The short version
| Ninja Luxe Café | Barista Express | |
|---|---|---|
| Measuring coffee | ✓ Weighs it with a built-in scale | By time, so the amount can vary |
| Milk | ✓ Froths it for you | You steam it by hand |
| Other drinks | ✓ Drip coffee and cold brew too | Espresso and hot water |
| Add-ons | Only Ninja’s own parts fit | ✓ Baskets and tampers are easy to buy |
| Track record | Newer: first reviewed in 2024 | On sale for years; one owner reports 7 to 10 years |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year |
A check mark shows which one comes out ahead on that line.
Which one is right for you
Ninja Luxe Café Our pick
You want a good latte or cappuccino before work without thinking about it. You like that it also makes drip coffee and cold brew. It’s also the better gift for someone new to espresso.
Barista Express
You enjoy the craft. You want to learn to pull a shot and steam milk, maybe pour latte art someday, and you like that its parts are standard and easy to find.
Your first latte
Ninja Luxe Café
- Fill the water tank and pour beans into the top.
- Turn it on. Ninja says it’s ready in under 30 seconds. CoffeeGeek saw 30 to 45 seconds.
- Choose your drink. It grinds the right amount of coffee by weight.
- Pull the lever. It packs the coffee down for you. Lock the handle in and press brew.
- Pour milk into the jug, pick a foam setting, and let it froth on its own.
- Pour the milk over the espresso. Empty the drip tray often.
Barista Express
- Fill the water tank and pour beans into the top.
- Turn it on and give it a minute or two to warm up, says Tom’s Guide.
- Hold the portafilter (the handle with the coffee basket) under the grinder. It fills the basket with fresh grounds.
- Press the grounds flat with the tamper, lock the handle in, and brew.
- Steam the milk yourself with the wand. Expect a few tries before it’s silky.
- Pour the milk over the espresso, then wipe the wand.
Will it fit under your cabinets?
Both carry the bean hopper on top, so leave room to open the lid. Measure from your counter to the bottom of your upper cabinets. Many kitchens have about 18 inches.
Drawn to scale from each maker’s listed height and width.
What’s in the box
Ninja Luxe Café: Portafilter, milk jug, two baskets, assisted tamper, funnel, cleaning brush and disc, descaling powder, hard water test kit. source
Barista Express: Dosing funnel, Razor trimming tool, portafilter, single and dual wall baskets, scoop, tamper, milk jug, cleaning gear, and a water filter with holder. source
For both, you’ll want fresh whole beans. A small kitchen scale helps with the Barista Express.
What reviewers said
“For a machine that controls the dose and ratio for you, the espresso is surprisingly consistently good.”
CoffeeGeek on the Ninja Luxe Café, January 2026 · read the review
“the dose usually sits at 17.8g, give or take .15g, across 10 measurements.”
CoffeeGeek on the Ninja Luxe Café, September 2024 · read the review
“There is no getting around it, this machine is loud.”
CoffeeGeek on the Ninja Luxe Café, January 2026 · read the review
“In cup after cup, the Barista Express produced perfect shots of espresso, and it was superior when it came to steaming milk too.”
Tom's Guide on the Barista Express, April 2023 · read the review
What can go wrong
Ninja Luxe Café
- Some grinders drift or skip settings. Owners say Ninja replaced them under warranty. (owner report 1, owner report 2)
- The plastic funnel that guides the coffee can crack, and the machine won’t grind without it. (owner report 1, owner report 2)
- It rinses itself often, so the drip tray fills and the tank empties faster than you’d think. (owner report 1, owner report 2)
- A few owners say the milk frother stopped working within weeks. (owner report)
Barista Express
- The built-in grinder varies a bit from machine to machine. Some owners can’t grind fine enough, so the espresso runs through fast and thin. (owner report 1, owner report 2)
- New owners often turn the grind dial the wrong way. Finer means a lower number. (owner report)
- If you skip descaling (clearing out mineral buildup), water flow and steam get weaker over the years. (owner report 1, owner report 2)
- The grinder parts wear out after years of use. Some owners report 7 to 10 years from one machine. (owner report)
The Ninja is newer, so there are fewer long-term owner reports. Both have a 1 year warranty.
No safety recalls. We checked the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s list on October 9, 2026 for the Ninja Luxe Café, Barista Express.
This page covers the Ninja Luxe Café Premier, model ES601. The Luxe Café Pro (ES701) is a different, pricier machine.
Questions people ask
Does the Ninja make cold foam?
Yes. It has a cold foam setting, and it also makes cold brew. source
How is the Ninja Premier different from the Pro?
The Premier (ES601) makes espresso, drip coffee and cold brew, with 4 milk froth presets. The Pro (ES701) adds a hot water spout and a fifth froth preset. source
Does the Barista Express have hot water for an Americano?
Yes. It has its own hot water spout, so an Americano is easy. source
Does the Barista Express turn itself off?
Yes. It goes to sleep after 1 hour and turns fully off after 3. source
Is the Ninja better than the Breville?
For easy lattes and cappuccinos, yes. It measures and froths for you. For learning espresso and upgrading parts later, the Breville is better.
Is the Ninja Luxe Café loud?
Yes. CoffeeGeek called it loud, with a high-pitched screech when milk steaming starts.
Every spec, side by side
Show every spec, with sources
Each figure links to where it came from, usually the maker. “Not stated” means we couldn’t find it in a source we can link.
Not sold on either?
- Want the Breville look with milk done for you? See Bambino Plus vs Barista Express.
- All our picks by budget: the best espresso machines under $500.
- Already own a Barista Express? What to buy first and how to descale it.
How we picked
Erin Rose runs Verified Coffee Data. We don’t run our own lab tests. Instead we read each maker’s manual, the reviews where testers used these machines (Tom’s Guide, CoffeeGeek, TechRadar, Whole Latte Love and others), and owner forums. Then we link every fact so you can check it.
Amazon pays us the same percentage on every machine on this page, and brands don’t pay us to be picked. Prices come from Amazon’s own data, checked Oct 9, 2026, 1:09 PM PT, and we hide them once they’re a day old. More on how we check.