The short answer
For lattes and cappuccinos, buy the Bambino Plus. Its automatic steam wand offers 3 milk temperatures and 3 texture levels, per Breville. Its tank holds 64 fl oz against the Bambino's 47 fl oz, per Breville's own pages read on 10 September 2026. It ships with a 54 mm tamper, a Razor dosing tool and a 16 oz steel milk jug.
For straight shots, or to learn milk steaming by hand, buy the Bambino. It has the same ThermoJet heater, which Breville rates at 3 seconds to extraction temperature, the same 54 mm portafilter, and a manual steam wand.
To find out whether a pump machine becomes a habit before buying either Breville, start with the Stilosa: a 15-bar pump, a manual wand and a tank of about 1 liter, per De'Longhi's specifications as read from cached copies of its page.
This comparison is based on sourced manufacturer specifications and public product listings, not hands-on testing. Stilosa specifications come from manufacturer pages retrieved via search-engine-cached copies, since a direct live read wasn't available, and the text flags that where it matters. Where a claim rests on a retailer rather than the manufacturer, the text says so.
Three machines, one decision
The Stilosa, Bambino, and Bambino Plus are the three we'd expect a first-time buyer to weigh against each other: the two Brevilles sit in the $250+ band, and the Stilosa has no band assigned, and we hold no price evidence for it, so check the merchant's price. The Stilosa Espresso Machine (EC260BK) is De'Longhi's manual entry point. The Bambino Espresso Machine (BES450) is Breville's compact machine, with a ThermoJet heater rated to reach temperature in 3 seconds. The Bambino Plus Espresso Machine (BES500) adds automatic milk texturing on top of the same core. The specs below separate into what actually changes your daily routine: how long the machine takes to be ready, how milk gets frothed, and how much budget room separates the cheap option from the two in the $250+ band.
Heat-up behavior: how long before the first shot
The Bambino and Bambino Plus both use Breville's ThermoJet heater; Breville's own product pages for each machine (breville.com, read 27 August 2026) state it reaches extraction temperature in 3 seconds. Practically, that means turning the machine on and pulling a shot almost immediately, with no wait for a boiler to come up to temperature. The Stilosa runs on a stainless steel boiler with a 15-bar pump, per manufacturer specifications retrieved via cached copies of De'Longhi's product page (a live page read wasn't available); those specifications don't list a comparable fast-heat figure for it. If your routine is one shot before you leave the house, that's worth confirming directly with De'Longhi or a retailer before you buy. If you're making a pot of coffee alongside it or already puttering in the kitchen, a machine with no stated fast-heat spec is less of a constraint.
Milk workflow: manual wand vs automatic texturing
This is the real split between the three machines. The Stilosa and the base Bambino both come with a manual steam wand, per the manufacturer (the Stilosa specification via the cached page copies noted above), meaning you position the wand and control texture by hand. The Bambino Plus replaces that with an automatic steam wand offering 3 milk temperatures and 3 texture levels, per the manufacturer. In our framing, the automatic wand is the difference that justifies the Plus: it takes a part of espresso-making many beginners find hardest to learn, dialing in microfoam by feel, and turns it into a preset choice. If you already know you want to learn latte art, or you like adjusting wand angle and pitcher position yourself, the manual wand on the base Bambino isn't a downgrade, it's the more direct path to that skill. If milk texturing is the piece you'd rather not practice, the automatic wand is the reason to pay more for the Plus over the base Bambino.
The price jump
The Stilosa carries no band and no price evidence here; check the merchant's price rather than a band. Both Bambinos sit in the $250+ band. Retailers commonly position the Stilosa as De'Longhi's entry-level manual machine, per retailer listings, a retailer-sourced characterization rather than a manufacturer figure, and not a price comparison we can support. That means the real budget decision in this comparison isn't Bambino versus Bambino Plus, it's Stilosa versus either Bambino. Both sit in the $250+ band, which does not mean their prices are close, check current pricing at the merchant, since the gap between them can be substantial. The automatic wand and the accessories the Plus is documented to include, covered below, are the differences beyond price.
Portafilter, dosing, and what's in the box
The Stilosa uses a dual-filter portafilter built for single or double shots, per the manufacturer's cached specifications. Both Bambinos use a 54 mm portafilter; the Plus specifies dosing for 18 g, per the manufacturer, and ships with a 54 mm tamper, a Razor dosing tool, and a 16 oz steel milk jug. The specifications list the 54 mm portafilter for the base Bambino, but don't list a tamper or milk jug, so if you're starting from zero and don't already own those, confirm the base Bambino's box contents before assuming you'd need to buy them separately.
Footprint: base Bambino vs Bambino Plus
The base Bambino measures 6.3 in wide, 13.8 in deep and 12.0 in tall, from Target and Bi-Rite Home Appliances, whose readings agree within 5 mm on each measurement; Breville's own page prints 11.9 x 6.1 x 13.5 in without saying which figure is which, so this article uses the retailers' labelled measurements. The Bambino Plus measures 7.7 in wide (Seattle Coffee Gear and Whole Latte Love) and 12.6 in deep (Seattle Coffee Gear and Target). Its height is not settled: Seattle Coffee Gear and Whole Latte Love read 11.8 in, Breville's own page 11.9 in, and Target 12.2 in, so this article gives the range, 11.8 to 12.2 in. Side by side, the Bambino Plus is about 1.4 in wider and about 1.2 in shallower than the base Bambino. Height makes no real difference between them, since the Plus's range sits on both sides of the Bambino's 12.0 in. On a shallow counter or under a low cabinet, measure your space against the machine itself before treating either as a drop-in replacement for the other.
Water tank: 64 fl oz, 47 fl oz and about 1 liter
Breville's own pages, read on 10 September 2026, state the Bambino Plus's tank at 64 fl oz and the base Bambino's at 47 fl oz, both printed in fluid ounces. The Stilosa's water tank holds approximately 1 liter, per the same cached manufacturer specifications, which is about 34 fl oz by this page's own conversion. The Plus holds the most water of the three and the Stilosa the least. For one or two shots a day, any of the three tanks is enough; for a household running the machine steadily through a morning, the Stilosa means the most trips back to the sink. Reaching the tank under a cabinet covers what a low cabinet does to a refill, on any of these three.
Who each machine suits
Stilosa: the lowest-friction way into pump espresso
Based on the cached manufacturer specifications above, the Stilosa fits someone who wants to know whether they'll actually use a pump machine before spending more. The main tradeoff is a manual wand with no fast-heat spec, in exchange for the lowest entry point in this comparison. Consider this if you're testing whether home espresso is a habit worth keeping, not assuming yet that it is.
Bambino: fast shots, manual milk control
The Bambino fits a first-time buyer who's fine learning to steam milk by hand, or who mostly drinks straight shots and doesn't need automatic texturing at all. Its stated 3-second heat-up is the headline spec, and milk texturing is left to you, which suits someone building that skill on purpose. It has no grinder, so budget one: the Encore and the Encore ESP compares two Baratza grinders, one with 20 espresso steps and one without, and the Bambino against the Barista Express sets it beside a machine that has one built in.
Bambino Plus: the step-up for milk-first drinkers
The Bambino Plus fits someone who wants lattes and cappuccinos without practicing wand technique, and who values the included tamper, dosing tool, and milk jug as a complete starter kit rather than pieces to buy separately. The main tradeoff is a larger footprint than the base Bambino, in exchange for automatic milk texturing.
