Sage (Breville) Barista Express Neo Review

Introducing the NEW Barista Express Neo

In case you didn’t know, the Barista Express has been around for 12 years. It is the most successful espresso machine on the planet, and now Sage Breville has decided to update the design with some very handy features. Let’s list off the features here, and then go through them one by one:

1. Grind by weight!!
2. 30 Grind settings (before just 15)
3. Encoder on grinder setting
4. Mini display
5. Smooth shot
6. Extended drink menu
7. Cold drinks!
8. Non-burn steam wand
9. Ergonomic steam lever

These are some awesome upgrades, but there are also a few misses, that I wish Breville, who sits in Australia, would have offered. But anyway, let’s begin with my favorite new feature: grind by weight.

Acaia Grind by Weight

One of the things that is the most frustrating for new baristas is getting the coffee dose right. Especially with a grinder that can at times be inconsistent with how much it grinds by time, a scale is your best friend. Well, Breville has partnered with Acaia to include a scale in their new Barista Express Neo! This is great, because you can just choose the weight you want, and it will grind to that amount – regardless of roast degree or other external factors.

I have found the scale to generally be either right on, or +/- 0.1 gram. The most I’ve ever seen it off it’s target was 0.5 grams, but I had run out of beans, so that may have been the issue. Nearly every other time it was within 0.1 grams of the target dose. This is just super convenient for both new and seasoned home baristas alike.

By the way, Ninja has been including a dosing scale in their Luxe Cafe machines since 2024, but you cannot set the grind weight, like you can with the new Barista Neo.

Conical Grinder

Ok, we have to talk about the grinder. Some people will be dismayed that it still comes with the conventional 5-bladed burr design, that it’s always had. Breville has recently acquired Baratza, and includes the new Baratza burr in some of its models, which is a 6-bladed burr design. It’s supposed to have better grind distribution, and be better for light roast. That being said, the 5-bladed design in the Neo is sufficient for me, and my med-dark roast bean preference. Certainly it does fine on med-dark to dark roast beans, which are easier to grind through than light roast beans.

What Sage (Breville) did do for this model though, is extend the grinding range from 15 up to 30 grind settings, which is WAY better for dialing in. Also, they put an encoder on the grinder adjustment wheel, so that you also see the grind setting right on the mini display. Looking below, you can see the grind setting is at 12, and the double basket is selected.

The Build and Design

I would say build quality is on par with other Breville machines. It’s a stainless steel casing on the outside, bolstered by a plastic housing inside. Sitting on the inside of the machine is the thermoblock heater, which is a stainless steel lined thermoblock type heater. This needs about 45 seconds to warm up, but I’d suggest running 1-2 shots through the portafilter without coffee, to get it nice and warmed up.

The machine has kept it’s same look, more or less. If you look at it from the side, it’s still has the iconic Barista Express look, with the same angles, despite having a new steam wand and steam lever. The steam lever also activates hot water, by the way. The lever is made out of a polished metal, and feels good to the touch.

Of course there are some new looks on the operator panel. Here you will see the cool new mini display on the lower left, and a different manometer, that shows the ‘smooth shot’ pressure range. You’ll also notice a new drink selector, where you can choose between a single espresso, double espresso, espresso lungo, and cold drink. Plus, you can program a favorite cold and hot drink. Very nice!

About the mini display, it changes based on machine mode. It normally shows the grind setting and basket selection. But while pulling a shot, it turns into a shot counter. For setting drink preferences, it has enough resolution to display choices like temperature, pre-infusion and so on. It also shows a few neat little icons, like a start up latte art heart, and a steam icon while steaming.

The Smooth Shot

One of the biggest issues people have when dialing in new beans, or using old beans, is finding the right grind size. While the included Acaia scale will help significantly in getting the right dose, the Smooth Shot helps in another way.

How does the Smooth Shot work? Well, during the first 10 seconds of the pre-infusion phase, where the coffee puck is getting saturated with brew water, the machine monitors the back pressure created by the coffee puck. If the Barista Express Neo notices that the puck cannot provide much resistance to the incoming pump pressure, then it will modulate the pump, and keep the pressure low. This is awesome, as it will save many a shot, if you’ve ground too coarsely, or chosen some beans that are too old.

Espresso and Milk Foam Quality

I think this machine is great for people who are new to home espresso. It makes a nice, highly textured espresso shot, and velvety milk, if you use good beans, and if you spend time getting used to using a steam wand. For seasoned home baristas who want to try lots of different specialty coffee, they may not be satisfied with the little conical grinder in the long run. Can you get better espresso with a $500 grinder that’s calibrated and seasoned? Sure, you can. But it’s not night and day for me with the beans I use, and since I generally make cappuccinos and other espresso based drinks, the included grinder in the Barista Express Neo is fine for me.

What’s a little too bad is that the output varies a bit. But this is normal for all home machines that I’ve tested. Sometimes you’ll get 30 grams out, sometimes 45, and sometimes 35. So, you can set it higher, and use a scale to monitor and manually stop when you want. Or, you can just let it stop when it wants, and realize it’s limited in its accuracy.

To get back to the question of whether or not it can make a good espresso, I say yes. Be sure to warm up the machine properly with 1-2 blank shots, and I’d recommend a med-dark roast bean, ideally within 1-2 months of roast date, and you should be good to go.

Drink Menu on the Barista Express Neo

Starbucks has popularized cold drinks. Well now, the Barista Express Neo can do cold drinks, too! I am not a big cold coffee dude, but I know a lot of people love this feature. With the cold drink selection, the machine will pull a slower extraction at ambient temperature. Extract this over ice, and you have a nice cold drink.

What I find really handy is the favorite drink feature. My wife and I often drink a Caffe Crema, which is an extended ratio of about 1:8, with a coarser grind. I can set this up with the ‘favorite’ feature, in which I can choose my output volume, and also the pre-infusion time I want.

Two more sweet features: Non-burn Steamwand and Lever

The older steam wand on the traditional Barista Express is the regular type, that gets hot, and it hard to clean off. The new Express Neo comes with a fatter steam wand, that’s lined with PTFE, so that the outer shell of the steam wand remains cool to the touch, and therefore the milk doesn’t get scorched on. This makes handling the steam wand, and cleaning it off, way easier.

I am also a big fan of the ergonomic lever to engage either the hot water spout, or the steam. The only thing that sucks is that the machine requires a good 30 seconds to get up to steam mode. That’s a long time to wait for steam, but that’s how it is. The Delonghi Dedica for instance only needs about 10 seconds to get up to steam mode.

What still sucks about the Barista Express Neo?

There are a couple things that Sage (Breville) didn’t update with this machine. One of them is the conventional 5 bladed burr grinder. The time it takes to get to steam mode is also no faster than before. But what irks me the most, is the lack of a water sensor. How can they add so many nice features to the Barista Express Neo, and omit a water sensor? This totally sucks because if you’re not careful, you’ll run out of water while pulling a shot, and then the shot is ruined. This is a waste of money if you’re using expensive beans, especially.

Barista Express Neo vs Ninja Luxe Cafe

You may have noticed that Breville has copied a few things from the Ninja. Ninja was the first to include a scale in their machines, all the way back in 2024, for a consistent dose. They also included cold drinks back then, PLUS the ability to do filter coffee, AND cold milk foam. The Express Neo cannot do filter coffee, nor cold foam. It can however make a Caffe Crema, which the Ninja cannot do.

I would say that the Ninja is still more versatile than the Breville, and is cheaper. I would put the espresso and milk drinks at a similar level. Both use thermoblock heaters, both have 54mm brew groups, and have similar performance otherwise.

Pros and Cons of the Barista Express Neo

Sage (Breville) have added a ton of great new features to the Barista Express Neo, but there are still a few cons to mention, too.

Verdict

While I think this is a sweet machine that will make a lot of people happy, it’s going to depend on what price they set it at. If this just costs a little more than the original Barista Express, it’d be a slam dunk. This should be available November 17th in Europe, and later in 2026 for the USA.

I’d give this machine an A- for features, and a B- for value.

Specifications

Here are the specs of the machine:

• Specs coming soon…
• Made in China

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