn’t increase the cost by more than a few dollars, and the combination tamper and coffee scoop uses such cheap plastic we were concerned we’d snap it in two while using it.

The milk-frothing performance was poor. We were only able to make so-so quality foam, but the bigger issue is the design of the wand. Most steam wands eject steam at the very tip. The Stilosa’s wand ejects steam from about half an inch up, maybe less, inside a kind of tunnel. This made it impossible for us to froth without jettisoning flecks of milk all over the kitchen.

Its espresso quality is certainly good enough, both in terms of flavor and aroma, for the machine’s low cost. However, we thought it took too long to heat the water (a little over a minute), and the crema it produces is almost nonexistent. Still, it’s acceptable for making espresso-based drinks. 

Pros

• Reasonably good espresso at a shockingly low price.
• The compact body makes it a good fit for those with little kitchen space.
• Most of the machine is easy to clean and maintain.

Cons

• The long heat-up time is rough compared to better machines heating up in seconds.
• It doesn’t include key accessories such as a milk jug, and what is included feels cheap.
• The top of the machine where the heater is gets dangerously hot when brewing.

Performance

There aren’t many parts to the Stilosa, which means each one needs to pull more weight to maintain its performance.

Espresso brewing

The Stilosa uses the same 15-bar pump as most De’Longhis use, regardless of cost. This is why it can make reasonable espresso despite being stripped down everywhere else. However, this stripping down means you can’t adjust things such as brewing temperature and extraction time. That’s why it can’t make better espresso.

Ease of use

Understanding and controlling the Stilosa is mostly easy. It only has one dial in the center and a little lever on the side. However, the combination of this dial and lever when trying to use the steam wand is a little confusing. The dial decides if the wand jets out steam or hot water while the lever only turns the wand on and off. If you’re not careful, you can accidentally jet the wrong thing out. This is embarrassing if you accidentally jet hot water onto yourself (like we did, oops) or dangerous if a child gets their hands on it and jets out hot steam.

Cleaning and maintenance

Because of how few parts there are to the Stilosa, we had few issues cleaning it. A deep scrub before we packed it away took about 10 minutes. The only issue we had was the bottom doesn’t come off. Other espresso machines use drawerlike bottoms so you can take it to the sink. The Stilosa is just a solid piece, so dumping it gets tricky.

How we tested

The body is compact enough to fit comfortably in even galley kitchens.

In testing the De’Longhi EC260BK, we focused on three aspects.

• Brewing speed: This was a two-parter. Part one was recording how long it took for the machine to be brew-ready from the moment we turned it on. That time was one minute and five seconds. This is a long time compared to other espresso machines that take mere seconds. Part two was timing how long to pull a single shot of espresso. That was about 30 seconds, which is standard.
• Espresso quality: We tested several points of espresso making to judge the Stilosa’s quality here. There was general taste and aroma, which we though was decent but not amazing. There was crema performance, which we thought was poor because it produced too little. Then there was shot variability, which we had no issues with since every shot we pulled on matching settings was identical.
• Steam-wand quality: Testing this was a simple matter of frothing some milk with the wand. We strongly disliked it because of the sheer mess it made and also because it didn’t froth well in general.

We also compared its general ease of use and its cleaning and maintenance requirements against other espresso machines we’ve either tested or used personally.

Price and where to buy

The De’Longhi Stilosa retails for $119.95. You can find it on Amazon, Best Buy, De’Longhi and Walmart.

How to use the De’Longhi Stilosa EC260BK

The top of the machine can get dangerously hot when brewing.

Using the De’Longhi Stilosa is similar to most espresso machines, except it requires much more manual oversight.

1. Prepare the machine by filling the reservoir with water. The reservoir is removable so you can fill it easily in the sink. It holds enough water (33.8 ounces) to make several shots of espresso, so you can skip this step if you already have enough.
2. Grind your chosen beans or select your preferred preground coffee.
3. Prepare the portafilter. This means selecting the right filter for your type and quantity of coffee, filling it with grounds and using the included tamper to press the grounds into a puck. The included tamper has a scoop on one end to help transfer coffee into the portafilter.
4. Attach the portafilter to the group head, place a cup underneath and switch the dial to the “on” setting. This starts the heating process, which took one minute and five seconds in our tests. When it’s heated, the “ready” light will trigger.
5. Switch the dial to the image of the cup to start the extraction process. Watch this process carefully, because the extraction will continue indefinitely until either the reservoir empties or you switch the dial back to “on” or “off.”
6. When your espresso is ready, switch the dial to “on” if you’re planning to make another cup or “off” to shut everything down. Enjoy.

How does it compare to other espresso machines we tested?

The Stilosa is the lowest-costing machine we tested by about $400. That makes it a little unfair to directly compare it, at least when it comes to feature sets. For example, everything else we tested had at least some cool features like built-in grinders and tamping levers. Then there are the costliest machines we tested, which could practically make your espresso for you with automated milk frothing and automated shot pulling. The Stilosa just isn’t in the same conversation.

We can at least compare the quality of the espresso though. This is where the Stilosa surprised us. We were able to dial in a good grind size in about 30 minutes, which was quicker than most of the nonautomated machines we tested. Additionally, the espresso we pulled was about the same quality as some of the midrange machines. The Stilosa couldn’t make crema worth anything though, which is a shame since crema is such an important part of espresso.

Is the De’Longhi Stilosa a good espresso machine?

The testing team found the De’Longhi Stilosa to be a good enough espresso machine for those on a budget.

We think the Stilosa is a serviceable espresso machine for those wanting lattes and cappuccinos at home but can’t afford a better, more fully-featured machine. We wouldn’t go so far as to call it good though, even without comparing it to other espresso machines. The wonky controls, manual-only espresso pulling, poor-quality steam wand, limited and low-quality accessories and its annoying cleaning issue are all too much to call it good. Again though, if you understand exactly what you’re getting before you buy it and you make your peace with that, it’s still worth considering.