15 best coffee pod machines for quick espressos

Score: 95/100

Cool and compact, this Nespresso-compatible machine is made for the most ardent coffee lover, with our tester declaring it the most accurate and consistent machine they have tested to date. Ten adjustable pre-set coffee styles, including Kyoto-style slow drip, plus the option to brew your own manually, also make it the customisability king.

Built-in scales under the drip tray support the delivery of top-notch espressos. The digital display is encased by a dial, which smoothly rotates to run through the menu and take you through the brewing process, including flashing up the changing temperature. There’s even a compatible app for a deeper dive into the coffee community.

Though more complex to use than most beginner-friendly machines, its quick start guide is accessibly clear and concise, making set-up a breeze, and the instructions are reassuringly thorough. It’s highly energy efficient, using just 0.01KWH to make three coffees back-to-back, and relatively quiet in use.

Is it worth the money? If you’re into your coffee, that’s a resounding yes.

Score: 94/100

Easy to set up and use, this machine makes a great first-time buy. The brew temperature and volumes are easy to tweak while you figure out what you like, and it takes all manner of speciality coffee capsules. It poured consistently accurate coffees for our tester, who loved that its height can be adjusted to accommodate taller, chunkier mugs for a proper cuppa.

Our expert found the lever that opens the capsule holder very stiff, but ease and precision is the name of this coffee maker’s game – you’ll enjoy the precise caffeine hit you crave every time.

Score: 93/100

Coffee is personal. If you take yours seriously, this machine gives you plenty of control, so you can tinker with your drink until you find your dream recipe to save. There are lots of customisable presets to try, with options to adjust the extraction, milk texture and temperature, and it heats up in 11 seconds for a speedy caffeine hit the minute you wake up.

Daunted by all the choices and that ‘pro’ in its name? Don’t be. This is a delightfully intuitive model from the get-go, with a responsive touch screen display. If you’re fond of a cappuccino, note that the automatic steam wand can be used to texture milk while your coffee is extracting, meaning no waiting around for the system to heat up again – a real stand-out feature.

Score: 93/100

The Pro’s predecessor is still an excellent buy, especially if you like your coffee but don’t want to spend over £600 on a machine. Similarly sleek in looks and robust in build, it still offers oodles of substance to back up its style, but there's no separate water dispenser and it can't heat milk at the same time as pouring coffee.

Drinks recipes can be modified to cater for personal preferences and our tester achieved fine, velvety foam ideal for latte art with its automatic steam wand. The controls take a bit of getting used to, but this is an intelligent appliance that takes all the confusion out of coffee-making.

Score: 93/100

If you want delicious drinks without the fuss, this machine is for you. It uses Intellibrew technology that reads the drink’s unique barcode when you pop the pod in and adjusts the brewing time, water and temperature to create delicious drinks every time without you lifting a finger.

Our espressos were consistent in testing and had a nice layer of crema, plus we could happily make three in a row without stopping to reheat the machine. The one-touch operation and four memory functions made coffee time even more intuitive, too.

There isn’t a specific indicator to show you when the drip tray is full but that’s a minor qualm considering there’s so much to love, including the easy-clean design, huge range of pods available and affordable price tag.

Score: 93/100

Scoring full marks for its ease of use, Dualit’s coffee machine is the perfect beginner model. Your espresso will be in front of you in a minute, quite literally, as it took 33 seconds to preheat and another 22 seconds to make a double espresso in the lab.

Each shot was beautifully consistent, with a nice, golden layer of crema. Testers were able to make three in a row without needing to reheat the machine too – a bonus for coffee-loving households.

Our main bugbear is that there’s only enough space for an espresso-sized cup on the drip tray – a normal mug wouldn’t sit on the platform comfortably. There's no steam wand either, unlike some of the other models in this list, but for speedy espressos, you can’t go wrong with this sleek machine.

Score: 92/100

Another great brewer from Nespresso, the affordable Vertuo Pop is the brand's most compact design yet, at just 25cm tall. Its small stature didn’t hinder its performance though; our expert awarded it a perfect score for its consistent espresso shot size and temperature. You can pick between lots of different pods (it reads the unique barcode on the capsule for automatic blend recognition) and our expert was impressed with the full rich crema many produced.

It takes a snappy thirty seconds to pre-heat and it’s quick to deliver drinks once it’s up and running, too. Due to its small size, the water tank will need to be topped up regularly, and the milk frother is sold separately, so it isn’t the best bet for latte and cappuccino fans. Still, it’s just the thing for anyone who likes to start their day with a caffeine hit, without breaking the bank.

Score: 90/100

Not every kitchen is blessed with enough space to fit a bulky coffee machine. If yours is more bijou than heart-of-the-home, consider this smartly designed little gem. It features an automatic milk frother – an impressive inclusion given its compact size – and helped our tester create one tasty espresso after another.

Note that the milky drink program only has one preset volume; this keeps things simple, but if you’re after something stronger for that crack of dawn start, you’ll need to make another espresso separately to pour in. The consistency of our foam was more bubble bath than velvety elegance, but it’s certainly a convenient buy.

Score: 89/100

Just like the Bosch model further up this list, the Tassimo Finesse Friendly uses Intellibrew Technology that automatically adjusts the brewing time, water volume and temperature of the espresso depending on the pod you put in.

It heats up instantly so there’s no waiting around and our shots were consistent; it poured three in a row without needing to reheat. Each espresso had a thick layer of crema too and our tester noticed a real difference when using the IntensityBoost button – a feature that increases the intensity of your coffee by adjusting the brewing parameters at the press of a button.

The water tank is fiddly to fit and remove, and the controls took some getting used to, but it’s a compact and reliable machine with over 50 pods available in the range to choose from.

Score: 86/100

Testers couldn’t quite believe their luck when this machine heated up in a lightning-fast 18 seconds. Pouring the espresso was speedy too, which means they had a top-quality cup of coffee just 40 seconds after turning the machine on – impressive.

The 19-bar pressure machine delivered three consistent shots in a row with minimal variation in weight. While the temperature differed, each still fell within our ideal range.

Some more advanced features – like a ready indicator light and full drip tray indicator – are missing from this machine, but it ticks the boxes for its simplicity and fast coffee making skills, which is, ultimately, the main requirement when you need a coffee hit.

Score: 85/100

If you want to inject some colour into your kitchen, look to this postbox red beauty that’s designed for smaller spaces. It’s easy to program a custom volume and the cute espresso stand folds away when you fancy a bigger mugful.

Though surprisingly slow to heat up for such a compact machine – it took a sluggish 50 seconds on test – our expert’s drinks poured to a high standard time after time. Its build feels quite flimsy and the tank is awkward to remove, but it does what it claims to do very well, making it feel like decent value for £150.

Score: 84/100

Smeg has a reputation for making stylish kitchen gear with substance, and this retro yet slick coffee machine backs that up (choose from cream, red or black). Its slimline body helps it fit between other appliances on a worktop, and its power cable winds up underneath to keep it tidy.

It delivers delicious espressos in your preferred volume at the press of a button. This simplicity will appeal to many, but coffee devotees may crave more control and changeability. Our tester found the water tank’s capsule lever stiff to operate, but liked how quiet it was in use – a real pro for the families of early birds!

Score: 81/100

Clever design always scores points from our testers; in the case of this machine, they loved the space-saving ability to change the position of the water tank. Speedy to set-up and simple to use, its capsule holder operates smoothly at the lightest touch and a wide range of cup sizes can fit under the spout.

Making three espressos uses minimal power, making this an energy-efficient choice, and its streamlined shape means it is easy to wipe clean. Its biggest con could also be a pro; it scans the barcode on your chosen capsule and auto-adjusts the settings for the ‘best’ brew, with no customisation possible.

Score: 81/100

Another machine which scored full marks for ease of use is this sleek, compact model from Illy. It uses the brand’s new X-Caps capsules which have a spherical design so they can be inserted in any direction, removing any early morning faff.

Preheating took a swift 22 seconds, and we could brew an espresso in just 19 seconds, making it ideal for quick caffeine fixes, plus it could brew three in a row without having to reheat or rebuild pressure. Each shot had a good layer of crema too, but we were shortchanged on the size, with our espressos only reaching an average of 18.4 millilitres versus the expected 25 millilitres.

Features like a milk frother and hot water dispenser would have been useful add-ons but that’s hardly a dealbreaker. Overall, this is a fuss-free machine that delivers quality coffee fast.

Score: 80/100

If fuss-free functionality is what you’re after, look to this basic yet affordable appliance that ticks all our user-friendly boxes; think clear instructions, compact size, intuitive controls and a rapid 20-second heat-up time.

Our tester was enjoying their espresso just 41 seconds after switching it on, but they bemoaned not being able to tweak the two drink sizes, especially as the double shot preset poured nearly 50ml more volume than promised! There was a lot of dripping, too, but coffee making doesn’t get much faster or simpler than this.