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Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: one-minute review
The Ninja Prestige DualBrew System (which is almost identical to the Ninja Espresso and Coffee Maker Barista System solid in the US) is a Swiss army knife of a coffee maker, with a drip brewer on one side, a single-serve pod machine for espresso on the other, a measuring scoop embedded in one side, and a milk whisk that flips out from the back. Its price is around upper-mid level for a drip coffee maker, but when you consider that you’re getting a Nespresso machine thrown in, too, it’s great value.
It’s a sizeable machine so you’ll need a decent amount of countertop space to accommodate it, but it’s well designed and full of thoughtful little touches. Highlights include a height-adjustable drip tray for the Nespresso pod brewer (with a grippy surface to prevent your cup slipping and avoid scratches), a bin for used capsules that has its own mini-drip tray so they can dry out ready for recycling, and a fold-out platform so you can brew a single portion of drip coffee straight into your favorite cup or travel mug.
The DualBrew System uses a hotplate to keep your fresh drip coffee warm rather than an insulated carafe, which won’t be to everyone’s taste; many people prefer to avoid hotplates for fear of stewing their coffee and spoiling the taste. However, this one is more gentle than most, with a choice of heat settings and times so you don’t overheat your morning brew.
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Unlike a double-walled carafe, this glass pitcher is dishwasher-safe, as are the machine’s other removable components – and the DualBrew System will alert you when it’s time to run its cleaning program.
Ninja suggests the Prestige DualBrew System is a good option for entertaining, letting you cater to the whims of different guests – and it is, but personally I love it as a way to get coffee into my system as quickly as possible in the morning. Set the timer and wake to a freshly brewed, nicely extracted jug of drip coffee, or pick a pod and have a tasty espresso in your hand within two minutes.
Espresso purists will prefer the Ninja Luxe Café, which combines a drip coffee maker with a semi-automatic espresso machine, and has a proper steam wand rather than a little electric whisk, but for sheer convenience, the DualBrew System is hard to beat.
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: specifications
|
Dimensions (H x W x D) |
5.5 x 10.8 x 12.8 inches / 41.1 x 27.4 x 32.6cm |
|
Weight |
13.6lbs / 6.18kg |
|
Water tank capacity |
1.9 quarts / 1.8 liters |
|
Filter baskets |
One (cone) |
|
Brewing modes |
Drip and espresso (from capsules) |
|
Timer |
Yes |
|
Insulated carafe |
No |
|
Hotplate |
Yes |
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: price and availability
- Sold in the UK, and almost identical model available in US
- Not yet sold in Australia
- Costs $279.99 / £249.99
The Ninja Prestige DualBrew System is sold in the UK for £249.99, and an almost identical model called the Ninja Espresso and Coffee Maker Barista System is available in the US for $279.99. As far as I can see, the only differences between the two are the style of the display, and the color of the plastic panel on the right-hand side. Their features seem to be exactly the same.
Both variants carry an upper-mid range price tag for a drip coffee maker, but when you factor in the extra single-serve capsule coffee maker, they suddenly become very good value for money. You’ll find today’s best deals on both versions below.
Neither machine is available in Australia at the time of writing, but the Ninja Luxe Café is a good alternative if you want a two-in-one drip coffee and espresso machine.
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: design
- Thoughtfully designed by people who clearly love coffee
- Milk frother isn’t perfect, but it’s a nice extra
- Dishwasher-safe components
The Ninja Prestige DualBrew System is quite a large unit, measuring 5.5 x 10.8 x 12.8 inches / 41.1 x 27.4 x 32.6cm (H x W x D), but there isn’t an inch of wasted space.
Both the drip coffee maker and single-serve pod machine use the same water tank, which slots into the back of the machine. It’s easy to lift out for filling, and measurements are clearly marked on the side, although a handle would have been a nice extra touch for a more secure grip. There’s no water filter supplied with the machine, either.
Both parts of the DualBrew System are controlled using a simple set of physical buttons on the machine’s face, plus a dial that has a pleasingly solid feeling when rotated and pressed. Information is conveyed via a monochrome LCD panel, which is clear and bright, and shows the current time when the machine is in standby mode.
The drip coffee part of the DualBrew (on the left-hand side) features a filter basket assembly that stands taller than the rest of the machine, so you may need to slide it forward to open the lid if you’re planning to keep it on a counter underneath a cabinet. It comes with a single cone-shaped filter basket, and a set of filter papers to get you started.
Unlike some drip coffee makers (such as the Sage Luxe Thermal Brewer and Fellow Aiden Precision Drip Coffee Maker) there’s no flat-bottomed basket for large, strong brews. However, unlike these two premium machines, the DualBrew System has a handy drip-stop function that prevents coffee leaking out of the basket when the machine has finished brewing.
The carafe itself is a traditional-style glass pitcher rather than the insulated ones used by the Sage and Fellow machines, and unlike them, has a hotplate underneath to keep your freshly brewed coffee warm. A small LED on the bottom left of the machine warns you if it’s hot, for safety.
If you only want to brew a single serving, there’s a small fold-down drip tray behind the carafe, which is just the right size for a coffee mug.
Moving to the right-hand side of the machine, you’ll find a slot in the top that accepts Nespresso Original style capsules (not the dome-shaped Vertuo pods). Nestlé no longer owns the patent to these top-hat-shaped capsules, so there’s a huge range available from big brands and indie coffee roasters alike.
Below this is a drip tray, which you can unhook and reposition to accommodate different-sized cups (anything from a tall mug to a tiny espresso cup). The tray has a rubberized surface to prevent your cup slipping, and although the sets of holes for repositioning it doesn’t look particularly stylish (it feels like a sliding system would look more sleek), it’s understandable that Ninja’s designers have taken a minimalist approach considering the waste bin for used pods is directly behind it.
That isn’t all the DualBrew has hidden away. On the left-hand side you’ll find a two-ended coffee scoop with markings for brewing different quantities of drip coffee. There’s also a fold-out milk frother, which is activated by pressing a button on top. Unlike a steam wand, this doesn’t heat the milk, but it’s a nice addition if you want to use a coffee capsule as the basis for an espresso, and the machine has a sticker on the side providing estimated microwave and whisking times for different drinks.
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: performance
- Extremely simple to use and maintain
- Drip-stop is a particularly helpful feature
- Excellent adjustable hotplate
The Ninja Prestige DualBrew System is a particularly great option if you’re looking for a coffee machine that will help give you a boost in the morning. Its drip machine has a timer so you can wake to a freshly brewed mug or jug of coffee, and its single-serve capsule machine will have you sipping an espresso within a minute. They’re the two most convenient forms of coffee-making rolled into one easy-to-use machine.
Setup is straightforward: just use the dial to set the current time (necessary for scheduling the drip coffee maker), then “prime” the DualBrew System following Ninja’s instructions. For the drip brewer, this means running a brew cycle using a full tank of water, without coffee in the basket, and for the single-serve coffee maker it means running the “lungo” program three times without a capsule.
As you use the DualBrew System, you’ll start to appreciate the various thoughtful touches Ninja’s designers have implemented. For example, used coffee pods drop into a bin with its own mini-drip tray underneath, which catches any mess from used capsules so they’re dry and ready to recycle.
The drip-stop function is particularly handy if you’re in a rush first thing in the morning, since it allows you to remove the carafe as soon as the machine has finished brewing without drips falling onto the hotplate (and making a mess). The machine will also display a warning icon and refuse to start if you try to begin brewing while the drip-stop is closed.
Another of my favorite features is the hotplate. Sometimes, drip coffee maker hotplates tend to become very warm and stew your freshly brewed coffee. However, this DualBrew System avoids this by offering a choice of temperatures (low, medium, or high), and can keep your coffee warm for up to four hours, which is the same performance you could expect from a coffee maker with an insulated carafe.
The glass carafe has a couple of key advantages: you can see how much coffee is left, and it’s dishwasher-safe, which isn’t true of double-walled pitchers. When you’re loading the dishwasher, you can also add the water reservoir and its lid, the brew basket, the cup tray and its base, and the milk frother, too, so you won’t need to spend time scrubbing by hand.
As mentioned above, the frother is just an electric whisk (similar to the hand-held type that can be bought for $10 at Amazon), but it’s a nice extra, and adding a steam wand to the DualBrew System would have been impractical. During testing, the whisk worked better with dairy milk than plant-based alternatives, and I found that it took longer than suggested by the guide to achieve a thick foam. Nevertheless, the recommended heating times for milk were handy as a guide. The whisk tucks away out of sight when not in use.
Should you buy the Ninja Prestige DualBrew System
|
Attribute |
Notes |
Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Value |
A reasonable price for a drip coffee maker, and even better when there’s also a Nespresso machine attached. |
5/5 |
|
Design |
Large, but thoughtfully designed and easy to maintain. The only weak point is the milk frother, which is nice to have but not amazing. |
4.5/5 |
|
Performance |
Makes brewing great coffee as close to effortless as possible, whether you’re entertaining guests or just trying to jump-start your morning. |
5/5 |
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: also consider
If you’re not quite sure whether the Ninja Prestige DualBrew System is the right coffee maker for you, here are two alternatives to consider:
How I tested the Ninja Prestige DualBrew System
I used the Ninja DualBrew system for two weeks in place of my usual espresso machine and V60 coffee dripper. I used the drip coffee maker with light roasted Honduras Swiss water decaf coffee (freshly ground using my Sage burr grinder). I used the single-serve brewer with the same coffee in alumnium capsules. For more details, see how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.
First reviewed October 2025
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