Philips 3200 Series Fully Automatic Espresso Machine, LatteGo Milk Frother, 5 Coffee Varieties, Intuitive Touch Display, 100% Ceramic Grinder, AquaClean Filter, My Coffee Choice, Black (EP3241/54)

Excellent Machine to Feed an Addiction
I purchased the Philips 3200 Lattego with an additional filter as part of Amazon Prime Day, so my review is directly tied to that discounted price.I find that this machine is really worth the money. It makes excellent espresso and latte macchiatos. That is a given, but how does it handle milk alternatives. I feel like there isn’t much comment on this, and I think it is worth discussing.Since realizing, after two decades of pain and suffering, that I am lactose intolerant, I switched from milk products to oat milk. I typically purchase Silk brand’s original oat milk, but I also buy their creamy version, and other brands of oat milk. This machine does a good job of heating and frothing the oat milk, however, because it is quite a bit thicker than milk, it uses less oat milk in the automated process. This doesn’t bother me too much, because I typically use the latte macchiato function twice in a row to fill my coffee mug. Yeah, it is a healthy amount of espresso in the drink, but that can be adjusted. It does work with oat milk, and I prefer it that way. I have not tried it with soy milk, almond milk (might be a good choice given how thin it is), cashew milk, or other milk alternatives.I recently also thought I would try lactose-free Horizon organic milk, and it works as a normal milk product would. It froths a lot more than the oat milk does, so be prepared for a lot of foam. It tastes a lot like an espresso drink you would have at any coffee shop, other than Starbucks. Even using Starbucks espresso beans, it comes out slightly less perfect than they can do, but over significant use, it surely pays for itself and it is still darn delicious.One tip to mention is that when using pre-ground beans, make sure to close the lid after you load in one scoop. Don’t overfill it and don’t load it too early. When wanting to use pre-ground coffee beans, make sure to power up the machine and let it do the cleaning cycle first, before loading in the grounds. My machine doesn’t seem to do the pre-ground stuff as well as I’d like, and it has to do with the process. I am not sure why, but it will sometimes take two or three tries to get the machine to make it correctly, but once it does the first time, you can repeat the process in the same power cycle without issue. Load one scoop of grounds, close the lid, choose the drink, let the machine work. When it is done and you can select a new drink, repeat the process of loading the grounds, closing the lid, then choosing the drink.I’m not entirely sure I would buy this machine at full price, but if you see it on sale, it is a great deal. I think the regular price of this one versus a higher end one from Philips is only $100 or so in difference, and the higher end models, 4300, 5400, etc., offer more options. That can be important for some. On sale, with the milk carafe, it is a bargain and worth it for the first super-automatic espresso machine. I think the price to consider picking it up if money is an issue is the $650 or so price point. Amazon Prime Day’s deal was less than. Highly recommended.Made in RomaniaUPDATE: I have been using this espresso maker for some time now, and I still think it is a great buy, especially on sale. Everything has held up great since purchase. I thought it might be good to leave some additional thoughts. First, the issue when using ground coffee seems to be less so. I have only experienced issues with it twice since my last review. Second, the one new negative thing I have found is that it can be a little noisy when in use. That doesn’t stop me from recommending it, but if you need something super quiet, this might not be the one you want. And finally, don’t forget to clean out the cavity where the used grounds fall out of. I never thought to clean it and one day my wife noticed some mold smell coming from that area and I had to stick my hand in and clean it out as best I could. I use it daily and I clean that part about once a month, and that seems to be good for me, but also note that I live in the dryest region in the United States, so we don’t really have humidity to make the problem worse. That’s all. I still highly recommend it, especially when on sale!

Machine has broken TWICE in less than two years. Beware.
DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE. Over the past two years, I’ve had to send it back to the factory twice to have it fixed – first the sensor on the water pump went bad and was telling me there was no water when it was more than half full, and now the coffee bean grinder pretends to grind beans but it pumps out dirty water. Seriously, it looks like something I pulled from a pond in Montana. Anyone from Montana will tell you, you don’t drink that. I called Customer Support, chose “English,” and spoke with someone who, while probably a very nice lady, could NOT speak English well – not only that but her Tagalog accent was SO strong that even when she did say the words in the right order, I couldn’t understand them. I am all for customer support in other countries, I don’t mind when there’s an accent, but when I need support for my machine and you’re telling me what to do to troubleshoot, I HAVE TO UNDERSTAND YOU. Anyway, back to the machine…it’s loud, louder than any espresso shop that I’ve been to (and that’s a lot), but if you have it in a cabinet that won’t bother you much. When it DOES put out coffee, it’s good – not the best, but definitely passable. However, for a $700-$800 machine, you should expect better than “passable.” I’d really like my money back so I can buy another brand (my Cuisinart K cup machine has been fabulous for the past decade or so), but they won’t give me my money back. TLDR: if you want to spend your hard earned cash on an “OK” machine that will probably fail you, by all means…buy this product. If you want a coffee maker that will last and not give you a headache that you’re probably counting on the coffee to alleviate, get something else.

if you are considering this machine, I would like to share some of my experiences with you, pre-owner and new buyer. You might knew those tricks if you’ve read the manual.my Little Summary of “Press and hold for 3 seconds” with the following buttons under “Power Off” are able to change some hidden feature settings …. suits EP3241/541) Aroma = Water Hardness Soft1>Hard4.2) Quantity = Water Temperature Low>default>High.3) Aqua = Activate Aqua-Filter.4) Calc = Auto-off timer 15/30*/60/180mins.5) Espresso = Restore factory setting.6) Coffee = On/off panel Beep Sound.this LatteGo automatic espresso machine is super easy to make cappuccino under 3 mins from power On. and Super easy to clean up too. It’s make noise but not really loud enough to wake anybody in the morning. It’s gave me really fast, tasty and creamy espresso as always.if you knew how to use “Bypass” feature … “Press and hold 3’s ” on the “Pre-ground/Aroma” to bypass the grinder on Latte Macchiato can easily get “Hot Milk only” and same way to get “Foam Milk only” on Cappuccino.so far, for the past 5 months I just have to refill coffee beans and fill up the water tank at the Front side when it’s empty.Do “Maintains it” just take a minute to drain the drip tray and empty the bin after every use, and also took about 5-10mins to rinse the brew unit weekly.Wait 5 seconds to “Reset the built-in counter” when took out the Drip tray under Power On as always. Otherwise it’s will keep LED remind you to empty the bin after every 8-10 shots.The coffee spout is adjustable to fit most travel mug not taller than 16cm which is big plus to me.And all beverages are able to program it’s own quantity size from 50-250ml but at least larger than the default size. all details is on the manual.be cautious with the Aqua-filters, it’s needs to be fully filled water and lets bobbles completely out before installation, otherwise you may get trouble with the water intake cause by the air block.and the running cost, according to the manual that Aqua-Filter needs to be replace every 3 months or every 95L of water ( >1,000 cups), It’s means I need to replace Aqua-filters x4 per year. That’s about 25cents per day for Filters and each shot of the 10g coffee beans cost about10-20cents. Total is just Less than $2 per day for me to make 6-8 shots espresso daily. (I like Melitta and Lavazza beans both not oily)Lastly, For the past 5 months I did once filter change already and did descaling once just follow with the Philips you-tube instructions step by step easily. the machine still works very great.

BBought two for myself and a friend. Both came with defects from the start. One doesn’t make a difference what amount of coffee chosen (makes about same quantity every time) and the other stops making coffee once water tank 3/4 full or less. Decided to try and replace through Philips the second one first. It took me a month to convince them it is a problem that needs to be fixed. Send the unit, waited almost half a year, got unit back, now it is as other one always same amount of coffee and initial problem still exists (have to keep water tank 3/4 full at least). Never expected to have such awful customer service for the item that almost 1K. My friends have the same machines and they are working great so don’t buy if you are not ready to gamble on quality.