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3 coffee machines you should avoid

If you see these three machines on the shelf, leave them there.

Updated February 2026
Kate

By Kate Harvey

Content Manager | Pou Whakahaere Ihirangi

If you’re thinking about swapping your pricey café habit for the homemade version, you’ll find some stunning machines for your kitchen bench in our test results. Out of the 71 we’ve put through their paces, there are 18 that get our Consumer Recommended tick.

But there are also three we found so disappointing we’ve stamped them with our ‘Don’t Buy’ label. No matter how cheap you find them for sale, we say you shouldn’t bother with them – they’ll only turn making a flat white into a faff.

Here they are:

Our favourite cheap coffee machine

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