The DeLonghi Dedica is a machine that ticks many boxes, it's a machine that works well for "normal" coffee drinkers who just want a simple to use small espresso machine, and also a machine that is often used by home baristas on a budget.
Features and Benefits
• 1.1 L Water Tank
• Thermoblock Heater
• Panarello Steam Wand
• Pressurised Portafilter
• Panarello Frothing Wand With Two Settings
This isn't the best home espresso machine on the market, but I think it's about the best you'll get for the price tag, and it's way better in my humble opinion than a lot of the slightly cheaper options you'll find.
It's not quite up to scratch with the Gaggia Espresso, it's close but the Espresso has a PID (algorithmic temperature controller) so the temperature stability is slightly better.
It's also not quite up there with the Sage Bambino & Bambino Plus, mainly because they have a 9 bar over pressure valve (vs about 12 bar on the Dedica EC685), and low pressure preinfusion.
The Bambino Plus also has a 3 way solenoid and auto steaming.
But I prefer the Dedica EC685 to a lot of the cheaper and similarly priced machines on the market including the options from Swann, Cookworks and Salter.
There are a few versions of the Dedica now, the EC685 is usually the cheapest, and for most people, it's still the best Dedica on the market.
The Dedica Arte' has a pro steam wand, the Dedica Maestro has quite a few upgrades including a PID (algorithmic temperature controller) and auto milk frothing.
If you're wanting simplicity, I'd go for the EC685 over the Arte' model, as the 2 setting panarello steam wand is so easy to use, and capable of really good milk texture, the best panarello steam wand I've used, by far.
This kind of steam wand is a fitting on the steam wand with holes that drag air in, which is very simple, but it usually creates only one type of foam, thick, stiff, cappuccino foam.
The panarello on the EC685 has two settings, cappuccino, and hot milk. When you put it to cappuccino, the air intakes are open, when you put it to hot milk, they're closed.
So what this means is you can control the stiffness of your foam buy how long you leave it with the air intake open before switching it to closed. Once you find what works for you, you'll be consistently creating the kind of milk texture you want for your milkies.
If you're buying a machine to enter the home barista hobby, then you'll probably want to go for the Arte' version, and then get a third party unpressurised portafilter, and/or a bottomless portafilter, a replacement shower screen & so on.
They're really sturdy little machines too for the money, honestly if you're looking for a low cost machine, you can do far worse than the Delonghi Dedica, and yeah you can do far better too, for far more money.
For a detailed review on the Dedica Arte, Style and Maestro watch this video: