Philips 3300 Series LatteGo Bean to Cup Coffee Machine

Summary

It took us ten seconds to take the milk carafe apart and rinse it under the tap. That’s a big part of the appeal of the Philips 3300 Series LatteGo, a bean to cup machine designed for people who have a cappuccino every day and don’t want the cleaning to put them off having another.

It makes six drinks from a touchscreen with coloured icons, including espresso, coffee, cappuccino, latte macchiato and an iced coffee, plus hot water for tea. You can adjust the strength, volume and froth for each one, although it doesn’t save individual user profiles.

In our tests it produced five almost identical espressos in a row, all between 35.4 and 36.5 seconds. The coffee is decent and very consistent, but light-bodied on the medium settings, so you’ll want to turn the strength up if you drink it black.

The 12-step ceramic grinder earned the highest score. It grinds a dose in under six seconds, gives a clean grind at all three settings we tried and leaves hardly anything in the chute. It isn’t quiet, at around 65 dB(A) at one metre, but the noise only lasts as long as the dose.

Its limit is the upkeep between coffees. The 1.8-litre tank goes a good distance, but the grounds drawer asked to be emptied at coffee number 12, and that’s the warning you’ll see most if several coffee drinkers share the machine.

We tested the 3300 Series LatteGo in Spain as the EP3343/50. On Amazon.co.uk it’s sold as the EP3347/90, a different reference and finish within the same 3300 Series LatteGo range. The listing describes the same LatteGo milk system, 12-step ceramic grinder and six hot and iced drinks, so our results apply to it, although details such as the colour won’t necessarily match the unit we tested.

Analysis and verdict

Coffee quality – Score: 7.9/10

The best thing we can say about its espresso is that it doesn’t change from one cup to the next. With the grind on position 4 and strength on the second of its three levels, the five extractions in a row varied by little more than a second, and the weight in the cup differed by half a gram between the first and the fifth. On a bean to cup machine, that consistency is worth more than a brilliant coffee one day and a watery one the next.

The crema came out hazelnut in colour, with fine bubbles and 3 to 4 millimetres thick, although rather light, the kind that leaves a thin layer when you stir. The temperature rose from 66.4 °C in the first coffee to 67.8 °C in the fifth, enough to drink straight away but a bit borderline if you leave it in the cup or add cold milk.

What costs it points is body. On the medium settings the espresso is mild, and to get closer to a more concentrated cup you have to turn the strength up to maximum or grind finer. There are only three strength levels, so there’s little room for correction. If you love a black espresso with plenty of body, a traditional espresso machine will give you more control over dose and extraction.

Grinder – Score: 8.4/10

The burrs are ceramic and the selector has 12 positions. We tried 2, 6 and 10, and all three gave a clean result. At the fine setting the grind was even, with no whole pieces and a small amount of dust. At medium the particles were regular and clearly separate, and at coarse there were a few large fragments, but no unground beans.

Each dose took between 5.7 and 5.9 seconds to grind. Meanwhile the noise readings were between 64.9 and 65.4 dB(A) at one metre, with a background level of 31.8 dB(A) in the kitchen. It isn’t a quiet grinder and you can clearly hear it in the kitchen. What works in its favour is that the noise lasts less than six seconds per coffee.

The three doses we weighed, one at each setting, came in at 9.8 to 9.9 grams, so the amount of coffee doesn’t wander when you change the grind. We saw little residue in the chute, just a bit of coffee stuck at the outlet with no blockage. The reservations are the noise and the coarse setting, which is the least uniform of the three, although you won’t need it for espresso.

Capacity – Score: 8.0/10

With the 1.8-litre tank filled to the line, we counted 31 espressos of 40 ml before it asked for water, including an automatic rinse at switch-on. It doesn’t reach the 45 you’d get by dividing the tank by 40 ml, because the machine also uses water to rinse its pipes. In a two-person household, that’s several days without going near the tap.

The tank comes out from the front, on the right-hand side, and there’s no need to move the machine or leave space above it, a clear advantage if it lives under a wall cupboard. The water warning appears before the next coffee starts and never cut one short, but it comes on when there isn’t a full cup left, so there’s no margin to squeeze out one more.

The other two limits come sooner. The 275 g hopper ran out at coffee 28 and the grounds drawer filled up much earlier, so for every tank of water you’ll empty the drawer a couple of times. It isn’t a heavy job, but it’s the most frequent interruption.

Drinks, milk and cleaning

From switched off, the cappuccino was served in 1 minute 24 seconds and reached the cup at 62.1 °C. The froth is plentiful but airy, closer to a homemade cappuccino than the fine microfoam of a coffee shop. If you’re after dense foam with very small bubbles, this system won’t give you that.

The milk carafe holds 0.26 litres, has two parts with no tubes and is dishwasher-safe, although it rinses so quickly under the tap that we didn’t need to. The machine makes two coffees at once, and the iced coffee is poured over ice. It’s easy to use, because each drink has its own icon on the screen and you choose strength, volume and froth before making it. What it lacks is user profiles, so in a house with different tastes everyone will have to tweak their own drink.

The brewing unit is removable, so you can take it out and clean it away from the machine rather than relying only on the automatic rinses. As well as beans, it takes pre-ground coffee, which is handy for the occasional decaf. What it doesn’t have is a cup-warming tray. If you like your espresso piping hot, warm the cup with hot water first, which is how we prepared it in our tests.

On the worktop it measures 37.1 cm high, 24.6 cm wide and 43.3 cm deep and weighs about 8 kg. It’s narrow and fairly deep, so measure the depth before you decide. The body is plastic with a few metal parts, and the unit we tested came with a water filter that, if you change it when the machine asks, greatly delays descaling. If you leave it on, it switches to standby by itself after half an hour.

Pros

• A 12-step ceramic grinder that grinds a dose in 5.7 to 5.9 seconds and leaves little residue in the chute. Every cup is made with freshly ground beans without stretching the wait.
• A two-part milk carafe with no tubes that we took apart and rinsed in 10 seconds. Your daily cappuccino leaves no cleaning hanging over you.
• Five espressos in a row between 35.4 and 36.5 seconds, with half a gram of difference in the cup. The first cup is the same as the fifth.
• A 1.8-litre tank that comes out from the front and gave 31 espressos of 40 ml. You refill it without moving the machine, even under a cupboard.

Cons

• Light-bodied espresso on the medium settings and only three strength levels. For a more concentrated cup you have to turn the strength up to maximum or grind finer.
• The grounds drawer asked to be emptied at coffee 12, long before the water or beans ran out. It’s the warning that interrupts most when there are several coffee drinkers at home.

Our test

Test 1: Coffee quality – five espressos in a row with the same beans

We made five 40 ml espressos in a row with a medium-roast arabica and filtered water, the grind on position 4 of 12 and strength on level 2 of 3, without touching anything in between. We timed each extraction from pressing the button until the coffee stopped dripping, compared the crema of the first with the fifth and measured the temperature of both with a probe thermometer, five seconds after finishing and in a preheated porcelain cup.

The times were 36.5, 35.8, 35.6, 35.7 and 35.4 seconds, with 39.4 grams in the first cup and 39.9 in the fifth. The first crema was a light-to-medium hazelnut, with fine bubbles and a few larger ones. The fifth was slightly darker and more even, at about 4 millimetres, and the temperature went from 66.4 to 67.8 °C. For you, that means the machine is very consistent and the coffee doesn’t get worse as you make cup after cup, although if you want more body you’ll need to turn the strength up from the medium setting we used.

Test 2: Grinder – fine, medium and coarse grinds on white paper

We ground one dose at position 2, another at 6 and another at 10, and checked a sample of each on white paper for unground pieces and loose dust. We weighed the beans before and after each grind, timed three doses, took noise readings one metre from the front at grinder height and checked the chute afterwards. The doses weighed 9.8, 9.9 and 9.8 grams, the times were 5.9, 5.7 and 5.8 seconds and the noise readings 64.9, 65.2 and 65.4 dB(A). None of the grinds left whole pieces; the fine one brought a small amount of dust and the coarse one a few large fragments.

For you, that means the medium setting and those close to fine are the ones to use for espresso, and grinding doesn’t add to the wait. You’ll notice the noise, but it’s over in under six seconds. Very little coffee stayed in the chute, just a bit stuck at the outlet, so each cup is made almost entirely from freshly ground beans.

Test 3: Capacity – a full tank until the warning, counting 40 ml espressos

We filled the tank and hopper to the maximum and made 40 ml espressos, always the same reference cup, until the machine asked for water. We also noted at which coffee the beans ran out, when it asked for the grounds drawer to be emptied, whether the tank can be removed and refilled without moving the machine and how much margin the warning gives.

It lasted 31 espressos, counting one automatic rinse at the start. The grounds drawer asked to be emptied at coffee 12 and the hopper ran out at 28. The tank comes out from the front without moving anything, and the warning arrived before the next coffee started, with some water left in the bottom but not a full cup. In practice, you’ll empty grounds more often than you refill water. We can’t give you the figure for long coffees or milky drinks, which use more water per cup.

If you’d like to know more about what to look for, have a look at our guide to the best bean to cup coffee machines, where you’ll find the best models we’ve tested and help choosing the right one for you.