Metal or plastic?

In terms of build quality, is a £1,500 coffee machine really much better than a £180 one?

Coffee machines aren’t like some other gadgets, in that the fanciness of the build doesn’t always scale up with the price. All three of the machines in our test felt fairly well-made. Granted, we weren’t dealing with bargain-basement models, but it was nice to see that the front and sides of the Smarter Coffee Machine were made of metal rather than pure plastic. There are even red and white face plates to give the thing a different look.

The other two machines have a different style, of course. They’re great big, silvery towers desperate to be the star of whatever room you put them in.