Don't Buy coffee machines

Our rigorous coffee machine tests reveal the best coffee machines, as well as the ones you should avoid.

We label the very worst coffee machines we've tested a Don’t Buy. These are the coffee machines that are so poor at their key job we can’t recommend them.

Don’t Buy coffee machines will struggle to extract the best from your coffee, leaving you with a thin, watery and flavourless brew. They may also be slow, produce lukewarm drinks, or fail to froth up milk to bubbly perfection.

The worst models will also be a nightmare to use, leaving you tearing your hair out in the mornings when you should be sipping a hearty brew.

Choose a Best Buy-rated coffee machine instead and you’ll find it quick and easy to make a tasty coffee that extracts maximum flavour from your favourite roast.

Log in or join Which? to unlock our full list of Don't Buy products on this page.

Coffee machine reviews you can trust

Over the years we’ve tested hundreds of coffee machines from big brands such as Nespresso, DeLonghi, Dualit, Tassimo and Dolce Gusto. Our detailed coffee machine reviews reveal which coffee machines makes delicious espressos and cappuccinos, and which models give you a coffee that lacks flavour and gusto.

•  Our expert coffee taster does a blind taste test of the espressos and cappuccinos made by each model. We'll only recommend the machines that have his stamp of approval for bringing out the best in your coffee.
• Our rigorous lab tests look at the mechanics of coffee making - we assess how easy each coffee machine is to use and clean, as well as how noisy it is, and how hot the coffee is, so you can avoid a lukewarm brew.
• All of our tests ignore price, giving an overall Which? score and a detailed review. You can see the best and worst at a glance or dig in further for all the details, whichever way you prefer it.

Coffee machines that score particularly poorly in our tests pick up a Don’t Buy warning from us – clearly marked – so you can see immediately which models to avoid.

Which? is independent – we work for you, the consumer, so you can be sure that our product recommendations are influenced only by our test results. We're not influenced by third parties and we don't accept freebies from product manufacturers or retailers. We buy all the products that we test ourselves, so our advice helps you to make the right choice first time and avoid costly mistakes.

Join Which? to find out which coffee machines are Don’t Buys and which have earned our best coffee machine recommendations. If you're already a Which? member, please log in to get the scores and reveal the models avoid.