BUDGET END-GAME ESPRESSO MACHINE?: Lelit Bianca V3 Review 

Intrigued by the machine? Do you own one? On the short list? Let me know below! And don't forget to hit that sub button;) ALSO- "budget" is a relative term. When discussing "end game" machines, the cost tends to be upwards of $5,000 to $10,000. So, this, to me, is a proper "budget" option for a machine that can compete with the high priced "end game" machines. ok. end.

Man ever since that little rough patch on youtube it really seems like you’ve been able to be yourself to the fullest extent in your videos, its truly a beautiful thing, hope you’re doing as great as you look lance

Hey Lance, thanks so much for the in-depth look at the Bianca. I'd love if you could make a flow-profiling tutorial and how to identify the best profile for a specific bean! Like a more advanced version of your dialing in two-part series.

I love how much great content you’re producing for us in the last time! Keep up the great work, really enjoying :)

Great video! It would be amazing if you could do a comparison of pros and cons of different group heads in terms of temp and pressure stability, e.g., E61, saturated, the Decent’s, and others. Thanks, Lance!

Hey Lance, great content as always, I have the Mara X V1 and love the idea behind Lelit's Espresso machines. Building good quality E61 machines while also implementing decent software. Also the fact they update their models every now and then listening to the feedback is really great.

Amazing in depth review Lance! Always love your channel and all the details!!! Really fantastic work!!! 🎉

Great video, Lance! I have run a V1 Lelit Bianca for the last 3 years. Love it and it has helped me to make considerable progress in the quality and consistency of my home espresso.

Great video! This is my dream machine. Plan on upgrading next year since I just started. But learning so much from you and other RU-vidrs!

Great video, I really feel like Lelit are the equivalent of One Plus in the early days. They give all the features the enthusiasts want, at a reasonable price but maybe not as high quality materials/finish as top end brands. Have used the Bianca and own an Elizabeth and love it.

Lance, I want to thank you very much for this extensive review of the Bianca. It pushed me into getting one, and I could not be happier!

I really appreciate the pacing of these videos. Thank you again for all your hard work & willingness to share.

LOVE seeing some love for Lelit here! Been eyeing an Elizabeth V3 for a while now.

Another great review, thanks Lance! I used to own a Rocket R58 with flow control, and I’ve used a Bianca V2. I enjoyed using both. But, after some surprisingly good espresso from a Cafelat Robot I have for travel, I bought a Londinium lever and sold the Rocket a few months later. Lever machines aren’t for everybody, of course, but I found it an unexpected joy to wake in the morning and pull simple, silent and delicious shots. A useful question for prospective buyers to ask themselves might be “do I prize complexity/flexibility or simplicity?” That may help point them in the right direction.

it’s basically christmas, been waiting for this one! THANK YOU LANCE!

Great video, Lance! We have a V2 and have loved it for many of the reasons you listed here.

Fantastic explanation of this machines workings, you clearly know your stuff, very informative, thanks so much & a big hello from great britain

Great review, thank you! One thing to note regarding your comments around standby mode: the EU has regulations around this sort of thing, for all electronic devices, and comes with great specificity especially for coffee machines: "for domestic coffee machines other than drip filter coffee machines, a maximum of 30 minutes after completion of the last brewing cycle, or a maximum of 30 minutes after activation of the heating element [...]". It would be effectively illegal for Lelit to ship this in the EU with a longer timer or without standby. This probably explains why there are no menus or clear instructions in the manual about disabling this either. They could of course have offered different defaults for different regions, but I suppose this was too much of a nuisance for them...

Just purchased our Bianca V3! It’ll be here this weekend! Thanks for all the great info - it really helped our decision!

Just bought one 1 month ago and can only agree. Thanks Lance for the great review and re-affirming my buying decision.

I love how this machine looks, when I actually get into end game espresso I think it would be a tough decision between this, the E1 Prima and the Olympia Cremina. But I need to get into espresso first, don’t have the space now 😅. Thanks for the great review!

Amazing video! Saw in previous videos that you also have a Decent. I am currently hesitating between the DE1XL or the Bianca V3. What do you think of shot quality ? My other big concern is noise on the decent. Seems like the vibe pump are making really loud weird noice vs the gentle humming of the Bianca. Thanks for putting up such great videos, super helpful !

What a well put together video. Confident and competent.

Love your page! Thank you for everything you are teaching us.

Thanks for making some gigantic, very thorough reviews. You’re undoubtedly losing some viewers who are more casual about coffee, but your channel is wealth of knowledge and experience for those who are deeper into the hobby.

Man, this is an awesome video and super informative. Thank you!!

The timing of this vid is great. Looking to pickup a Bianca on Saturday. Thanks!

So glad I finally found a coffee dude on RU-vid who’s informative and not pretentious. Just a fun dude who loves coffee. Keep It up, buddy!

Such a great roundup of the Bianca! Every time I have the pleasure of using mine, I fall in love with the build quality and the workflow. I'm curious if my grinder is limiting my shot quality atm and I'm not sure how to find out! I'm using a Eureka Mignon, so I'm not sure if it's just the upgrade-itis talking

Great video as always! I have the Bianca V2, and I love it! Thanks for the awesome explanations! Question: Where did you get your magnetic mirror??

Great review and actually helped me to decide on a machine! Coming from an Expobar Pulser that I've had for 15 years and a mazzer mini (doserless). Waiting for the machine to arrive. Hopefully i wont mind staying with the mazzer for the time being... Thanks for the great review

Dave Corby has instructions on how to change the LCC to default to the actual boiler temperature rather than the target. Did it on my v2 and makes much more sense

I love how sophisticated coffee gear is these days, but the charm of lever machines refuses to die on me.

A beautiful machine. Thank you for your first review Lance On my Slayer machine, I set the needle pre-brew flow rate as follows. This way you can easily measure and adjust it. Light roast / low intensity coffees: 40-45g per 30 seconds Medium roast / medium intensity coffees: 45-55g per 30 seconds Dark roast / high intensity coffees: 55-60g per 30 seconds

100% Brilliant review. You Sir, are magnificent.

I was tempted by the V3 Bianca and was waiting for the black version to become available in the UK but unfortunately they are charging an extra £600 premium over the standard chrome V3 which is way too much for essentially a cosmetic change.

I've had a V2 for a little bit over a year. It's been a really solid upgrade vs my BDB. Love the rotary pump's really quiet operation (but the damn loud relays reduce that impact somewhat). I can't say my shots improved by an insane margin, but not having to loose the hot water (and mod) to get the pressure needle valve is a must (I drink lots of Americano. Is that weird?). I'm wondering if an edge-to-edge basket would help get a little bit more out of my lighter roast shots. Some small nitpicky stuff from having it used so long for 4 drinks per day : - The water tank is detected empty while there is still at least a cup of water in it. Seems like a small detail, but I have it connected to a smart plug to auto-start in the morning and it sometimes means I wake up to a cold machine because it thinks it's empty. ( and that my friends, is a sad trombone moment) - The drip tray... You mentioned it but honestly it's very meh overall. I have the stainless version (no options for paint when I got it :( my machine ) and the edges are sharp so I regularly nick myself trying to keep it clean - Needle valve is very sensitive to scale. I've been using and replacing the in-tank filters as guided, but scale started to build up by month 10 and I had to disassemble to descale it. Found out because my adjustment with the valve all the way closed was letting water trough all of a sudden. - This one is specific to people that are not used to the E61 group head, but the vacuum breaker valve is loud AF when the machine first heats up. - Why are the relays so loud!? That's a lot of very small things, but a lot of it reminded me that while the Breville Dual Boiler isn't in the same league as far as how it's constructed, it really had the end user in mind and avoided a lot of those small things. To be noted that even that machine had issues (those damn o-rings keep failing and leaking inside the machine every 12-18 months), but at the price of the BDB vs the Bianca, I would not hesitate one second to go get the Lelit. Because when all is said and one, the experience of using it feels special. That's not something I could ever say about the BDB. @Lance Hedrick tiny thing I would've loved to see from you on this review is an look at the internals. I was curious to see if they have changed the layout at all from my V2 :)

Hey Lance! I love your videos and wanted to see if you would ever do a review of the ECM Classika (w/ Flow Control). Always been intrigued with this machine and would love to see a non-sales Lance Hedrick detailed review of the machine. Hope all is well with you!

Great vid Lance, thank you!

I was recently in the market for an upgrade and the Bianca was a runner-up, decided to get the Ascaso Steel Duo PID mostly because I couldn't fit a full-sized e61-style machine. Any plans on reviewing the Ascaso Steel Duo - really curious to see what you think about them dual thermoblocks

The BDB is coming closer to you every video, should we be expecting a new update on the machine? Also i think that they changed the finish on black edition(for the better). And by any chance do you also know how to disable the auto turn off in 30 minutes in the BDB?

8:45 superb explanation. Good advice with the sound :D

I’m sitting and staring at my black v3 as well! Delivered yesterday. It’s amazing. I appreciate the videos, per usual! Could we maybe do a flow pro recipe video in the future? Thanks man!

Yay, coffee nerdism time *puts rest of day on hold*

ur my end game machine. sorry i'll leave a real comment underneath this one later.......

thanks for the fantastic review

Hey mate... great review again. Just wondering if you'd do a review on the Crem One LFPP espresso machine / with the flow control too. Thanks for your good honest review of the Bianca V3. Thank you

I got baited by budget

thanks Lance. I'm picking one based on your video

Hey Lance, Great review. I have a Bianca V2. Not sure if this was called out (in case I missed it) this machine can also be plumbed into a cold water line. Also the stock accessories are quite decent too. Bottomless portafilter, plumbing kit etc.

Will Love to see how you compare this with ECM Synchronika. Great Vid.

One of the best studio designs on RU-vid. Pro-level!

Fantastic review Lance, thanks. We have a Lelit Anita and it's great. I'd consider a Bianca but I just bought 1% of a Picasso on Masterworks...

Correct me if I'm wrong , but at @27.20 what gets modified is not the OPV cutoff , but the max pressure of the pump itself, because it's pretty straightforward doing so with a rotary pump. The OPV usually gets modified in machines with vibration pumps .

Lance, love following both of your channels! Great detailed review as always! Question about Bianca’s electronics, what is your opinion is their longevity? Would this type of machine with that many loaded bells and whistles perform year after year for many years to come (assuming the owner performs maintenance, water treatment…etc)? Thank you kindly!

I purchased the v3 Bianca (in stainless steel) about 4 months ago now. I have yet to play with the "smart features" as I favor the manual flow control. After seeing your breakdown of the low flow and pre-infusion I'll give it a try if for no other reason than to see that shot to shot consistency from one day to the next. I also found it interesting that you had your PID set to 98c. I use single origin light roasts and had been running 95c but after seeing your results on the temperature drop I'll bump up my PID and see what impact that has on my extractions. Thanks for the great review Lance! Edit: your cons of the machine were spot on. I chose to attach a drain hose to the drip tray after only 1 week of use as it was really annoying to empty constantly. I simply ran it to a 15 gallon bucket (hidden under the counter). Now I only dump the bucket once every week or 2. That eco mode was a p.i.t.a. to figure out how to turn off, thanks for including that info for others.

Finally Bianca reviews! Very informative. Color version is so gorgeous. Do you think V3 is worth getting over V1/2?

Great review! Really glad you like the Bianca 😊 I have the V2 for about two years now and I am super happy with it. Still reassuring to hear that you like the machine as well since I value your opinion a lot 👍🏻 I was wondering: did you get a chance to test out different settings of the OPV? If yes how did it affect the flow control? And what different attributes did different pressures bring out? I’m currently still working with the standard 10,5 bar pressure on the OPV

Excellent review from you sir, I just wanted to say that I enjoy your channel a lot and I am sure that you will be the face of coffee on youtube. My suggestion for future videos on E61 machines is focusing more on the internals of the machine (wiring, tubing, materials, quality …..) that is because rocket, ECM, lelit….. all have very similar E61 machines and the differentiating factor between them is mostly internals. I say this because I bought an expobar brewtus IV four years ago which is a dual boiler rotary e61 machine. Due to the poor quality of the wiring, heating element, and the PID being very close to the boiler. My machine faced many issues. If I could go back in time I would buy a rocket or ECM machine. YT creators really need to focus on these aspects when reviewing machines as longevity is very important when talking about 3000$+ machines.

I have the v2, it’s was a pandemic splurge to keep me sane, no regrets. Used it almost daily the past 2 years and my only con is that it’s very bad at hiding being “dirty”. Mine has water residue and espresso residue on it all the time, unless I wipe clean it after every pull and every steam.

Yes sir :D waited for this review! I own a low budget Lelit machine and i really like it.. but when i've mastered the machine i want to upgrade.. this one seems to be it..

Excellent video; thank you! The Bianca V3 was our present to ourselves last month. We’re really enjoying our espressos, but know that we aren’t using the options to their full capacity. The instruction booklet leaves a lot to be desired. Thanks for helping us out! Cheers! ☕️☕️

Great video. Very informative.

Awesome review as always!

Thanks for all the deep dive reviews, I really learned lot. I watched your deep dive video for Mara X and E61 style group head. I was thinking two things, for those HX machines, why they could not (1) inject the cold water back into the boiler and it will drop temperature right away (2) Put the thermal sensor some where inside the group head (as you did in all those review video), rather than the boiler. It was really nice to hear that you also were thinking about cold water approach. Also, I have an impression that you said, some of these E61 style machines e.g. MaraX do not come with the pre-infusing using the lever function cuz they don't have the pre-infusion chamber, is that true or only apply for MaraX.

Just got mine recently and this was very helpful. I need the walnut now too!

Hey Lance, Noticed you have a white bianca on the counter in your latest video. How is the finish on those been for cleaning? how durable do you think the finish will be in comparison to stainless? Enjoy your videos thanks again

Very cool video!!! I have the Bianca V2. I think to change for the La marzocco Micra. I will can notice a difference?

Hi Lance, big fan here, great job as usual. I am puzzled between the Bianca and the Elizabeth with the last being able to change a tone of the parameters with LCC plus it has the steam and bloom pre infusion tech. Which offers more precision at the group? Also which precision budget machine with steaming capability would you recommend in general?

OMG thank you Lance for months I have been wondering if a Y fitting could be used to have both pressure and temp on an E61. Not that I have an E61 lol. But someday it'll either be a Technika, Bianca or Synch depending on how big I win the lottery lol. Seemed like such a silly thing to not do, both are good to have at the group to turn the E61 into something approaching a precision instrument.

Congratulations Lance., You got a sponsor for your hard work especially "SPONSOR". I'm wishing you to get more sponsors on your upcoming videos.

I've owned a black one for about two months now! It produces absolutely amazing shots and I can't find any major flaws. Out of the box it was set to 10 bars, which unfortunately is common for these machines. I dialed it down rightaway, which was very easy. Gotta say though, it wasn't yet entirely clear to me what the differences are between the pre-infusing and low-flow profiling options, and you showed that very clearly. Thanks for that!

I would be VERY interested in seeing a comparison with the LUCCA M58 !

Thanks Lance. Great video. How does compare to the bdb re cup quality/work flow? I’ve got a barista pro and niche zero…now wondering whether to upgrade or not… guidance would me much appreciated

Thanks for the in depth on this machine. I’m torn between ECM Synchronika and Bianca V3. Any thoughts between the two?

Lance, whats your opinion on the ECM Synchronika?, at that price range, is there something else you would recommend? Great Video's by the way, we watch them all the time, and yes I'm a newbie.. :)

It was between this and the Micra for me since price diff is that much. Went with the Micra … for me it just was easier to use and the heat up times are unmatched. Bianca is excellent tho….love the colors and quality

Big fan of your random vocal demonstrations (percussive or otherwise). 😄 Also, the review is great.

Was considering it since I'm willing to upgrade from highly modded gaggia with flow control and everything bud far from ideal workflow. And it seems Bianca is the only solution for less than 5k. Thanks for review, it made things a little easier for me.

Great looking machine and great review Lance! Any thoughts on the Bianca vs. ECM Synchronika? Also, you are a big proponent of WDT. I was looking at the Duomo The Eight tool. Do you think it’s worth it? Thanks!

Thank you Lance.

I love the Matte black finish 😍

Ahhh. Watching amazing and expensive things that I won't buy but still finishes the video.

Yayyyy a new video 🥳🙌🏼

Hi Lance, great video! I currently have a Sage (breville in the US) Barista Pro, I'm looking into upgrading to something like this but I'm not sure about the heat up time and how using this machine day to day would work, could you give some insight into living with a machine like this compared to a heat pump based system like the Barista pro? I have kids (and in general a busy life!) and really like just switching the machine on and having a coffee 5 minutes later! Maybe the barista pro is optimal for me....

Daddy Hoff and Papa Hedrick Another quality video Lance!

i have a v2 of this machine and absolutely adore it. Im tempted to buy the v3 upgrade but i dont think its a big enough step up! Love the work as always

What would you choose if you were trying to decide which one to get for home? La Marzocco micro, Rocket R58 or this one Lelit Bianca v3? I don't really need the new app, Bluetooth stuff. I'm older and wouldn't use all that. Any suggestions?

Great review. I have a v2 and love it. No real need to upgrade or change machine but I am looking at the levers >_> Olympia! One thing I wanted to mention is that the preinfusion on/off timer was in v2 as well it wasn't new in v3. I'm not sure if you meant to say it that way The low flow is intriguing as well but I don't really see a need to movve from the v2.

Hey Lance. Great video. I have the v2 and mine got low flow start and end as well, also temp offset. So this is not a v3 feature. Bought in March 2022. Also for my machine I don't have to push the right or left side of the plus button for real time reading. Holding the plus button from the "idle" screen first shows brew boiler, on second hold it shows steam boiler.

The video we didint know we needed! I just got mine after 6 years with the Brevillle Barista Express, definetly a huge upgrade and this video helped understand alot of the technicalities. Great stuff and I am new here! Glad I found the channel!

Lance, first of all, big thanks for your videos, lots of info and very good made. I am not a barista, but do like drinking coffee more and more, and checking out the videos on YT only wants me to try to get to higher level. I was thinking to get get myself a Breville/Sage dual boiler. Is the Lelit Biance V3 really worth the extra money ? I don't want to start thinking about upgrading from the Breville/Sage after a certain time... Any advice ?

Hello Lance. You'll love the E61 grouphead even more if you know that there was already an adjustable needle valve when the E61 grouphead was patented in the 1960s. - Sprogeeks

The flow control paddle is great but there needs to be more resistance using it. La Marzocco? Get your act together!

Where did you get the walnut kit? It looks absolutely amazing as opposed to the stock look.

Really good watch! Extremely informative and really well presented, nice work. After such a bad experience with a Sage Barista touch I bought back in December, I wish I had brushed up on my knowledge on espresso machines a little more before purchasing. Sages customer service has been as bad as my machine 😔 Loving the look of this Lelit. Subscribed 👍

Amazing loved your content mate…been using lelit bianca for about 4 months and im opening a small mini-like cafe locally and im trying to use this machine for the cafe…would you recommend it or is this machine not compatible for a mini-cafe should i look for another machine if so can you recommend me one

I was waiting for you to review this. I really thought it would make my decision easier. Now I am second guessing this machine. It sounds like what I get its not worth the price tag. You recommended BDB but its not in stock at a lot of places in US and I think I want something different. Sounds like this isnt the one. My gf is beginning to wonder how much I like you since I watch you so much lol. Maybe a video on why all these ranges of temperatures would be necessary (like why they have the option of -25 - +25) Thanks for your videos

You had to go and post this didn’t you? I love this machine and now with the man among boys saying all this loveliness about it, I want it all the more!

Great detailed video. I was set on getting a Mara X (I wanted to spend under $2000) but now I’m wavering on splurging on this machine.