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The Breville Bambino Plus is a small espresso machine with one standout trick: it steams milk for you. Put the jug under the wand, pick a temperature and a texture, and it stops on its own when the milk is done. For anyone who drinks cortados or flat whites every morning and doesn’t want to learn milk steaming, that’s most of the case for it.
It’s model BES500 in the US and sells in the UK and Europe as the Sage Bambino Plus. This guide is built from Breville’s specs, the price history and what owners and reviewers keep reporting.
What You Get
- Heat-up: a ThermoJet heater that Breville says reaches brewing temperature in 3 seconds
- Portafilter: 54mm stainless steel, built for an 18-gram dose, with single-wall and dual-wall baskets in one- and two-cup sizes
- Extraction: low-pressure pre-infusion, then 9 bars
- Milk: automatic texturing with three temperature settings and three texture settings, a manual mode, and an automatic purge after steaming
- Water tank: 1.9 liters (64 ounces)
- Power: 1,560 watts on US models
It also has a 3-way solenoid valve, which the cheaper Bambino doesn’t. The valve releases pressure after the shot, so the puck comes out drier and the portafilter knocks clean. There’s no separate hot water spout, but you can get hot water from the steam wand with a two-button press.
Price in September 2026
The US list price is $499.95, the same as in 2021, and the machine is often on sale at $399.95. In the UK the Sage version lists at £399.95, and in Germany at €529.90. In 2025 Breville said about 90% of its products were made in China, and it has been moving production to other countries since the US tariffs, but the Bambino Plus list price hasn’t moved. The plain Bambino, without automatic milk, sells for $249.95 to $299.95; we compare it with its closest rival in Bambino vs Dedica Arte.
What Owners Complain About
- The drip tray is tiny. It holds roughly 135 to 150 ml, so it fills fast once you count the purges.
- Brew temperature is fixed at around 200°F, with no way to change it. Owners who’ve measured it report that the water starts hot and falls away during the shot.
- Pre-infusion is short and can’t be stretched much past about 10 seconds.
- Scale is a risk. The ThermoJet’s narrow water path can clog if you skip descaling, so hard-water homes need to stay on top of it.
- The wand only swings up and down, and the portafilter takes some effort to lock in.
Some reviewers also count the 54mm portafilter against it, since most aftermarket gear is made for 58mm. That matters less than it used to. Baskets, tampers and dosing funnels in 54mm are easy to find now.
Who It’s For
The Bambino Plus makes the most sense for someone making one or two milk drinks at a time who wants them quickly. The heater is ready almost at once, and the automatic wand handles the part beginners find hardest. Our cortado recipe suits it with the texture setting on low, since a cortado wants warm milk with very little foam. For a flat white, go one step up.
It’s the wrong machine for tinkerers. You can’t adjust the brew temperature, and pressure profiling is out of the question. If that’s what you want, look at a 58mm single boiler like the Gaggia Classic E24, or read our guide to how different machine designs handle milk.
Whichever you choose, budget for a grinder. The Baratza Encore ESP is the usual first pick at this level, and our Encore ESP guide explains why. The dual-wall baskets forgive pre-ground coffee, but to get the most from the single-wall baskets you need beans ground fresh and fine enough for espresso.