The Ninja Luxe Café made a splash when it launched last year, earning a place in our roundup of the best coffee makers. Not only does it make brewing consistently great espresso a piece of cake, it can also produce excellent filter coffee, and make cold-brew that tastes almost as smooth as coffee steeped overnight in the fridge.
It’s impressive stuff, but now there’s a new version of the Luxe Café that makes your life even easier. Once the machine has ground your fresh coffee beans, you no longer need to remove the portafilter handle from the machine and tamp them down yourself. Instead, you can leave the handle in place and simply pull down a lever to apply just the right amount of even pressure, creating a perfect puck with no risk of spillage.
It’s a smart design feature, but it does make the Luxe Café Pro more expensive and a little bulkier than the standard machine. We’re here to help you weigh up the pros and cons, and choose the best espresso machine for you.
Ninja Luxe Café vs Ninja Luxe Café Pro: specs
|
Attribute |
Ninja Luxe Café |
Ninja Luxe Café Pro |
|---|---|---|
|
Price |
$549.99 / £549.99 (about AU$850) |
$699.99 / £699.99 (about AU$1,100) |
|
Size (H x W x L) |
14.6 x 13.2 x 13.5in / 37.2 x 33.6 x 34.4cm |
14.8 x 13.3 x 14in / 37.7 x 33.7 x 35.5cm |
|
Weight |
37.5lbs / 17kg |
38lbs / 17.25kg |
|
Settings |
19 |
29 |
|
Espresso |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Filter coffee |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Cold brew |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Grinder |
Yes |
Yes |
|
AutoMilq system |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Built-in tamper |
No |
Yes |
Ninja Luxe Café vs Ninja Luxe Café Pro: price
As you’d expect, the Ninja Luxe Café Pro is more expensive than the standard Ninja Luxe Café. The Ninja Luxe Café has a list price of $549.99 / £549.99 (about AU$850), and is currently available for a discount on Ninja’s website.
The Ninja Luxe Café Pro is significantly more expensive, listed at $699.99 / £699.99 (about AU$1,100). It launched very recently, so we’re not expecting to see any discounts for several months. You’ll find today’s best deals on both coffee makers below.
The Ninja Luxe Café went on sale in the US several months before the UK, and it looks like UK coffee-lovers will have to wait for the Ninja Luxe Café Pro as well. Although the higher-end machine is featured on Ninja’s UK website, it’s currently listed as ‘out of stock’, and it’s not currently available at any other UK retailers either.
Although Ninja does operate in Australia, neither of the Luxe Café coffee machines is available to buy there at the time of writing.
Ninja Luxe Café vs Ninja Luxe Café Pro: design
The most obvious difference between these two coffee makers is the large handle on the side of the Ninja Luxe Café Pro, which is absent from the original machine.
The Pro edition is also slightly larger and heavier, but the difference is minimal. The Ninja Luxe Café Pro is about half an inch taller and deeper, and a quarter of an inch wider. It’s also 8oz heavier, which isn’t enough to make a practical difference. If you choose the Ninja Luxe Café Pro, just make sure there’s enough space to the left of the machine for you to reach the tamping lever.
Ninja Luxe Café vs Ninja Luxe Café Pro: features
When it comes to features, the biggest difference between these two coffee makers is that the Ninja Luxe Café Pro has a lever-operated tamping system that compresses your ground coffee evenly without the risk of spilling freshly ground coffee (something our reviewer Danielle Abraham sometimes experienced when testing the original machine).
The Ninja Luxe Café Pro also offers more drink presets than the original version of the coffee maker. The original Ninja Luxe Café offers four espresso styles, four coffee styles, seven drink sizes, and four milk froth presets, whereas the Ninja Luxe Café Pro gives you 13 espresso styles, four coffee styles, seven drink sizes, and five froth presets.
The number of drink presets probably won’t be enough to sway your decision one way or the other, but it’s interesting to note that the upgraded tamper isn’t the only difference.
Otherwise, both machines have a smart dosing system with a scale to help you grind the right amount of coffee into the filter basket, assistance with choosing the best grind size, and an automatic milk texturizing system (which can also be used manually).
You can also use both machines to brew filter coffee, and to make refreshing cold brew (which is much faster than infusing in the fridge overnight).
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