Cuprajake
(I posted an earlier reply which I accidentally overwrote and deleted when I replied to dave! So here it is again In hopefully more succinct form)
I have already posted above how the paddle on the grouphead offers a very different feeling interface than push button on console so regardless of the internal mechanism, it is different already from that perspective.
On whether the jury js still out, i note that ACS has ialready ncorporated a venting the grouphead control (by push button on the console, I assume) and backflushing requirement for the new vostok. Since acs is the only other maker of mschines that are in any way similar to the nurri, that shows that the industry is already making this feature available to consumers of this market segment as part of the package. Hopefully in time this would become the expected thing of all levers…
On its utility, let’s not forget that the solenoid valve isn’t a perfect solution even for pumps - it leaves a soggy puck and it doesn’t stop on the dot and still continues dripping (though to a lesser extent due to far less volume of water remaining in the grouphead or below the screen). And yet it has become universal in pump machines.
I was the owner of an izzo for a long time and I used to just let it drip or remove the cup and let it drip into the driptray. Due to Dave’s advice on this forum, I then adopted the plastic container swapping method. So I already had an established work around which I still even periodically use for the nurri. But I find that now that i have the nurri that has this ability, I use it most of the time due to its convenience rather than messing with a plastic container and swapping the cup with it. For me, I can testify that I now greatly prefer using the left paddle to swapping cups and I hope this becomes the accepted borm among levers as it is among pump machines.