Saeco Xelsis Review 2024: Bespoke Coffee Experience With Saeco

Your coffee enthusiasm is higher than ever and you crave a range of coffee shop-quality drinks at the touch of a button every day in your life. Mate, this is another way of saying you’re looking for a super-automatic espresso machine.

Good news for the likes of you, there are various options on the market in this category. Ranging from inexpensive entry-level, to comfortable mid-rangers, and to high-end ones. One such mid-range icon is the Saeco Xelsis full-automatic.

Our Saeco Xelsis review will discuss its key features, pros, and cons, explaining how and why it should be on your shopping list, and finally how it fares with its competitors. By the end, you’ll have a far clearer view as to whether this is for you or not.

Highly Programmable Settings – The Saeco Xelsis lets you customize everything with its nifty programmable features. From milk and espresso volumes to dosage settings, temperature controls, and froth textures. All you have to do is just touch-related buttons to let the machine do the work. So good and well-performed that we’ve considered it as one of the crucial aspects in our Saeco Xelsis review

Fast And High-Performance Water Boiler – Flawless coffee can’t be made without perfectly warm water. Saeco’s high-performance dedicated double Thermoblock boilers are made with a mix of light aluminum and a stainless steel body. Allowing the water to be heated to the required optimal temperature faster

CSA Certified Extraction – Saeco Xelsis capable of extracting the best part out of your preferred coffee beans. Saeco extraction technology extracts the best flavors from the beans for an intense and authentic aroma and a full-bodied taste (taste can include roasted, nutty, fruity, chocolaty, flowery, and spicy). This extraction is CSA (Centro Studi Assaggiatori) certified, unlike the others

Durable Ceramic Grinders – Xelsis’ bean grinders are made of high-tech ceramic. It’s exceptionally hard as well as precise. Fresh beans do get gently grounded, without the risk of any overheating. It aims to extract all the best flavors and aromas from the fresh beans. Saeco promised that Xelsis’ ceramic grinders can deliver superior tasting 20,000 cups of coffee without any trouble

Dense Milk Foam With Fine Textures – It will enable your innovation and joy in preparing milk for your coffee. Saeco has applied LattePerfetto technology to reduce the milk froth bubbles. On top of that, Saeco has added the LatteDuo formula to ensure a dense milk texture for your airy milk froth. This precision technology of the frothing system maintains an ideal temperature as well as an outstanding foam-to-milk ratio

HygieSteam Automatic Cleaning – An upgraded steam system in this Saeco Xelsis machine. It works with the fridge-ready milk carafe to control the texture before frothing/steaming and performs automated purging with cleaning cycles. This innovative automatic cleaning system discards 99.99% of the milk residues with just one touch command

Easy Touchscreen Controls – We did touch on the programming prowess but we’ve not talked about where that magic happens. With an impressive 3.5″ touchscreen, Xelsis offers all its magic to play out. This advanced touchscreen display not only lets you play with unlimited personalization for your drinks but is also interactive with important guidance for maintenance

Six User Profiles – The Xelsis does come with super convenient 6 separate user profiles. Once you make your favorite drinks, you can save the settings for the drink to your dedicated profile for later access. With 6 profiles not only you but also all other family members can have their own drink saved under their name in this machine and can be accessed directly from the touchscreen

AquaClean Filtration – AquaClean is Saeco’s patented water filter technology. It’s designed to improve the quality of your purifying water. It also halts scale buildups inside the water circuits of this coffee machine. With AquaClean will be able to make 5000 cups of coffee without any descaling. But you’ll need to replace the filter regularly

Refined Ergonomics – Designed with a front-access water reservoir, adjustable spouts, and a scratch-resistant drip tray. The Saeco Xelsis brings all the best ergonomic applications from Saeco designs. Also, the removable brewing unit ensures visual hygiene. To preserve the longevity of the overall construction and minimize labor, Saeco brewing units are also capable of doing automatic cleaning

Bean Container With Aroma Seal – Saeco’s biggest bean container can store up to 450 grams of fresh beans. It is also equipped with a special aroma seal lid. The lid preserves the freshness of the coffee beans for the furthest length of time

Positives

• 12 different grinder adjustments
• Pleasantly quiet when operational
• 3.5” color TFT touchscreen display
• Capable of making 15 different coffee drinks
• Produces superior quality espresso and milk froth
• 5 aroma modes and 3 different temperature modes
• Features a coffer equalizer accessible on the touchscreen
• 6 different user profiles for all the customizations to be saved

Negatives

• The exterior is easily scratch-prone
• Learning this machine does take some time

Saeco Xelsis has a Titanium black-toned Stainless Steel exterior that contributes to its overall weight of 23.5 lbs. (10.7 kg). This is one of the moderately heavy full-automatic machines out there. Saeco did finish it off with a suitable dimension of (height x width x depth) 15.4 x 11.1 x 19.2 inches which makes it an ideal-sized machine on most of the kitchen counters with varying spaces. 

In terms of capacities, let’s begin with the milk carafe. It can hold 20 oz. (0.6 L) of milk at max. The water reservoir also comes with a decent 57.5 oz. (1.7 L) capacity with AquaClean filter. The bean hopper with a protective aroma seal has a capacity of 16 oz. (450 g). With Xelsis, you really don’t have to do much work as it’s easily accessible from the front. Saeco designed this machine for frequent drinkers at home. Thus it comes with an awesome waste container that can take in as much as 14 servings at once. Even the drip tray has matched the capacity of 17 oz. (500 ml).

Now let’s talk glance over the adaptabilities and customizable features of this machine. The first is the coffee spout. To fit in various glass/cup/mug sizes it has an adjustable height of 75 – 148 mm. The ceramic grinders have 12 grind settings for your coffee beans. You can also use pre-ground coffee for brewing. Once you’re done grinding your favorite beans, you will be able to choose between 15 drink options to brew them. While selecting your drink, you’ll be able to adjust between 5 aroma strength levels, 3 temperature modes, drink volume/size, and even the foam amount. And once you’re done with the brewing, you’ll have the option to save the recipe in one of the six user profiles offered by this machine. Access all of these customizable options with the 3.5” TFT display touchscreen on the front of the machine.

Accessories that are included with the purchase: measuring scoop, cleaning brush, water hardness test strip, brew group grease, a milk container, and AquaClean filter.

Some of the key convenient features of this machine that should be mentioned in our Xelsis Saeco review are auto-rinse, guided descaling, detachable brew group, quick heat boiler, LED-illuminated water reservoir, and warm milk function.

Initial Setup

For the best-tasting coffee from a Saeco Xelsis, you have to brew 5 cups of coffee initially to let the machine finish its self-adjustment phase.

1. The machine does come with a default setup to get the best taste out of most coffee beans. Thus we recommend you not adjust the grinder settings before brewing 100 – 150 cups
2. Clean the milk container, milk tubes, and cappuccinatore very well before your first use. The cappuccinatore is not dishwasher-safe
3. AquaClean filter is designed to reduce limescale deposits inside this coffee machine as well as filter the water. If you use the series of 8 AquaClean filters, you don’t have to descale this machine until 5000 cups
4. Each filter is good for 625 cups. This is also dependent on the brewing varieties and cleaning frequencies
5. Shake the filter for 5 seconds and then fully immerse the filter upside down in cold water for 30 seconds. Now push the filter onto the filter port in the water tank
6. To measure the water hardness, just tap the SETTINGS icon and then select ‘WATER HARDNESS’
7. Immerse the hardness test strip in your tap water for a second. Now, wait for 1 minute
8. Check how many red squares have turned. Set the water hardness in the settings accordingly and tap the OK icon to save

Brewing Coffee

• Tap the Drinks icon to enter its ‘Drinks’ menu and scroll through to find your preferred drink
• After selecting it, you can personalize it by adjusting the settings
• Tap the ‘2x’ icon for brewing 2 cups of coffee/espresso
• Tap the PROFILES icon to brew one of your pre-saved drinks
• Slide the coffee spout up or downwards to adjust the height of the cup/glass you are using

Brewing Coffee With Fresh Beans

1. Fill up the water tank with fresh cold water
2. Fill up the bean hopper with fresh coffee beans
3. Tap the DRINKS icon and choose a coffee
4. Personalize coffee strength and volume. Swipe on the screen for more settings to adjust
5. Press the START/STOP button to start brewing

Brewing Coffee With Pre-Ground Coffee

1. Open up the lid of the pre-ground coffee compartment
2. Pour 1 measuring scoop of the pre-ground coffee into it
3. Now close the lid and select a drink, tap the PRE-GROUND icon, and then press the START/STOP button

Brewing Milk-Based Drinks

1. Fill up the water reservoir with fresh water. Then put the fresh beans in the hopper
2. Unscrew the milk container lid and it with fresh cold milk
3. Place the metal milk tube into the milk container
4. Open the internal cappuccinatore door, connect the milk tube to the cappuccinatore, and then close the door again
5. Tap the DRINKS icon to select a milk-based drink. Adjust coffee strength, size, temperature, and milk volume if you desire
6. Press the START/STOP button to begin brewing
7. After dispensing the milk, the ‘AUTO STEAM SHOOT’ will be performed to rinse the internal milk system quickly

Detachable Components Cleanup Routine

Components	Daily	Weekly	Monthly
Brew Group		Yes	Yes
Milk System	Yes	Yes	Yes
Milk Carafe		Yes
Drip Tray	Yes
Coffee Grounds Container	Yes	Yes
Water Tank		Yes
Coffee Funnel		Yes

Descaling Process

Not all Saeco Xelsis espresso machine reviews inform their readers on the descaling. We care about informing our readers the most, thus adding this bit for you all. For the descaling, you must use Philips descaler only to not void the warranty. Don’t use sulfuric or hydrochloric or sulfamic or acetic (vinegar) acid-based descaler. The descaling cycle lasts about 15 minutes and consists of a descaling and then a rinsing cycle.

When the machine alerts you to descale it, press the START/STOP button to initiate. To perform descaling without being prompted by the machine itself, just tap the CLEAN icon and then select ‘DESCALE’.

1. Remove both the drip tray and the ground container. Empty them and set them back into the machine
2. Remove the water tank, empty it, and remove the AquaClean filter
3. Pour the whole bottle of the descaler into the water and then fill it with fresh water. Fill right up to the CALC CLEAN mark before placing it back into the machine
4. Place a large bowl (1.5 L) underneath the coffee spout
5. Follow the exact instructions on the touchscreen to begin the descaling procedure
6. Once the descaling cycle gets done, you’ll need to rinse the water circuit and reservoir
7. Again, follow the simple instructions shown on the touchscreen of the machine to perform the rinsing cycle
8. Place a brand-new AquaClean filter into the water reservoir. Then reactivate the AquaClean filter from the menu

If the descaling procedure gets somehow interrupted, you can exit the procedure by pressing the ON/OFF button. If the Descaling gets interrupted before full completion, do the following tasks:

1. Empty and rinse the water reservoir
2. Fill it with fresh water right up to the CALC CLEAN mark. Then switch ON the machine
3. The machine will warm up and will perform an automatic rinse cycle
4. Do another manual rinse cycle before brewing any drinks
5. To do manual rinsing, first, you have to dispense half of the hot water and then brew 2 cups of pre-ground coffee, but without adding the ground coffee

First and foremost the Xelsis is worth buying, simply because of its incredible mix of features and ergonomic design – an ultimate wow factor for any espresso machine.

Then you have to look at how it’s really living up to the full-automatic standards. In this Saeco Xelsis review, we’ve already explained in the key features section, how all the features comprehensively contribute to that claim.

The milk system is another desirable deciding factor on whether a machine is worth going for or not. Not only it’s easy to do barista-grade steaming and silky microfoam frothing with this machine but also the HygieSteam technology addresses the cleaning concerns. Arguably, this is one of the best super-automatic milk systems we’ve reviewed so far.

Etched buttons, an illuminated water tank, and a fitted gasket of the hopper – all there is for you to prove the level of attention to detail. Any espresso machine that goes to shows such dedication is worth your time and money.

The Saeco Xelsis is the best pick for those who crave all the convenient features right at their fingertips. From bean to cup you won’t really have to do anything to brew a cup of coffee.

It’s also capable to handle a small gathering of coffee lovers at your home. You can conveniently get through the evening with 1 or 2 refills. Cleaning is also quite easy with all the automated rinsing and descaling cycles.

The Saeco Xelsis is not the right pick for you if you have a limited budget. Also, many seasoned café aficionados don’t like push-button coffee machines (which the Xelsis is…) either. So, in such situations, it’s a no-go. 

It comes with an overall 7 cups of brewing capacity. If you have more mouths to satisfy then you should go for an espresso machine with a bigger capacity.

If you have kids or pets in your home, you have to keep this machine away from them. Also, this machine does require a bit of space on your counter too! If these conditions are not applicable to you then, avoid going for them.

The Saeco Xelsis is an absolute aesthetic gem – according to the customer feedback from various retail outlets as well as critical Xelsis Saeco review articles. Saeco made some bold decisions by taking a break from their categorical design choices which evidently has paid off.

For most first-timers, Xelsis has been dubbed as one of the easiest intuitive full-automatic machines to use. Combing traditional Saeco knowledge with cutting-edge features from Philips is the real reason for this success.

The espresso taste and quality with the range of customization have really won the hearts of new users along with long-time users of Saeco.

Critics and customers alike have been impressed with the 14-serving waste container capacity and 17 oz. drip tray capacity. Because, for the average customer, frequent checkups and cleaning of these parts are considered to be really annoying. So, Xelsis did cut off a lot of work by allowing such capacity.

In terms of some minor improvements, Xelsis should have added an alert icon for when the coffee pucks get emptied out for the users to see. The drip tray fills up faster too! Also, customers did complain that its brew group is a bit difficult to put back in after cleaning.

Saeco Xelsis is one of the best full-automatic espresso machines by the company. It comes with a varying range of features. If you are shopping for a true super-automatic machine, you shouldn’t overlook this model, in our humble opinion. Yes, it does come with a high price but if you’ve read our Saeco Xelsis review this far, the machine outweighs that hurdle.

Happy Brewing!