De’Longhi Magnifica Plus Review: Better Than Rivelia?

The De’Longhi Magnifica Plus sits in a slightly awkward — but very interesting — position.

Below it you've got machines such as Magnifica Start and Magnifica Evo Next.

Around it you've got Rivelia.

Above it you've got Eletta Explore.

That means Magnifica Plus needs to do more than simply make good coffee.

It needs to justify why somebody should move beyond De’Longhi's cheaper machines without necessarily jumping all the way into the company's premium hot-and-cold range.

Its answer is straightforward:

a large colour touchscreen, an extensive one-touch drinks menu, multiple user profiles and automatic LatteCrema Hot milk preparation.

It's essentially Magnifica grown up.

And for households that drink lots of different hot coffees, it may actually make more sense than Rivelia.

Coffee Machine Reviews Verdict

Overall: 9.3/10

Best for: Households wanting a premium one-touch De’Longhi without paying for Eletta Explore's extensive cold-drink functionality.

Avoid if: Bean switching is more important than a large hot-drinks menu.

Machine type: Fully automatic bean-to-cup

Built-in grinder: Yes

Milk: LatteCrema Hot

Display: 3.5-inch full-touch colour display

User profiles: Up to four

Our verdict: One of the strongest all-round De’Longhi bean-to-cup machines, particularly for households making lots of different hot coffees.

Magnifica Plus Pros and Cons

Pros

• Large 3.5-inch colour touchscreen
• Extensive one-touch drinks menu
• LatteCrema Hot
• Four user profiles
• Built-in grinder
• Coffee personalisation
• Automatic milk cleaning
• Hot-water function
• Excellent everyday usability
• Strong middle ground between Magnifica and Eletta

Cons

• No Rivelia Bean Switch
• No LatteCrema Cool
• No genuine Eletta Explore-style Cold Brew system
• More expensive than Magnifica Start
• Large drinks menu may be unnecessary for simple coffee drinkers
• De’Longhi range is increasingly confusing

Where Does Magnifica Plus Fit?

This needs explaining because De’Longhi now sells a lot of automatic machines.

A simplified hierarchy looks something like:

Magnifica Start → Magnifica Evo / Evo Next → Magnifica Plus → Rivelia / Eletta Explore territory

But price promotions regularly cause those lines to overlap.

That's why we wouldn't choose based on the model hierarchy alone.

Magnifica Plus is primarily about:

more drinks + better interface + profiles + premium automatic milk.

3.5-Inch Touchscreen

The interface is one of the biggest upgrades.

Magnifica Plus uses a 3.5-inch full-touch colour display.

That matters because this machine has a substantial drinks menu.

Rather than remembering combinations of physical buttons, you can browse visually and customise the drink on screen.

For a machine designed around one-touch convenience, that's exactly what we want.

What Drinks Does Magnifica Plus Make?

Depending on the current UK configuration, Magnifica Plus offers a large selection of hot drinks and functions including favourites such as:

• Espresso
• Coffee
• Long
• Americano
• Cappuccino
• Cappuccino Mix
• Latte Macchiato
• Caffè Latte
• Flat White
• Cortado
• Espresso Macchiato
• Hot Milk
• Hot Water

There are also additional coffee recipes and personalisation options.

The important point isn't the exact headline number.

It's that this machine covers virtually every mainstream hot coffee most households will want.

LatteCrema Hot

Magnifica Plus uses De’Longhi's LatteCrema Hot system.

Milk is stored in the removable carafe.

Select the drink.

The machine automatically prepares and dispenses the milk.

You don't need to:

• hold a steam jug;
• position a steam wand;
• judge temperature;
• create a vortex.

That's exactly why people buy automatic machines.

Cappuccino

Excellent.

This is probably one of the most common reasons to buy Magnifica Plus.

Choose cappuccino and the machine handles:

• grinding;
• brewing;
• milk preparation.

You can then adjust the recipe around your preferences.

Once saved to your profile, everyday preparation becomes extremely straightforward.

Latte

Again, this is where LatteCrema makes the machine easy to live with.

You aren't manually steaming a large quantity of milk.

The machine dispenses it automatically.

For someone drinking a latte every morning before work, convenience quickly becomes more important than demonstrating steam-wand technique.

Flat White

Flat White is included among the milk recipes on current Magnifica Plus configurations.

As always with automatic machines, don't expect the same manual microfoam control you'd get from a Sage or Gaggia espresso setup.

But that's not the intended experience.

This is:

press Flat White → receive Flat White.

Coffee Quality

Magnifica Plus uses De’Longhi's established automatic brewing architecture.

Whole beans are ground immediately before preparation.

You can adjust parameters including:

• coffee strength;
• drink length;
• temperature;
• recipe settings.

That means the machine can be tailored considerably beyond its factory defaults.

Spend some time setting it up.

An expensive automatic machine shouldn't be judged solely from the first coffee produced straight out of the box.

Grinder

There's an integrated adjustable burr grinder.

As with other De’Longhi automatic machines, we'd recommend finding an appropriate setting for your beans and then leaving it alone unless something changes.

Bean-to-cup isn't about constantly chasing microscopic grinder adjustments.

It's about finding a good setup and getting consistent coffee repeatedly.

Four User Profiles

This is a major advantage in shared households.

Magnifica Plus supports up to four user profiles.

That means one person can save:

strong, short cappuccino

while somebody else has:

milder, larger latte.

No argument over who changed the coffee settings.

No manually rebuilding the drink every morning.

For families, profiles are much more valuable than they initially sound.

Is Magnifica Plus Easy to Use?

Very.

In fact, ease of use is arguably the machine's strongest feature.

The colour display makes a complicated drinks menu approachable.

Once profiles and favourites are configured, everyday operation becomes:

choose profile → choose coffee → press button.

That's premium bean-to-cup working properly.

Cleaning

Automatic milk creates cleaning responsibilities.

There's no escaping that.

LatteCrema includes automatic cleaning functionality, while removable components can be cleaned separately.

You'll also need to maintain:

• drip tray;
• grounds container;
• brewing system;
• water tank;
• milk carafe;
• descaling routine.

The brew group is removable, which we continue to like on De’Longhi machines.

It allows you to physically rinse and inspect an important part of the brewing system.

Magnifica Plus vs Magnifica Start

This is a straightforward question of:

simplicity vs luxury.

Magnifica Start

Better if:

• budget matters;
• you only need core drinks;
• simple controls are fine;
• you're buying your first bean-to-cup.

Magnifica Plus

Better if:

• several people use the machine;
• you want profiles;
• touchscreen matters;
• you want a much larger drinks menu;
• you're willing to pay for convenience.

Magnifica Start remains the stronger value proposition.

Magnifica Plus is substantially more sophisticated.

Magnifica Plus vs Magnifica Evo Next

These machines overlap more closely.

Evo Next already offers:

• colour display;
• multiple drinks;
• LatteCrema;
• profiles.

Magnifica Plus pushes further with a larger interface and broader premium proposition.

Pricing matters enormously.

If Evo Next is heavily discounted, it can represent excellent value.

If prices are close, Plus becomes increasingly attractive.

Magnifica Plus vs Rivelia

This is the comparison we'd expect many buyers to make.

Rivelia

The standout feature is Bean Switch.

Interchangeable hoppers make changing between coffees remarkably easy.

It also has a compact, modern design.

Magnifica Plus

Offers a broad hot-drink experience with a large touchscreen and multiple profiles.

Choose Rivelia if:

• you swap beans regularly;
• decaf switching matters;
• compact design matters.

Choose Magnifica Plus if:

• several people use the machine;
• hot drink variety is the priority;
• profiles matter.

Magnifica Plus vs Eletta Explore

This is easier.

Eletta Explore adds serious cold-coffee functionality.

You get:

• LatteCrema Cool;
• Cold Extraction;
• Cold Brew;
• broader hot-and-cold recipes.

If you love iced coffee, Eletta Explore earns its premium.

If you almost exclusively drink hot coffee, Magnifica Plus could be the smarter purchase.

Is Magnifica Plus Worth the Money?

At the right price, absolutely.

The key is avoiding unnecessary feature overlap.

If Magnifica Start already makes everything you drink, Plus is a luxury.

If four people use the machine and everyone wants different coffee, the profiles and expanded interface become genuinely useful.

This is why we'd judge Magnifica Plus as a household machine rather than simply asking whether its espresso is better than cheaper models.

Who Should Buy Magnifica Plus?

Buy it if:

• several people drink coffee;
• you want one-touch milk;
• you like lots of different hot drinks;
• you want user profiles;
• touchscreen controls matter;
• you want premium convenience without Eletta Explore pricing.

Who Shouldn't Buy It?

Look elsewhere if:

• you only drink espresso;
• you only need three or four drinks;
• you regularly switch beans;
• you love iced coffee;
• budget matters heavily.

Final Verdict

Magnifica Plus might be one of the easiest De’Longhi machines to overlook.

Rivelia has Bean Switch.

Eletta Explore has cold coffee.

Magnifica Start has the attractive entry price.

But Plus quietly occupies an extremely useful middle ground.

It gives you the large touchscreen, profiles, extensive hot drinks menu and LatteCrema convenience that make a premium automatic machine genuinely pleasant to share.

For a household primarily drinking hot coffee, we'd seriously consider it before automatically spending more on Eletta Explore.

Coffee Machine Reviews Score: 9.3/10

Best for: Multi-person households wanting premium one-touch hot coffee.

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