I must admit after putting it in on Christmas Day then leaving the machine on for many many hours I was a bit surprised to see a temperature of 95.8, I certainly wondered if there was something wrong. However, after a few days I decided it is working as it should. I think it could be like making pancakes, you always throw the first one.
I like dark roasts, the gauge shows about 91.8 on the lowest setting, no idea if this is true but I’ve read it loses a bit travelling to the puck in which case then it would be about the specified 90 but as the water flows if it hasn’t been flushed then it rises depending how long it’s been on. What I did find was that making a few coffees it becomes consistent so it’s a question of knowing your machine. As I really can’t tell any great difference unless it’s been on a long time I just pull the shot, look at the gauge and think that’s interesting. So long as I get a coffee I think tastes good that’s all I want, for me it’s a coffee and that’s a different outlook to those who have a passion.
The drawbacks of the 400 are the small space between group and drip tray, a bottomless is essential if you want to use scales, the supplied tamper is weedy.
I matched mine with a Niche Zero, that arrived a few days before the 400 and just grinding some beans as it came out the box improved my Sage Barista Express experience immeasurably.