Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus: The $200 Question

Two machines that look nearly identical, share most of their internals, and cost $200 apart. The Breville Bambino (BES450BSS) and Bambino Plus (BES500BSS) have been causing confusion since Breville launched both at the same time. The footprint is the same. The ThermoJet heating system is the same. The 54mm portafilter is the same.

So where does the $200 go?

The short answer: the steam wand. That single component explains almost the entire price gap. Here's what that means in practice.

Quick Answer

Buy the regular Bambino if you mostly drink straight espresso, Americanos, or you already know how to texture milk manually and prefer to develop the skill. At around $299.95, it's the most capable compact espresso machine at its price.

Buy the Bambino Plus if milk-based drinks are part of your daily routine and you want hands-free micro-foam without learning manual steaming technique. The auto wand is genuinely good and it's what makes the Plus worth the premium for most buyers.

Bambino vs Bambino Plus at a Glance

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What They Share

Both machines run on Breville's ThermoJet heating system, which reaches brew temperature in 3 seconds. That's the fastest warm-up in the category at any price, faster than machines costing five times as much. For someone who wants coffee immediately without a 15-minute preheat ritual, this is significant.

Both use a 54mm portafilter. That's narrower than the 58mm commercial standard, which limits accessory compatibility slightly. For home use, it doesn't matter. Both machines pull genuine espresso from non-pressurized single-wall baskets when the grind and dose are right.

Both are compact. At 7.7 inches wide, neither one competes with a Barista Pro or Barista Express for counter space. They exist for kitchens where footprint is the constraint.

Neither has a built-in grinder. Budget for a separate burr grinder if you're buying either one. A Baratza Encore ESP or similar in the $200 range rounds out both machines cleanly.

The Key Difference: Steam Wand

The Bambino Plus has a 4-hole automatic steam wand that textures milk hands-free. You set the pitcher under the wand, press a button, and the machine draws in air, creates microfoam, and stops when the milk hits its target temperature. The result is latte-quality microfoam without steaming technique.

The regular Bambino has a traditional 1-hole manual wand. You control the depth, angle, and duration entirely. Getting good microfoam out of a manual wand takes practice, easily 10 to 20 sessions before it becomes reliable. Once you have the technique, you can produce better microfoam than any automatic system. Until then, the results vary.

If you're new to espresso and lattes are part of the reason you're buying a machine, the Plus's auto wand removes a significant barrier. If you already steam milk manually on a different machine, the regular Bambino at $200 less is the cleaner choice.

One thing worth noting: the Plus's auto wand works well with dairy. With plant milks like oat or almond, the texture is more variable. Manual technique gives you more control over lower-fat milks. This isn't a dealbreaker for most Plus buyers, but worth knowing.

The Other Differences

Pre-infusion. The Bambino Plus runs a low-pressure pre-infusion phase before full extraction pressure kicks in. This pre-wets the coffee puck, which reduces channeling and improves extraction consistency, particularly on medium and light roasts. The regular Bambino skips this step. For experienced home baristas with a consistent grind and tamp, the pre-infusion effect on shot quality is real but not dramatic. For newer brewers still dialing in, it smooths out some of the variance.

Baskets. The Bambino Plus ships with both single-wall (non-pressurized) and dual-wall (pressurized) baskets. The regular Bambino ships with dual-wall baskets only. Dual-wall baskets are forgiving of grind inconsistency and produce crema reliably even with a mediocre grind. Single-wall baskets require proper technique but produce better espresso when the grind, dose, and tamp are right. If you're buying either machine with the goal of improving your espresso over time, the Plus gives you both options immediately. With the regular Bambino, you'd need to buy non-pressurized baskets separately to work without training wheels.

Dose Trimming Tool (Razor). The Plus includes Breville's Razor precision dose trimming tool, which levels the coffee dose to exactly the right height before tamping. Small detail, but it removes one variable in the dosing process.

Which Should You Buy?

Buy the Breville Bambino if:

• Straight espresso and Americanos are your main drinks
• You want to develop manual steaming technique from the start
• Budget is a meaningful factor and $200 matters to you
• You already know how to use a steam wand

The Bambino makes real espresso and doesn't compromise on the core job. It's one of the better machines under $300, and at that price it has almost no direct competition that competes on shot quality.

Buy the Breville Bambino Plus if:

• Lattes, cappuccinos, or flat whites are a regular habit
• You want hands-free steamed milk without the learning curve
• You want both pressurized and non-pressurized baskets from day one
• The low-pressure pre-infusion and smoother dial-in process appeal to you

For a full look at the Plus's long-term performance, shot quality, and the no-grinder trade-off, read our Breville Bambino Plus review.