Controlling the Magnifica Evo is simple due to a touchscreen that has a symbol for each of the functions and an option to make two coffees at once. The steam arm can also be used to dispense hot water if you want to top up your coffee or even make tea instead. This machine doesn’t come with a milk jug which was disappointing considering its price. Because of the design, we found a deep milk jug wasn’t suitable for use with the steam wand because it wasn’t long enough to reach into the cold milk.

The milk carafe has helpful indicators showing how much milk is required for either one or two cappuccinos or latte macchiatos but if you’re using the My Latte selection, it will steam as much milk as you put into the carafe. This is handy for filling a specific cup or mug, as you can just pour in the amount of milk you want, and a sensor behind the milk carafe stops the steaming process once the carafe is empty. The automatic sensor is a welcome new addition, as most of De’Longhi’s older (and often dramatically pricier) machines used to just carry on squirting out clouds of steam after the carafe was empty, leaving you to prod furiously at the cancel button. Claiming joint top spot in our best coffee machine line-up is no small feat, yet De’Longhi’s latest, innovative model deserves its place. Sporting a 3.5” full-touch colour display, 16 automatic drink settings, and a function that gives you a personalised coffee menu for particular times of the day; this coffee machine acts like your own private barista, offering a coffee experience that’s completely tailored to you. Seriously cool.

We tested the De’Longhi Magnifica Evo to see if it really can make effort-free coffee

We want to know whether you can rely on these machines to deliver you the coffee you like, every time. To do this, our experts at the GHI make a series of single and double espressos, using the same coffee beans for every machine. We look for the presence of a crema and measure the volume of liquid produced to analyse how consistent the machine is, working within a small margin of variation. Some coffee machines can be controlled via an app on your phone. You will need to make sure you're prepared, though, by having enough beans in the container, water in the tank and a mug ready under the spout. If it’s all set, you’ll be able to make a coffee without having to get out of bed – a dreamy way to wake up! The steam arm doesn’t come with a compatible milk jug as standard so when we used a steaming jug we already owned, the wand wasn’t long enough to reach into the milk. This, of course, is easily fixed with a smaller milk jug but do bear in mind that you won’t be able to froth as much milk in one go. It was also a little disappointing not to have a milk jug included, despite the price of this machine. When we did make a cappuccino, the steam arm did a great job of frothing and adequately heating the milk within 20 seconds. The milk was silky and well-frothed and held its shape well when mixed with the espresso. No one enjoys cleaning out a coffee machine; it’s a bit messy and there are a lot of parts that need to be disassembled. Plus, it’s difficult to manually clean the internal parts. An automatic cleaning function will cleanse your coffee machine in less than 20 minutes, with some getting the job done in under half this time. Once you add hot water or hot frothy milk to the Evo One Touch’s espressos, however, you’re unlikely to care: the result is a very drinkable cup of coffee. Any issues with bitterness are masked with the sweetness of the hot milk, or diluted by the hot water enough to make the flavour more appealing.

You’ll have to wait for it to power up after extracting an espresso, and it only moves from side to side, but if it’s lattes or flat whites you like to start your day with, it will definitely please. A steam wand is the preferred method used in coffee shops. This is a long, thin pipe attached to the side of a coffee machine that uses steam pressure to froth milk. It's controlled with a dial that opens or closes the steam release valve. This coffee machine was super easy to use and impressed across the board in our lab tests. Everything from set-up to selecting your preferred beverage is simple and efficient. And if you do struggle to adjust the settings, the handy manual is easy to follow. The De’Longhi Magnifica Evo is one of the biggest coffee machines we’ve tested. It measures 44 x 36 x 24cm (w x d x h) which means it’s going to take up a lot of space. If you’re considering keeping this machine underneath your wall-mounted cupboards, bear in mind that you’ll still need to be able to reach the top of the coffee maker because that’s where you’ll add either coffee beans or ground coffee. If you enjoy a milk-based coffee (such as a cappuccino, latte or macchiato), then you’ll want to look for a bean-to-cup coffee machine with a milk frother.There are two spouts on the coffee dispenser which means you can make two coffees at once. We found the machine sturdy enough to prevent the espresso cups from sliding around on the drip tray and the adjustable height of the dispenser meant it was very easy to fit a variety of cup sizes beneath it. When it came to making barista-style espressos, it didn’t drop a single mark. The extraction time was fairly average, but the shots stayed consistent and had a wonderful crema on top.