De'Longhi Rivelia Start review: The compact coffee machine that doesn’t feel compromised

I was pretty excited when De’Longhi decided to shrink one of my favourite coffee machines, especially as someone who values their kitchen counter space. The original Rivelia scored five stars in my review back in 2024, so let’s just say my hopes for the new Rivelia Start were high.

A few weeks after launch, it appeared on my doorstep and I’ve been testing it ever since. You’ll find my full thoughts below.

Price and availability

The Rivelia Start is priced at £599 and can be purchased from De’Longhi’s online store, as well as John Lewis, Currys and Amazon. It comes in five colourways – Onyx Black, Sand Beige, Umber Brown, Jade Green and Arctic White.

It’s not yet available in the US, but is expected to arrive at around $799 if it does.

Design and features

As mentioned, the Rivelia Start is a more compact version of the original Rivelia, so a lot of the features are similar. For example, it retains the brand’s Bean Switch System, meaning it comes with two interchangeable 250g hoppers, so you can keep different beans ready to go and switch between them. There’s also a Switch mode that empties the grinder before changing beans, helping to avoid mixing the two varieties together.

On the front, you’ll find a simple touch interface, allowing you to choose from 10 one-touch drinks, including Espresso, Coffee, Filter Coffee, Cappuccino, Flat White and Latte Macchiato, as well as iced options such as Iced Coffee, Iced Espresso and Cold Brew. De’Longhi says its Cold Brew can be prepared in under five minutes, which is considerably quicker than traditional methods.

For milk drinks, the Rivelia Start uses LatteCrema Hot, which automatically creates the milk foam and adds it to your drink, so there’s no need to manually steam or froth the milk. There’s also the option to add De’Longhi’s LatteCrema Cool carafe, which unlocks six additional cold milk drinks if you want to lean further into iced coffees, but this is sold separately to keep costs down.

The machine itself grinds the beans fresh immediately before brewing, and it has a 15-bar pump (compared to the original’s 19 bar). Its 250 x 430 x 390mm footprint keeps it compact, but it still has a 1.4-litre water tank and a 10-serving grounds container, so you shouldn’t need to refill it constantly.

The other main difference to note is that the original has the brand’s Bean Adapt Technology, whereas the Start doesn’t, but we'll get into this more shortly,

Performance

I’ll be honest, when I first saw an image of the Start, I initially thought there wouldn’t be that much difference between the two models. However, when it actually arrived, I was really surprised by just how much De’Longhi had managed to shrink it without making it feel compromised.

You still get a decent-sized bean hopper and water tank, but it makes the machine feel much easier to live with day to day. The drip trays are easier to remove and clean in the dishwasher, and the smaller overall design makes the machine itself much easier to wipe down and keep looking clean.

In terms of performance, there’s really not much missing either. The interchangeable hoppers are still there, which is arguably one of the best things about De’Longhi machines, especially if you enjoy both caffeinated and decaf options, or there are multiple people in your household who enjoy different beans. They’re easy to use as always, and the different coloured lids mean you can keep on top of what’s in which one.

The range of drinks is also impressive, and whilst there are a few missing compared to the original, all the key ones are there. I also like that the extra shot button is there too, as this is a go-to for me.

It’s a shame you need to purchase the LatteCrema Cool carafe separately, but if you’re like me and prefer hot drinks anyway, it’s really not much of an issue. There’s also nothing stopping you from frothing your own iced milk in a separate frother, or just filling a cup with milk and then brewing an espresso over it.

I was also impressed with the speed of the machine, and it’s not too loud either. I’ll pop a TikTok below showing it in action so you can see, although please note it’s been slightly sped up.

As mentioned, the Start doesn’t have De’Longhi’s Bean Adapt Technology, which automatically adjusts the grinding, dose and temperature to match the specific coffee beans you’re using.

The Start instead relies on manual adjustments and standard user profiles rather than automated software calibration when swapping beans, with the adjustments made on the hoppers themselves. This wasn’t a problem for me, and it’s something I’ve been used to whilst testing all kinds of manual machines. It was a very quick process, but if this is something you think you’ll struggle with, it’s important to note.

Verdict

The De’Longhi Rivelia Start is an impressively compact bean-to-cup machine, and after spending several weeks with it, I can see why you’d choose it over the original. It manages to squeeze in most of the features I love about the Rivelia – including the interchangeable bean hoppers and generous drink selection – whilst taking up noticeably less space. There are a few compromises, most notably the lack of Bean Adapt Technology and the separately sold LatteCrema Cool carafe, but neither bothered me during testing. If you’re short on space but don’t want to compromise too much on what your coffee machine can do, the Rivelia Start is an easy one to recommend.

Alternatives to consider

The obvious alternative here is the original Rivelia, especially if you have the space and budget to do so. However, for the core features, the Rivelia Start is a brilliant way to cut down on both of those things.

If you want to start small, another alternative to consider would be the Smeg BCC02. It’s compact, but it’s still able to pack in a 1.4-litre water container, a decent-sized bean hopper and a frothing wand, although there’s no LCD screen and only three drinks to choose from.