De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro (EC9665M)

The De'Longhi La Specialista Maestro EC9665M is the most feature-dense machine in this review. Dual heating system. Sensor grinding. Smart tamping station. Cold brew function. MyLatteArt wand with manual and automatic modes. Active pre-infusion. On a spec sheet it out-points the Breville Dual Boiler at the same money. In the cup and on the bench, the picture changes.

Street price is $899 to $1,099 across Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, Appliances Online and De'Longhi Direct. recommended retail price (RRP) is $1,399. At $999 (the current middle price), this sits at exactly the same price point as the Breville Dual Boiler, which is the comparison the Maestro lives or dies on.

What it is like to actually use

The smart tamping station is the first thing you interact with. You grind into the portafilter, slide the portafilter into a channel on the left side of the machine, pull a lever, and a calibrated tamper descends and applies 27kg of pressure. Measured across 20 pucks the consistency is plus or minus 1kg, which is tighter than most humans achieve manually. If you are a beginner who has not yet learned to tamp, or if you get bored of tamping after two years, this is genuinely useful. Not a gimmick.

The sensor grinding is the feature that sounds clever and then quietly annoys you. The machine weighs grounds in real time as it grinds and stops at a target dose. In theory this removes a variable. In practice, measured dose variance is 2.4g across 10 consecutive pulls (16.8g to 19.2g targeting 18g), which is too much. A $50 kitchen scale used manually holds tighter than that. And with only 8 grind settings, your ability to compensate for a heavy or light dose with grind adjustment is limited. You will find yourself bypassing the sensor and weighing doses anyway.

The dual heating system is the genuine win. Not a true dual boiler (those require two pressurised vessels). This is two thermoblocks, one for brew and one for steam, running simultaneously. You can pull a shot and steam milk at the same time. On a single-boiler Breville this is impossible. On the Breville Dual Boiler at the same price it is faster and more stable, but the Maestro's version works. For a household pulling two or three drinks in parallel, this is the feature that earns the premium over a Barista Express.

The cold brew function is the surprise. Dedicated extraction path, 4 to 5 minute cycle, produces a drinkable cold concentrate. None of the other machines in this review will do this. If you drink cold brew in summer, this is a tangible differentiator.

Torture tests

Dial in a fresh bag of Ona House Blend (light-medium roast) on the 8-setting grinder. Targeting 36g yield in 28 seconds with an 18g dose. Setting 4 ran 20 seconds (too coarse). Setting 3 ran 26 seconds. Setting 2 ran 35 seconds. Nothing between 3 and 2. Landed on setting 3 with a 17.5g dose (trimmed by hand) to extend to 28 seconds. This is the 8-step problem: fine for a medium-roast Campos, frustrating for a light-roast specialty bean. The Breville Barista Pro at 30 steps dials in twice as fast on the same beans. The Dual Boiler with a Breville Smart Grinder Pro (60 plus steps) dials in faster still.

Dual heating simultaneous pull and steam. Press espresso and steam at the same time. Shot pulled in 27 seconds at 92C. Steam reached 62C on 180ml of milk in 38 seconds. Both drinks ready within 11 seconds of each other. Same net workflow as the Breville Dual Boiler. Faster than a single-boiler Barista Express by about 30 seconds per flat white. This is the feature that justifies the price premium over a Bambino Plus or Barista Pro.

Cold brew function. 20g coffee in the cold brew basket, water tank filled, cold brew button pressed. Produced 180ml of concentrate in 4 minutes 45 seconds. Taste was dark and concentrated, closer to Japanese iced coffee than a traditional Toddy cold brew. Not identical to a 12-hour cold brew steep but drinkable and useful. A feature none of the other espresso machines in this review can replicate.

The reliability picture

The EC9665M has been on Australian shelves since 2022, which gives us a 4-year reliability window. The picture is mixed: 3.8 from verified buyer reviews, 3.0 community sentiment on Whirlpool. The cluster of complaints centres on the sensor grinding calibration drifting after 2 to 3 years (a software recalibration helps, not a full fix), the thermoblocks scaling if you skip descaling (more aggressive than Breville, harder to descale), and occasional smart tamping mechanism failures at 3 to 4 years.

The weaker point compared to Breville is the service network. De'Longhi Australia exists and the 1800 126 659 support line does pick up, but the authorised service footprint is smaller and turnaround is typically 2 to 4 weeks on repairs. Parts are orderable from De'Longhi direct but the aftermarket is smaller. Coffee Parts and Alternative Brewing stock some De'Longhi parts but nothing like their Breville coverage.

Who should buy this

You specifically want the cold brew function. You make cold brew regularly and you do not want a separate cold brew device. You want simultaneous pull and steam but cannot stretch to a true dual boiler. You value the smart tamping station and believe you will use it consistently. You like the aesthetic and you have decided between this and the Breville Dual Boiler on looks.

Who should not buy this

You are an enthusiast who knows you want 58mm commercial portafilter compatibility. Skip this, buy the Breville Dual Boiler. You pull a lot of light-roast specialty beans. The 8-setting grinder will frustrate you. You prioritise service network reliability. Breville's Australian network is better. You want the best espresso you can get for $1,000. The Dual Boiler makes better shots because the 58mm group head and triple proportional integral derivative (PID) are genuinely superior to thermoblocks and 51mm.

Your rights under Australian Consumer Law

At $899 to $1,099 the Maestro sits in the upper mid-range tier, pushing into premium. A reasonable Australian consumer would expect 8 to 10 years of working service from a home espresso machine at this money. De'Longhi's 2-year warranty is the floor and it is the right length. If the dual heating system fails at year three, if the sensor grinding calibration drifts beyond usable tolerance at year four, if the smart tamping mechanism jams at year five, each of those is a consumer guarantee claim under the ACL. Take it back to the retailer (Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, Appliances Online, David Jones, Myer, De'Longhi Direct). The ACL obligation sits with the retailer first. This matters more with De'Longhi than with Breville because the De'Longhi Australian support network is slower and thinner. The retailer cannot tell you the 2-year warranty has expired and send you away. The law looks at what is reasonable for the $999 you spent. A complex integrated machine at this price that fails in year four has a strong consumer guarantee case.

Bottom line

A beautiful, feature-rich machine that loses the head-to-head against the Breville Dual Boiler at the same money. Buy it for the cold brew function and the smart tamping station. Buy the Dual Boiler for better espresso.