Really like this machine. Fanciest prior was a grinder and K-cup machine, thought I was riding high with fresh ground coffee. I've always been the basic coffee, sugar, cream kind of guy. Like the Cappuccinos every once in a while if I was out and about (almost never). Got over espresso when I was stationed in Italy and had some fresh squeezed beans in a shot glass cup. My son kinda got me started on a Starbucks something/something fancy thing, but I couldn't remember the name of it. Twenty years USAF LE, coffee was life. So, saw the 3300 version on Amazon Day sale and figured why not. Was about to order it when I saw there was a 4400. Twice the cost? Why? Checked it out. That is when I found out that there was different types of coffee within coffee types. Who knew? Always thought a latte was coffee and milk, put some sugar with it, it's what I drank. Then saw a Latte Macchiato, figured latte with different name. Nope, seems there is a coffee to milk ratio that is different, not to mention milk vs frothed milk. Saw a few more options of the 4400, worlds of coffee creations started swimming through my head. Head started hurting...more than coffee, cream, sugar? And not needing specialty store that charges umpteen dollars a cup? Not to mention trying to figure out what the actual size of their cups are. Then saw there was such a thing as a 5500. Oh no! Looked, nope. May be turning into a coffee snob (cappas. lattes. crema. oh my), but cold brew? No. Coffee must be hot otherwise it ain't coffee and why bother. This line I cannot cross. So, got the 4400. Saw the reviews about leaks and such. Ain't had no problem. When I first put milk in the latte go container, it did leak. My fault, didn't snap the bottom closed. Water in the drip tray? Well, it does rinse out the nozzles, where do you think it goes? Did put a cup and then a bowl down to try and cut down on it, but it doesn't help. Doesn't matter anyway. The machine tells you when to empty the grounds container, empty the drip tray the same time. Played with the grind size when I got it. Switched back and forth, couldn't figure out which way was a finer grind. Didn't look at the marking either, so, oh well. At least it has pictures for the drinks, so I don't have to guess on that. I have been very happy with the coffee that has been coming out of this machine. The only complaint I have is that of quantity. I use a mug (why bother with cups) and end up having to brew two cycles of some types. Some let you do a double, others don't. No problem there either, doesn't take long from grind to finish. Not to mention I can mix they process. So far my favorite is brew a regular latte then brew a macchiato on top of that. Fills the mug nicely and tastes great. As for sugar, which I still use.. That goes in first and gets stirred up when the first latte coffee is brewing in, before the frothing takes place. Shake/roll the mug after the top goes on and the sugar dissolves through nicely. Yeah, all this just to say this machine makes good coffee, runs well and I'm glad I paid the extra for the added choices. Not to mention being able to keep the mechanics of the thing cleaner and oiled. Should last quite a long time. Now, excuse me while I drink down my double caffe crema with a frothed topper. Read more
Don’t recommend. I thought there was something wrong with it for a while, but just turns out it makes really, really weak coffee. For how much this costs, it’s a huge disappointment. I would recommend doing more research. For this to make a good cup of coffee I have do a full strength cup of coffee with two shots in it - since you can’t automate preferred drinks it means I end up standing in front of the thing for a long time pushing buttons and waiting every morning. So sad considering before this I had a saeco that made amazing strong coffee, and was half the price. The milk frothing and everything else is great, just such a shame the primary function, making coffee, is so weak. Ran out my return period by accident - if you try it and don’t like the coffee return it IMMEDIATELY. Don’t buy this nonsense online that there is a “break in period” and accidentally run the clock out Read more
I have another popular espresso machine. It still works great, but the grinder can be loud and the process of making any type of coffee leaves a mess to clean up after. I decided to look into a fully automatic espresso machine. After much research I decided on this Philips 4400 series machine. The features looked good and seemed to do every type of coffee me and my wife like. It also seemed to be easy to use and would not have to do much clean up after making my coffee. My only concern was if it was going to be able to make a strong enough espresso or coffee Latte. Once I received the machine I set it up by following the instructions on both paper and on the screen. It was very easy to setup. I put some of my favorite coffee beans and started making espressos as that is the basis for just about all the other drinks you make. At first the espressos came out watered down. I made some changes to the settings and adjusted the grinding from 6 to 2. That made a huge difference. By the way, when adjusting the grinder, you have to do it while you're making an espresso and only turn the nob once at a time. After getting the espresso to the right strength, I saved it to my profile. From there I tried ice coffee Latte and a hot coffee Latte. They both came out perfect and the frothy milk is fantastic. If you look at my photos. You can see how good the coffees came out with the frothy milk on top. Cleaning was a breeze too. I have the machine set to clean and warm at the beginning when I turn it on. It will drop some water when it does that, so I put a cup so that it doesn't fill the tray as quickly. When shutting off the machine, it will clean its self and will drop some water as well, so I leave a cup after as well. This really is an impressive machine with easy clean up. If you're able to get it on prime day or other time that has a discount, it becomes even more worth it. The only thing, I can think of that would make this machine even better, is if the outside was made completely of steel. I think it would give it that prime look and feel. On the other hand, the way it looks now, still looks nice and it's very light to move around. If you're considering a fully automatic espresso machine, I highly recommend this one. Read more
My 4300 just died and I replaced it with the 4400. Mixed review compared to the 4300. The Good: heats up super quick, very quiet, uses less coffee. The bad: coffee is definitely weaker than the 4300, but it’s comparable by adjusting the grind to the finest setting, and playing with amount of coffee and water level. This is a very nice machine but if you love really strong coffee: it might not be the best machine for you. It’s only been 24 hours but we were using an older 3200 for this week while waiting for the new machine to arrive. The new machine is amazingly quiet which is a plus but I think they changed the grinder for the worse….. I’m not sure if I will keep this machine but we shall see. If you’re going to buy one of these, get the 4 year extended warranty, this is our 4th one of these Philips lattego machines and all have lasted 3ish years. Out 4300 had 11,000 cups dispensed on the counter when it started giving us problems. Read more
