Philips 3200 Series Fully Automatic Espresso Machine, Classic Milk Frother, 4 Coffee Varieties, Intuitive Touch Display, 100% Ceramic Grinder, AquaClean Filter, Aroma Seal, Black (EP3221/44)

I fell in love with this machine after using it for a week while visiting a friend. I'm not a coffee snob, but I do like my coffee. I don't care about crema, but I do care about convenience and freshness. This machine lets me make that one convenient cup of coffee I can finish before it gets too cold. And then I can make another one when I'm ready for it. Being freshly ground, and with a choice of settings I can get exactly what I'm in the mood for. While not quite as convenient as various pod machines, it does make a much tastier cup.I wasn't quite ready to spend full price (around $600 at the time) but I did find a used model for about half price. Since I had just performed major maintenance on my friend's model (the first in a year!) I was sure I could address any issues that might come up with a used model. What I ended up getting had clearly been returned with little or no use. It had been thoroughly cleaned and all the labels were intact.I've been using it for a month now and am still pleased with it.Some observations:About the obnoxious orange label so many reviewers complain about: pull off the paper layer and then take a paper towel soaked in 90% (or higher) isopropyl alcohol and lay it on the white stickum for a few minutes. It will then come off easily by merely rubbing your finger across it.Keep it close to the sink. The water tank will need filling at least daily. The flush cycle that happens when you turn it on and off uses a lot of water and fills the water tray quickly, so having easy access to the sink is important.Experiment. Not being a coffee connoisseur, I didn't know the difference between the various setting, other than Espresso. So I tried them all multiple times. You have some choice of strength, temperature and volume. Your selection of coffee beans is also important, and you may need to experiment with those as well. My first few batches were watery, even for my partner who usually has to add water to most coffees. I set the grinder to the finest setting.The milk/cream steamer does work. I did not find that it diluted the milk as some reviewers have observed. Since I don't really care about foam, when I choose to use creamer, I usually preheat it in the microwave instead while the machine is booting up. If you do use the steamer, don't forget to pull off the metal part and rinse it thoroughly.There is a hot water dispenser for diluting your coffee, or making tea. If that's all I need, I can do it faster on my induction stove top.The machine does tell you when you run out of water, and when you need to empty the grounds. It does not tell you when you run out of beans. As I was testing, I ended up with some watery coffee, despite the settings. Thorough checking of the machine revealed an empty bean reservoir.If I did have to come up with a complaint, it's that I can't easily switch beans. After removing loose beans in the reservoir, I have to waste 2 cups before I'm sure the new beans are going through. This is a nuisance as I'm trying out different beans, and switch between caf and decaf.Overall, I'm pleased with it. Would I spend the full $600? Probably. When 2 coffee bar coffees more than pay for a pound of beans, this will quickly pay for itself. I don't have to worry about the coffee getting cold before I get to my home office, and the only waste is coffee grounds which become compost.

I bought the Philips 3221/44, without the LatteGo feature because I don’t like milk in my coffee. Also I’m a bit noise sensitive and the LatteGo has been compared in some reviews to the sound of an airplane taking off. I previously owned a pricey built-in Miele coffee machine that came with our house. The Miele worked fine for about ten years before becoming increasingly cantankerous with age (like many of us). It was a marvel of 2000s technology that would have felt right at home on the International Space Station, except it was probably too heavy to ever reach orbit. It cost almost as much to fix as I paid for the new Philips.The 3221 appears functionally identical to the Miele except in a smaller, lighter, and much cheaper box. I shall call it ‘Mini-Miele.’ Mini-Miele has a similar brewing unit, which is called a “brew group” even though there’s only one of them. Mini-Miele also makes similar noises. According to my iPhone it puts out around 60 dB while brewing and 70 dB while grinding. The former is a steady 60-Hz electric hum, whereas the latter sounds more like a racoon trapped in a recycling bin. Overall noise levels are somewhere between normal conversation and a vacuum cleaner. Not bad really. The Miele also made a series of loud “thunks” that Mini-Miele thankfully does not reproduce.The Miele was made primarily of steel and lots of it; Mini-Miele is all plastic with pseudo-chrome trim. Sounds cheap I know but this seems to be the norm for most such machines, including some in the $2000-range. Materials, fit, and finish are all on par with a new Toyota, which is to say quite good. The control buttons worked easily once I overcame the desire to press them. It just takes a light touch. The buttons are logical and marked both with text and little pictures, helpful in case I forget how to read English. The water container is smaller than in the Miele but adequate, and features a cute little water softener/filter that lives inside. It has to be replaced at some interval but you don’t have to call the Culligan Man.On startup, Mini-Miele entertains with a robotic dance of flashing lights, groaning sounds, and waterworks. Once it settles down from that (about one minute) it’s really easy to operate. It does doubles if you want, but with a caveat: you have to wait for the grinding and brewing routine to complete itself twice. A double Americano takes about two and a half minutes. The first cups from Mini-Miele tasted, well…bad actually. Like coffee laced with aspirin. The machine apparently makes its own adjustments during this time, but not enough to help. What did help was using different beans and adjusting the grind a few clicks finer. The coffee tastes much better now, quite similar to what the 5x more expensive Miele could produce during its prime. Not on par with a good café in Florence, but good enough to avoid driving to the local Starbucks.Cleanup of Mini-Miele supposedly requires only a weekly rinse of the brew unit. Apparently nobody told the coffee grounds however, which may be found freely sprinkled about the machine’s interior. Still, it’s easier to clean than the Miele due to fewer dark corners and crevasses. A quick wipe of the interior surfaces gets the job done. The Miele did have a larger used coffee bin, which meant less frequent emptying but also more mold. True espresso afficionados inspect the used ‘pucks’ the way a big-game hunter might inspect scat, in their search for the perfect ‘pull.’ Mini-Miele’s droppings appear drier and more puck-shaped than the Miele, which I think is a good thing.I’m still in the honeymoon phase with Mini-Miele but am optimistic about its future. It produces push-button coffee at a fraction of the cost of the showier but often troublesome Miele, with no noticeable difference in taste. I don’t yet know about its long term durability, but so far Mini-Miele looks like a winner.

I am surprised there are so many 5 star reviews, thats why i bought this machine. That and it does espresso AND coffee which I was excited about. It's my mom and I in the house so I thought I would splurge as we have loved coffee our whole lives. Thought it would be a good investment. This made the worst coffee I've ever had. It was either burnt tasting, or super watery. The first 2 seconds of the pour looks promising and like dark coffee then it's 20+ seconds of just pure water. The manual says the brew at least 5 cups of coffee initially to let the machine calibrate, but apparently it can take up to 100 cups for it to calibrate fully... So one cup might be okay, then the next will be terrible again. Also something that I didnt know until i tried it. I thought the machine stays on all the time so you can just walk up and all heating elements are ready to go, nope! After a little bit the machine shuts itself off (it's not even that long) and when you push the power button it has to warm up again and also beware! As it pours water out of its spout with no warning. The manual/directions for setup are very vague, I had to youtube how to do the setup finally. The machine is a lot larger than it looks like in the photos. You also need above machine space so it didnt work very well for our countertop that had cabinets above it. We had to keep pulling the machine forward to put beans in the hopper as we wasted cup after cup of coffee waiting for it to calibrate which it never did. The water reservoir is pretty small so it ran out of water pretty quickly. I ended up returning the machine fairly quickly. This might be a good machine for espresso lovers? (maybe) but definitely dont buy this if you are interested in the coffee function. We ended up going back to our same old $30 coffee pot.