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I was in love with the picture of the Breville and most of the reviews were positive. I had just spent a year and a half using a Krups I had purchased at Williams Sonoma for 325.00! That was the most annoying machine! Everything was difficult about it and the drip tray was sooo small.
So imagine my delight at a high functioning, smoothly running, quick, fabulous, not to mention gorgeous machine like the Breville! I am so glad I ordered it. It is so easy to operate. It makes the best froth and you can also have a short or long shot! It is all in your control. I am a huge fan of this machine. And the price was not a sacrifice, especially with the free shipping! Thanks!!!!!

The has the best milk frothing you can get for under a grand. It's also controllable like De'Longhi's BAR32 but unlike the lame Krups 4030 or their own 800ESXL. As usual, start with about a quarter turn and adjust it as needed. I'd us a slight angle to encourage the milk's turbulence. It's even better than their Breville 800ESXL at frothing but the Espresso lacks crema. It's not bitter or lacking in flavor but disappointing. Use their supplied tamp and press it just enough to get the surface even and the coffee not fall out. It's the right weight to pack the grind thus you do not have to use any significant pressure to do so. Unlike the Breville 800ESXL it prefers the finest Espresso grind or even a Turkish grind or you will not get any "crema". The Breville 800ESXL is best using a courser Espresso grind level of 3 or even 4 instead of 1 or 2 for the BES400XL. The 800 has real crema and make a better Espresso or Americano but costs about twice as much. The BES400XL has light colored suds more than a crema. The Krups 4030 has a real crema but its frother is one of the worst EVER and it's tank is NOT visible which is a BIG engineering disaster. All 3 heat up for Espresso in about 30 seconds and another minute or two to then get steam. I haven't tried the BAR32 yet. The construction is on the BES400XL VERY solid. The stainless steel is of high quality and washes easily. There's a hidden tools tray under the water storage which can also be reached when the water catching tray is slid out. The water catching tray has a full indicator up front. It made of black plastic. I use distilled water in the large chamber so nothing grows in it as it sits on the counter for days and weeks. My 2 cup filter arrive DOA. YOW! The 1 cup is pitifully lacking in capacity. I'd rather have a 2 shot half caf. than a single. Another hassle to deal with! Thanks! The eject button is GREAT but I usually lay my holder across the lower grill when done to avoid it dripping too much after rinsing it out. The steel top gets quite toasty so if you want to stack up finished cups on top they'll stay warm as you prepare more. When you first use the frother/steamer, after each time you turn the machine on, you should probably open up the steam value and let the hot water squirt out into the supplied 20 oz. pitcher and dump it into the sink before adding the milk. This will preheat the pitcher and also avoid diluting the milk thus making it richer and smoother.

I recently bought the Breville Ikon after reading every review I could find on the Internet. The other reviews on Amazon highlight all of the features so I won't repeat them here.

In brief, I am totally satisfied with this product. How often does anyone say that these days? The design and function are superior to other machines, as is the espresso. Because the Amazon reviews helped me make a good choice, I wanted to report back that I also highly recommend this product. It's a good value for the money.

I would like to start off and say that I am not and would never claim to be a barista although after making a few different type of espresso drinks with this machine, they rival any that I have purchased in coffee shops. The only other machine that I have to compare it to is the Villaware Prima espresso machine that I owned and used for a few months until it broke and I had to return it. The Breville machine is far superior in design and function and the coffee is really much more consistent that what I was creating with the other machine. I use the Capresso Infinity grinder set on the first "fine" setting and this seems to work perfectly with this machine (25 second shots with 1/2" crema). As mentioned by other reviewers, the frothing wand is more than sufficient for frothing and steaming milk. For those who whine about pressurized filter baskets, I have used both pressurized and non-pressurized filter baskets with this machine and the flavor of the espresso is identical. I would definitely buy this product again.

Tried to make my morning latte today and the Breville Ikon will not power on. No response at all. I'm not thrilled when a product dies within 8 months of the warranty. I have kitchen appliances that are still kicking after 30 years. I'll update when I know the cause (and cost) of the problem.

Returned machine to Breville and had it replaced with a new (not refurbished) machine. I'm happily making lattes again. Thank you Breville for doing the right thing.