Illy Easy coffee pod machine review

Tested by coffee lovers who enjoy both espressos and longer milky coffees, we were interested to see how drinks from this machine compared with coffee made by other pod machines. 

But it wasn’t all about the end results. The machine was put through its paces in both the Saga lab and at home. Using it over several days, we tested it for design, performance, ease of use and value for money. 

From taking the machine out of its box to enjoying the finished drink, we set out to see how well it performed at every stage. We looked at everything from how easy it was to insert the pods to how long it took to pour a cup. 

We compared it to others on the market using a range of different measures, as well as getting a feel for how everyday coffee drinkers will enjoy it. 

Made primarily out of cheery tomato-red plastic with a sturdy, pod handle and chrome cup stand, the Illy Easy is light to move yet feels strong and fairly indestructible.  

It comes in four colours and has a sleek elongated design that will add a touch of fun to any kitchen worktop.  

We loved the overall look but did have quibbles with some aspects of the design. 

Using the long, plastic pod handle, which you have to lift and then push down to insert the coffee pods, is a two-handed job. It takes a surprising bit of effort to push it into place and you have to brace a little to absorb force when you lift it back up. 

This was something also noted by our testing unit.  

“The pressure needed to close the lever was way more than any of the other machines we’ve tested – and could definitely be a struggle for some,” says our product tester, Philip Sowels.  

“I’m guessing this is down to the design of the pod and creating a tight enough seal to brew under pressure.” 

It has two places to rest your cup. The bottom one is the chrome cover of the drip tray and the higher one is a flip-down plastic stand. They are the perfect size for a small espresso cup but on the small side for a normal mug, and a travel cup won’t fit at all. 

There are no fiddly little bits on this machine, which will please many. It has just two buttons for making coffee and the capsule holder, drip tray and cup stand detach as one unit. Others, though, familiar with the bells and whistles on other machines, may find the simple design a little unsophisticated. 

Like many things to do with this machine, we had really mixed feelings about how straightforward it is to use. 

The Illy Easy has only three buttons – on/off, espresso and long coffee (which is a slightly bigger espresso) – so that made it a cinch to get started and pour our first coffee. 

But the amount of coffee it produced on either setting was pretty tiny and we were left scratching our heads as to how to make it more than a couple of gulps. 

Online tutorials came to our rescue – sort of. We followed the instructions to hold down the espresso or long coffee button to keep the coffee pouring until we’d got the amount we wanted. However, an automatic stop still seemed to kick in when there was only a little more coffee in the cup. 

Espresso purists will say the quantity is exactly how it should be. And this method did produce a near perfect little coffee, but those who like a longer drink may be disappointed. 

For milky coffee fans, if you have your own frother at home, you can whizz up your milk and add it to the espresso shot for a delicious cappuccino. 

The instruction booklet tells you about the different parts of the machine and how to descale it. For everything else, you’d need to look online. Finding the right videos or explanations for this particular Illy machine wasn’t always straightforward. 

Again, there were things to love and hate. 

The machine takes half a minute to heat up and then another 49 seconds to pour a small coffee – one of the slowest in our trials. 

But maybe it’s a case of “good things come to those who wait”, because the Illy Easy made a superb coffee. 

It has a pressure level of 20 bar, one of the highest we tested, and it also produced the hottest coffee of those we tried out – 93°C (200°F) – at peak flow. These essential criteria were the closest to those of professional industrial machines. 

“In many ways the extraction process was a lot more akin to a traditional espresso machine with longer extraction times, pre-infusion and the hottest brew temp,” says Sowels. 

“This machine produced one of the best tasting espressos I’ve had from a pod machine with a good amount of acidity in the cup.” 

It’s also one of the quietest machines we’ve trialled. 

This machine is neither cheap nor expensive. At £115, it sits squarely mid-range. 

Weighing up the delicious coffee it makes alongside the machine’s shortcomings, that probably means it is priced about right. 

The coffee pods, however, are pretty expensive at £7.02 for 18 and there is no option to swap in other cheaper compatible pods. The best way to save money is to take out a pod subscription with Illy. The cheapest subscription, at £19.38 a month, will give you three packs of 18 pods and save you £1.68 compared with buying the packs individually. 

We think espresso lovers will fall for the machine and find it a price they’ll happily pay for their daily coffee fix. Others, who are less choosy about the taste of their cuppa but like a few more options from their coffee machine, may wonder what they are paying for.  

It’s hard to please everyone, so we judge the price is probably fair. 

If you love the flavour of the Illy coffee, but prefer a milk-based drink like a cappuccino, your best bet might be to buy an Illy Milk Frother, from £67. The total of both the Illy Easy with the frother would still be quite a bit less than a machine like the Nespresso CitiZ & Milk by Nespresso, which has an RRP of £239.

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Illy Easy Milk Frother

RRP: £76

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If you’re a black coffee aficionado, the Lakeland Coffee Pod Machine, which retails at £89.95, is a cheaper option than the Illy. We’d be impressed – and surprised – if its drinks were as rounded and robust as those made by the Illy Easy machine though.

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Lakeland coffee pod machine

RRP: £89.99

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There are, though, machines that make a wider variety of drinks for less money than the Illy. So, if you favour a white coffee, hot chocolate or even a chai latte, you might want to consider the lower priced Bosch Tassimo My Way 2, which has an RRP of £99.99 but can be found online for £35 less than that.

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Bosch Tassimo My Way 2

RRP: £139.99

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The good news is that after using the Illy Easy over a number of days, we grew to like it more rather than less.  

The downsides – mainly the slow operation, limited drinks selection and awkward pod handle – were balanced out by the smooth tasting coffee that made a great little espresso or a tasty base for a milky cappuccino, using our own frother. 

It’s a good machine for those who prize decent coffee above modernist design or whizz-bang buttons, who don’t mind being organised and ordering their pods online. 

However, if you’re someone who wants a shiny chrome gadget or a bunch of coffee options at your fingertips, you might be better with a different pod machine. The same applies if you want the ease of picking up your pods in your regular supermarket shop, as the availability of the Illy E.S.E. pods is definitely limited. 

We find ourselves a bit torn on this one. We haven’t fallen head over heels for this fun Italian export but maybe it will continue to grow on us.