Verdict
Part of a new stock of bean - to - loving cup that show you a visual drinks bill of fare and step - by - step functions , the Philips Series 5500 LatteGo Bean to Cup Coffee Machine has rightly earned a reputation for being unproblematic to use . In doing so , it bring together the spirit of pricier bean - to - cups with proportional affordability , result in a machine that should suit a variety of gustatory modality and budgets . Where it can fall down is coffee customisation . Alongside colour - coded profile there are plentitude of options to modify your favorite drinks but each new combination overwrites the last .
Pros
Cons
Introduction
Fresh from the school of ‘ show , do n’t tell ’ come the Philips Series 5500 LatteGo Bean to Cup Coffee Machine .
Even when it ’s off , you could browse its fare of the most popular drinks as color images , so find a cappuccino on a sleepy morning means you might not even have to pop your specs on first . They ’re combined with a removable Milk River frother – the LatteGo – for fuss - innocent milky drinks , as well as more swallow in an additional fare .
These include iced version , frothed milk and a 360ml ‘ traveling mug ’ size : making it great for a meddlesome household and those who like a caffeine boost in the warm months .
Design and Features
Some coffee berry machines have pick out to swap multiple buttons and dials for a sleek appearance , especially when off , but Philips ’s Series 5500 LatteGo Bean to Cup Coffee Machine tear that trend . Its controller control board is a drunken revelry of 17 touchscreen button surrounding a display ( which is n’t a touchscreen ) , make it look busy whether on or off .
While the effect is discompose , there ’s logic to it , with the drinks options at the top ( leave out the More drink push ) , and separate push button for toggling options , cleanup and profiles . Its profiles are introductory : rather than being able to name yours , you ’ll need to pick one of four colours .
When that profile is selected , it ’ll save whatever combination you pick for a drink when you make it . The downside is that if you swap your espresso between beans and ground coffee , or sometimes choose more Milk River in your latte , you ’ll always be overwrite what was saved to your visibility before .
The car itself is fairly compact for this way – it ’s a simple 24 curium marvelous , so can flash under wall cabinets , and not especially wide-eyed or cryptical .
For all that , it still manages to tuck in a 275 g bean hopper , undercoat sloping trough , and 1.8 - litre water tank – although curiously , the tank has no lid . This means that when you slew it back into the auto , water supply has a propensity to slosh around .
The tank has an optional filter , which takes up capacity , though I found this did n’t impact refill too much . Where it could do with more electrical capacity is the LatteGo milk frother : at just 260ml , it ’ll do two or three milky boozing but it needs refilling more oft than many obliterable milk carafes . As a plus , it ’s compatible with works Milk River , though there ’s no freestanding circumstance for them , and its share are dishwasher safe .
Performance
For a coffee machine that is likely designed with simpleness in mind , the fact that it only comes with illustrated instructions , and a QR computer code to download the full version , is perplexing . confessedly , you could probably use the Series 5500 without any instructions , such is the straightforwardness , but instructions can still be ready to hand , in particular for more ripe features .
The other expression that sticks out is its Quiet Mark certification . agree to the manufacturer , the Series 5500 makes 40 % less noise than earlier models and has ‘ sound shielding ’ to minimize noise . However , during testing , while it was n’t waking up the whole house , I did n’t find it to be particularly quiet , peculiarly when grinding and brewing . My own coffee auto is quieter , whereas with the Series 5500 , I would shinny to make a sneaky solo brewage .
This is n’t to say there is n’t much to love about the Series 5500 – there is . I liked that there were 20 standard drinks to choose from , which is more than most bean - to - cup , and that each one could be easily altered in strength , loudness and milk volume .
It ’s also simple to pick out ground coffee as it ’s an alternative each clip you make a drink , and that the brewing system has been fine-tune so that pick out an iced coffee is n’t just a font of it dispensing the same formula over ice : it ’s been pluck to accommodate the format .
Another plus , if you care to dig out through the options menu , is that there are several eco options : these include shortening standby time to 15 minutes , turning off the loving cup lights , dimming the display , lowering the drink temperature , and choosing not to have jump - up rinsing . In an idealistic humanity , the central exhibit would also be a touchscreen – I found scrolling through the various menus using up and down , ok and back buttons more complicated than it call for to be .
The basic profile organisation has appeal – there ’s no fiddling about with configurations to keep your favourites , it pass automatically each time you make a drink .
At the same clip , it ’s prone to by chance preserve over your preferences . For good example , if you relieve your pet combination for a latte to the red visibility , and the next person who utilise it forgets to switch the crimson profile for the blue profile , your orientation for the same deglutition are substitute . Being able to name a profile could help prevent that .
Overall , the Series 5500 made good coffee berry : while the crema on an espresso was n’t as thickset and syrupy as my common machine , it had plenty of fragrance and feeling . One potential reason for the crema being thin is that the spout does n’t deteriorate grim enough to a small-scale cup , so there was more distance to trip .
Longer coffee tended to have a slight bitter edge to them : something that ’s potential to conclude by choosing the ‘ surplus shot ’ selection , but this was n’t an issue using the same beans in my machine . In increase , extra shot is n’t an option when brewing with pre - ground coffee , so if you ’re using that for a long drink , you ’ll have to live with the flimsy bitterness .
What did ingrain was the frothing : both dairy and industrial plant - ground milks were perfectly foamed for cappuccinos and lattes , plus there ’s an option to rinse the LatteGo in - situ .
The carafe is mounted up quite luxuriously on the machine , but it did n’t splash , or miss the cup and make mess . I liked that it split asunder for cleaning , meaning that it can have a exhaustive wash when require .
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Should you buy it?
This bean - to - cup machine caters well for everyone .
A more affordable espresso machine might be a better bet .
Final Thoughts
Philips ’s Series 5500 LatteGo Bean to Cup Coffee Machine is what I believe of as a crowd - pleaser : while there are some via media in functionality compare to more expensive bean plant - to - cups , it gets most things right . There ’s a good option of drinks , it ’s light to operate and keep clean , and it comes with a mid - range monetary value point that ’s still an investment , but less so than all - singing , all - dancing machines .
There ’s the odd niggle – preserve over someone ’s favored drink combination is easily done , plus you ’ll have to remember to choose extra injection to avoid that bitter sharpness – but overall , it ’s a good - note value choice for coffee in bigger households or for those who like to entertain .
If you opt more functionality , however , turn your care to the slightly pricierDe’Longhi Riveliaor for quieter brewing , KitchenAid ’s KF8 to the full Automatic Espresso car . For other choices , the usher to thebest coffee machinescan help .
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