One of these grinds the beans and then hands you a steam wand. The other grinds the beans and pours the milk itself. On 21 September 2026 the Smeg started £350.00 above the cheapest De’Longhi listing and £255.01 above the dearest, so the milk question and the money question point the same way.
The figures below are for the Smeg Collezione BCC12BLMUK with steam wand in matte black and the De’Longhi Magnifica Evo, Silver Black ECAM290.61.SB. Smeg sells the same machine in other colours and runs a separate BCC13 line with an automatic milk system, and De’Longhi sells other Magnifica Evo variants, none of them covered here.
Where they differ
| Smeg BCC12BLMUK | Magnifica Evo ECAM290.61.SB | |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | Manual steam wand | LatteCrema carafe |
| Width x depth x height | 180 x 433 x 336 mm | 240 x 440 x 360 mm |
| Weight | 8.4 kg | 9.6 kg |
| Water tank | 1.4 L | 1.8 L |
| Bean hopper | 150 g | 250 g |
| Grounds container | 7 servings | Not published as a servings figure |
| Grind settings | 10 | Not published as a count |
| Burr material | Stainless steel | Not published |
| Heating system | Thermoblock | Not published |
| Pump pressure | 19 bar | 15 bar |
| Rated power | 1350 W | 1450 W |
| Cup clearance | 90 to 135 mm, 185 mm with the drip tray out | Maximum cup height 140 mm |
| Water filter | ECWF02, no interval published | DLSC002, about every two months |
| Warranty in the UK | 2 years | Not published as a number of years |
| UK price range, 21 September 2026 | £699.00 to £699.95 | £349.00 to £443.99 |
They share more than the price gap suggests: both grind beans to order, both fill from a tank you lift out, both drop to stand-by after 30 minutes, and neither maker publishes a descaling interval, a warm-up time, a noise figure or whether the burrs are conical or flat.
Who froths the milk
This is the decision. Smeg’s machine ends at the steam wand on its UK product page, which the maker describes as producing “barista quality, silky smooth milk from the comfort of your home”. You hold the jug, you judge the texture, you purge and wipe the wand afterwards. There is no carafe in the box, though Smeg lists one, the CMMJ01, among the accessories for the machine.
De’Longhi takes the jug out of your hands. Its page for the Magnifica Evo offers “a smart control panel with colour touch icons, including 5 one-touch drinks” and “a one-touch automatic cleaning function and dishwasher safe milk carafe”. The Magnifica Evo manual then sets out what that carafe costs you in washing up: a routine after each use, a periodic thorough clean, and a dishwasher load of the lid plus froth dial, milk delivery spout, intake tube and connector.
So the choice is a wand you have to learn and wipe against five parts you have to strip and wash. Neither maker publishes a drinks count for the Smeg at all: its page offers only “a wide variety of drinks at the touch of a button”.
Sixty millimetres against four hundred millilitres
The Smeg is the narrowest machine of the two by 60 mm, at 180 mm wide, and 24 mm shorter. In a galley kitchen that is a real gap. Depth is almost level, 433 mm against 440 mm, so neither frees you from a deep worktop.
The narrow body is paid for in capacity. The Smeg holds 1.4 L of water against 1.8 L, 150 g of beans against 250 g, and empties its 7-serving grounds container sooner than a bigger bin would. De’Longhi publishes no servings figure for the Magnifica Evo, so that row is a gap rather than a win.
Cup clearance reads backwards from what the bodies suggest. Smeg’s own spec table gives “Min/Max coffee dispenser level: 90/135 mm (185 mm without drip tray)”, so with the tray in place the Smeg takes a shorter cup than the De’Longhi’s 140 mm, and only clears a 185 mm travel mug once the tray is out.
What each maker will put in writing
The gaps are not symmetrical. Smeg publishes 10 grind levels, stainless steel burrs, a thermoblock heating system and, in its UK small appliance warranty conditions, a two-year guarantee. De’Longhi publishes none of those four for the Magnifica Evo: no grind settings count, no burr material, no heating system, and a warranty given only as full manufacturer cover with no term.
De’Longhi wins the running-cost row instead. Its manual dates the DLSC002 filter at two months, or three weeks if the machine has sat unused, which is six filters a year to budget for. Smeg names its filter, the ECWF02, and publishes no interval for it, so there is no figure to plan against. Neither maker states how often the machine needs descaling, and Smeg does not name a descaler for this model at all, where De’Longhi names its own. Your own manual wins if it differs.
Which one
Choose the Smeg BCC12BLMUK if you want to texture milk yourself, if 180 mm of width is the constraint, or if you would rather have the published numbers: 10 grind levels, steel burrs, a thermoblock and two years of cover in writing. Accept a 1.4 L tank, a 150 g hopper and a filter with no stated life.
Choose the De’Longhi Magnifica Evo ECAM290.61.SB if the milk should make itself, if the machine has to serve people who will not learn a wand, or if the £255.01 to £350.00 saved matters more than published specifications. Accept a five-part carafe to wash, 60 mm more width, and a maker that will not commit to a grind count, a burr material or a warranty term.
