Breville Oracle Touch - The TRUTH about Breville’s Most Expensive Espresso Machine

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[KyleRowsell]

Let me know your thoughts on the oracle!

[davea.]

LOVE my Oracle Touch. Been using for about two years. Big splurge at beginning of Covid lockdown, and was a big morale booster during that time. For me, this machine is the perfect balance between automation and control. Very easy to use. Most gratifying is when guests come over for a latte, they frequently say “this is the best coffee I’ve ever had”.

[vilddyr]

You can actually adjust the dose somewhat, if you remove the tamper blade, pull out the metal rod above it, and there is an a small screw you can losen and then adjust the tamper blade position - and hence adjust the dosage. You will probably want to just set it as low as possible, and you should get closer to 18-19 grams, instead of 22-24. Combined with changing to a high quality VST basket or similar, you can get EXTREMELY consistent extraction.

Mine has been rock solid for 4 years now, not a single complaint or any repairs.

[Ruthor]

I got mine for couple of months. It's super simple and fast to use. What I loved was that you get everything in the box - grinder, tamper, tools to clean and adjust and bucket for used coffee. I was thinking about more prosumer machines but they need to much involvement. Oh and you can adjust the dose with screws in tamper (set mine at 20g and it keeps it steady within 0.1g). One thing that I bought extra was scale to weight brewed coffee. With this my wife can easily dial in new beans knowing that 40g should brew in 25-35s.

[markatect]

The problem with the machine is that it breaks down easily. Mine has broken twice. In the same way. A rapid solenoid clicking sound WHILE TURNED OFF. And the grinder motor is overheating even though perfectly clean. Both times the machine broke was after I did a full cleaning: descale, group head, grinder. It does a GREAT job, when it works. They don't pay to ship it for repairs even when under warranty. Really disappointed in Breville. The very first one I bought had to be returned immediately because our sprayed water everywhere. They have some serious quality issues with this machine.

[reagannelson]

The machine is a waste of money. We bought our first Oracle and after less than a year we had to send it in for service. It was still on warranty, so Breville claimed they fixed it and sent it back to us. It was not fixed, so we had to send it back to them. They said they couldn't fix it so they replaced with a new Oracle. That machine lasted for just about a year and then problems started. It was no longer under warranty because, as a replacement machine, there is only 6 months of warranty. We paid $500 to ship it back to Breville and have them repair it.
The machine was damaged in shipping by Canada Post, so it was replaced with an Oracle Touch, as that was all Breville had available. Because the Touch was a replacement machine it only had 6 months warranty. 10 months after we received the Oracle Touch, we started having problems with it. We called Breville and were told that the price of repairing the machine had increased to $700 (maybe because of the previous Covid pandemic or the war in the Ukraine, they didn't say), but they would give us a break and only charge us $460. I could swear I heard their over-sized heart fall right out on the floor. Basically I told them I would rather throw the Oracle Touch in the garbage and buy another brand to replace it. They didn't seem too concerned.
I decided that for $460, I would become a Breville repairman. Watched all the videos and read all the articles I could find about servicing different problems with the Oracle Touch. I took the machine apart (took about 20 minutes) and it seems I have a couple of leaking o-rings. Checking the forums, this seems to be a very common problem, especially after descaling the machine. So, it wasn't a warranty problem, but a defect in materials and workmanship, which should always be covered!
I believe there is a problem with the o-ring material. Breville doesn't admit it, but the original o-rings were orange and the newer ones are blue.
Anyway, the o-rings are on their way, $20 for two complete sets. I will save $440 dollars by repairing the machine myself.
That is an amazing profit by Breville for 30 minutes of service work and a few dollars of parts.
Seems like Breville has a bit of a scam going on.

Now I will say, when the Oracle is working as it should, it is an amazing espresso maker. Easy to use, clean and great coffee!
I like it enough to keep it running as long as I can fix it. But when it is done, I will not be buying another Breville espresso maker.

[sanuk]

Having owned a few of these over the years (non-touch version), I thought your points were spot on. In my experience, it's a great machine - when it's almost new, but all those fancy features do mean more things to go wrong. I've found the tamping mechanism doesn't last and the steam wand temps and air regulation also become inaccurate over time. Still my wife's favourite machine though. Great Vid

[astraea]

Holy crap 3 minutes of nonsense just get to the point

[kavehsaffari]

So is the internal structure the same crappy plastic as in 920 model that I had to replace once a year $ $1300
Waste.

[CriticalTechReviews]

I hadn't considered that this could easily be upgraded to have the same data/control features as the Gagguino and DE-1. I think Breville should release an Oracle Pro, that upgrades the built in grinder to something equivalent to a Niche or DF64, manual pressure profiles like the DE-1, and a built in scale.
Perhaps they could even automate dialing in, by controlling the grind setting with a servo, and using the data from the scale. I wonder if it would be possible to redo the auto tamper to adjust itself for dose changes...
I think the Oracle Pro would sell like hell at $4k to wealthier couples, since it unites both the enthusiast and their uninterested partner, with an extremely simple yet extremely powerful machine.

[timwadedah]

Mine died after 26 months of light home use.
Went off to the repair shop & came back unusable. not worth the money in my humble opinion

[christopherdavies]

I've had mine for about 18 months now and have definitely grown to love it. I struggled with inconsistent yields at first but since switching to a specific air-roasted bean have had much more consistency. I'd advise anyone getting one of these to get a scale, a VST 15g basket and an anti-static cloth too (for giving the tamp mech the occasional wipe down/discharge). The auto steam wand is a thing of magic. I just wish it had the ability to extend brewing for a couple of extra seconds if I had a shot that was pulling through slowly for some reason

[ethiopianbuffman]

I’d put this squarely against the super automatics except the people who tend to buy this care a little more about coffee than simplicity in the sense I have friends who leave their beans in the machine until done, milk in the container until refill, they want Starbucks and not speciality. This machine is a great entry into great espresso without being intimidating. And I love the convenience features offered as it is what makes it a joy to use

[Jantonvid]

The biggest downfall to this machine, is the grinder honestly but aside from that if you learn how to pull espresso you can get really awesome shots out of this. And for people who don’t want to do all the measuring and everything and weighing with the scale, the built-in grinder is totally adequate but if you want 100% consistency you are going to be disappointed by the grinder the dose just changes too much. I ended up buying a separate grinder for myself but my wife loves using the built-in grinder

[richlili]

Hi. I have the first version of oracle and love it however had it for too long and I think it is time to upgrade. What machine would you suggest I go for. Price is no concern as I love my coffee.

[BrevTech]

the lack of preinfusion adjustment and tamp pressure is a real let down on this. Should be a simple software fix really. fingers crossed they'll add it in. then again.... we're already 2 years since this video and... nothing.

[garethsummers]

Great review Kyle, fair and balanced. We have had one of these for 5 weeks now. It has replaced a Breville Dual Boiler that gave great service for 11 years. I do miss the adjustability but I am the only family member who cares about that. Like you my partner is not interested in the process just the result and now she is very happy being able to easily make good espresso at home. Impressed with the quality of the coffee it has made so far, better than about 75% of store bought coffees.

[royack]

I wonder 1 thing about what you said...
There is a difference between the grinders of the Barista express with 16 grind settings, the barista pro with 30 grind settings and the oracle with 45 grind settings so something must be different between those grinders...
For example the Barista Express's grinder is clearly bad :D

[DrRevival]

This machine is great for ppl who does not like to have a hobby for making coffee in an out coffee done see you later perfecto for me!

[MrMrLTD]

You’re bang on with the grinder comments, one of my biggest disappointments. Got the oracle as the DB wasn’t available, the grind weight is very inconsistent and the yield is even more inconsistent. For the price and marketing of the “auto grind tamp” I expected more. Have just purchased a Specialita for this reason.