Technically, the process here is the same as it is across the entire Nescafe range, with the machine switching on, dragging water in, filling the pod up, and dispensing your drink.
As with all of these machines, it’s not a quiet device, though the hum being emitted from the machine doesn’t last long, and can provide you with a drink in less than a minute.
For the most part, the Circolo doesn’t do anything different, though it does come with a few extra niceties.
The water tank is bigger, for instance, with 1.3 litres available to you, far more than the Genio, which offers just half of this capacity.
There’s also an LED inside to show you the drink you’re preparing, lighting up the cavity inside the machine. Delonghi has thrown in a magnet in the capsule tray, so that when you put it back in place, the magnet pulls it in and closes it up for you.
And there’s even a little spent capsule container included, so you can make your drink, take the glass away, put the container in the place, and empty the pod into it.
It won’t throw it out for you, nor will it empty the pod tray automatically, but it’s a whole lot nicer than carrying a dripping pod tray over the kitchen floor to the garbage bin for every cup, and helps make the Circolo feel more like a premium package.
It also carries the benefit of being better built, and that’s something that is quite noticeable. From the metal pulling mechanism on the tray, the heavier plastic used in the shell, and the less obtrusive design, the Circolo is really the nicer Dolce Gusto machine out there.
Some people might find the circular design not to their liking, but it seems to integrate into smaller spaces better than the Genio did, keeping an elegant circular design, as opposed to an appliance that looks like a hobbled penguin.
One thing we did notice, however, was that if you put in a longer glass – say you’re making an iced tea – the liquid coming from the machine can spit a little. Even with a moveable tray, able to be shifted higher under the nozzle to prevent this sort of thing from happening, you can still find it happens.
It is by no means as annoying as the vibrations that caused our cups in the Genio to do a little dance, but it’s still worth noting.
Conclusion
Sitting at the top of Nescafe’s Dolce Gusto line, the Circolo manages to bring a premium feel to a coffee machine that does more than coffee, not just increasing the quality of components, but enhancing the design and adding a few bonuses in the process.
Dedicated coffee drinkers still won’t necessarily find themselves happy here, as the Dolce Gusto machines are more for fans of multiple drinks, not just the specific flavours of coffee.
Still, this is the best of the Dolce Gusto line that we’ve seen, and given the $100 price difference between this and the Genio, is probably worth it for people who desire a better design and build quality.
