If you are confused by the difference between a Magnifica vs an Autentica vs a Dinamica Delonghi bean to cup coffee machine you will be surprised to learn how little difference there is between them all. The most interesting thing is they all produce a very similar cup of coffee.
This article will specifically explain the difference between the most popular ranges of the Delonghi Magnifica, Autentica and Dinamica ranges of bean to cup coffee machines so we are going on the basis that you are already familiar with bean to cup coffee machines, what they are and how they work.
If you want to understand in detail exactly what these kind of coffee machines are all about then you can check out this detailed article:
Best bean to cup coffee machines
Delonghi has around 25 bean to cup coffee machines in their range at any one time with all sorts of weird and wonderful names attached to them.
Is it even possible to make that many bean to cup machines available that are different enough that they fulfil a different purpose to each and every other one?
Why are there so many and why are the large differences in price from one model to the other justified?
Do you get better coffee from the expensive ones compared to the lower cost models because at the end of the day, the coffee you end up with in your cup is the most important decision to make when spending a lot of money on a coffee machine.
For the kind of prices that Delonghi charge for their coffee machines you want to be able to enjoy a cappuccino or latte or espresso or Americano of the same quality that you get in a quality coffee shop.
Here is a little secret straight off the bat, the brewing process that gets used for all Delonghi bean to cup coffee machines is almost identical so the quality of coffee that ends up in your cup is going to be the same regardless of how much money you spend.
You can pay as little as a few hundred pounds for a Delonghi bean to cup coffee machine and you can pay over two thousand pounds if you really want to.
So exactly what do you get for all the extra money if you decide to go for one of the more expensive ones?
Design
The cheapest Delonghi bean to cup machines normally retail for under £300 and for that price you get a functional machine that does a good job of producing a fresh cup of hassle-free coffee.
You press a button and the machine grinds the beans, forces hot water through them and delivers a double espresso into your cup.
What you won’t get is a state of the art brushed stainless steel, specially designed, stunning looking machine.
It’s going to be made more of plastic than it is metal and will be a square box shape as opposed to tall and elegant.
The quality of coffee is going to be the same as another high design model but it’s not going to knock your socks off when you look at it standing in your kitchen.
So you need to ask yourself how much you care about how it’s going to look in your kitchen.
If you just want good coffee and you are not bothered by how good it looks then a lower-cost model will work just fine for you.
But if you like design and you want it to stand out because it’s going to be permanently sat on your work surface then you can consider one the of the well designed brushed stainless steel models.
Features
At the lower end of the price spectrum, you can expect to have manual controls to determine the amount of coffee that gets used and the amount of water that gets delivered.
Once it’s been set then you can get the same thing each time you press the button for a coffee but there won’t be any pre-set or default settings so that different people can have different settings with just one touch.
So if lots of people in your home will be using the machine and some like a mild coffee and some like it strong then you may wish to opt for a machine that has a number of default options and the ability to programme the machine for different people and different tastes.
If the machine is going to be used mainly by you or yourself and one other person there is no real need to pay for loads of features that you will probably never use.
One of the reasons Delonghi offers so many different models is so you can select from no default one-button coffee options, some or lots.
Functionality
Once you move up through the pricing you can start to add functions to personalise your coffee even more and make it even more convenient to get your drink of choice at just the touch of a single button.
With some machines, you can select the temperature of the water so if you like a really hot cup of coffee then you choose how hot and if you like it so that it’s ready to drink straight away then you can select it just how you like it.
All of Delonghi’s bean to cup coffee machines come with a steam nozzle so you can heat and froth your milk to convert a double espresso into a cappuccino, latte, flat white or whatever milk-based coffee drink is your favourite.
But some also come with a milk carafe so that you don’t even have to bother heating the milk yourself and your drink of choice will be delivered completely hassle-free with just one touch of one button.
Milk carafes sound excellent and they certainly serve a purpose if you are in a rush and you don’t want to get involved in any part of your coffee preparation but it is worth bearing in mind that it does take away some of the personalisation you get if you heat the milk yourself in a jug with the steam nozzle.
You can’t select the temperature of the milk when you get a bean to cup machine with a milk carafe and some people may find it not quite hot enough if you like your coffee really hot.
You also have to accept the level of froth it produces which is fine but if you like a really frothy cappuccino then it may not produce quite the level of froth you want.
Frothing your own milk in a jug only takes about 60 seconds and if you do it yourself you can get it just how you like it and a machine without a milk carafe tends to cost less as well.
Those are the main differences between the cheaper Delonghi bean to cup machines and now we will explain the difference between the Autentica, Magnifica and Dinamica ranges specifically.
What is the Delonghi Magnifica Range?
The Magnifica range of bean to cup machines are among Delonghi’s entry-level coffee machines.
They tend to be manual and without digital displays. You basically turn a dial to set the amount of coffee you want to be delivered and another one for the amount of coffee to be used to determine how strong or weak your coffee will be.
Delonghi’s best-selling bean to cup coffee machine for many years has been the Magnifica ESAM4200.
It delivers the same quality of coffee as some of Delonghi’s other machines but is a lot cheaper because it doesn’t come in a fancy design and it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of some of the more expensive ones.
It is certainly one of the best value for money bean to cup coffee machines that Delonghi sells and has been a proven winner over a very long time with many thousands of happy customers.
See the full review of the Delonghi Magnifica ESAM 4200 bean to cup coffee machine
Stepping up in the Magnifica Range of coffee machines is the ECAM 21.117.
You still have a manual dial that allows you to choose your coffee strength but you now get a number of default settings to choose whether you want a single or double espresso and other buttons for long black drinks such as Americano.
You can also programme the coffee delivery and personalise it to your taste.
See the full review of the Delonghi Magnifica ECAM 21.117 bean to cup coffee machine.
There are a few other models in the Magnifica range but these two represent the best value for money in the range.
What is the Delonghi Autentica Range?
The Autentica range of machines have all the benefits of the Magnifica range but they have built it all into a much smaller footprint so you can fit them into a smaller area if space is tight.
Despite being slimmed down they are more feature-packed. With the Autentica ETAM 29.510 you can programme the water temperature to suit and the Autentica ETAM 29.660 comes with a digital display and a milk carafe.
So the main difference between the Autentica and the Magnifica models is the Autentica comes with more features and functionality.
See the full review of the Delonghi Autentica ETAM 29.510 bean to cup coffee machine
See the full review of the Delonghi Autentica ETAM 29.660 bean to cup coffee machine.
See Amazon Price
What is the Delonghi Dinamica Range?
The Dinamica range steps up again with more design, more functionality, digital displays, lots of default coffee options and a choice of machines with and without a milk carafe.
One of the best value for money models in this range is the Dinamica ECAM 350.35W.
See the full review of the Dinamica ECAM 350.35W
You are now in a position to make a more informed decision about whether you a Magnifica, Autentica or Dinamica is best suited to your needs.
There are other ranges as well. You can find all of our Delonghi recommendations on this page:
All Delonghi bean to cup recommendations
And this article details how Delonghi fairs against some of the other manufacturers:
