Breville Barista Touch vs. Barista Express: Which Should You Buy?

Touch or Express: Control and Milk Decide It

Both have a built-in conical burr grinder, a 2 L tank and the same thermal cut-out rule. The split is control and milk. The Barista Touch (BES880) runs from a touch screen, textures milk automatically on a drip-tray sensor, and has a Factory Reset. The Barista Express (BES870) uses buttons, dials and a pressure gauge, you steam by hand, and its book has no factory reset at all.

One thing to correct before you compare reviews: several call the Touch's heater a ThermoJet. Breville's own BES880 book says thermocoil: the machine purges water after each drink "to ensure the thermocoil is at the optimal temperature".

Edition note: the BES870 facts here come from Breville's US book. The BES880 books we used are the Australia/New Zealand edition and the UK Sage SES880 edition, which is the same machine, so metric units and regional phone numbers come from those.

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Side by Side

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What's the Same

• Grinder care. Both books give the same burr-cleaning routine: run the grinder empty, lift out the top burr, brush both burrs and the chute. Both describe advanced cleaning with a 10 mm socket for a blockage between the burrs and the outlet. "Care should be taken as the grinder burrs are extremely sharp."
• Dose and tamp. Both extraction guides use 8-11 g (1 cup) and 16-19 g (2 cup), tamped at 10-15 kg (22-33 lb), with flow starting at about 8-12 seconds.
• Auto purge. After espresso, hot water and steam, both purge water into the drip tray. That's normal, not a leak.
• Thermal cut-out. "Machine is on but ceases to operate" is the same row in both: the safety cut-out may have tripped because the pump or grinder overheated. Switch off, unplug, cool 30-60 minutes, then call Breville if it persists.
• Shower screen seal. Both books list a worn silicone seal around the shower screen as a cause of leaking, and both show how to remove the screen. The BES880 book also shows fitting the new seal; the BES870 book sends you to Breville for one.

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Milk: Automatic vs Manual

Barista Touch. Rest the jug on the milk temperature sensor on the drip tray, with milk covering the ring around the wand tip. Choose the drink and it textures to temperature. Lowering the wand starts an auto purge, and the book warns it "may purge hot steam". Steam switches itself off after 90 seconds of continuous use.

Barista Express. Turn the STEAM/HOT WATER dial and texture by hand. While the light flashes, the machine is heating, and the book says condensed water from the wand during that time "is normal". After 5 minutes of continuous steaming it disables steam until you return the dial to STANDBY. Wipe and purge the wand after every use.

If milk drinks are most of what you make, this is the deciding row.

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Living With It: Cleaning and Descaling

On the Express, never remove or completely empty the tank during descaling. The machine also leaves descale mode after 5 minutes without action, so you'd restart from the beginning.

More: Barista Express descaling · Barista Express cleaning.

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When It Won't Brew

Both books file "espresso only drips or not at all" under over-extraction, not a fault: grind a little coarser, lower the dose, tamp at 10-15 kg, and clear a blocked basket with the pin on the cleaning tool. Check the tank is pushed down and locked, then descale.

The two machines part ways on resets:

• Barista Touch: the book offers Settings → Factory Reset for one cause, "an error on purging setting" when water doesn't come through. It resets all programmable values and deletes custom drinks.
• Barista Express: there's no factory reset. "Too much or too little espresso" is fixed by holding PROGRAM until three beeps, which restores default volumes and the default water temperature.

Express quirks the Touch doesn't have: FILTER SIZE lights flashing means the hopper isn't locked, and a flashing STEAM/HOT WATER light at switch-on means the dial isn't at STANDBY.

More: Barista Touch not working · Barista Express not working.

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When DIY Won't Work

• Cut-out keeps tripping after a 30-60 minute cool-down: call Breville.
• Leaking after you've replaced the shower-screen seal, or water anywhere other than the drip tray: stop and call Breville.
• Anything inside the housing: neither book gives owner repairs beyond cleaning, the seal and the grinder.

Breville US support: 1-866-BREVILLE (1-866-273-8455); Canada 1-855-683-3535 (BES870 book). Neither BES880 book we read prints a warranty length, so check yours with Breville.

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Which Should You Buy?

• Choose the Barista Touch if you want to tap a drink and have the milk done for you, with temperature and drinks saved in a menu.
• Choose the Barista Express if you want to see the shot on a pressure gauge, steam by hand and adjust temperature in small steps.

We haven't compared prices, and the books don't compare reliability.

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FAQ

Does the Barista Touch have a pressure gauge?

No gauge appears in the BES880's parts list. It runs from a touch screen. The Barista Express has a gauge marked under, within and over the espresso range.

Is the Barista Touch a ThermoJet machine?

Not according to its book. The BES880 instruction book says its auto purge keeps "the thermocoil" at temperature and calls the heat-up "Rapid Heat Up", about 3 seconds.

Can I factory reset a Barista Express?

No. The BES870 book has no factory reset. Holding PROGRAM until three beeps restores the default shot volumes and water temperature.

Do both machines grind beans?

Yes. Both have an integrated conical burr grinder with an adjustable upper burr. The Touch's dial runs 1-30 and the Express's 1-16.

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Related Breville Guides

• Barista Express vs Barista Pro
• Barista Touch Not Working?
• Barista Express Not Working?
• Breville Error Codes and Lights

Sources: Breville Barista Express BES870 instruction book (USCM V23); Breville Barista Touch BES880 instruction book (ANZ K22); Sage Barista Touch SES880 instruction book (UK B18).