Customer Ratings & Reviews

I'm not a habitual coffee drinker. I wouldn't know a good cup from a great cup. It's all pretty much the same to me, but I do like flavored lattes and such from places like Starbucks but that's an expensive habit. I decided to look into making my own drinks at home and started exploring the world of espresso machines. My first instinct was to buy a beginner level manual machine. After a deep dive into couple machines, it was apparent to me that there was no way this was going to work for me. Everything I read said you needed to grind your own beans if you wanted to make a good espresso. The cheap machines did not come with a built in grinder and the grinders actually cost more than the cheap machines. Machines with a grinder still came with the burden of learning how to tamp the espresso and using the milk frother. I really didn't want to go through the ordeal of learning all this on a trial and error basis. An automatic machine was where I needed to focus my attention. When I saw this Philips espresso maker, I knew I had to have it because I wanted to save money by brewing my own at home & I was itching to learn something new. Set-up was easy and after doing the initial pump-priming, I was ready for my first espresso. After the recommended 1st couple of runs I was ready for my first espresso to drink. It took a few tries to get the balance of grind level/coffee strength to where I wanted it (which was expected) but the pulls are pretty consistently where I want them now. My moment of fear was when I chocked it by making the grinds too fine while I had the strength up to max. I calmed down and figured this out after I looked at the troubleshooting to find what the angry little lights meant and dialed back the grind settings and all was fine. Lesson learned: Don't turn the grind setting knob too much at a time. Baby steps. My expectation is that if I change the type of beans I'm using I'll probably have to tweak it, but again that's expected. Those few times when I want a latte or cappuccino the Latte Crema system is a nice alternative to the more time consuming manual process. I got that option mostly for my wife so she could easily make her own cappuccinos and that alone was worth the price of the option. Fat free milk seems to work best for a thicker foam. Higher fat seems to = bigger bubbles. The water container is big but could have been larger. The rinsing cycles will help you go through a lot of water but I appreciate the rinsing to keep all the pipes clean. The LatteCrema system also does its own rinse cycle which will contribute to the water usage as well. But overall a very small issue and it's easy enough to refill it. Might be nice if they did an 'extended' tank that extends out from the side, but I doubt that we'll see that. Time will tell on durability. I'm sure taking care of the machine correctly will be a factor in that. As in any automatic device, they're more complicated with many moving parts. Your typical coffee machine has a lot less break points and moving parts than an automated one. As a result it will be important to follow the maintenance directions to keep it running and in tip-top shape. I'm very happy with the machine. I've been cleaning it regularly and it's pretty easy. Personally, I've found I like the medium espresso roasts with an Arabica/Robusta blend. So far we've been using Lavazza beans exclusively because the quality/freshness has been good as has the price point. The PHILIPS 1200-Series is the PERFECT espresso machine for a beginner like me. It is fully automatic, easy to use and the results are picturesque. I joke about how I’m now a barista. Highly recommend.

You know what I am talking about! Before diving in this machine, I was hand grinding and manually dripping my coffee and that worked out pretty well and I got my arm workout for the morning. But using this Philips 1200 Series Fully Automatic Espresso Machine is a step up in your coffee game. Yes you can do coffee and hot water, but with this machine I mainly use it for cappuccinos and/or lattes. The basic unboxing here. A series of cardboard and a plastic bag to pull out the machine an onto your counter. Pretty neat. After pulling off all the tape all around and filling it up with tap water and old beans, I pulled at least a full tank of water with the throw away beans to get a good pull of espresso. I did read that this model does NOT come with the filter it suggests to use, but I use filter water so I just did not bother with it. After pulling about 5 more shots, I used the suggested manual setting to max out the temp of the brew that comes out. I have to say if you leave the machine up for about three minutes, you get a decent temp going. If you go to get another shot of espresso after your first one and if your heart hasn't exploded from the caffeine the temperature is pretty hot. Not scolding, but hotter than the initial brew. The noise is not that bad, it is loud, but so are other coffee makers out there. Not bad at all. The bean grinder and milk frother are great for this and makes a great cup of joe. My only gripe is that the amount of espresso can only be increased to a certain point. I think about 8 ounces. I have and need at least 10 to be satisfied in one sitting, so I always choose the 2x function which basically pulls twice. I take that time to warm and froth the milk up in another cup. Add some mocha and man, it tastes great. I also made an affagado (espresso shot over ice cream) and it is sinfully delicious! I personally use chocolate but you can use your favorite ice cream and get a decadent dessert. It is so worth it! Would i recommend this machine? Absolutely! I mean the clean up is pretty easy, you need to rince the inside with tap water and let it out to dry once a week, but other than that, it's pretty automatic. The custom grind settings is fantastic and the spout can adjust to the size of your cups to an extent. You cannot put a tall travel mug in it. The work around is to use a big wider cup and pour your desired amount into that. For me the only negative is the temperature of the beverage intially and also the max it can provide in a single shot. Just use the 2x here. The footprint is not bad, at all for the product you are getting. Even for the price, it is worth it for the automatic sense of the word. You still need to put a little work into it, but the end result is so worth it!

While the Philips 1200 Series Fully Automatic Espresso Machine can definitely brew a cup of coffee, I found the machine lacking in many areas that, essentially, keeps me going back to my previous machine. To begin, I spent about 15 minutes after opening the box and putting everything together trying to find the water filter that goes in the water reservoir. I couldn't find it and figured there must have been some packing error. When I went online to try and chat with or email someone at Philips, I could only find a phone number and, at 5:30 PM central time, their customer support line was no longer open (missed it by a half hour). As I was reading through the instructions (more on that later), I stumbled upon the first page, which folded in on itself (unlike the rest of the document, which was formatted like a regular booklet). in that page, I found a packing list that compared the various Philips machines and, lo and behold, this particular model does not ship with the water filter. Aargh. Luckily, I found one online for next day delivery, but considering the cost of the machine, I found it very odd that it did not include the filter that it tells me to install in the initial setup directions. Speaking of the directions, the initial setup instructions were all in graphical icons without any words or descriptions. Additionally, those icons were rather small and hard to see. Essentially, I had to search online to find a video that demonstrated how to initially set up the machine. The video was from Philips itself and it was well done, so kudos for the online directions. The printed booklet, however, was pretty much useless for me, though. The initial setup was a little more convoluted than I was used to, but as this is my first cappuccino/espresso bean grinding machine, I suppose that may be normal. I thought it was pretty neat that it included a test strip for me to determine the hardness of my tap water to program the machine appropriately. Not sure how much of a difference that makes in brewing coffee, but it did make me feel as though the machine has something figured out that I would never have even asked about. Beyond that, the operation of the machine is not too difficult, but again, I had to refer to an online video to figure things out as the instructional manual really was of little help. As far as the actual brewing is concerned, the machine works well and is kind of slick, for lack of a better expression. One annoying thing I noticed, however, is that every time I turn the machine on (it has a power saving feature that turns itself off after a given period of time), it feels compelled to spit out a bit of water from the spouts. Not a lot of water, mind you, and there is a basin that catches it, but I still found that kind of annoying, especially if I already had my cup under the dispenser as it winds up having some plain 'ole water dumped in it first. Compared to the machine I currently use with pre-packaged plastic cups of ground coffee, this machine seems to take longer to brew the coffee. Additionally, even at the largest cup setting, the machine only brews just barely a half cup. Maybe my coffee cups are a lot bigger than what the machine was initially designed for, but I found myself having to brew twice in order to reasonably fill one standard coffee cup. There is an option to program the machine to the maximum brewing serving, but I never made it that far. Serving/brewing temperature was appropriate for me. Given the double spigots, the machine can brew two cups at once, but I am hard pressed to figure out how that would benefit me. It's more of a novelty feature than anything I would actually use on a daily basis. The frothier seemed to work just fine. At the end of the day, as much as I thought this was going to be really neat with grinding my own beans (thus producing "fresher" coffee drinks), the implementation was simply not there for me with this machine and I found myself going back to my previous machine because it brews faster and actually fills up my cup without me having to do any special programming. If someone is looking for a machine that grinds your beans and makes an awesome cup of coffee, I am not sure this is the best machine. As this was my first machine like this, however, I have no point of reference, so I am not sure if all espresso/cappuccino machines are like this or not. Regardless, I still prefer my older instant brew machine for making coffee and other specialty drinks (as my current machine has a frothier as well). If grinding fresh beans becomes a must for me, I am thinking I would try a different machine to see if the implementation is any different or better.

Philips 1200 is an everyday fully automatic espresso machine with milk frother that makes quality coffee. The entire packaging was well done and uses all cardboard instead of Styrofoam. Make enough room on your kitchen countertop for this not so compact machine. The setup was straight forward and there are instructions included. The unit comes with a water tank, removable brew group. There is also a drip tray that will catch any overflows from brewing or cleaning. One thing you want to order ahead is the water filter that goes in the tank. This will clean and purify water which helps in extending the duration between descaling. The machine will indicate via a light when it is time to change the filter. It would have been nice if the filter was included. You use the touch control panel to make your drink selection, how strong you want your coffee, and the quantity. You also have the option to select hot water or use the milk frother attachment. This machine can make pretty much all kinds of coffee drinks like latte, cappuccino, americano, etc. The ceramic grinder has a knob that can be adjusted to grind your coffee from coarse to ultra fine powder. The grinder is rated to last at least 20,000 cups. All the parts are dishwasher safe, which means convenient cleaning. When you use it for the first time, it is recommended that the machine takes a few cups of use to perfect the accurate blend of the beans. I have been using espresso machines for a while now, so I am used to the noise it makes. But some might feel it a bit louder when brewing their drinks. This is a fairly good entry level espresso machine that one can use every day to make tasty and fancy coffee drinks quickly.

Overall as a coffee machine this one is decent. There are several features that make it very appealing but when you take it out of the box and actually put it to use there are things left to be desired as well. Right out of the box the setup frustrated me. The manual is pointless, a bunch of pictures that should guide you but don’t really help at all. There was no clear indication that the water filter was NOT included in the box but there are instructions for how to put it in, so I wasted time searching through everything trying to find the filter. I finally get it set up, complete the water test, set the water hardness and make a drink - not even a little bit tasty! To be expected, there is a warning to brew a few before actually making one to drink. I had some cheap coffee in the pantry so I used that up to make a few cups then I switched to some wonderful beans that my son had roasted. I absolutely love the ability to make the drink straight from the beans instead of having to use grounds and I’d highly recommend using this option - I tried grounds a couple times and ended up with a mess inside the machine and grounds all in my cup. I can’t seem to get the steam wand to make any froth, all I ever get is just hot oat milk. I’m not a big fan of the foam anyway, and my coffeehouse orders always ask to leave it out but I decided to give it a couple tries and have never been able to make it happen. I do like the way the milk steams though, I get the perfect temp every time. I think my teenage son has used this more than I have because it makes hot water so fast, he’s been making hot cocoa for himself every morning. I am by no means a coffee connoisseur so this machine does the job. I’ve been able to make my own drinks each morning and skip the trips to the coffeehouse, but I don’t feel that what I’m making at home is the same quality as what I get from there. However, I do like saving the money so that’s plus. I wish the water tank was bigger so we didn’t have to refill it as often and I wish it had come with the water filter. If you’re looking for a fancy espresso machine this is definitely not the one for you, but if you are a regular joe like me just wanting to save on the trips to the coffeehouse this will get the job done. The customizable features are really convenient and much appreciated.

I cannot come up with a negative - great price and value Works wonderful and as advertised, lets see how long it lasts

The coffee taste is good but needs lots of maintenance for cleaning. It's good price too!!

Replaced our well used and loved saaeco xsmall with this. So far am improvement in every way. Very happy with our purchase.

We have had this coffee maker for about a month now. Works amazing. Would definitely recommend it.

This thing is terrible. Only brews like 2 oz's when selecting coffee setting. Brews come out room temperature. You need an IT degree to work this thing. Espresso comes out super watered down. If you enjoy this machine, you must of never operated a good one before.