Comparison: Breville Bambino Plus vs Profitec Go (Updated: 2025)
Introduction
The Breville Bambino Plus and the Profitec Go are two of the most popular home espresso machines for baristas just getting into home espresso. And even though the Profitec Go is twice the price of the Bambino Plus, many people ask themselves if the difference in quality, features, and longevity is worth it. If you find yourself weighing the pros and cons of going with the more affordable Bambino Plus or the high spec and higher priced Profitec Go, read on.
In this comparison, we'll dive into the core characteristics of the Breville Bambino Plus and Profitec Go, highlight the features that each machine comes with, touch on build quality and longevity, and tell you if the Go is really worth it's price-tag.
Let's get brewing!
Table of Contents
Heating Element
Heating Mechanism
Breville Bambino Plus
The Bambino Plus is built with a proprietary Breville heating element called a ThermoJet - which is essentially a 'superpowered' thermoblock.
A thermoblock is a small block of superheated metal with coils inside it. When a shot is pulled, water is pumped from the reservoir through these coils, and flash-heated along the way to the group head and portafilter.
Profitec Go
The Profitec Go, on the other hand, is heated with a single boiler. Unlike the Bambino Plus which only heats water on demand, the Profitec Go starts heating water as soon as the machine is turned on. The Go 0.4-liter boiler keeps a reserve of hot water for brewing and it is pumped directly to the group head upon activation.
Heat-Up Time
Breville Bambino Plus
By nature of the thermoblock design, the Bambino Plus is ready to brew within 30 seconds of being turned on. Electricity superheats the thermoblock itself, and then the machine is ready to heat water for a near-immediate shot.
Profitec Go
The Profitec Go takes a little bit longer to heat - approximately 5 minutes. It takes time to heat the entire 0.4-liter reservoir to the ~200°F required.
Temperature Stability
Breville Bambino Plus
While the Profitec Go may technically heat up faster, thermoblock technology seriously suffers when it comes to temperature stability. The only 'hot' part of the machine is the water, which means that there is serious bleeding in which the water cools down as it travels through all the other parts of the machine on the way to the group head.
This doesn't only sound bad in theory, but it has a serious impact on the quality of your espresso. Shot to shot the temperature can swing significantly, changing the extraction, and therefore the flavor.
Profitec Go
Although the Go has a slightly longer heat-up time, the payoff is a significant increase in temperature stability. The Go has a saturated grouphead, which means that hot water flows around the grouphead and keeps the entire area hot before any shots are pulled.
When the Go is activated, the pre-heated water flows through hot components, limiting thermal bleeding and leading to repeatable shots.
Note: I always try to fight the 'faster heat up = better' argument. Often the longer heat up time, the more thermal stability you will have within the machine. Metals like brass take time to absorb heat, but that also means they stay hot between shots creating repeatable quality.
Steam Power
Breville Bambino Plus
The Breville Bambino Plus utilizes the same thermoblock for brewing or steaming. To produce steam, the thermoblock is superheated so that water passing through the internal coils is vaporized and turned into steam.
Unfortunately thermoblock-powered steam is often underwhelming. It can quickly cool down and condense back into the water, leading to 'wet steam' which is a well-known trait of the Plus. In addition, the design to vaporize only small spurts of water at a time leads to inconsistent 'pulsing' steam which makes texturing milk much harder.
Profitec Go
The Profitec Go heats steam by increasing the temperature of its shared boiler to steaming temperatures, often in excess of 250°F. Once the boiler is up to temperature, a rotary knob on the face of the Go can be turned to release the entire boiler volume's worth of steam.
Compared to the Bambino Plus, the Go provides much hotter, drier, and better steam. The downside is that you have to wait for the single boiler to heat from brewing temperatures up to steaming temperatures - and for it to cool back down for another shot.
I have found when I had a Go, that if I just adjusted my workflow to activate the steam mode, then go pour my milk and clean my post-shot portafilter, the Go was ready to steam.
Unique Functionality
PID Control
A PID Controller is essentially an internal computer that helps increase or decrease the temperature of the heating element to ensure that the temperature remains constant.
While the Bambino Plus has a PID 'regulator' (i.e. a mechanism to automatically regulate the thermoblock), it lacks the ability to actually adjust or program the temperature itself.
The Profitec Go, on the other hand, has an integrated display with the ability to adjust both brew and steam temperature. This is useful for dialing in your shots as darker roasts often do better with lower temperatures near 200°F, while lighter roasts need higher heats near 210°F for the best extraction.
Shot Timer
Built into the Go's PID controller is an automatic shot-timer that starts counting as soon as you activate the machine. Dialing in your espresso shot is an equation of dose (coffee in) and yield (espresso out) as a function of time. A built shot timer is extremely useful for knowing when to start and end your shots.
The Bambino Plus does not have a shot timer.
Volumetric Shots
While the Bambino Plus doesn't have a shot timer, it does come with the ability to program volumetric shots. This means that you can pull a shot in manual mode (you start and end the shot), and the Bambino Plus will remember a rough volume of espresso extracted. Subsequent shots will be extracted for this volume until you pull in manual mode again. This feature is extremely helpful for absolute beginners, and home baristas who may have a S/O who wants to brew with the most user-friendly machine possible.
The Profitec Go does not have any shot programming, and all shots must be started and stopped manually. While this may seem like 'fewer features for a higher price,' I would disagree. I have never found volumetric shots to be reliable. Within 3 months of getting my first Breville Barista Expresso, I was pulling all of my shots manually to ensure I got the correct extraction ratio.
Pressure Gauge
The Profitec Go comes with an integrated pressure gauge, as well as an adjustable max pressure (called an over-pressure valve). This allows you to know, while brewing if your espresso is being extracted at the optimal 8-9 bar of pressure. The over-pressure valve (OPV) can then be adjusted if your machine consistently brews over that 9 or 10 bar ideal limit.
The Bambino Plus does not come with a pressure gauge, over-pressure valve, or any other mechanism for managing pressure.
Pre-Infusion
The Bambino Plus does hit back with the inclusion of programmable pre-infusion. Pre-infusion is a feature where the puck of dry espresso is hit with low-pressure water (usually 2 bar) for 5-10 seconds before full-pressure extraction. This pre-infusion helps saturate the puck and works toward a more even extraction.
The Profitec Go does not have pre-infusion, a feature I hope to see in a future version. Personally, I found pre-infusion to only matter for the lightest of roasts, and the Go never suffered from it.
Design and Build Quality
Build Quality and Longevity
While the Bambino Plus and Profitec Go have quite a few key differences in heating and features, they also share a generally same workflow and have some overlapping features.
Where these two machines seriously diverge is in build quality. I cannot overstate that the Bambino Plus and Profitec Go are in completely different leagues when it comes to quality.
Unfortunately, Breville is known to build their products with plastics and cheap metals. The Bambino Plus is no exception. With a plastic water reservoir, an almost useless stock portafilter, and a collection of low-quality aluminum finishes, it is the definition of a consumer product. It sits above brands like De'Longhi, but not by much.
The Profitec Go on the other hand is built in Germany by ECM-Profitec, an espresso-only company that is known for quality. With a chrome-plated brass group heat, solid steel construction, and high-quality internal parts, the Go is built to last.
If you have one takeaway from this article, it is this: The Bambino Plus is not built to last. It will likely* die within 3 years with little recourse. The Profitec Go will last you years with proper maintenance and can be repaired by a certified technician if anything should occur.
*yes, there are stories of Bambino's lasting 5+ years but they are few and far between.
54mm vs 58mm Portafilter
Another piece worth mentioning is that the Bambino Plus uses a proprietary 54mm portafilter, while the Profitec Go uses the commercial standard 58mm portafilter. Historically accessories and upgrades have been more widely available for 58mm groups, although the rise of Breville has made 54mm a more common accessory size.
Pricing and Availability
If you are reading this article and thinking 'Why wouldn't I buy the Go?' - the answer may be the price. The Profitec Go is over double the Bambino Plus, sitting at $1,059. The Bambino Plus sits at a much more reasonable $499, which allows you to get a quality grinder and get started for all under $1,000.
Both machines are relatively well available, with the Bambino Plus available on major vendors like Amazon. The Profitec Go is stocked by more espresso-specific vendors. We partner with Clive Coffee.
Profitec Go - The Better Answer
To me, the answer is simple: If you can afford the Profitec Go, get the Profitec Go. Hell, if you can't afford the Go, wait until you can and then buy it. The Profitec Go outclasses the Bambino Plus in every way, and will very likely outlive 2+ Brevilles, making the cost functionally equal.
The Final Sip
The Breville Bambino Plus and Profitec Go are two of the most common beginner-oriented espresso machines out there. While the Bambino Plus brings ease of use and affordability to the table, the Profitec Go brings a host of features and a build quality that cannot be ignored.
