So, is the Smeg a good buy Yes and no. On the positive side, it gives you all the tools you need to achieve the perfect espresso. It's flexible, looks great and is easy to maintain and operate. Even the milk frother is simple to use.

Makes a good espresso; Alluring retro looks; Basic adjustments help make the perfect shot

Expensive; No water filter included

Looks great but so disappointed! Coffee weak and you have to make it for two to even get a coffee for one and milk frother very hard to work - sometimes ok but mostly not - the steamer heats the milk but very little froth. Hardly any room to put normal size cup under - really only for expresso.

The Italian appliance maestros at Smeg have turned their '50s-inspired design genius on espresso making – and the result is the ECF01. While it's a manual coffee machine that will appeal to hardcore home baristas, there's also some fiendishly clever tech beneath that curvaceous Cadillac-esque body.

Beautiful retro-chic styling; Some truly neat features; Super-quick to heat; Great-tasting coffee; Can handle taller cups and mugs

Oddly positioned power switch

We had a KitchenAid siphon machine before this which we loved. We were going to buy a new one but took a chance on this Smeg instead. I LOVE this machine. It is easy to use, the crema is beautiful and it froths milk really well. Looks gorgeous too!

Looks good as well as making good coffee !! Very good make

Having wanted a SMEG machine for a long time, I can say that the machine really does look very smart and makes great coffee. My only recommendation would be that you run water through it first when using it, in order to get hotter coffee. Very happy otherwise.

Pros: - looks amazing - relatively quiet (in comparison to Nespresso machines) Cons: - changing function settings is confusing and and doesn't work sometimes - warming tray is not even remotely warm, pointless feature - sometimes coffee isn't that hot (regardless of settings) - very messy process,...

Oozes retro style; Solid build quality; Makes damn good coffee;

Manual operation ; No display; Time consuming;

Oozes retro style; Solid build quality; Makes damn good coffee;

Manual operation ; No display; Time consuming;

Im happy with this machine. It makes a nice coffee. It has a little quirk, cant go back and forth between coffee and milk, have to do all the coffee then milk. Not sure if that is a normal function of these machines. All In all very happy.