De'Longhi La Specialista Arte
De'Longhi's answer to the Barista Express: an integrated conical grinder with fifteen settings, a manual steam wand and a deliberately hands-on workflow at a lower price than Breville's equivalent.
- Heating system
- Thermoblock
- Grinder included
- Yes
- Steam wand
- Manual
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Compared from manufacturer specifications and technical documentation · independent, no paid placement · how we work
The De'Longhi La Specialista Arte is a semi-automatic with thermoblock heating and a 51mm portafilter, typically $550–$700. It grinds, doses and brews in one appliance, so it needs no separate grinder. It suits one-purchase setups on a tighter budget and buyers who want to steam milk by hand. It is the wrong choice for light-roast enthusiasts and anyone who wants a wide accessory market.
How it fits
Preinfuse ratings, not measurements. Each one is produced by published rules from the specifications below — open any row to see which facts moved it.
What it does well
- An integrated grinder and a real manual steam wand for less than most all-in-one machines.
- Ships with non-pressurised baskets, so it is not locked into beginner mode.
- The workflow is deliberately manual — you learn something using it.
Where it gives ground
- Fifteen grind settings is coarse resolution for espresso; dialling in light roasts is awkward.
- 51mm portafilter rather than 54mm or 58mm, so accessories are harder to find.
- No PID and no pressure gauge.
- As with all integrated grinders, the burrs cannot be upgraded separately.
Buy it for
- One-purchase setups on a tighter budget
- Buyers who want to steam milk by hand
- Espresso and milk drinks in equal measure
Look elsewhere if
- Light-roast enthusiasts
- Anyone who wants a wide accessory market
- Buyers planning a standalone grinder
Decided?
The grinder is built in, so this is the whole machine side of the decision.
Price and availability may change on Amazon. The range above is our own research reference, not a live price.
Preinfuse is not yet enrolled in any affiliate programme, so this link earns nothing today. What changes when it does.
Living with it
Grind into the portafilter, tamp, lock in and brew. Milk is textured by hand on the steam wand.
Where people go next: Breville Barista Pro, Gaggia Classic Pro E24.
Before you buy
Compare it with the Barista Express on grind resolution: 15 settings against 30 is the clearest practical difference between them.
If a standalone grinder is in your future, a Bambino Plus plus that grinder beats this for the same total spend.
Specifications
Every value carries a source marker. Values marked as Preinfuse derivations are our normalisation, not the manufacturer's wording.
Identity1
- Machine type
- Semi-automatic
Sets how much of the shot you control. Semi-automatic machines ask you to grind, dose and time; super-automatics do all of it behind a button. Neither is better in the abstract — they suit different mornings.
Classified from the manual brew and steam controls De'Longhi documents.
Heating & temperature3
- Heating system
- Thermoblock
- Brew and steam at once
- No
- PID temperature control
- No
The single biggest structural difference between espresso machines. Thermoblock and thermocoil designs heat water on demand, so they are ready in seconds but cannot brew and steam at once. A heat exchanger or dual boiler can do both simultaneously, at the cost of a long warm-up and a higher price.
De'Longhi documents thermoblock heating across the La Specialista range.
Decides whether you wait between pulling a shot and texturing milk. It matters most if you make several milk drinks back to back, and barely at all if you drink straight espresso.
De'Longhi does not document simultaneous brewing and steaming for the Arte.
A PID holds brew water within a narrow band instead of letting a thermostat swing around a target. It makes shots repeatable day to day; it does not by itself make coffee taste better.
Not documented by De'Longhi for this model.
Brewing3
- Portafilter diameter
- 51 mm
- Baskets supplied
- Both pressurised and non-pressurised
- Pre-infusion
- Automatic low-pressure
58mm is the commercial standard, so baskets, tampers and distribution tools are easy to find and often better made. 54mm and 51mm work perfectly well but the accessory market is smaller. It changes what you can buy later far more than it changes what is in the cup.
51mm on the La Specialista Arte.
Pressurised baskets fake crema and forgive a bad grind, which is why they ship with beginner machines. Non-pressurised baskets reward a good grinder and are what you graduate to. A machine supplying both lets you start easy and progress without buying parts.
De'Longhi supplies both pressurised and non-pressurised baskets with the Arte.
Wetting the coffee gently before full pressure helps the puck settle so water does not carve a channel through it. Most machines that offer it do so automatically and briefly; programmable pre-infusion is a control-lover's feature.
De'Longhi documents an automatic pre-infusion phase across the La Specialista range.
Milk & steam2
- Steam wand
- Manual
- Steam source
- Shared with brew circuit
An assisted wand froths milk reliably but produces bubbles rather than the dense microfoam latte art needs. A manual wand can make genuinely good milk but has a learning curve. An automatic wand hits a set temperature and texture without you standing over it.
A dedicated steam boiler gives dry, powerful steam and no waiting. A shared circuit has to switch modes, which is why single-boiler machines make you pause between shot and milk.
Steam is produced by the same heating circuit used for brewing.
Grinding3
- Grinder included
- Yes
- Integrated burr type
- Conical
- Integrated grind settings
- 15
An integrated grinder saves counter space and a separate purchase, and gets a beginner running immediately. The trade-off is that you cannot upgrade the grinder without replacing the machine, and integrated burrs are usually a step below a good standalone grinder at the same total spend.
Describes the shape of the integrated burrs where a machine has them.
Conical burrs, as documented across De'Longhi's integrated-grinder range.
How many discrete grind positions the built-in grinder offers. More positions means finer control over shot speed.
Compared with the obvious alternatives
The Barista Express is ahead on room to improve and control over the shot. If that is what matters to you, it is the better buy.
Sources
Every specification above carries the document it came from. Checked 2026-08-30. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
Sources and specifications (2)
- La Specialista Arte EC9155M — product page
Relied on for: Integrated grinder with 15 settings, manual milk texturing
- Preinfuse normalisation method
Relied on for: Classification of machine and grinder architecture into one shared vocabulary, and unit conversions, derived from the manufacturer documentation cited elsewhere on the same product.