Dreame (a brand best known to the Ideal Home team until this point as the inventors of the robot vacuum with legs) has launched a bean-to-cup coffee machine that's caught my attention in a big way.
Called the Ecceluxe Slim, it's the brand's first coffee machine and almost has too many selling points to count. But the big one for me to focus in on first is the pricetag: at just £499, it looks like it could be a real bargain – if it's any good, of course.
After all, the biggest hurdle for most to investing in a flashy bean-to-cup coffee machine is cost. So if this slimline coffee machine can measure up to the likes of De'Longhi and Sage, it could be a revelation. Here's my first look at it as Ideal Home's Kitchen Appliances Editor.
This very sleek machine has a menu of five drinks, features automatic cleaning and 9 grind settings.
This stunning Rivelia machine came out on top of our bean-to-cup tests and boasts up to 21 one-touch drinks. You can read about the full details in our five-star review.
If you're in the market for a bean-to-cup machine, you have two broad types of machine to choose from: one with manual elements (where you'll tamp your espresso shot yourself) or a fully automatic version where the touch of one button can take care of everything.
This machine from Dreame is firmly in the latter camp. It features a touchscreen control panel with five drinks which look to be an espresso, an Americano, a white coffee of some sort, a cappuccino and a latte.
According to Dreame, the specs of the machine for making your morning coffee includes '9-level low-noise grinding', as well as 'golden silky-smooth extraction'. The milk frother, which attaches externally to the machine, has a 240ml capacity which should be able to whip up two drinks before it needs refilling.
Importantly, the slim profile of the Ecceluxe looks like it would solve a lot of problems for those who would love a coffee machine but struggle for worktop space. It measures in at 18cm in width, which if you compare it to our favourite De'Longhi Rivelia at 24cm, seems very slim indeed.
Of course, I can't tell you whether any of these claims from Dreame live up to the hype just yet as I haven't had hands-on experience with it myself, which is paramount to how we test coffee machines here at Ideal Home. Hopefully I can get hold of one to review and let you know it's Dreame's foray into kitchen appliances is worth your time.
