The Barista Touch Impress adds an assisted tamp lever, a 12 oz bean hopper and a grind size dial to the Barista Touch, and Breville rates it 1750 W against the Touch's 1680 W. The Touch keeps three shot features that the Impress feature list does not name: low pressure pre-infusion, volumetric control and a dry puck feature. Both have a touch screen, an integrated conical burr grinder, PID temperature control, a dedicated hot water outlet and automatic hands-free milk texturing, and Breville's product pages state two years of warranty for each.

Tamping and dosing

The Touch has an integrated removable 54 mm tamper, so you press the puck yourself. Its manual adds the Razor dose trimming tool, a twist blade that trims the puck to the right level, and automatic dosing: you tell the machine whether the basket is 1 cup or 2 cup, and the grinder dispenses that amount (PDF pages 8 and 10).

The Touch Impress takes the tamp over. Its lever presses with 22 lbs (10 kg) and finishes with a 7 degree twist. It also corrects the next dose: the grind measurement shows on screen and the machine remembers the adjustment. The portafilter stays in one position through grinding, dosing and tamping (PDF page 8). The Razor tool is still in its box.

Grinder, hopper and grind size

The Touch Impress manual gives a 40 mm precision conical burr grinder and a 12 oz (340 g) hopper, with a grind size dial on the side of the machine (PDF pages 8, 10 and 15). The Touch holds 8.8 oz (250 g) in a hopper with a locking system, and its numbered grind settings sit on the touchscreen, the smaller number being the finer grind (PDF pages 8 and 14). The Touch book describes stainless steel conical burrs and gives no burr size.

Heat and shot control

Both books say the machine reaches extraction temperature in 3 seconds, and both list electronic PID temperature control. The difference is in what the Touch lists on top. Low pressure pre-infusion applies low water pressure at the start of the extraction. Volumetric control offers preset 1 and 2 cup volumes, a manual override or programmable shot volumes. The dry puck feature removes excess water from the puck after extraction for easy disposal (PDF page 10).

The Touch Impress feature list on page 8 names none of the three, and a search of its book finds no volumetric control and no dry puck feature. What it does name is step-by-step guidance on the touch screen. Both manuals let you adjust shot volume, milk texture or milk temperature and save the result as a personal favorite.

Milk and hot water

Both machines texture milk automatically to a chosen temperature. The Touch Impress adds a milk type choice of dairy, almond, soy or oat, plus a manual texturing mode that switches off auto texturing and auto shut-off (PDF pages 8, 17 and 18). For hot water, the Touch manual names a dedicated outlet for Americanos and pre-heating cups, and the Touch Impress manual names a spout for an Americano, teas and pre-heating cups.

Power, tank and what is in the box

The Touch is rated 1680 W and the Touch Impress 1750 W, both at 120 V, and both carry a 2 L removable tank. The two boxes share the milk jug, single wall and dual wall baskets, water filter with holder, cleaning disc, tablets and brush, the Razor tool, descaling powder, a steam wand cleaning tool, a water hardness strip and a drip tray guard on color machines. The Touch list also names a Dosing Funnel 54, and the Touch Impress list does not. Each manual assigns the dual wall baskets to pre-ground coffee. The pre-ground coffee guide covers what that means in practice.

Size

No weight or size is given here for either machine, so measure the counter against Breville's own pages before you buy.

Which one

Pick the Touch for programmable shot volumes, pre-infusion and the dry puck, and for a tamp you control. Pick the Touch Impress for the assisted tamp, the dose correction, the larger hopper and the milk type choice. The Ninja Luxe Cafe against the Barista Express Impress guide covers the Express Impress, the other Impress machine, in the same terms. What a PID does explains the temperature control both share, and the warranty guide covers the terms across the range. This comparison is based on manufacturer manuals and pages, not hands-on testing.