Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus: Which Should You Buy?
Breville's Bambino and Bambino Plus share the same core espresso architecture. The real buying decision is milk workflow, water capacity, controls, and whether the Plus's convenience features matter in your kitchen.
Quick answer
Buy the Breville Bambino if you mostly drink espresso or Americanos, want to learn manual milk texturing, or would rather direct more of the total setup budget toward the grinder. Buy the Bambino Plus if milk drinks are a daily routine, several people will use the machine, or hands-free milk texturing and automatic steam-wand purging will materially simplify the workflow.
The important part is what does not change. Breville documents ThermoJet heating, PID temperature control, low-pressure pre-infusion, 9-bar extraction and a 54mm portafilter on both machines. The Plus is therefore best understood as a workflow and milk-system upgrade, not as a clearly documented upgrade to the core espresso brewing system.
One specification is especially easy to misread: the Bambino Plus does have three temperature settings, but they are milk-temperature settings — Warm, Ideal and Hot — not three selectable brew temperatures. Neither manual exposes a user-adjustable brew-temperature control.
Cafe & Crema’s assessment is based on manufacturer documentation, independent testing, long-term owner reporting, serviceability information, and current market positioning.
Breville Bambino: Check price on Amazon
Breville Bambino Plus: Check price on Amazon
Bambino vs Bambino Plus at a glance
| Feature | Breville Bambino BES450 | Breville Bambino Plus BES500 |
|---|---|---|
| Heating system | ThermoJet; Breville says ready in 3 seconds | ThermoJet; Breville says ready in 3 seconds |
| Brew temperature control | PID; no user-adjustable brew-temperature setting documented | PID; no user-adjustable brew-temperature setting documented |
| Extraction | Low-pressure pre-infusion, then 9-bar extraction | Low-pressure pre-infusion, then 9-bar extraction |
| Portafilter | 54mm; single- and dual-wall baskets | 54mm; single- and dual-wall baskets |
| Milk texturing | Manual | Automatic or manual |
| Selectable milk settings | None | 3 milk temperatures and 3 foam levels |
| Steam-wand purge | Manual after steaming | Automatic after the wand is lowered following steaming |
| Water tank | 47 fl oz / 1.4L | 64 fl oz / 1.9L |
| Hot water | Dedicated hot-water control | Hot-water mode through a button combination |
| Best fit | Espresso/Americano drinkers, manual-steaming learners, value-focused setups | Frequent milk drinks, shared households, convenience-focused workflows |
Espresso performance: much closer than the names suggest
There is no strong specification case for buying the Plus because you expect a fundamentally different espresso engine. Breville’s current product pages describe both around the same core chain: an 18g dose in a 54mm portafilter, ThermoJet heat-up, PID temperature control, low-pressure pre-infusion and 9-bar extraction. The manuals reinforce that shared architecture.
That does not justify saying every shot from the two machines will be identical. Manufacturing tolerances, basket choice, workflow and the coffee itself still matter, and independent testing can observe differences in use. The defensible buying conclusion is narrower: Breville does not document a core brewing feature on the Plus that should make it an automatic espresso-quality upgrade over the regular Bambino.
For a first setup, that makes the grinder allocation more important than the badge on the machine. If choosing the Bambino instead of the Plus lets you move meaningful budget into an espresso-capable grinder, that can be the more consequential upgrade. See our espresso grinder roundup and home espresso setup guide before spending the whole budget on the machine.
Milk workflow: where the Plus earns its name
Milk is the clearest reason to choose the Plus. The Bambino gives you a manual steam wand and expects you to control aeration, texture and stopping temperature yourself. That is useful if learning to steam is part of the hobby, but it also adds another skill to every latte or cappuccino.
The Plus can do that manually too, but its automatic mode adds a temperature sensor and lets you select one of three milk temperatures and three foam levels. In automatic mode you can start steaming and work on another part of the drink while the machine stops at the selected milk temperature. When the wand is lowered afterwards, the Plus automatically purges it.
That is a workflow advantage rather than a claim that automatic milk is always better. Independent comparisons and owner discussions consistently show the feature matters most to beginners, busy morning routines and households where not everyone wants to learn manual steaming. Experienced users often still choose manual mode. Owner reports are anecdotal, so Cafe & Crema treats them as workflow evidence rather than measured performance data.
Tank size, hot water and everyday controls
The Plus also carries more water. The Bambino manual lists a 47 fl oz / 1.4L removable tank; the Plus manual lists 64 fl oz / 1.9L. That does not change extraction quality, but it reduces refilling when several drinks are made back to back.
Both machines can dispense hot water for an Americano. The regular Bambino exposes a dedicated hot-water control. On the Plus, the manual activates hot water through a button combination and routes it through the steam-wand area. If hot water is a frequent part of your workflow, the Bambino’s control is simpler; it is not, however, a capability missing from the Plus.
Maintenance, reliability and repairability
Both machines need the ordinary espresso-machine routine: wipe and purge the steam wand, keep the group and baskets clean, run the machine’s cleaning procedures when indicated, and descale according to the manual and your water conditions. The meaningful day-to-day difference is that the Bambino requires a manual steam-wand purge, while the Plus performs the post-steam purge automatically when the wand is returned to its lowered position.
There is not enough reliable evidence to declare one model inherently more durable. The Plus has more automation around milk, but complexity alone is not a reliability measurement. Breville maintains support and replacement-parts channels for the line, and third-party parts catalogs list model-specific internal components such as pumps and solenoid assemblies. That supports repairability being possible at the component level; it does not prove equal failure rates or a particular lifespan.
A useful caution from the evidence review: community comparisons often claim that only the Plus has a three-way solenoid valve. Current replacement-parts listings show a 3/2 solenoid assembly for BES450 variants as well, so Cafe & Crema does not use that community claim as a purchase differentiator.
Value: decide what the premium is buying for you
Do not anchor the decision to a fixed price gap because retail pricing changes. Compare the current prices when you are ready to buy and ask what the difference buys in your routine.
If the gap is small and you make milk drinks every day, the Plus is easy to justify: hands-free texturing, selectable milk settings, automatic wand purging and the larger tank all get used repeatedly. If the gap is large, or your normal drink is espresso or an Americano, the Bambino preserves the core documented brewing architecture and leaves more room in the budget for the grinder, scale and fresh coffee.
This is also why Cafe & Crema keeps the two machines in the broader best espresso machines under $500 roundup: the Plus is the stronger convenience recommendation, while the Bambino is the value path when the automatic milk workflow is not important.
Buying conclusion
For most milk-drink households, choose the Bambino Plus. For most value-focused espresso or Americano drinkers, choose the Bambino.
The Plus earns its premium through workflow: automatic and manual milk modes, three milk-temperature settings, three foam settings, automatic wand purging and a larger tank. The regular Bambino keeps the documented core brew architecture, uses manual milk texturing and gives you a simpler way to reserve more of the setup budget for the grinder.
Neither choice fixes a poor grind or a bad dial-in. Once the machine is chosen, the next useful step is dialling in grind, dose and yield rather than buying accessories to solve an extraction problem.
If the regular Bambino is your likely choice, continue with our Breville Bambino review for the full manual-milk workflow, grinder requirements, maintenance, owner-issue, serviceability, warranty, and alternatives assessment. If the Plus is your likely choice, continue with our Breville Bambino Plus review for the full automatic-milk workflow and ownership case.
Sources & Evidence
- Breville — the Bambino BES450 product page — supports the 54mm/18g portafilter, ThermoJet 3-second heat-up, low-pressure pre-infusion followed by 9-bar extraction, manual milk wand and hot-water capability.
- Breville — the Bambino Plus BES500 product page — supports the 54mm portafilter, ThermoJet 3-second heat-up and hands-free automatic milk system.
- Breville — Bambino BES450 instruction manual — supports PID control, manual milk texturing and purge procedure, 47 fl oz / 1.4L tank, volumetric controls and hot-water operation.
- Breville — Bambino Plus BES500 instruction manual — supports PID control, 64 fl oz / 1.9L tank, automatic and manual milk modes, three milk-temperature settings, three foam levels, automatic purge and hot-water controls.
- Tom’s Guide — Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus — independent hands-on comparison supporting the practical split between value and milk-workflow convenience.
- Breville — Bambino Plus support hub — supports current cleaning, troubleshooting, documentation and replacement-parts support for the model.
- eReplacementParts — BES500 parts catalog and BES450 3/2 solenoid cross-reference — support the limited repairability statement and show why the common owner claim that only the Plus has a three-way solenoid is not reliable enough to publish as a differentiator.
- r/espresso owner discussion: Bambino vs Bambino Plus — anecdotal owner evidence that hands-free milk texturing is most valuable for busy routines; community hardware claims are cross-checked against parts documentation rather than accepted at face value.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Bambino Plus make better espresso than the Bambino?
Breville documents the same core brewing architecture on both machines: ThermoJet heating, PID temperature control, low-pressure pre-infusion, 9-bar extraction and a 54mm portafilter. That does not mean every shot will be identical, but there is no documented brew-system upgrade that makes the Plus an automatic shot-quality upgrade. Grind quality, dose, puck preparation and dial-in remain the larger variables.
Does the Bambino Plus have three brew temperature settings?
No. The three temperature choices documented in the Bambino Plus manual are milk-temperature settings: Warm, Ideal and Hot. The Plus also has three milk-foam levels. Breville documents PID brew-temperature control on both machines, but neither manual exposes a user-adjustable brew-temperature setting.
Can you steam milk manually on the Bambino Plus?
Yes. The Bambino Plus can texture milk automatically or be used in manual steam mode. The regular Bambino is manual-only, so it is the simpler choice if learning milk texturing is part of the point for you.
Can both machines make hot water for an Americano?
Yes. Both dispense hot water through the steam-wand area. The Bambino has a dedicated hot-water control, while the Bambino Plus manual uses a button combination for hot-water mode.
Is the Bambino Plus worth paying more for?
It is easiest to justify for households making milk drinks frequently. The Plus adds automatic milk texturing, selectable milk temperature and foam levels, automatic wand purging after steaming, and a larger water tank. If you mostly drink espresso or Americanos, or you prefer to steam manually, the regular Bambino is usually the more efficient place to put the machine portion of the budget.