by Chris Arnold
Anybody who has had an excellent espresso or cappuccino at a neighborhood espresso store, whereas touring to Europe, and even from their very own semi-auto espresso machine has most likely dreamed of a machine that may do all that grinding, tamping, pulling, and steaming by itself.
There are plenty of Tremendous-Auto espresso machines that attempt to make good on this promise. The Philips Saeco HD8838/47 is considered one of them. Does it ship? Learn on to search out out.
What’s within the Field?
Philips-Saeco actually delivers an entire package deal. There may be in fact the principle unit and energy twine, but in addition a plethora of paperwork and manuals, espresso scoop, a water filter, a water take a look at strip, and a tube of grease for month-to-month lubrication of the brew group.
Philips-Saeco
Appears to be like & Construct High quality
The perimeters and prime are fairly good-looking, being fabricated from brushed metallic. The buttons, knobs, and spout are additionally a silver shade, however are sadly low-cost, shiny, chintzy plastic. If these had been fabricated from metallic, and even stylish matte-black rubberized plastic, it actually would have enhanced your complete expertise. As an alternative, it ruins the expertise the minute you contact them. And it makes the labels on the buttons arduous to learn. Not good Saeco.
Saeco Controls
Tutorial Materials
Saeco Tutorial Materials
Because the story goes, Steve Jobs mentioned that none of his computer systems ought to require a person handbook to make use of, and most Apple customers would most likely agree with that, not less than to a point.
I believe Philips-Saeco wished to show this saying on its head and give you a minimum of 9 totally different sheets or booklets in case you are an English speaker. And the principle handbook shouldn’t be intuitive. The sheer variety of languages is form of complicated, since they break up them up in a different way, relying on the merchandise you’re looking at. There may be some duplication throughout a few of the sheets, some are scaled in a different way; it’s simply bizarre. A single, unified handbook can be a significantly better expertise.
Person Interface / Person Expertise (UI/UX)
Saeco Warming Up
That is the place it begins to get actual ugly. To begin there’s a multi-colored LCD (just one shade at a time), that seems on the middle of the person expertise. Relying on what is going on, the colour is Inexperienced, Orange, or Purple.
Exterior the 4 corners of this LCD, there are 4 buttons which have icons on them but in addition double as “Delicate” buttons relying on what’s proven on the LCD. 2 of the buttons have the phrase “Memo” on them. Complicated in the event you ask me since I’m not positive what “Memo” actually means…
Beneath that there’s a dial with 3 positions, and has its personal button within the middle of the dial with an icon of a cappuccino cup and the phrase “Memo”. Once more, undecided what Memo means, and why is it on 3 of the buttons? Additionally, why would you have got completely totally different button places for a cappuccino than for espresso?
I have a tendency to make use of my espresso machines as a lot for espresso and milk, as I do for the new water operate. No devoted button for that I’m sorry to say. As an alternative, you carry out a mix of presses to get some easy sizzling water. Too dangerous.
The UI/UX is simply bizarre, complicated, and unintuitive. Let’s put it this manner – this UI is from the varsity of “The way to drive anybody (even a pc geek) loopy”. I just about wanted the handbook for every part. I actually can’t think about a worse UI/UX, although I’m positive it exists someplace. Make no mistake about it, it is a person expertise from hell. And I didn’t even imagine in hell earlier than utilizing this factor.
Espresso High quality
Saeco Espresso Pull
So the UI/UX is dangerous. What concerning the high quality of the espresso?
You begin by filling the water tank and placing some beans within the hopper. One good contact is that the hopper could be very nicely sealed, so you might hold beans in there for a couple of days, and in idea, they need to keep fairly contemporary. The hopper has a cool shaking/vibration motion that makes all of the beans get down into the throat of the hopper very properly. Want to see this on a few of the high-end espresso grinders, particularly on oily beans that refuse to get down there.
Saeco Water Tank
Saeco Milk Tank
Saeco Grinder
The power of espresso may be adjusted in a few methods. You’ll be able to regulate the grinder finer or coarser. There may be additionally a Delicate, Medium, and Robust setting that may be set within the menu. You may also use the “Robust” button (which makes use of much less water to espresso ratio than the “Lengthy” button). You may also program the ratio of water to espresso to be much less or extra, and eventually, you might use your personal pre-ground espresso, within the occasion the built-in grinder shouldn’t be grinding to your liking. I began with the defaults, with a “Robust” double.
As quickly because the shot is began, it determined to dump some water within the backside of my cup earlier than a stream of precise espresso got here out. Sadly, this was not a one-time factor; it does it each time, which isn’t good. Who needs further water of their espresso shot?
I’m a straight espresso drinker, and I exploit my present handbook espresso machine as a comparability for taste (an previous Pasquini Livia 90). I at all times use good water and freshly roasted beans, together with a commercial-grade espresso grinder. After all, the Livia produces a thick, wealthy crema layer, and great tasting espresso discovered beneath. How concerning the Syntia?
Saeco Able to Pull Espresso
Initially, the espresso that the Saeco-Philips produced had a really mild layer of crema and a really watery-tasting espresso. So I adjusted the power to the best setting and, finally, the built-in grinder to the best setting. The end result was not significantly better. I then went on to attempt a pair extra issues. I used to be in a position to cut back the quantity of water to espresso ratio per shot. Didn’t assist a lot both. So, lastly, I believed I might attempt the pre-ground possibility. I used my commercial-grade espresso grinder, and once more, no love.
There’s something they name the “Saeco Adapting System”, which they declare adjusts over time to “Optimize Extraction”. Properly, I did over a dozen photographs, and nothing appeared to vary for the higher. So the Adapting System looks as if extra of a gimmick than something.
In a phrase, the espresso was underwhelming. Not undrinkable, however actually not inspiring. I can solely surmise that it has one thing to do with the power of the pump used, and maybe the automated tamper. We all know these are a few of the keys to essentially good espresso. I additionally took a have a look at the dimensions of the discarded pucks, and so they did appear a little bit too small, and a little bit too loosely tamped, reinforcing my idea.
Cappuccino High quality
Saeco Cappuccino
The steps are principally the identical as straight espresso, however you add a little bit tank with milk on the facet.
Earlier than the milk begins to get steamed, once more, you get some water within the backside of the cup. Why!?!?! Cease doing this, I believed. However sadly, they’re obsessive about self-cleaning/purging, to the demise of style within the cup.
The steamed milk and foam have been respectable, although most likely in keeping with what you’ll be able to accomplish with a hand frother. Cleanup of the milk container was straightforward.
The quantity of espresso and power of it was fairly mild, so I pulled one other shot into the cup to convey some espresso taste to the concoction. In a phrase, the cappuccino was disappointing. It tasted OK, although I might say sure pod machines which have milk pod choices most likely style a little bit higher. At a fraction of the worth.
Different
- There are a couple of further issues to say. For one, you need to use pre-ground espresso via a particular spout on prime of the hopper lid. That is nice if you have already got some pre-ground espresso, or a greater grinder you want to use.
- The unit has a sizzling water operate, which is sweet if you would like tea or soup.
Cleanup and Upkeep
- The annoying self-cleaning options, do make cleanup simpler.
- There’s a tray on the precise facet that retains all of the spent espresso grounds. It holds a good quantity of espresso grounds and is straightforward to empty and clear.
- The unit has a descaling mode, which may be carried out with Saeco-approved liquid (not included).
- There’s a good door on the facet, that permits the person to lubricate the Brew Group, or to take away it and clear it.
- Utilizing the supplied scoop together with the insanely small opening for pre-ground espresso ends in about half of the espresso on the skin of the machine. Saeco ought to have made the opening larger or rigged it with a funnel-like opening, which is bigger on prime. Additionally, the espresso doesn’t all go down the chute, so it’s a must to form of push it down together with your finger. Terrible.
- With the allotting spout adjusted down, utilizing the milk steam operate causes sizzling milk to be splattered into an space that’s not taken care of by the auto clear, and is a complete ache to wash.
Professionals
- Nearly every part you want is included, even grease for lubrication of the brew group on a month-to-month foundation.
- Espresso Bean Hopper is sealed very nicely, that means you’ll be able to go away your beans in there, and make sure that no air will get to them. This interprets to contemporary espresso beans.
- Espresso Bean Hopper has a vibrating motion that ensures beans are fed reliably into the hopper throat.
Cons
- The Water Tray could be very small, which implies frequent emptying.
- The Water Tank could be very small, which implies frequent refilling.
- Each time you energy on the machine, it decides to spit out a couple of ounces of water, which might be an issue if the tray is already full.
- Each time you energy off the machine, it decides to auto clear and spits out a couple of ounces of water, which might be an issue if the tray is already full.
- When pulling photographs, some water is purged into your cup, that means a extra watered-down espresso.
- When steaming milk, the cleanup can be a ache because of the form of the supply spout.
Conclusion
So how did the Philips Saeco Syntia HD8838/47 fare? Not so good. A nasty person expertise, with actually nice espresso, may be a motive to purchase. A extremely good person expertise, with sub-par espresso, may be OK for Grandpa. However on this case, Philips Saeco executed poorly on each. Await the following mannequin, and maybe they’ll repair the present issues.
Saeco Espresso
*Disclosure: The creator of this text was loaned the tools on this article in trade for this overview.*
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