Saeco vs. De’Longhi: Which One is Suitable for You?

At some point, most coffee lovers will grow tired of the expensive café and coffee bar coffee, and when this happens, they will turn to making coffee at home. But, for this, you need to have a good and reliable coffee maker.

When it comes to investing in a coffee machine, you often need to pick from several brands such as Saeco, Jura, De’Longhi, Gaggia and many others.

Although picking from certain brands like for example Saeco and Jura is often quite easy given the massive price differences, things are not always straightforward for others like Saeco and De’Longhi as besides being much closer in the price, their machines also have many similar features.

However, this piece aims to make it easier to choose between Saeco and De’Longhi as we explain in detail both their key similarities and differences.

Comparison Chart

Both Saeco and De’Longhi have a huge variety of products currently on the market that will come in different price ranges and with different features. But, for the sake of comparison, here we use features from their automatic espresso machines which are their most popular models.

Saeco vs. De’Longhi

Saeco and De’Longhi are two popular brands with a wide variety of products in the market ranging from simple semi-automatic espresso machines to the fully automatic models.

Besides coming in very close price ranges, most of their coffee machines also have quite similar features. But it should still be an easy pick between them with a little extra information in mind. Below is a side by side comparison of the two brands starting with their origin.

1. Overview and Origin

Both Saeco and De’Longhi are two great Italian brands that have been in operation for many years now. And the two companies have quite similar business models that focus on always providing the best quality coffee makers to suit the needs of different coffee lovers.

Saeco

Saeco has been making coffee makers since its inception in 1981, and it gets its name from the first letters in the names of its founders Sergio Zappella and Arthur Schmed. They made their fast automatic espresso make in 1985.

The company operated as an independent unit until 1999 when it was acquired by Gaggia, which is another Italian home appliance manufacturer before being taken over in 2009 by the giant Dutch home appliance brand Philips.

Saeco is famous for having been the first brand to make an automatic espresso machine specifically dedicated to domestic users. Nowadays, they are known for making easy to use and more pocket-friendly coffee makers.

De’Longhi

De’Longhi is one of the oldest home appliance brands in the world given that it was founded in 1902. It is also an Italian company and unlike Saeco, it has a huge variety of products that range from heaters to vacuum cleaners and air conditioners.

Although the company did not start making espresso machines until a few decades ago, they made a huge breakthrough with their highly successful Arista Series that they brought to the market in 2008.

Nowadays, the company is famous for its top-notch quality super-automatic espresso machines which besides being feature-rich and highly intuitive also come in a sleek design and with more pleasant finishes.

2. Grinder

Both Saeco and De’Longhi coffee machines will come with integrated grinders, and this is more so when buying the automatic models, but they make use of different kinds of grinders.

Saeco machines will have a flat ceramic burr grinder while most De’Longhi coffee machines will come with a metal conical burr grinder. While this might not matter for some people given that both grinders do an amazing job, for some coffee lovers this will influence their choice.

Metal grinders are more long-lasting than ceramic ones, but they will not keep a sharp edge long enough and also tend to get quite hot which can burn the beans. But ceramic grinders also easily break in case there is something like a small stone in the beans.

While there does not seem to be a clear winner when it comes to the grinder, the conical burr grinder on De’Longhi machines will grind a little faster which gives them a slight edge.

Read More: Conical vs. Flat Burr Grinder

3. Beverage Temperature

Both Saeco and De’Longhi coffee makers provide hot enough beverages for most coffee consumers but given that they make use of different kinds of heating elements, the precise beverage temperature differs.

Generally, De’Longhi coffee makers will make hotter coffee than Saeco machines. With all other factors like beans type and grind size being the same, De’Longhi coffee makers will give you a beverage temperature of around 166 degrees Fahrenheit while Saeco provides around 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

With De’Longhi, you also get a higher beverage temperature even for the longer beverages that many people in the USA seem to prefer.

4. Beverage Strength

Saeco and De’Longhi are amazing coffee maker brands, and so you can expect nothing but the best brew quality. However, the brew strength that you get when using their coffee makers seems to differ.

If all things such as coffee beans type and grind setting are held constant for the two brands, De’Longhi seems to produce a relatively stronger brew than Saeco. Also, their machines have more customizable options to allow you to choose your preferred brew strength, and you can easily make a bitter Italian-style espresso with one of their automatic machines.

But, with the right coffee beans and grind size, you can still make a strong enough brew on your Saeco espresso machine.

5. Milk Frothing

An espresso machine is never complete without a milk frother and with most automatic espresso machines from Saeco and De’Longhi, there will be some form of milk frother included.

On most of their fully automatic espresso machines, De’Longhi will use automated milk frothers and always include a built-in carafe for the milk. While Saeco also has built-in milk carafes for most models, some like their popular Anima Deluxe will come with a unique milk frother that includes a tube for sacking milk from the container directly.

Also, both Saeco and De’Longhi make use of OTC on most of their high-end machines which is a one-touch milk frothing technology that makes frothing milk for cappuccinos and other beverages faster and easier.

However, De’Longhi will have this technology even on some of their cheaper models while Saeco only uses it on their high-end coffee makers.

6. Ease of Use

Most modern coffee makers are designed with ease of use in mind, and these two top brands also seem to pay a lot of attention to this as most of their coffee machines are generally super easy to use and more intuitive.

But of the two brands, Saeco seems to manufacturer all their coffee makers from the cheap models to the high-end ones with novices in mind. They have some straightforward controls that include buttons and rocker switches for cheaper models and LCD or touchscreen displays for the pricier ones.

Using most De’Longhi coffee machine is also quite straightforward given the easy to understand controls, but with some more advanced high-end models, you will need to refer to the manual several times to get the hang of it

7. Price

When it comes to the starting prices, there is no much difference between Saeco and De’Longhi given that most of their products will fall in the same price range.

A good example of this is the De’Longhi Dedica and Saeco Poemia which besides being quite similar in features and performance will also retail at around $220 with the price differences being just a few bucks depending on where you are buying.

But overall, Saeco coffee machines tend to be cheaper than the De’Longhi ones as you can get one such as the small 2-cup Saeco VIA Venezia for as little as $100 while one of the Cheapest De’Longhi machine the De’Longhi Dedica will retail for at least $150.

Which One Is Better?

Saeco and De’Longhi are two of the most popular coffee maker brands on the market, and they control a huge chunk of the market thanks to the fact that they have a wide variety of coffee machines to cater to different kinds of consumers.

But, when it comes to picking between the two, many coffee lovers will have a tedious time given that their products are quite similar in both features and price. Hence, in the end, the choice between the two will ultimately be up to personal preferences.

However, De’Longhi seems to have an edge over Saeco in different aspects such as brew strength and temperature and they also have a few more options to choose from than Saeco. But, some higher-end models can be a little complicated to use which makes the brand more favorable for experienced coffee drinkers.

With Saeco, on the other hand, you get a simple brand made with novices in mind that will be a great pick for the beginners. Their coffee makers tend to be marginally more affordable and hence also making the brand the best choice for budget shoppers.