Sage Bambino vs Bambino Plus: which should you buy?

If you’ve narrowed it down to the Sage Bambino vs Bambino Plus, you’re really asking one question: is automatic milk steaming worth £70? These are two small, closely related espresso machines, and for most people the answer comes down to how you take your coffee. Here’s how I’d decide, including the bits the product pages don’t shout about.

Sage Bambino vs Bambino Plus: the short answer

Get the Bambino if you mostly drink espresso, americanos or the odd flat white, and you’re happy to learn to steam milk by hand. The £70 difference goes a long way towards a decent grinder, which matters more to the taste of your coffee than either machine’s milk features.

Who it isn’t for: anyone who wants great milky drinks from day one without practice, or who knows they’ll get fed up fiddling with a steam wand before work.

Get the Bambino Plus if you drink lattes or cappuccinos most days and want the machine to do the milk for you. That’s the main thing the extra money buys, along with a stainless steel portafilter, a better tamper and a dosing tool.

Who it isn’t for: black-coffee drinkers, who’d be paying extra for a feature they won’t use, and anyone who wants to learn proper hands-on milk technique.

Skip both if you want coffee at the press of one button, with no grinding, tamping or knocking out used grounds. A bean-to-cup machine will suit you better (more on that below).

What they cost right now

On 28 Sep 2026, Sage UK’s own site listed the Bambino at £329.95 and the Bambino Plus at £399.95, so the gap is exactly £70. Other UK retailers appeared to list similar prices, but I couldn’t confirm them on their live pages, so I’ve left them out rather than guess.

• See the Sage Bambino at Sage UK
• See the Sage Bambino Plus at Sage UK

Prices change often, and older articles online quote very different figures, so check the price on the day you buy.

What’s the same

Both are compact Sage espresso machines with a steam wand, and neither has a built-in grinder. That last point is easy to miss and it shapes your whole budget: you’ll either need to buy a grinder or use pre-ground coffee.

Both come with single-wall and dual-wall baskets in 1-cup and 2-cup sizes, plus a 480ml stainless steel milk jug, according to Sage UK’s box lists. Both also have a hot water function.

Sage calls both steam wands “powerful”, but it doesn’t publish figures, so I can’t tell you one steams faster than the other.

The big difference: manual vs automatic milk steaming

This is the heart of the Bambino vs Bambino Plus decision.

On the Bambino, steaming milk is up to you. You hold the jug under the wand, find the right angle and depth, and judge when the milk is hot enough. It takes practice, and your first few attempts may be big bubbly foam or scalded milk. The upside is control: once you’ve got the knack, you can make the texture you like, and it’s a skill you keep if you ever upgrade.

On the Bambino Plus, the machine can texture milk for you automatically. Sage describes a “hands-free automatic steam wand” with 3 milk temperatures and 3 levels of texture, so you can go from a flatter milk for a flat white to a foamier one for a cappuccino. If your morning is a rushed latte before the school run, that convenience is real, and it’s the clearest reason to pay the extra.

If you’re unsure, be honest about your routine. If you’d enjoy learning a new skill at weekends, the Bambino is great value. If you want the same decent latte every morning with minimal thought, the Plus earns its £70.

Other differences: portafilter, tamper and water tank

A few smaller differences are worth checking before you buy, though none of them should decide it on their own.

• Water tank: Sage UK lists the Bambino’s tank at 1.4 litres and the Plus’s at 1.9 litres. That extra half-litre means fewer refills if more than one person in your home drinks coffee.
• Portafilter: Sage describes the Plus’s portafilter (the handle that holds the coffee basket) as 54mm stainless steel. The Bambino’s box list says “Aluminium Portafilter”.
• Tamper and dosing tool: the Bambino comes with a plastic tamper. The Plus comes with a 54mm tamper and Sage’s Razor dosing tool, which trims the coffee in the basket to a consistent level. If you buy the Bambino, a better tamper is a cheap upgrade worth budgeting for.

Downsides of both

No machine at this price is perfect, and these are the trade-offs I’d want to know about.

• You’ll need a grinder or pre-ground coffee. Neither machine grinds beans. Pre-ground coffee is convenient but goes stale faster once opened, so budget for a grinder if you want the best from either.
• The Bambino has a learning curve. Expect some wasted milk and a few disappointing drinks while you learn to steam.
• The Plus costs more mainly for its milk features. If you rarely drink milky coffee, the extra £70 buys you a nicer portafilter and tamper but not much else.
• Espresso takes a bit of effort. With both, you dose, tamp and clean the portafilter yourself. That’s part of the fun for some people and a chore for others.
• Owner niggles: a common complaint in forum threads is drip-tray leaks and overflow on the Bambino Plus. It shows up in more than one thread title, on Coffee Forums UK and Reddit’s r/espresso. I found these through search results and haven’t read the threads in full, so treat it as something to keep an eye on rather than a proven fault.

You’ll still need a grinder

Because espresso needs a fine, even grind, the grinder you pair with either machine makes a big difference. Not every cheap grinder can go fine enough, so it’s worth reading up before you buy. My guide to the best burr grinders under £100 explains which can realistically handle espresso and which are really built for filter coffee.

Fresh beans matter too. If you’d rather have them turn up at the door, have a look at my pick of coffee subscriptions.

Want good milk without the Plus?

If you like the Bambino’s price but dread learning to steam, there’s a middle route. A separate milk frother won’t give you quite the same silky results as a steam wand in skilled hands, but for a cappuccino at home it may be all you need. My guide to the best milk frothers covers the options.

Rather just press a button?

If grinding, tamping and steaming all sound like hard work, a bean-to-cup machine grinds and brews for you. It’s a different kind of coffee machine with its own compromises, and I’ve compared the options in my guide to bean-to-cup machines under £500.

FAQ

Is the Bambino Plus worth the extra £70? If you drink milky coffee most days and don’t want to learn to steam by hand, probably yes. If you mostly drink espresso or black coffee, put the £70 towards a grinder instead.

Do I need a grinder for the Sage Bambino or Bambino Plus? Not strictly, because you can use pre-ground coffee, but a burr grinder and fresh beans will give you noticeably better espresso from either machine.

Can I use pre-ground coffee? Yes. Both machines come with dual-wall baskets, which are designed to be forgiving with pre-ground coffee, as well as single-wall baskets for when you’re grinding fresh.

Which is better for a small kitchen? Both are compact, so choose on milk steaming rather than size.