Review · Espresso machines
Ninja Luxe Café review: an all-in-one espresso, filter and cold brew machine
The Ninja Luxe Café Premier ES601UK is £579.99 at Currys (checked 3 Oct 2026, prices can change). Here's what Barista Assist does, how it differs from the Pro, and who should skip it.
This Ninja Luxe Café review covers the Premier Series ES601UK. It grinds, doses, brews espresso, filter-style coffee and cold brew, and froths milk, all from one unit. The silver and black ES601UK is £579.99 at Currys, checked 3 Oct 2026 (prices can change). We haven’t tested this in person. Our verdict is based on Ninja UK’s specs, Currys’ listings, UK prices checked 3 Oct 2026 and the Guardian test we name and link below. We couldn’t read owner reviews in a form we could link, so you won’t find owner feedback here. Read how we compare.
Ninja Luxe Café review: the short answer
Buy the Luxe Café Premier if you want espresso, lattes, filter-style coffee and cold brew from one machine and you’d like it to guide you on grind size. Ninja lists a built-in burr grinder with 25 grind settings, a built-in scale and what it calls Barista Assist Technology, which recommends a grind size and adjusts brewing for the drink you pick.
Who it isn’t for: anyone expecting a fully automatic machine. You still lock in the portafilter, tamp the coffee with the assisted tamper and adjust the grind when it tells you to.
Choose the Pro Series (ES701) instead if you can find it for the same money or less. Ninja lists a built-in tamper rather than an assisted one, more drink settings and a fifth froth preset. On 3 Oct 2026 some Pro finishes were cheaper than the Premier, which we explain below.
Who it isn’t for: anyone paying full price for a few extra settings. The full-price Pro is £150 more at Ninja UK.
Skip both if you want to learn traditional espresso and steam milk with a manual wand. Our espresso machines hub covers machines where you grind, tamp and steam the milk yourself.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who wants the machine to make every decision. A fully automatic machine from our bean-to-cup machines hub suits that better.
What it costs right now
Prices vary a lot between model codes and finishes. These are the ones we found on 3 Oct 2026.
Premier Series (ES601):
- Currys: the silver and black ES601UK was in stock at £579.99, and the black ES601UKBK was in stock at £579.99, checked 3 Oct 2026. Prices can change. See the ES601UK at Currys
- Ninja UK: the silver and black ES601UK was £579.99 but shown as out of stock. Check price at Ninja UK for the black ES601UKBK and the limited-edition Cyber Space ES601UKCY, which were both in stock on 3 Oct 2026. See the Premier at Ninja UK
Pro Series (ES701):
- Ninja UK: the silver ES701UK was £729.99 and shown as out of stock. Check price at Ninja UK for the Oat White ES701UKWH and the Black on Black ES701UKBK2. See the Pro Series at Ninja UK
- Currys: the black ES701UKBK2 and the white ES701UKWH were both £549.99, checked 3 Oct 2026. Prices can change.
- Pro by David Beckham (ES771UKBK): a black and gold edition, in stock at £879.99 at Currys, checked 3 Oct 2026. See the ES771UKBK at Currys
So on 3 Oct 2026 a black or white Pro Series cost £30 less than the Premier at Currys (£549.99 against £579.99). Check both model codes before you buy.
John Lewis’s site didn’t respond when we checked, so it isn’t included.
Who it isn’t for: anyone on a tight budget. Check price at Ninja UK for the cheapest finish we found, the Cyber Space.
What Barista Assist actually does
Ninja describes Barista Assist Technology as grind-size guidance plus automatic adjustment of brew temperature, time and dose. Ninja says the machine recommends one of 25 grind settings for the drink you choose, and the built-in scale weighs the ground coffee for you.
That doesn’t take you out of the process. The Guardian’s reviewer points out that you still have to change the grind setting yourself as instructed, press down the grounds with the supplied tamper and slot the portafilter in.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who already has a good grinder and scales and enjoys dialling in shots manually.
Drinks: espresso, filter coffee and cold brew
Ninja calls the Premier a 3-in-1 machine: espresso, filter coffee and cold brew. It lists 19 drink settings, made up of 4 espresso styles, 4 coffee styles, 7 drink sizes and 4 froth presets.
Ninja supplies single, double and Luxe baskets. The Guardian says these cover anything from a single espresso to a quad shot or a coarser filter-style coffee.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who only drinks espresso, as the filter and cold brew modes are a big part of the price.
Milk: the Dual Froth System
Ninja lists a Dual Froth System that steams and whisks milk at the same time, with 4 presets: steamed milk, thin froth, thick froth and cold foam. Ninja says it works with dairy or plant milk, and the froth jug has an integrated whisk.
The Guardian’s reviewer liked that it can froth cold milk as well as hot, but found milk temperature could vary, and their review unit started to overheat milk after a few months.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who wants full manual control of milk texture. The presets do the work for you.
Size, tank and what’s in the box
- Size: Currys lists 370 x 340 x 330mm (H x W x D). Ninja’s product details give H37.2 x W33.6 x L34.4cm.
- Weight: Currys lists 11.7kg. Ninja’s own page gives two different figures (11.77kg and 17kg), so we’ve gone with Currys.
- Water tank: 2 litres, according to Currys.
- Beans: Currys lists a bean container for up to 250g.
- Power and guarantee: 1,650W and two years on registration, according to Ninja.
Ninja’s box list adds a funnel, cleaning brush, cleaning disc, descaling powder and hard water testing kit to the portafilter, baskets, tamper and froth jug.
Who it isn’t for: anyone short of worktop height. At about 37cm tall, measure the gap under your wall cupboards first.
What the Guardian’s test found
The Guardian’s bean-to-cup roundup (April 2026), by Sasha Muller, named the Ninja Cafe Luxe ES601 its “best value assisted machine”. In our own words, the Guardian found:
- Good: a big range of drinks, and strong, good coffee. When it got things right, the reviewer felt it could make better espresso and milky drinks than the fully automatic machines in the test.
- Not so good: inconsistent results, with coffee and milk temperature varying, plus the milk overheating issue on their unit after a few months.
- Measurements: it took 35 seconds to heat up, and measured 48dB while brewing, 58dB while steaming and 63dB while grinding.
The Guardian also pointed readers to the ES701 as a step up, because it replaces manual tamping with a lever.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who needs every cup to come out the same.
Premier vs Pro: what’s different
Ninja lists these differences for the Pro Series ES701:
- Tamper: a built-in tamper instead of the Premier’s assisted tamper.
- Drink settings: Ninja’s Pro listing gives 25 (9 espresso styles, 4 coffee styles, 7 drink sizes and 5 froth presets), though its comparison chart says 29. The Premier has 19.
- Milk: an “Advanced” Dual Froth System with 5 presets and an XL froth jug.
Currys lists the same 2-litre tank and 1,650W for both. At full price the Pro is £729.99 at Ninja UK, £150 more than the Premier; at £549.99 at Currys for the black and white finishes, checked 3 Oct 2026, it was the cheaper of the two.
Who it isn’t for: anyone paying full price for the Pro just for a few extra settings.
Downsides
- Not push-button: you tamp and adjust the grind yourself.
- Consistency: the Guardian found coffee and milk temperature could vary.
- Milk overheating: the Guardian’s unit started to overheat milk after a few months.
- Confusing range: Premier, Premier Plus, Pro and the Beckham edition share the name, and prices change by finish.
Alternatives worth a look
Sage Barista Express. £629.95 at Sage UK, in stock, checked 3 Oct 2026. It’s a manual espresso machine with a built-in grinder and a steam wand, so you learn more, but you do more. Read our Sage Barista Express vs Ninja Luxe Café comparison. Sage Barista Express BES875UK: Check price at Amazon for Sage Barista Express BES875UK (opens in a new tab)
De’Longhi Magnifica Evo. The ECAM290.21.B was in stock at £419.99 at De’Longhi UK, checked 3 Oct 2026. It’s a fully automatic bean-to-cup machine with a manual milk frother. Read our Magnifica Evo review. De’Longhi Magnifica Evo: See it at De’Longhi for De’Longhi Magnifica Evo (opens in a new tab)
Where to go next
Compare more options on our espresso machines hub.
FAQ
Can you make cold brew with the Ninja Luxe Café? Yes. Ninja lists cold brew as one of the Premier’s three brewing modes, alongside espresso and filter coffee.
Do you have to tamp the coffee yourself? On the Premier, yes, using the assisted tamper. Ninja lists a built-in tamper on the Pro Series instead.
Can you use pre-ground coffee? Currys lists both whole beans and ground coffee as compatible.
Should you buy the Premier or the Pro? Check both prices on the day. On 3 Oct 2026 the black and Oat White Pro Series were £549.99 at Currys, less than the £579.99 Premier there (prices can change). At full price, the Pro is £150 more at Ninja UK.
Verdict
Ninja Luxe Café Premier Series ES601UK
A grinder, espresso machine, filter brewer and cold brew maker in one, with grind-size guidance and automatic milk frothing. It suits people who want café-style drinks without learning espresso from scratch, but you still tamp and adjust the grind yourself, the Guardian found its results could be inconsistent, and some Pro finishes cost less than the Premier when we checked.
Pros
- Pro: Built-in burr grinder with 25 grind settings and a built-in scale, according to Ninja
- Pro: Espresso, filter-style coffee and cold brew from one machine, as Ninja lists it
- Pro: Dual Froth System that steams and whisks milk, with 4 presets including cold foam, according to Ninja
- Pro: Named "best value assisted machine" in the Guardian's April 2026 bean-to-cup roundup
- Pro: 2-litre water tank, according to Currys and the Guardian
Cons
- Con: You still adjust the grind and tamp yourself, so it isn't push-button
- Con: The Guardian found coffee and milk temperature could vary, and its unit began overheating milk after a few months
- Con: Listed at 11.7kg by Currys, so it's a heavy machine to move
- Con: Some Pro Series finishes were cheaper than the Premier when we checked on 3 Oct 2026
- Best for
- Anyone who wants espresso, milky drinks, filter coffee and cold brew from one machine, with guidance on the grind, and doesn't mind a few manual steps.
- Who it isn't for
- Anyone who wants a fully automatic bean-to-cup machine, or who wants to learn traditional espresso with a manual steam wand.
See it on the maker's site: Ninja's UK page for the Luxe Café Premier Series ES601UKLink: Ninja's UK page for the Luxe Café Premier Series ES601UK. Not an affiliate link.
Sources
- See the ES601UK at Currys (currys.co.uk)
- See the Premier at Ninja UK (sharkninja.co.uk)
- See the Pro Series at Ninja UK (sharkninja.co.uk)
- See the ES771UKBK at Currys (currys.co.uk)
- Guardian's bean-to-cup roundup (theguardian.com)
Related
- Ninja Luxe Café vs De'Longhi Magnifica Evo: assisted barista or push-button?
- Sage Barista Express vs Ninja Luxe Café: manual skill or guided shots?
- How to use a Ninja Luxe Café: first setup to your first latte
- Ninja Luxe Café Premier vs Pro: is the lever tamper worth it?
Similar reviews
- Breville Bijou VCF149 review
- Breville One-Touch CoffeeHouse II review
- De'Longhi Dedica Arte EC885 review