Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM 22.320.SB Review

Delonghi has long been considered to be one of the heavyweights of the coffee machine market, offering highly efficient and exceptionally durable products for coffee enthusiasts of all stripes.

The Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM 22.320.SB definitely fits into this category, as it offers fantastic all-around versatility with an emphasis on simplicity. Whether you prefer the classic straight-up espresso hit or you favour more elaborate coffee concoctions such as lattes and macchiatos, the Delonghi can do it all, with an intuitive control panel that offers stress-free operation and expedient coffee delivery.

Keep in mind that the Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM 22.320.SB is a bean-to-cup machine, which means that it can be used with fresh coffee beans or ground coffee, giving you more choices for customisation in order to create the cup of coffee that perfectly suits your preferences.

Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM 22.320.SB review

Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM22.320.SB

What are you buying?

Quiet and flexible grinder

Unlike many coffee machines that include a separate coffee bean grinder, the Delonghi features a built-in grinder that can be adjusted to accommodate 13 different configurations, giving you more flexibility in terms of tailoring the smoothness of your coffee.

Fortunately, the grinding mechanism is quieter than many other machines I have tried, some of which could probably violate city noise ordinances. This is particularly useful if you’re an early riser and you want to be able to make your coffee without waking everyone up.

Two-cup brewing capacity

Another cool feature of the Delonghi is its two-cup brewing capacity, which means that you have the ability to create two cupfuls of coffee at a time from one brewing unit. This is a great way to impress your spouse, but it’s also useful if you simply like to double up on your daily dose of caffeine in the morning.

Long coffee option

Another feature that I really appreciate about this machine is the fact that it includes a long coffee option, instead of always limiting you to a small cup of coffee each time. When you need your coffee long and strong, you can rely on the Delonghi to deliver with minimal fuss or hassle.

Cappuccino system

The ECAM22.320.SB also features a cappuccino system that combines milk, air and steam in order to create a creamy, rich froth for any kind of milk-enhanced coffee drinks you want to make, all at the push of a button. If you love making cappuccinos, lattes, macchiatos, and other similar drinks, you’ll definitely appreciate this feature.

In addition, you can use the Delonghi to make super-hot milk or water for those days when nothing but a cup of hot chocolate will do.

How easy is it to use?

Perhaps the most noteworthy characteristic of the Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM22.320.SB is its ease of use.

Using its very easy-to-understand control panel, you simply select the coffee taste you’re trying to achieve (e.g., extra-mild, mild, strong, extra-strong, etc.), select the quantity of coffee, adjust the grinder, and then press start.

The coffee delivery process will immediately begin, with your selected quantity and taste being displayed on the control panel the entire time.

In contrast to many of the high-end machines that have complicated control panels which leave the average person clueless, the ECAM22.320.SB has several pre-programmes to choose from, giving you plenty of choices and variations of coffee without requiring expert-level knowledge to operate the machine.

This makes it easy for those of us who are not professional baristas to still achieve the results you would expect from High Street coffee shops (or possibly even better).

What accessories are included?

Since the Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM22.320.SB is basically a self-contained unit, it doesn’t come with any external accessories. It should be noted, however, that the primary features of the ECAM22.320.SB include a cup warmer, milk frother, integrated coffee grinder, removable tank, thermostat, water filter, and programmable coffee delivery settings.

Key features of Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM 22.320

Pros

• Produces excellent coffee!
• Quick and easy to use
• Intuitive control panel
• Economic size (won’t take up a lot of counter space)
• Exceptional build quality
• Long coffee function for Americano style coffee

Cons

• Drip tray does need to be changed frequently
• Steamer does require a bit of a learning curve

Anything else you should know?

Here are a couple of useful tidbits that you should keep in mind about the Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM22.320.SB:

• It’s probably a good idea to keep a cup under the nozzle of the machine, as this will reduce the amount of times you will need to empty the drip tray. For the most part, emptying out a cup is much easier than cleaning a drip tray, so I thought this would be worth mentioning.
• Fill your cup with hot water and let it sit for a few seconds before you start your programme. This will heat up the cup first, which will help your hot coffee stay hot longer. Of course, make sure to empty out the cup before the coffee delivery process begins! If you pre-heat your cup in this manner, your drink won’t cool as quickly, giving you more time to enjoy your coffee at an adequately warm temperature.
• As I mentioned earlier, the steamer has somewhat of a learning curve attached to it, so you will need to experiment a little before you find just the right amount of milk to produce a good level of froth for your cappuccinos and other milk-based drinks. For me personally, I achieve the best results with my cappuccinos when I use the extra strong taste setting, along with the larger of the two long coffee selections.

What customers say?

Some customers pointed out that heating or frothing the milk can take a little longer than expected, but these were somewhat isolated reports. Since everyone has a different level of patience, concepts of what constitutes a “long time” can vary greatly from person to person. As for me, I have no problem with the speed at which the machine heats milk, and I regularly enjoy nice hot lattes in very reasonable amounts of time.

Conclusion

All in all, the Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM22.320.SB is an extremely user-friendly machine that produces coffee that is streets ahead of other machines in its class.

You won’t have to worry about over-complicated setup processes, which means you can get your coffee in a flash. It’s a great bit of kit, but the designers at Delonghi have done an excellent job of keeping everything easy to understand and simple to operate.

If you’re new to bean-to-cup machines, the Delonghi will be a perfect fit, because it offers hassle-free coffee making capability without having to know all the ins and outs of more intricate details such as pressure gauges, infusion and so forth.

If you’re looking for a solid coffee machine that offers premium ease of use and excellent cafe-quality coffee, the Delonghi Magnifica S ECAM22.320SB is definitely worth your consideration. For alternatives, please have a look at our bean to cup coffee machine reviews.

Where to buy?

• Amazon UK: Click here to check today’s price