Nespresso Vertuo Pop vs. Vertuo Up: Which Should You Buy?

Vertuo Pop or Vertuo Up: One Button or Three

The Vertuo Pop does everything with one button and a lever, and tells you what's wrong with white and orange blinks. The Vertuo Up splits the job across three buttons: coffee, Coffee Creations and a maintenance button that turns orange when descaling is due. Its tank holds 1.4 L (47 oz) against the Pop's 0.56 L, and it brews the 535 ml Carafe size, which Nespresso says the Pop isn't suited to.

They come from different manuals, and almost every routine differs: descaling, cleaning, the reset and even how they report a fault.

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Side by Side

The Up is narrower (16 mm) but deeper (68 mm), so check the counter depth before you buy.

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What the Up's Extra Buttons Do

• Coffee Creations: "concentrated, temperature-adjusted coffee for all your over-ice and milk-based recipes." Press it, then the coffee button. It switches itself off for capsules that can't be brewed that way: Ristretto, XL, Cold Brew Style and Carafe Pour-Over Style.
• Maintenance button: hold it 3 seconds to step through Rinsing, Emptying the pipes, Descaling, Reset my settings and Connectivity on or off. It goes steady orange when descaling is due.
• Temperature can only be changed in the Nespresso app.

On the Pop, every function shares the one button: 3 presses to clean, a 7-second hold to start descaling, 5 presses to reset.

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Living With Them: Descaling and Cleaning

Both use only the Nespresso descaling kit. More: Vertuo descaling guide.

The Up has one habit worth knowing. It sends a few millilitres of liquid to its waste container after each brew. The manual calls that normal "machine technology & design". Empty it each time you empty the capsule basket.

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Resets and Fault Signals

Purple on the Up means call Nespresso. It's service mode, and there's no owner fix for it. The same applies on either machine if a fault persists after the manual's checks: USA 1-800-562-1465, Canada 1-855-325-5781.

More: Vertuo Up not working · Vertuo Pop not working.

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Which Should You Buy?

• Choose the Vertuo Up if you want the Carafe, Alto or Ristretto sizes, iced and milk recipes with Coffee Creations, a much bigger tank and Wi-Fi.
• Choose the Vertuo Pop if you mostly brew Espresso to Mug sizes, want one-button simplicity, and have a shallow counter.

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

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FAQ

Does the Vertuo Pop make a carafe?

Not conveniently. Nespresso's FAQ says the Carafe and XL accessories aren't suitable for the Pop. The Vertuo Up brews the 535 ml Carafe Pour-Over Style.

Which one has Wi-Fi?

The Vertuo Up lists Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Nespresso's combined manual lists Bluetooth for the Pop.

Is the Vertuo Up bigger than the Pop?

It's narrower and slightly taller, but much deeper: 120 × 494 × 257 mm against 136 × 426 × 250 mm. Its tank is more than twice the Pop's.

How do I know when the Vertuo Up needs descaling?

The maintenance button turns steady orange. On the Pop, the button alternates orange and white three times, then stays steady.

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Related Vertuo Guides

• Vertuo Next vs Vertuo Pop
• Vertuo Up vs Vertuo Next
• Vertuo Up Not Working?
• Vertuo Pop Not Working?

Sources: Nespresso Vertuo Up user manual (US); Nespresso user manual for the Vertuo Next, Vertuo Pop and Vertuo Plus (combined); Nespresso Vertuo Pop+ user manual; Nespresso customer FAQ "What are the difference between Vertuo Next and Vertuo Pop?".