De'Longhi Magnifica Start: specs for the UK ECAM 222.20.B

Which Start is sold in the UK?

Our figures were read on the ECAM 220.21.B, the model sold in Germany and France, and on the manual that covers the whole ECAM 22X family. De’Longhi’s UK site does not list that code. The UK model is the ECAM 222.20.B, and two things differ in what we read:

• Recipes. Espresso, coffee, long and steam on the ECAM 222.20.B; espresso, coffee, doppio+ and steam on the ECAM 220.21.B.
• Height. The web page for the ECAM 222.20.B gives the machine as a centimetre taller than the manual figure in our table. If your clearance is tight, plan on the larger number.

De’Longhi also sells the ECAM 220.22.GB and ECAM 220.60.B in the UK. We have not read their spec pages, so nothing here should be taken as describing them, the milk system included.

Milk: steam wand only

Both Start models we read froth milk with a manual steam wand. You make the coffee at one touch, then steam a jug of milk yourself. There is no carafe to rinse, and no cappuccino button either.

That makes the Start a black-coffee machine first. If milk drinks are a daily habit, the step up within De’Longhi is the Magnifica Evo with its carafe, and the wider choice is in bean-to-cup machines with a milk system.

Four one-touch recipes, three of them coffee

De’Longhi advertises 4 one-touch recipes. Read the small print: steam is one of them. That leaves three coffee drinks, and which three depends on the model code. As with every manufacturer’s count, it tells you about the buttons on the front, not about what ends up in the cup.

The panel is what De’Longhi calls soft-touch: flat, touch-sensitive keys. It is a panel of keys, not a graphical screen.

The product page names a thermoblock, a detail the older Magnifica S page leaves out. The brew group is removable according to the manual; the cleaning guide explains how to make use of that.

What fits in it, and where it fits

Tank and hopper match the Magnifica S: 1.8 l and 250 g. At roughly 120 ml a cup, a couple drinking two cups each refills the tank every three days or so, and an ordinary 200 g or 250 g bag of beans goes in whole. If your tap water is hard, scale is the other thing to plan for: the water hardness guide explains what it means for descaling.

The manual gives 24 cm wide, 44 cm deep and 35 cm high, a centimetre deeper than the Magnifica S. Cups up to 14 cm fit under the spout. The manual puts the weight at 8.8 kg, noting that it varies by model.

Start, S or Philips 2200?

• Against the Magnifica S: same capacities, different controls, one more coffee recipe, a named heating system. Both are in our mid-range bracket, with the Start at the upper edge of it.
• Against the Philips 2200: Philips publishes 12 grind settings and a ceramic grinder; De’Longhi publishes neither figure for the Start. The S-versus-2200 comparison in Magnifica S vs Philips 2200 applies almost line for line.
• The whole range is laid out in our De’Longhi Magnifica comparison.

What is missing from De’Longhi’s data

• Burr type and grind settings: absent from both the product page and the manual.
• Noise: no decibel figure. It is one of our planned measurements, and until then we make no claim.
• A settled weight. The manual gives the figure in our table; the product page shows a number about two and a half kilos higher, without saying why. We follow the manual.
• UK guarantee conditions. De’Longhi’s UK care pages state a two-year minimum on coffee machines; the detailed conditions are for the seller to confirm.

Not sure a bean-to-cup machine is the right route? The machine finder asks about your drinks, space and budget bracket, and the cost per cup calculator works out what each cup costs with your own prices.