I bought this machine 2nd hand (so I can't vouch for it's history, previous amount of use/abuse, or whether it was looked after/serviced). It gave me 18months of loyal service and produced a very good coffee with consistent results. It's compact so it doesn't take up a lot of room. It eventually broke (some sort of internal problem) and would not pass water through the group head - I was happy to accept this because I had bought it 2nd hand for only $90 from an individual on eBay. While it was working I found the machine to be excellent. ...Read more

I purchased the Breville Infuser BES840 from JB HiFi online on 27 July 2015 for $399.00. CHOICE reviewed the machine well and it was on their recommended buy list, hence my purchase. Initially I was very pleased with the machine and on 18 September 2016 I wrote a review on Product Review titled "Very Happy With This Coffee Machine".

Alas, in December 2016 the 2 cup program setting pour failed. I persevered with a manual stop/start over the Christmas period and on 11 January 2017 (I contacted Breville Customer Support. I rang twice and spoke ...Read more

My review of the Breville 840XL Infuser.
I have had this machine (V1) for close to 4 years, and it does the job. It goes on sale occasionally for under 400 C$ (300 US$). At the sale price (as opposed to the 650 list price), with the newer version V2 since 2014 with modifiable PID setting, its the best machine by far that you can buy at that price. Mine has been reliable (now the solenoid is showing signs of failure, but its a $100 fix), I have not changed any seals, steam is good but slow (compared to a boiler/hx machine) but works well - its...Read more

I love my coffee, but not just any coffee. Medium bodied, flavourful with character. Not just dark roasted, bitter, tastes like hard coffee.
I've had a Nespresso for years and as my taste for coffee grew, I decided it was time to get a proper Espresso machine.
Now you'd think for $475 retail that this little machine (and it does look little compared to similar machines at this price) would be adequate, maybe just above average. It's so much better than that. PID Infusion is huge at this price point, as is the Thermoblock Coil (most machine...Read more

Note to BREVILLE at end of Review. I will be informing Consumer Affairs of your representatives conduct.

My Saeco via Venezia died after 3 years. Was happy with it, good coffee for the price point but decided to move up to the BES840. Why is it an upgrade? Because this model like the BES870 and above has a PID. Like the 870 it has a smaller 57mm portafilter than the BES900/920 but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

So does a PID make significant change to coffee taste/brewing on a single boiler/steamer machine? Unequivocally yes. I j...Read more

After owning and using this machine nearly every day for 9 months I find two big annoyances.
Firstly the machine grinds more coffee than is required even with the grind amount dial set to the lowest. I then have to trim the dose using the razor device to ensure the correct amount of ground coffee is in the filter cup - this is very wasteful of expensive coffee beans.
Secondly it is necessary to change the grind size (how fine the ground coffee is) when making one cup (using the one cup filter cup) compared to when making 2 cups. When I make 2...Read more

We replaced a semi auto Gaggia which never made a cup of coffee without complaint. It was misery from start to finish. The Breville has functioned perfectly for about 3 months now. It took a few tries to get a grind that was suitable. It also took time to get the tamping pressure right. Once we did, every coffee was perfect. I'm slightly worried about the reports of leaking but so far so good. I'll be back if this $650 (reduced to $399 at Bing Lee) machine only lasts 18 months you can bet. It's interesting to note there have been complaints ab...Read more

I posted regarding this machine back in 2014, mainly about lack of brewing pressure and the lack of good crème and taste Anyway I'll try to keep this short. Breville would not accept that the machine could be faulty [it also had the other issues mentioned by others on here] and in the end they suggested that it was the possibly the grinder I was using [also a Breville]. After some time a new grinder arrived, good stuff, thank you.
So began the game of finding the right grind to get a coffee I could enjoy and even offer visitors. I should sta...Read more

My breville BES840 was purchased a year ago, it is used to make roughly 5 coffees per day, after getting the grind and beans right I was extremely happy with the result. Although I did notice water coming from underneath the tray, my first though is that it may be my fault and I should probably empty the tray before it is full. Sadly after investigation that wasn't the problem, after using the machine it wants to cool down and a pool of water leaks from the machine (I know this because I tested it without the drip tray.)
Earlier when wanting t...Read more