Nespresso Vertuo Up Pod Coffee Machine

Summary

If your mornings run on a tight schedule and you want a decent coffee without wrestling with the machine, the Nespresso Vertuo Up is right up your street. It works with a single button and asks for no setting-up beforehand. You switch it on, drop in a pod and leave the rest to it.

It’s a Vertuo-system pod machine, so it recognises the pod automatically and brews 7 different cup sizes, from ristretto to carafe. You don’t choose anything because you don’t need to, which makes it ideal for households where everyone drinks a different size and nobody wants to fiddle with menus or settings.

The 1.4 litre water tank lasted us a full day of coffees without a refill, and the slim, upright design lets it squeeze into gaps on the worktop where other machines won’t fit. Do check the depth, though. It’s a long machine front to back, so measure your worktop before you decide.

The main limitation is the system itself. It only takes Nespresso Vertuo pods, which aren’t interchangeable with Original pods or generic compatibles, so the cost per cup is tied to the official range. There’s no milk frother either, so a properly frothy cappuccino needs a separate accessory.

We tested the blue version in Spain. On Amazon.co.uk we link the same Krups-made Vertuo Up in black (XN9408), sold by Amazon with a 12-pod discovery box, and it’s the same machine in a different colour.

Overall, it’s a smart buy if you want total convenience and plenty of cup sizes, and a less rounded one if you’re an espresso purist or want complete freedom over which pods you buy.

Analysis and verdict

Design – Score: 8.3/10

It’s built tall and narrow, which is a blessing in a small kitchen because it slots in between the toaster and the wall, although its long body needs a deep worktop. Krups doesn’t state the exact depth of this version, so measure the space before you buy. Its 4.1 kg gives it enough stability not to shift when you pull the lever, and we found the lever’s travel smooth and free of resistance.

The finish held up well over a month of use, with no scratches and no creaking plastic when you press the button. The drip tray lifts out to make room for a tall glass, and the built-in used-pod container saves you a trip to the bin after every coffee. What costs it points here is precisely its shape. It’s narrow at the front but long at the back, so the space it needs isn’t as small as it first looks.

Ease of use – Score: 8.8/10

This is its best score, because using it is about as simple as a coffee machine gets. There’s one main button and little else, and the machine reads the pod and sets the volume itself, so a second coffee is just a case of loading a pod and pressing. The pod seats firmly and won’t go in the wrong way, so it’s practically impossible to load it incorrectly, and the used one drops into the internal container on its own when you open the lever.

There’s no need to leave it on ‘just in case’, because it switches itself off after 2 minutes of inactivity. We timed it, and it did so in every cycle we logged. The centrifugal brewing system spins the pod at high speed instead of forcing water through under pressure like a classic espresso machine, and that shapes what ends up in the cup. Our espressos had a compact, evenly coloured crema, although in the larger sizes it thins out quite a bit. We noticed no vibration passing into the worktop; what you hear is the characteristic centrifugal whirr, which rises as it spins up and fades at the end without being intrusive in a normal kitchen.

Capacity – Score: 8.6/10

The 1.4 litre tank is removable, and it gave us eight coffees of different sizes, including two carafes, without a mid-morning top-up. For a couple or a small family that’s more than enough day to day, and because it comes off you fill it at the tap without juggling jugs or moving the machine. The Amazon.co.uk listing adds that the tank can sit on the left, the right or at the back to suit your kitchen layout.

The internal container holds several days’ worth of used pods before it needs emptying, and it didn’t jam once in five days of testing. As for upkeep, the manufacturer recommends descaling at least every 3 months, more often if your water is hard, and cleaning the tank whenever you see limescale building up. Ordinary drinking water is fine, but avoid water straight from the fridge.

Cup sizes and pod range

The beauty of this machine is that one appliance covers seven cup sizes, from a short ristretto to a carafe, without you touching a thing. In a home where one person drinks espresso and another wants a long breakfast coffee, that saves arguments and a second machine. The UK listing quotes over 40 Vertuo blends, including iced and flavoured ones, so there’s plenty of scope to ring the changes.

The concentrated brew mode (called Creations mode on the UK listing) makes a coffee with less water, designed for adding ice or milk afterwards. We checked with a measuring jug that the volume drops clearly compared with the standard brew, so your iced coffee doesn’t end up watery. What it lacks to round things off is an integrated milk system. There’s no frother, so lattes and cappuccinos depend on you heating or frothing the milk yourself.

Pros

• 7 cup sizes with automatic pod recognition, so everyone at home gets their size without touching a single setting.
• Removable 1.4 L tank that covered a day of eight coffees in our testing without a refill.
• Slim, upright design that fits gaps on the worktop where a conventional espresso machine won’t go.
• Automatic switch-off after 2 minutes, which kicked in on every cycle we logged.
• Concentrated brew mode that uses less water, so iced or milky coffees don’t taste diluted.

Cons

• Works only with Vertuo pods. Original pods and other brands’ compatibles won’t fit, which ties the cost per cup to the official range.
• No frother or milk system, so cappuccinos and lattes need a separate accessory.
• Long body front to back, which calls for a generously deep worktop, so measure before you buy.
• The crema loses body in the larger sizes, something we clearly noticed going from espresso to the XL mug.

Our test

Test: tank endurance and brewing behaviour

For five days in a row we made between four and eight coffees a day with pods of every size, and the tank saw out the most demanding day in full (eight coffees, two of them carafes) without a refill. We also timed the automatic switch-off, which kicked in after 2 minutes of inactivity every time we checked. In use, we noticed no vibration reaching the worktop, and one detail we appreciated is that the pod seats firmly and won’t go in the wrong way, so loading it wrongly is practically impossible.

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