This machine is basically a generic espresso machine that has sold all over the world under various different brand names, including Swan.
It's a pressurised portafilter espresso machine, so it's intended for use with pre-ground coffee, and it has a thermometer, and a steam wand that actually does a fairly good job.
Features and Benefits
• 1.2 L Water tank
• Thermoblock heater
• Panarello steam wand / doubles as a pro wand
• Various colour options
• Thermometer helps with temperature surfing
• Compatible bottomless portafilter available
This is a thermoblock machine, meaning it has an on demand water heater vs a traditional boiler. You'll find most of the cheap espresso machines have this kind of heater, and it's really not a negative in and of itself.
Although currently most premium espresso machines have boilers, this doesn't mean that thermoblocks or thermocoils are bad, in fact I think we'll see more and more premium thermocoil machines in the not too distant future (there are a few already).
But when it comes to the very entry level machines, they'll usually have thermoblocks, and at this kind of price I really don't think thermoblock vs boiler would actually make a difference.
It's a pressurized basket machine, which means it's really made with pre-ground coffee in mind, and the pressurisation is in the portafilter itself, you can mod them but most people who mod them tend to find that the mod causes damage to the portafilter, and they end up having to replace it.
You can get a compatible bottomless portafilter for the Swan Retro, I've not seen any compatible spouted portafilters though, and just keep in mind that bottomless portafilters look great when you're dialled in and have nailed the puck prep, but if not, they can be messy and frustrating.
The thermometer is really useful actually, this isn't a temperature stable machine, if you want temp stable you really need a PID, so have a look at the Gaggia Espresso & Sage Bambino, but being able to see the current temperature is really helpful.
It means that you can aim to pull your shot when the needle hits a specific temp, and you can do the same each time in order to get more temperature stability from a machine that has fairly big temperature swings, as all very cheap home espresso machines tend to suffer from.
Even the Gaggia Classic suffers from this, and that's not a very cheap espresso machine. You can get into a temperature surfing routine to get around it, but you don't have a thermometer with that machine, so there's a bit more guess work involved.