The Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M is Delonghi’s more deluxe addition to the entry level manual espresso machine market. It is an entry level espresso maker, so it’s not going to be making cafe style quality espresso exactly. But for the price, it’s probably going to be giving you better coffee than many of the other options out there. It is a great choice if you’re just starting out pulling your own shots!
Keep reading for our full review of Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M to find out if you should buy it.
Contents
- 1 Delonghi Dedica Deluxe Review: What do we like?
- 2 Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M: The Design
- 3 Key Benefits Of Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M Espresso Machine
- 4 Other Specification of Delonghi EC685
- 5 Delonghi Dedica EC685 vs EC680: What’s the difference?
- 6 Potential Shortcomings of Delonghi Dedica Deluxe
- 7 Is Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M worth the price?
- 8 Is Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685 right for me?
Delonghi Dedica Deluxe Review: What do we like?
The Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M makes a great entry level espresso machine, if you want to try out making cafe style coffee at home. It is a good looking, sleek machine that you can probably find space for in your kitchen.
It can make single and double shots. It also comes with a decent (but not amazing) milk frothing wand on the side. Despite its compact size, it can make a good espresso and can accommodate regular espresso cups as well as bigger mugs, a feature that is not always easy to find! It runs at 15 bars of pressure so it can extract a very good espresso!
The Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M can also be used with ground espresso as well as ESE (easy-to-serve) pods, meaning it is perfect for a first time user. Ground espresso is probably the choice you ought to end up making, as it’s cheaper. But it’s nice to have the option for ESE pods when you’re in a rush so that you don’t make a mess.
Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC680W
Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M: The Design
The Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685Mhas stainless steel casing and has been designed with the home user in mind. The machine is slim line and sleek looking, and doesn’t take up too much space on your counter.
EC685M comes with 35 ounces water reservoir and a milk frothing wand. With the milk wand you can choose between what type of drink you’re making, and the machine has a number of options for brewing your coffee.
The top of the machine can be used as a cup warmer which we always like and it looks elegant in the kitchen. There are three buttons on the top for single shot, double shot and steam, but it doesn’t feel overly plastic or engineered, which is often a problem with cheaper machines.
Key Benefits Of Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M Espresso Machine
1. It makes good espresso
It comes with a 15 bars of pressure pump. Despite being an entry level machine the Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M is bringing the real deal with enough pressure to extract great flavour from your coffee
2. It can fit tall mugs
The drip tray is removable, meaning you can fit various sized cups and mugs under the coffee spout. Sometimes there are benefits to getting the lower priced, user friendly model and this is one of them. Once you jump to the higher end models, usability and helpful features will become a distant memory!
3. It is easy to use
Although it is a manual espresso machine, the Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M has been designed with the end consumer in mind. It does take a bit of getting used (unavoidable with a manual espresso machine) but it’s not too bad and worth the trouble to learn.
4. It has the automatic stop flow feature.
Again, for a first time user, this sort of feature just makes the whole learning curve so much easier. After pulling the coffee, it will stop the dispensing espresso into your cup once the preset volume is reached.
5. Adjustable milk frother
This allows you to customize the amount of foam for your milk-based drink. If you want a dry cappuccino, just turn the regulator ring up. If you want a full foamy drink, turn the ring down.
Other Specification of Delonghi EC685
- Thermoblock technology: This enables the espresso to be brewed in just 35 seconds!
- Programmable Shutdown time: You can set it to power down automatically after 9 minutes, 30 minutes or 3 hours.
- Removable Water tank with 35 ounces capacity
- Brew temperature control: You have 3 temperature options: low, medium or high. But there’s a fourth way to make even hotter coffee. Simply run hot water through the brew group by making a cup without coffee and preheating the cups.
- Descaling alert: No longer is there a need to track your last descaling cycle. Just let the machine prompt you. (Regular descaling is important to remove lime build-up due to heating of water. This lime can affect the heating ability of the machine as well as the taste of espresso)
- Programmable water hardness: Change the descaling alert to match the water hardness of your water used. (EC685 tracks the descaling based on number of cups done. But this number differs based on water hardness. The harder the water, the higher the descaling frequency. But don’t worry, at the highest level, it takes about 200 cups before you need a descaling)
- Comes in 3 colors
- black ( Delonghi EC680.BK )
- red ( Delonghi EC 680.R )
- silver ( Delonghi EC 680.M
- Size : 13 x 5.9 x 12 inches
- Weight : 8.8 pounds
Delonghi Dedica EC685 vs EC680: What’s the difference?
Delonghi EC685 is an upgrade of the older Delonghi Dedica EC680M. However, at a quick glance, you will find both of them to be the same. In fact, they have all the same features, except 1 feature.
Adjustable Milk frothing
EC685 comes with a regulator ring on the milk frother. This is similar to those found in Delonghi ECP3630. This gives you the option to adjust the steaming level and thus the resulting amount of foam. In EC680, you can’t do that.
Potential Shortcomings of Delonghi Dedica Deluxe
Quickly overheats.
As a consumer, this is an avoidable but frustrating problem. You are probably going to receive a sign, telling you that it’s overheating after about two or three cups. This is a feature to protect the the machine from overheating as its thermoblock technology can produce steam infinitely. As compared to espresso makers using steel boilers, the steam amount is limited to the boiler size.
This “anti-overheating” pause is not a great deal. If you’re mainly planning to make yourself a cup of coffee every morning, then you’re not really going to notice this problem. But rest assured when you are making coffee for a crowd, it will tell you that it’s overheating.
Milk frothing wand isn’t the best
It’s not really a con and more of the nature of a coffee machine of this quality and price. It’ll do a decent job. But if you were imagining yourself making latte art, this isn’t the best milk wand to get you there! If you are in this category, consider a good semi-automatic espresso maker such as the Delonghi La Specialista
Coffee grounds get clogged
The machine can get easily clogged if the coffee grounds are too fine, another thing to watch out for.
Is Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M worth the price?
The Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685 is priced around $300. This places it firmly on the lower end of the semi-automatic espresso machine range but on the upper end of most other coffee machines.
It’s a good quality machine and for a first time machine espresso machine, we think it’s a reasonable price, without being a bargain. Sure it’s not going to last you a lifetime, but it should last you long enough that you can confirm if this espresso maker is for you!
Although we would always recommend grinding beans, with a machine at the lower end of the scale, we’ll let you off if you choose to use pre-ground coffee.
The taste is never going to be as good but considering you’re trying to keep costs low and this machine isn’t a professional machine we understand. Having said that, if you can splash out on a good coffee grinder, then do it!
Is Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685 right for me?
This machine is really for a first time espresso maker. If you already have an espresso machine and know how to pull a shot, then we would recommend going for an upgrade.
If you are just starting to get interested in making your own espresso, then this machine should be a serious consideration. It’s true you may not get exactly the same espresso shot or machine quality as you would with a more expensive, higher end product.
But equally that’s the beauty of entry level machines – you can try out the general gist of the product and process without having to commit between $700-1000 to get a truly professional machine – and that’s what you’d be looking at spending for a machine at the top of the range!
The other relevant question is whether you want to buy a semi-automatic espresso machine in the first place.
We’re going to assume that you do and this machine is a good place to start. If you’ve just clicked on the article because this machine’s in your price range, then just take into consideration that it required a bit of knowledge. If you value convenience more, consider an automatic espresso machine such as the Delonghi Magnifica XS instead.
To sum up, the Delonghi Dedica Deluxe EC685M is another good addition to the semi-automatic espresso machines and definitely worth considering if you’re in the market for your first espresso machine!
