My Final Decision and Honest Review
I went today to Bella barista to view the ECM synchronika and Lelit Bianca at Bella Barista. I had organised for the machines to be setup and warmed up. I took my own coffee and grinder. These were my findings:
Immediately upon seeing the machines the ECM had a bigger footprint compared to the Lelit. It could be argued that the ECM looked at first impressions more solid but honestly there was not a lot in it.
My first surprise was the drip trays. The Ecm had play to the left and right which surprised me as it betrayed its solid look. The Lelit had no play and upon removing it I noticed they had cleverly put some dampers around the frame to give it a snug fit.
The portafilter was and felt more robust on the ECM, but both were well designed.
I gave the steam wands a blast and surprisingly the ECM seemed to splutter more, and at one point turning it off and on I got a jet of water for a second. The Ecm joystick levers were a pleasure to use though. The Lelit had quite a wide spray with its 2 hole tip and the spray wheel knob had quite a short run so did not require loads of turning to turn off the steam, even though the ECM joysticks I felt were nicer.
Turning on the brew levers, the Ecm seemed to have a larger flow of water and was more centred. The lelit was more droplet like and a less water. Maybe the paddle was not fully to the right, creating the difference. The Lelit shower screen probably contributed to the more even looking dispersion of water.
Extracting coffee was very similar with similar crema. The Lelit seemed just a tad smoother but that may have been subjective . Both were excellent.
There was a little annoyance with the ECM, in that when you turned the brew lever off there was a jet of water from the discharge that created water to splash from the drip tray to the left and right.
I tried different coffees and results were similarly good on both. I did not try the profiling in the comparison as the ecm they had was without a profiler.
The ECM in mode form was £600 more compared to the Lelit and honestly I could not see £600 more value, especially with the little niggles that I saw. I think ultimately both machines would give satisfaction to a prospective buyer.
In the end………. the ECM as solid as it looked ……. the little niggles……. No…. I could not justify the extra £600. So I went away with the Lelit Bianca.
