Consumer Reports Ranks a $220-Plus Breville Vertuo Dead Last

The single-serve brewer at the bottom of Consumer Reports’ ratings is a Nespresso, Mashed reports: the Breville-made Vertuo, model BNV220CRO1BUC1, which can sell for more than $220.

Per Mashed’s summary of CR’s ratings, the machine scored poorly on temperature and on brewing a consistent cup size, often running too cool, and CR’s testers also marked it down for predicted reliability. Mashed adds that buyers don’t all agree. A newer version of the machine averages 4.8 stars from nearly 3,000 reviews at Walmart, where Mashed puts it at about $240, and a refurbished unit of the older model CR tested is around $200 at Best Buy.

CR’s top pick is the Keurig K-Cafe Smart, which Mashed says runs about $200 at Amazon and beat the Vertuo across the board. The K-Mini Mate (about $60) and the K-Cafe Barista Bar K86 (about $145 at Walmart) both carry CR’s Recommended label too. Those prices are as reported by Mashed on Nov. 9; we haven’t checked them.

Our take: CR tested the older model, so the newer one may do better, but cool, uneven cups are exactly what you’d notice every morning. The bigger point is cost. Vertuo machines only take Nespresso’s barcoded capsules, while the Keurigs run on any K-Cup, including cheap store brands. If you want Vertuo anyway, our Vertuo buying guide compares the current models, and we wrote up why CR likes the K-Cafe Smart back in September.