Diletta Bello+ Review (2026)

This Diletta Bello+ review is built from manufacturer documentation, independent editorial testing, and a retailer-sourced owner account, not hands-on testing of my own, and I want that clear before anything else. It's worth being precise about the name too. The plain Diletta Bello is a real, cheaper machine still sold on its own, fully manual with no PID and no programmable pre-infusion. The Bello+ adds a genuine electronics layer on top of the same handmade Italian platform, and this review covers that Bello+ specifically, not its simpler sibling.

The verdict up front

The Bello+ pairs a true E61 group with a heat-exchanger boiler, which means you can pull a shot and steam milk at the same time without switching modes, something the base Bello's architecture also allows but without any of the temperature feedback the Bello+ adds on top. The PID, shot timer, and programmable pre-infusion are real upgrades over the plain Bello, not cosmetic ones. What you're not getting, at any price point in this lineup, is a grinder or any automation of the extraction itself. This is a lever-operated, fully manual machine that rewards patience the same way the Silvia line does.

I don't have a confirmed current price to state as fact, since retail pricing on a machine like this moves with retailer and season. Treat the figure below as a reference point.

Diletta Bello+ specs at a glance

• Group: Genuine E61, lever-operated
• Boiler: Stainless steel heat exchanger, confirmed at 1.8 liters specifically for the Bello+ by TechRadar's independent testing
• Water reservoir: 3 liters, also confirmed for the Bello+ specifically, both by the live Amazon listing and TechRadar's testing, not just carried over from the base Bello
• Simultaneous brew and steam: Yes, the defining trait of HX architecture, one boiler, with the group drawing cooler fresh water through an internal exchanger tube run through the hot boiler
• Temperature control: Front-mounted PID, steam boiler temperature adjustable, doubles as a shot timer during brewing
• Pre-infusion: Programmable, up to 10 seconds
• Eco mode: Lowers boiler temperature to save energy while still recovering quickly to brew temperature
• Drip tray: About 1 inch deeper than the base Bello's
• Construction: Stainless steel case, frame, and boiler
• Finishes: Polished stainless steel, powdercoated black, powdercoated white
• Manufacturing: Designed and handcrafted in Milan, Italy, developed in partnership between Seattle Coffee Gear and an Italian manufacturer
• Grinder: Not included, pair it with a separate burr grinder

The E61/HX architecture, and what simultaneous brew and steam actually means

Heat exchanger machines solve the single-boiler problem differently than a true dual-boiler design like the Rancilio Silvia Pro X does. Instead of running two separate boilers, an HX machine keeps one boiler, set to steam temperature, and routes a dedicated tube for brew water directly through that hot boiler. Fresh, cooler water passes through the exchanger tube on its way to the E61 group, picking up heat along the way without ever mixing with the steam-temperature water sitting in the boiler itself. That's what lets an HX machine brew and steam in the same window: the group is drawing from that internal tube, not from the boiler directly, so pulling a shot doesn't rob the boiler of its steam pressure.

The Bello+ uses exactly that layout, a genuine E61 group paired with a stainless steel HX boiler. It's the same fundamental trick that's made E61 machines a fixture of café counters for decades, brought down to a size and price that fits a home kitchen.

The PID, shot timer, and pre-infusion: what actually separates the Bello+ from the base Bello

This is the part worth being careful about, because the base Bello and the Bello+ share so much of the same physical machine that it's easy to assume features carry over between them. They don't. The plain Bello is entirely manual, no PID, no shot timer, no programmable pre-infusion. Everything electronic on the Bello+ is new to that model specifically.

The front-mounted PID display is the centerpiece. It lets you view and adjust steam boiler temperature directly rather than relying on a fixed thermostat, and when you lift the brew lever to pull a shot, the same screen switches over to function as a shot timer so you can track your extraction as it happens. Diletta paired that with programmable pre-infusion, up to 10 seconds of passive soak time before full pressure kicks in, aimed at more even extraction from the puck. A low-power eco mode rounds out the electronics: it drops the boiler's held temperature to save energy when the machine's sitting idle, then recovers quickly once you're ready for another shot. The Bello+ also gets a deeper drip tray, about an inch more than the base Bello's, a small but genuinely useful change for anyone pulling multiple shots between cleanings.

One accessory detail worth flagging before you buy: TechRadar's review unit shipped with only a bottomless portafilter, not a double-spout option. That may vary by retailer or bundle, so it's worth confirming what's actually included before you check out rather than assuming both come standard.

The fully manual extraction experience, and the learning curve

None of those electronics touch the actual extraction. Pulling a shot on the Bello+ still means lifting a lever to start the brew, watching it happen, and lowering the lever yourself when you're satisfied, the same barista-style hands-on process E61 lever machines have used for decades. Steaming is manual too, a knob-operated wand rather than anything automated.

A Coffee Gear customer's account of owning the machine captures both sides of that honestly: the simultaneous brew-and-steam claim holds up in real use, and the machine looks genuinely good on a counter, but getting comfortable with the technique took real time before it started feeling easy rather than fiddly. That tracks with what a lever E61 machine asks of you generally. It isn't a machine you walk up to and get a great shot from on day one. It's one you grow into, and the electronics here shorten that learning curve without eliminating it.

What's not included: no grinder

The Bello+ ships without a grinder, the same as the base Bello and the same as most machines at this level. Some retailers bundle it with a separate grinder, the Eureka Mignon Notte shows up in a few listings, but that grinder's specs, bean hopper capacity included, belong to the grinder itself, not to the Bello+. Budget for a quality burr grinder separately if you don't already own one; on a machine built around E61 pre-infusion and manual technique, grind consistency matters more here than it does on most automatic machines.

Diletta Bello+ vs Rancilio Silvia Pro X

The Rancilio Silvia Pro X is the natural comparison, both are Italian prosumer machines built around simultaneous brewing and steaming, and both sit in similar territory on price. The architecture underneath is where they actually differ. The Pro X runs a true dual-boiler system, two fully independent boilers each with its own dedicated PID, while the Bello+ uses a single HX boiler with an internal exchanger tube and one PID controlling steam temperature specifically.

In practice, that means the Pro X gives you independent temperature control over brewing and steaming separately, while the Bello+'s brew temperature follows the HX boiler's behavior more directly. The Bello+ answers with a genuine E61 lever group, the classic manual café-style extraction experience, against the Pro X's more modern portafilter and basket design. Neither is strictly better. The Pro X suits someone who wants dual-boiler precision in a more contemporary package, and the Bello+ suits someone who wants the traditional E61 lever ritual with just enough electronics layered on top to make it easier to dial in.

Who should buy the Diletta Bello+?

Buy it if: you want a genuine E61 lever machine with real simultaneous brew-and-steam capability, you'll actually use PID temperature control and programmable pre-infusion rather than leaving them on the default, and you're prepared for a real learning curve on manual extraction.

Skip it if: you're new to espresso and want something more forgiving, the base Diletta Bello or a guided semi-automatic will serve you better, or you don't see yourself using the PID and pre-infusion enough to justify the jump over the plain Bello's lower price.