Both of these are De’Longhi bean to cup machines with a LatteCrema carafe, and on 21 September 2026 the cheapest UK listing for the Eletta Explore was £357.99 above the cheapest Rivelia. The question is whether iced and cold brew drinks made by the machine, plus 0.4 L more water and 50 g more beans, are worth that and a machine 20 mm deeper.
The numbers here belong to two variants: the Rivelia LatteCrema, Onyx Black EXAM440.55.B and the Eletta Explore ECAM452.67.G EX:4 in grey. Other colours and spec levels in both ranges carry their own figures.
Where they differ
| Rivelia EXAM440.55.B | Eletta Explore ECAM452.67.G | |
|---|---|---|
| Width x depth x height | 245 x 430 x 385 mm | 260 x 450 x 385 mm |
| Weight | 9.7 kg | 11.3 kg |
| Water tank | 1.4 L | 1.8 L |
| Bean hopper | 250 g | 300 g |
| Grounds container | 10 servings | Not published |
| Maximum cup height | 140 mm | 143 mm |
| Heating system | Not published | Thermoblock |
| Drinks De’Longhi publishes | 16 pre-programmed | Over 50 hot, cold and cold brew recipes |
| Cold milk drinks | Only with the LatteCrema Cool upgrade set | Built in, hot and cool |
| Water filter | DLSC002, about every two months | De’Longhi water softener filter, no interval published |
| UK price range, 21 September 2026 | £592.00 to £749.99 | £949.99 to £969.99 |
What they share runs deep: a 19 bar pump, 1450 W, a tank you lift out, a milk carafe rather than a wand, De’Longhi’s own descaler, and a touch control panel. Neither page gives a burr type, a burr material, a count of grind settings, a warm-up time, a noise figure or a warranty in years.
Counter space, weight and filling
Height is a tie at 385 mm, so a wall cupboard rules both in or both out. The Eletta Explore takes 15 mm more width and 20 mm more depth, from the 260 x 450 x 385 mm printed in the Eletta Explore instruction manual. On a 450 mm worktop that depth is the figure to measure, because the tank comes out of the machine rather than filling in place.
The weight gap is 1.6 kg, and it points the same way as the capacities. The Eletta Explore carries 1.8 L of water and 300 g of beans against 1.4 L and 250 g, so the bigger machine also goes to the tap and the bean bag less often. The trade runs the other way on the grounds bin: De’Longhi rates the Rivelia’s at 10 servings and publishes no equivalent number for the Eletta Explore, so there is nothing to set against it.
Cup clearance is near enough identical, 140 mm against 143 mm, so the same mugs fit under both.
What the extra money buys
Cold is the real divide. De’Longhi’s page for the Eletta Explore opens on “over 50 hot, cold, and cold brew recipes”, and the same page promises “get your cold brew fix in under 5 minutes” through its cold extraction technology, with “LatteCrema Hot & Cool” foam for milk. That is the machine’s own menu, out of the box.
The Rivelia’s UK page sells cold as an extra: the LatteCrema Cool upgrade set, “unlocking 6 smooth and velvety cold milk-based delights”. Buying the Rivelia and then the set is two purchases, and De’Longhi publishes no cold brew function for it at all. If iced coffee is the reason you are shopping, this is the sentence that decides the pair.
The Rivelia answers with the interface and the beans. Its page describes “easily selecting from 16 pre-programmed drinks on the intuitive 3.5” colour display”, with “up to 4 user profiles” behind it, and you “swap beans effortlessly via the bean switch system”, a hopper that twists off so the machine knows a different blend is loaded. The Eletta Explore’s UK page offers no swappable hopper and no user profile count, but both machines get Bean Adapt, which De’Longhi says “intelligently fine-tunes grind and brew settings to unlock the full aroma of your beans”.
Filters and descaling
Here the dearer machine publishes less. The Rivelia manual states that its DLSC002 filter “lasts approximately two months under normal use conditions”, and no more than three weeks if the machine sits unused with one fitted. That is six filters a year to plan for.
For the Eletta Explore, De’Longhi recommends a water softener filter identified by a barcode rather than a model name, and gives no replacement interval: the machine runs a progress bar towards a spent-filter alarm instead. Neither machine has a published descaling interval, because both time the prompt from the water hardness you enter at setup, and both call for De’Longhi descaler. Your own manual wins if it says otherwise.
Which one
Choose the Rivelia EXAM440.55.B if the money matters more than the menu, if two or more people want their own saved drinks, or if you keep two bags of beans on the go. It is 15 mm narrower, 20 mm shallower, 1.6 kg lighter, the only one of the pair with a published grounds capacity and a published filter interval, and it starts £357.99 lower.
Choose the Eletta Explore ECAM452.67.G if you want cold brew and iced milk drinks from the machine rather than from an upgrade set, or if refilling is the chore you want to cut: 1.8 L of water and 300 g of beans against 1.4 L and 250 g. You are accepting a heavier machine, a deeper one, and a filter De’Longhi will not put an interval on.
