The Italian appliance maestros at Smeg have turned their '50s-inspired design genius on espresso making – and the result is the ECF01. While it's a manual coffee machine that will appeal to hardcore home baristas, there's also some fiendishly clever tech beneath that curvaceous Cadillac-esque body.

Beautiful retro-chic styling; Some truly neat features; Super-quick to heat; Great-tasting coffee; Can handle taller cups and mugs

Oddly positioned power switch

Having wanted a SMEG machine for a long time, I can say that the machine really does look very smart and makes great coffee. My only recommendation would be that you run water through it first when using it, in order to get hotter coffee. Very happy otherwise.

Looks good as well as making good coffee !! Very good make

Looks great but so disappointed! Coffee weak and you have to make it for two to even get a coffee for one and milk frother very hard to work - sometimes ok but mostly not - the steamer heats the milk but very little froth. Hardly any room to put normal size cup under - really only for expresso.

We had a KitchenAid siphon machine before this which we loved. We were going to buy a new one but took a chance on this Smeg instead. I LOVE this machine. It is easy to use, the crema is beautiful and it froths milk really well. Looks gorgeous too!

So, is the Smeg a good buy Yes and no. On the positive side, it gives you all the tools you need to achieve the perfect espresso. It's flexible, looks great and is easy to maintain and operate. Even the milk frother is simple to use.

Makes a good espresso; Alluring retro looks; Basic adjustments help make the perfect shot

Expensive; No water filter included

Pros: - looks amazing - relatively quiet (in comparison to Nespresso machines) Cons: - changing function settings is confusing and and doesn't work sometimes - warming tray is not even remotely warm, pointless feature - sometimes coffee isn't that hot (regardless of settings) - very messy process,...

I highly recommend this machine, easy to use and produces great coffees. I've had mine for 2 years and just bought my parents one recently, they love it too.

Regret buying. To make decent hot milk you have to remove wand and just use the rubber wand otherwise it will only foam your milk and barely heats it. Struggles to make a second coffee, I turn it off and on again so it can have a break. You also have to remove the tray to fit a small mug underneath it. A lot of work involved just to make one coffee. So disappointed especially due to it being SMEG