GE Profile – Automatic Espresso Machine with 20 bars of pressure, Milk Frother, and Built-In Wi-Fi – Black

Customer Reviews (23)

1. 

   Dan292 – January 27, 2022

   Rated 5 out of 5

   I have had this espresso machine for about two weeks now, and I have enjoyed it greatly. It was quick and easy to set up, and you can be drinking your first cup of espresso, café Americano, or whatever within minutes. The steamer is easy to use as well, and making something like a cappuccino is simple. All the coffee varieties I tried tasted very good. I used whole espresso beans from a well-known national coffee franchise.

   One thing to keep in mind is that you need to put a cup under both the coffee spout and the steam spout both when you first turn on the machine and when you go to make steam. When the coffee maker is first turned on, it does an automatic “rinse” of the plumbing, and, without warning, water comes out of both spouts. Not a lot, but enough to catch me by surprise and put a small puddle of water on the floor.

   One think I particularly appreciate is the ease of cleaning. You put the beans in a compartment on top and set the grind level to your liking. As the machine makes coffee, the beans get used up, and the grounds end up in a waste compartment accessible from the front of the machine. The machine indicates when it’s time to empty this waste, and it takes only a few seconds. I find myself not wanting to have used grounds sitting there overnight or whatever, so I take a few seconds and rinse out the waste compartment after every use.

   Like many appliances today, this one has wifi capability, and you connect to it using the GE SmartHQ app. I’m not sure how valuable this is because there’s not that much you can do that you can’t do from the machine itself except make changes in the default volume of the coffees produced. For example, you can change the amount of espresso produced from 1.25 oz. to 1.0 oz. or 1.5 oz and do similarly for the café Americano as well. Once you’ve done this, though, you’re not likely to need to do it again, so, again, what the advantage is of having a wifi connection to your coffee maker is somewhat lost on me. But like I said, every appliance that runs on electricity these days seems to include wifi capability, whether it really adds any value or utility or not.

   Overall, though, this machine makes very good coffee very simply. That’s what matters.

2. 

   MemphisTechieRN – January 27, 2022

   Rated 5 out of 5

   From the moment I set eyes on the GE Profile, I fell in love. We are big coffee drinkers in our household and sure, we have your standard coffee maker. But we found that we still would go to expensive retail stores for the “fancy” drinks.

   No more, now that we have the GE Profile! While I personally use it in an unconventional way (I use dark roast to add a shot or two – or three (!!) of espresso to my daily coffee thermos brew), my wife loves the fact she can customize her brew to her liking.

   Also, when you turn the machine on it goes through a cleaning cycle (keep a bar cloth handy, sometimes some water drops get on your counter). Did I mention this is very simple to use? Basically all you have to do is add coffee beans and you are ready to roll!

   You can pretty much customize everything, right down to the coarseness of the grind. I find that I gravitate to a finer grind, as it allows full extraction of the bean’s flavor profile. And the 20 bars of pressure does that quite easily.

   My favorite function (other than the obvious!) is the milk frother/steamer. Just like your barista has! Protip – hit your favorite flavored dairy/non-dairy coffee creamer with a few pulses of steam to create a pillow of flavor!

   GE has all the basics covered, but you can also get SUPER techy with the included app. I love how the Profile remembers my settings.

   Sure there are cheaper brands, and more expensive brands. But I personally feel that the GE Profile is in the “Goldilocks” spot when it comes to function, quality, and convenience for your dollar.

   If you are in the market for a no-nonsense espresso machine that will get the job down, without sending your bucks to the stars – the GE profile is for you!

3. 

   Snarltoof – January 27, 2022

   Rated 5 out of 5

   I like this machine. It makes great espresso drinks. It is oh so close to replacing all the other coffee makers on my counter! So — the 5 stars is for how easy and awesome it makes espresso drinks, just like it’s supposed to. It’s just so close to being even more awesome.

   What I like:
   Great packaging. When you open the box, they even placed a loose wrapping “strap” around it so you can pull it out of the box by the strap! That was so thoughtful.
   Easy setup. It’s pretty much ready to go out of the box.
   My travel mugs fit under it when you remove the drip tray! Just remember to return the drip tray when you’re done!
   It makes great espresso drinks and it’s super easy to use.
   The drinks come out hot! The instructions and app indicate that you can adjust the brew temperature, but I can’t see any way to do that.
   It grinds whole beans for you, and you can adjust how fine or coarse the grind is.
   The milk steamer is very convenient, and it does a great job dispensing steam or hot water.
   It has an elegant minimalist design.

   What I don’t like:
   The first rinse cycle! Maybe you could have given me some warning that it would spew hot water all over my hands and counter when I got it all together and turned it on for the first time!
   Extra-credit — make the drip tray more obvious. I was so excited to set up my machine that I didn’t notice the drip tray. That made my first surprise shower even worse. Maybe make an “insert drip tray” indicator?
   Very limited options. You only get 3 coffee “buttons” on the machine — espresso, Americano (half espresso, half water), or “My Brew.” The “My Brew” button is programmed in the app, but you can only choose one of the existing drinks, and you have very little customization available. You can adjust the grind time and brew volume, but nothing else. I haven’t seen anywhere to adjust the water temperature.

   Things it needs to improve:
   There’s no automation! It shows up in the SmartHQ app, but it does not show up in Google Home, so I can’t turn it on or start a cup remotely. (My other GE Profile appliance does show up in Google Home, so I’m sure it has the capability.)
   The app needs work. It doesn’t do all the stuff it says it does — temperature for example.

   My wish list:
   This is an espresso machine, so these aren’t problems with the machine, but if the machine did these things, it would knock both the other coffee makers out of my kitchen.
   I wish it made coffee!! I “hacked” it to make me a nice cup of coffee by choosing the “Red Eye” for the “My Brew” button, then maximizing the volume by holding the button down until it beeps then letting go. It’ll dispense the maximum volume and stop by itself.
   I wish the water reservoir were larger, but that’s my problem. I can only brew 2 cups of my hacked coffee, but I’m sure it can brew a whole bunch of espresso drinks.

   Do you want awesome espresso drinks at home? Get this machine. You’ll be super happy with it.

4. 

   Mahtin – January 27, 2022

   Rated 5 out of 5

   This fully automated coffee/milk coffee products maker is a great option in its price range. It offers ability to define the amount of coffee used per drink, from 8 to 12 grams (though you can do it through the app only). It allows you to customize the amount of water used per drink (manual and app). It comes with coffee drink three presets (espresso, Americano and My Brew). There is also a choice of getting a steam and hot water.

   The grind container can take the entire regular bag of coffee beans (7 oz). The grinder itself is adjustable and can grind from relative course to very fine grind. The bringing process is not too loud though people around will hear. The water container is relatively small, about 4 and 3/4 cups or about 1.2 liter. The water container must be taken out vertically, which basically eliminates putting the machine under the hanging kitchen cabinets. The waste basket is easily accessible and comes out in the front. The spout from which the coffee comes out is height adjustable and should work fine for most of the cups, big or small. The drip tray attaches itself to the coffee maker via two small magnets. It does serve its purpose relatively well, though I wish it would be somewhat larger. The steam wand can be turned to the side up to 45 degrees. You can take off both the outside metal part (the one that goes inside the milk) and the internal plastic part inside of it for cleaning. While for me it does not come off as easily as I would prefer, cleaning both parts is relatively easy. Finally the brewer is accessible from the left side if there is a need to clean it, it is easy to access and remove it for clean as it is easy to put it back in.

   About overall performance. The crema produced by this machine is quite decent for the price, maybe not as good as some other machines that sell for thousands of dollars. But it is decent and can last for a while, pretty dense. As I said before you can manually adjust the amount of water per drink by pressing the selection (for example espresso) for 2 seconds, then the symbol will start blinking and the coffee will be produced. While the coffee comes out once you decides that it got the right amount of liquid out you press the same button again to stop the coffee flow. The machine will then remember the amount of water used for all future drinks for the same button.

   There is one issue which I find both surprising and kinda annoying. My other Italian fully automated coffee maker always performs the self cleaning after the drink is completed, whether is it a black drink or milk based. This is not the case here. Once you finish making your drink, the machine will not clean itself. The steam wand that you inserted into milk will stay dirty with the milk residue. You have to take it off and clean it yourself manually and put it back on. But what happens instead is that every single time when you wake up the machine from hibernation to make a drink it will perform self cleaning of both the steam wand and the coffee spout by first heating the water and then pushing the steam and hot water through the wand and hot water through the spout. You have to make sure that the steam wand is facing down or the steam and hot water from the wand might go on your counter or the floor.

   The machine does not have a screen where messages would be displayed about the status of the coffee drink making process. Instead the top of the spout shows an LED light that displays different colors in a circle, like white, orange, red and blue. In addition these colors can rotate left or right and show different patterns. All these are communicating to you what’s going on like powering on, grinding, add water, brew in progress and so on. Personally I found it challenging to learn and then remember all those different combinations of colors and rotations. Thankfully some key important messages are also being displayed as needed on the top of the machine, including Add Beans, Empty Waste, Add Water, Descale, Check Brew Unit and Rinsing.

   The app itself is nothing special. It is not a dedicated device app but rather a general app for all Profile devices, like a stove or others. We have the Profile stove and the app for the stove is quite robust with many options. Unfortunately the app portion for this coffee maker is very basic, allowing you only to preset the amount of coffee used and select from 3 choices of water amount. What I used the app for was to set up the amount of coffee used per drink, which you do by changing the duration of the grind. I did not bother setting up the amount of water as those I could manually define myself on the machine to my linking, not being limited to three options only.

   Overall I am satisfied with this coffee maker. It does what it supposed to do, allows the basic flexibility if it comes to customizing your coffee drink. It is not too loud and crema quality is quite decent. I think while it has its quirks, it offers a great value for the money. One happy customer here.

5. 

   gadgeTT – January 28, 2022

   Rated 4 out of 5

   TLDR:
   (that’s Too Long, Didn’t Read)
   A few design quirks mar an otherwise nice machine. Overall, it works as described and makes great coffee beverages.

   Pros:
   * Attractive overall design.
   * Easy to use but relies of memorizing light sequences to understand what’s going on.
   * Easy enough to refill water and coffee beans.
   * Easy to empty used coffee grounds and waste water.
   * WiFi setup works and the app is useful for setup but not essential otherwise.

   Cons:
   * Need access to front (obviously), top and left side of unit which makes placement tricky.
   * App is required to set up “My Beverage” mode to something other than Ristretto.
   * Notifications are not as useful as they could be.
   * Water tank is a bit cumbersome.
   * A bit noisy when operating.

   Details – Setup:

   Removing the unit from the box was a pleasant surprise – there’s a lifting strap that surrounds the product so you can pull it straight up and out of the box without fear of it dropping on the floor. Setup was easy enough with few parts to install. Once it is assembled and plugged in, you just add water and beans and make your first cup. If you want to get fancier and adjust the grind timers and water amounts per drink, you need to get the unit on your WiFi and connected to the phone app. This was fairly straightforward but wasn’t the easiest I have seen. I did notice that settings I changed in the app sometimes didn’t “stick” in that you’d change a setting, exit that menu and see that the change you made wasn’t there.

   Details – Typical Usage:

   The buttons are all capacitive, backlit and on the top front edge. You turn the unit on and it preps itself for making a coffee beverage… Be careful not to put a cup under the spouts yet, though, as it will probably rinse both spouts with leftover water that is intended to go in the drip tray and not in your cup.

   Another thing to be really careful of is that the hot water/milk frother spout rinses, too, but at a significantly higher pressure than the coffee spout. This frother spout can be manually rotated to the right to make it easier to froth milk in your cup or the provided pitcher. If you don’t return that spout to *perfectly* vertical, it won’t be aimed into the respective hole in the drip tray and will splash hot water all over when the machine runs its rinse cycle. I had to get in the habit of making sure that spout is aligned with the associated drip tray hole before turning on the machine to avoid the splash.

   There is an attractive light ring on the top of the coffee spout. It is colorful and animated, but the purpose of them is not 100% obvious. You probably will need to read the manual a few times to remember what each pattern means. A small LED display with words and/or icons would have helped a LOT instead of just a light ring. At this price point, I wouldn’t think a small display would be out of the question.

   A nice touch, though, is a bright white led under the spout to illuminate the inside of your cup as the coffee is dispensed. I really like this so I can see what’s going on. For example, an “Americano” brews and dispenses an Espresso first, then the internal machine ejects the coffee grounds and runs another 4ish ounces of hot water through the same spout to dilute the espresso and make your typical cup of coffee. This whole process seems like two separate back-to-back brews and if you catch the machine between, you might pull the cup before it’s done. The light helps you see that the cup isn’t full yet so you can give it some more time to finish.

   Details – Typical Maintenance & Refills

   Adding coffee beans is as easy as you’d expect; just pull off the lid and pour in the beans. The water tank is kinda odd, though. There is a freely hinged top lid that pulls the tank up and out of the body of the unit. The water tank fits in one direction, but the “fill to here” line is printed on the back side of the tank. You might think that it would be printed on the front in the same orientation as you would install it.

   The WiFi and App enable notifications like when the water tank needs a refill. Since the tank is fully enclosed in the machine’s body, you would otherwise have to lift the lid and remove the tank to check the water level. The app will send you a push notification when the tank needs a refill, but there may not be enough water for your last cup before you get that notice. I prefer being able to see the water level visually, or at least getting that push notification early enough that I can be assured that my cup will have enough water to finish. By the way, I seem to get two separate but similar notifications when I pull the water tank to refill it – perhaps this can be fixed on the server end?

   When it comes time to empty the used coffee grounds and drip tray; both are easily accessed from the front of the machine. The drip tray magnetically attaches to the front and is easy enough to pull off and rinse in the sink. The used coffee grounds are dumped in an internal bin that you get to it by sliding a drawer out the front of the machine. I have another competing espresso machine with a similar layout and like this machine’s implementation a bit more.

   Conclusion:

   Overall, this espresso machine makes some seriously good coffee beverages. It is generally attractive on your countertop and its nice to not need expensive and wasteful pods. Typical maintenance and refills could be easier, but it’s not a deal-breaker. The app is moderately useful but not essential after initial setup. There are a few odd design choices that mar an otherwise nice product. While this is not a perfect machine, competitor units are much more expensive so this is actually not a bad value for an otherwise good machine.

6. 

   RonH – January 28, 2022

   Rated 4 out of 5

   No, it’s a GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine.

   There is a lot to like about the GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine, and several areas of improvement.

   I’ve had numerous espresso machines, both automatic and manual so I was excited to try GE’s newest automatic model. I really like the concept of fully automatic (bean to cup) espresso makers – the convenience of just pressing a button and not having to fill/tamp/discard the grinds after each shot.

   The GE Profile is considered a compact machine and yes, it really does resemble a small computer tower. I’m not sure about compactness, it’s about as wide as a regular coffee maker and about twice as deep. It fits nicely under cabinets however placing it under a cabinet requires you pull it out to refill the water and bean container. The waste ground container empties easily from the front of the unit and the brewing mechanism is on the left hand side.

   Unboxing was simple but used too much styrofoam – I would have preferred cardboard packing materials. Setting up the machine was as easy as filling beans and water and plugging the unit in. Every time you turn the unit on it does a rinse cycle. You can place a cup under both spouts and use the rinse to warm the cup or just let it go into the drip tray. Customizing the settings, yes, there’s an app for that – and you need it. I guess GE assumes that if you can afford this machine, you can also afford a smartphone.

   Making your beverage is as simple as pressing a button. The machine grinds the beans, tamps them, brews a shot then discards the puck into the waste bin. Making your beverage taste the way you want can take some work. The machine offers Espresso, Americano, My Brew, Hot Water and Steam buttons on the top of the unit along with warning lights directly behind to tell you to add water, stir the beans, empty the waste container, check the brew unit and rinsing. The brew spout is adjustable and also has a light to light the cup and a ring of lights on the top to let you know what it’s doing.

   A word of warning: Beans
   If your selected brand of coffee beans has any oil on them at all this machine will choke. The instructions mention multiple times not to use oily beans so take heed, they mean it. Also, unlike my previous automatic machine, there is no access to the grinder for cleaning like there is to the brew unit.

   Once you find a bean that works and you’ve determined the grind size with the knob, you have to move to the app to determine the amount of grind time and water to suit your taste. You can also change some of the defaults of grind time and water dispensed with other beverages as well.

   Using the app, you can program the My Brew button to make your customized beverage of choice. Unlike many espresso makers, the GE Profile only makes a single shot at a time – there is no double gounds/double water setting. You can however use the My Brew feature to have it make a single, double or triple shot espresso it just does them one after the other. My Brew will also do Lungo, Ristretto and Red Eye. You can not use the My Brew feature to stack drinks like do a triple shot then an Americano, a feature I would love to see added. I have My Brew set to triple shot and the first shot is always short. The other thing I couldn’t find in the app was where to adjust the brew temperature. Since receiving this espresso machine there have been two software updates. Both have gone smoothly but my customizations were erased and needed to be redone.

   This model has the steam wand and does come with a frothing pitcher. You can set the length of time for steam in the app then just press the Steam button to froth your milk for cappuccinos. It worked as expected and pumped plenty of steam.

   After you brew eight shots, the machine tells you it’s time to empty the waste bin. This is easy but does require removal of the magnetic drip tray to access the drawer.

   Like all espresso machines, it takes some trial and error to get the coffee you like and the GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine is no different.

   The GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine can make a decent cup of espresso. Oily beans are problematic for any grinder but this machine seems to handle them especially poorly. I don’t like that you have to use an app to configure the machine, I don’t like the short first shot when set as “My Brew” and I don’t like that there is no X2 feature. I give it four stars and would recommend it to a friend.

7. 

   Goncho – January 28, 2022

   Rated 5 out of 5

   >> Overview
   The GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine (with 20 bars of pressure) is the first coffee machine I’ve ever owned which I can say extracts the taste and aroma of your coffee beans to the highest level, it produces some of the best tasting coffee I’ve tried. I think it is mainly because of the pressure it is applied while brewing. I would give the device 5 stars just because of this, I am in awe of how good the coffee tastes (even if I add more water or milk to it). You can prepare espresso or americano, and even set your own preferred preparation, plus it comes with a frother to add steam and extra water if needed. The default settings for espresso and americano and for the other options work just fine for me; however, you can customize all of them using the Smart HQ App from GE, which is one of the first things you’d want to do to get the best results.
   – Pros: automatic, easy to operate, espresso and americano options, frother, customizable with App, high pressure, space saver.
   – Cons: none so far.

   >> Set up and first use
   The espresso machine is heavy and comes tightly and securely packed. It can easily join your other devices on your kitchen counter as it is slim (it has a space saver design). After unpacking the device, it is worth copying the Wi-Fi password that is on the back of the device as you’ll need it later (if you are placing the device where the back is not easily accessible). Next, follow the quick setup guide that comes in the box, but make sure you follow the first-use sequence properly, I mistakenly went from step 1 to 5 directly (browsing vertically), so I got to power the machine before replacing the water tank with water.
   After placing the water tank full of water in the espresso machine, and before powering it up, make sure that the frother is pointing down to the drip tray or have a container ready to hold a few blasts of water that come from the frother and spout, as the espresso machine automatically rinses soon after being turned on. When rinsing, the “Rinsing” light will come up, and don’t be fooled, it’ll take about 25 secs before you are surprised with a blast of water and steam. I wet the tablecloth because I had the frother pointing away the bottom drip tray. This would be my only complaint, and it is my opinion that the device spills a little too much water/steam when rinsing and with the frother pointing a little to the side, it can create a mess (well the manufacturer knows better).
   After having it all in place, place some coffee beans on the machine, choose the grinding size, and start preparing your first espresso!

   >> GE Smart HQ App
   Although I was fine with the default configuration and mode of operation of the device, I was expecting some other buttons to customize griding time and volume, and so I feared it lacked customization capabilities; well, I noticed the “My brew” button with a Wi-Fi label on it and I thought that maybe there was hope. Indeed, you can customize the machine settings using the Smart HQ App from GE. Using the application, besides being able to change the default values on the buttons, you can choose your own special coffee preparation. I should stress, get the App for your device as soon as you can to configure the machine to your needs. In my case, I have only changed the “My brew” option and I have left the other ones intact as I think GE did a good job at setting the defaults (at least for my taste).
   The only curious thing that happened during the Smart HQ App setup was that it took a while to configure and connect the device (it was three tries before it was able to connect/detect the device). I would say to just follow the instructions in the App (and you’ll need the device’s WiFi password at this point) and in a couple of tries, you should have access to the Espresso machine and its settings. The software is neat and easy to use, and I have even applied one update to the device in the few days I’ve been using it.

   >> Dark or lighter roasted beans
   I mostly use dark roasted coffee beans for all my coffee preparations, I like my coffee to be strong, flavorful, and aromatic. The GE Espresso machine is by far the one device that has been able to extract that flavor and aroma from those coffee beans that other devices have not. However, I read in the GE Espresso manual that it is not recommended to use only oily coffee beans that usually come from darker ones as they will adversely affect the lifetime of the espresso machine. Given my experience with this device and the recommendation provided, I don’t mind exploring lighter roasted and less oily coffee beans (experiment with new flavors and aromas).

   >> Finer or coarser grind
   There is a mechanism in the bean container that you can use to adjust the griding size. I would have thought that having a finer grain was better than a coarser one, but I found that at least for my dark roasted beans, medium size brings the most taste out of it. I plan on experimenting with other bean roasts and grind sizes in the coming weeks.

   >> Other observations
   – The temperature the coffee comes out is hot but not too hot. If you are the kind of person that wants very hot coffee, you’ll need to microwave it (or add boiling water to it).
   – Although I haven’t cleaned up the machine yet, I am glad it comes with its own cleaning supplies.
   – The Disposal tray and box need to get emptied and cleaned somehow too frequently, although there is some space left on the Disposal Box, the machine will notify you that you need to empty it.
   – The frother doesn’t really point directly to the hole in the drip tray (it is a little rotated to the side), so you have to be ready to have a container or with your hand force it to point downwards when the machine is rinsing. This has been one of the only couple of inconveniences I’ve found with this device.
   – Be careful when moving the machine when it is on, it is easy to press the top buttons and spill some water on the table/counter. Perhaps having the buttons at the front would have been a better idea?
   – When using the steamer, make sure you wait until the light starts flashing, also, have the steamer point downwards since it rinses a little bit.

8. 

   Idoc – January 29, 2022

   Rated 5 out of 5

   GE Profile – Automatic Espresso Machine
   GE’s new automatic espresso machine is a sleek looking appliance that looks great in any kitchen or home Espresso bar! With a slim profile it does not take a lot of counter space. The Grinder has an adjustable conical burr grinder with a top loading bean hopper. The water tank is removable and easy to fill. The unit comes with 2 preset settings Espresso and Americano and a my brew setting that can be set for a customized volume up to 5.5 ml and a customized brewing time. There are also buttons for steam and hot water. The custom setting are accessed through the SmatHQ app for Android or IOS. You use the app to connect the espresso maker to WiFi the app then accesses the settings on the espresso maker. You can also update the firmware which mine did. With Alexa and Google Home you can control the espresso maker. The buttons are sensitive and can be pressed accidentally until you get used to them.
   The brewer has 20 bars of pressure to give a great espresso with a good crema. With the Milk Frother you can make awesome cappuccino or Latte drinks.
   The brewer is fast brewing a cup in about 15 seconds.
   With it’s modern design and slim profile GE has made a great superautomatic espresso brewer that will be at home with any kitchen size or décor.

9. 

   JStory17 – January 29, 2022

   Rated 5 out of 5

   I wouldn’t call myself a coffee drinker, but that was before I starting working from home.
   Now, I need at least one cup of coffee in the morning to get through the day.

   Making coffee is simple enough, but the GE Automatic Espresso makes it easier.
   Fill the water tank, add coffee beans, froth the milk and your hot cup of espresso is done.
   You have to play with the settings to make the coffee specifically how you like it, but once you figure it out, you’re good to go.

   The one lesson I learned from my previous espresso machine is: KEEP IT CLEAN.
   Read the manual thoroughly to avoid having the machine break down. A little upkeep once a week will be worth it in the long run.

   Almost every new appliance has Wi-Fi. At first, I didn’t understand the reason why the espresso machine would have Wi-Fi, but I understand now. I’ve had two firmware updates since I’ve received it. You can also adjust the auto turnoff, the water hardness and the froth timeout.

   So far, I can’t find any negatives to say about this espresso machine. It’s compact, and the only time it’s somewhat loud is during the milk froth.

10. 

    MommyMay – January 31, 2022

    Rated 5 out of 5

    This espresso maker makes yummy espresso and the frother is great! I love that you can froth and warm your milk separately on its own setting. The milk frothing pitcher is a perfect size to make enough frothed milk for a few cups of coffee. The coffee spout can move up and down to adjust to your coffee cup size. It will not move high enough to adjust to the oversized coffee cups I own but I’m okay with that. The coffee grinding settings is easy to adjust and I love that the instructions briefly explain what the grind settings mean. When I first got an espresso maker a few years ago, there was no explanation on what the numbers mean so I had to look it up myself. Not really that big of a deal, but it is helpful to know.

    I made about 5 cups of espresso and 5 americanos and had to clean the coffee reservoir once and fill up the water reservoir twice. That is not bad since I won’t make espresso daily but a few times a week or when it gets warmer, and I make iced coffee at home. I love that there are not buttons, the top part lights up when you plug in the machine to show where you need to press to make espresso, americano, steam, etc. It fits perfectly next to our coffee maker on our coffee cart and does not take up much space. The instructions were easy to follow and the machine to get up and running.

11. 

    EthanH – January 31, 2022

    Rated 4 out of 5

    When I think of Espresso machine manufacturers, GE doesn’t naturally come to mind. I associate GE with appliances and automobiles.

    In the end, it doesn’t really matter who is manufacturing the machine, as long as it makes a really good espresso/coffee drinks, then it’s a winner.

    What caught my eye was the design of the Profile. From the front it looks quite compact. When you view it from the side, you realize that it’s not that compact after all. In my situation, I had the Profile set up in my home office since I already have a conventional espresso maker in the kitchen.

    The material of the body is a nice piano glossy finish. It makes me think that it’s going to be a non stop finger print magnet. 

    What you get out of the box are the coffee maker obviously, a drop tray, a milk pitcher, a scrub brush, some cleaning tools, and inserts.

    After giving the major components a quick clean and rinse, it’s time to make the some coffee.

    The pro of something being compact and smaller than its count parts is that it fits in tighter spaces. The con is that you find yourself refilling the necessary items to make the coffee. In this case, since I have coffee quite often, I found myself refilling both the hopper and water tank quite often. Also, it’s actually not as compact as the front of the machine would indicate. Still, not as large as a conventional espresso machine.

    As with most technology devices these days, there’s an app that you can pair with the espresso machine because why not. The app allows you to customize your coffee and grind.

    The Profile itself has presets that you can press to get some of the basic espresso drinks.

    One of the best features of course is the built in grinder. One can see that this is probably why the machine is quite hefty. You have the hopper which holds the beans and the grinder. The whole beans stay fresh in the hopper. (I did a silly test by closing the hopper and doing my best to detect the scent of the beans, and surprisingly, I could not, meaning that the cover does a great job of sealing in freshness).

    Once the espresso is made, the compact espresso grounds are ejected into the small collector. You simply dispose of them and that’s it.

    Now for the coffee itself. Would I consider myself a coffee snob? Somewhat to yes… I stopped drinking drip coffee a long time ago, my French press hasn’t been used in almost five years, and got rid of my pod coffee maker two years ago. It’s either an espresso machine or the pour over method for me these days. I will say this about the Profile, it makes a pretty good espresso. Choosing the right grind setting and temperature is the key to getting the best balance and flavor, and the Profile comes very close to more expensive machines out there; my own included.

    The milk frothier attachment isn’t something that has ever thrilled me as separate device or as an attachment on a machine, and this is no different. It’s there for people who want a cappuccino, or a mocha, or whatever, but for me, they always go unused. It does an adequate job getting the milk to be foamy, but not as foamy as you would see at your local café.

    All in all, it’s a great machine that delivers great espresso, easy to clean up, and looks good. The nitpicks are that the plastic tabs that keeps the handle of the water tank attached to the container is quite flimsy, and the hopper is quite small.

12. 

    ShoppingNinja – January 31, 2022

    Rated 4 out of 5

    The GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine is an excellent addition for any kitchen and especially well suited if your counter space is limited. Its eye-catching all-black design is sleek and modern-looking. The buttons are on top of the unit in a touch screen design. It’s really slick looking, but be careful not to touch them by mistake when moving it. Due to its height, many people will have to move it for each use. It’s going to depend on your space and clearance. While it’s a bit of a fingerprint magnet, a quick wipe down after use, and you’re good to go. It’s a minimal machine that performs like a big machine, with a built-in bean hopper and grinder, catch bin for used coffee grounds, a steamer, and frothier all in one. It has a good-sized 40 oz. water reservoir, so you don’t have to add water with every use. I had a wonderful latte on my first test cup. I expected a funny taste like most machines have on the first cup, but this one was great. The booklet had some good tips about using the machine and what beans to use. For example, they recommend against oily beans because they can jam up the unit. Like pretty much all devices these days, it has a smart app. It was straightforward to use without the Smart App connected. But apparently, you need it connected to change specific settings, like the “my brew” button (your preferred brew) and the default brew size. Overall, I’m thrilled with this espresso maker, and I look forward to daily lattes from now on.

13. 

    Chuck – February 1, 2022

    Rated 4 out of 5

    I love coffee, so I decided to try this product when I had the chance. The unit is sleek and has a very modern look, and although it takes up a bit of counter space, it doesn’t have an overly huge footprint, especially given that it’s storing and grinding beans. Setup was straight forward, mainly just removing packing/shipping material, putting the drip tray in place, rinsing/filling the water reservoir, adding beans and selecting the coarseness of the grind, and plugging in the power cord. Everything was fine until I turned the power on and the unit went thru its rinse procedure. During this step, heated water is passed through the steam wand as well as the coffee dispenser. I hadn’t noticed the steam wand on my unit wasn’t pointing straight down, but was instead pointing a bit to the right, so when the water was expelled, instead of it passing through the hole in the drip tray directly beneath the wand, it hit beside the hole and splattered all over the counter and stove top. I tried straightening the wand, but since I thought I’d break something, I contacted GE support and was told to twist the wand to the left until it was in the correct position. I’ve done this repeatedly, but the wand slowly wanders back into the ‘askew’ position over time. The wand rotates out to the side of the machine for easier use, and kind of locks when it gets to the max position, so I would think the same would hold true for the ‘home’ position. Other than that one issue, the machine works great, and the coffee it makes is very tasty. The control buttons are all located along the top edge of the unit and illuminated white once the power is on. You can select either Espresso, Americano, or you can set up your own customized settings to deliver a specified volume and strength. Once a drink is selected, there’s a colored light ring on the coffee dispenser that gives visual feedback as to what’s happening and how much time is left to completion. There’s also an led under the dispenser that allows you to see the mug. I found this helpful if the kitchen wasn’t fully lit in the evening. Cleanup is surprisingly simple. The used coffee is held in a removeable bin behind the drip tray, and both are easily removeable as is the steam wand. The brewer itself is accessed from a panel on the left side and is held in place with locking tabs that are easily depressed to allow the brewer to be removed for cleaning. I’ve been enjoying experimenting with different grinds, amounts of water, and steamed milk, trying to find the perfect cup.

    Overall, I’m quite pleased with this product. It’s attractive, doesn’t take up a ton of counter space for the functions it provides, and it makes great coffee. The only nit I’ll pick is with the steam wand. If you’re charging north of $700 for your product, with all its bells and whistles, why not make sure something as simple as a water outlet pipe locks in the correct position? As it is, the machine is still a solid 4 out of 5, and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for an espresso machine.

14. 

    Kris1973 – February 5, 2022

    Rated 4 out of 5

    This little espresso maker has completely changed my morning coffee routine. I’m a coffee snob and, until now, was making my morning cup with an Aeropress and hand ground coffee. Now I can make any number of espresso drinks, including an Americano with the push of a button.

    The coffee this machine makes is absolutely fantastic and without all the grinding and tamping and everything else that goes along with a standard coffee making ritual. Fill it with beans and water, plug it in, go through a short setup and you have a home barista without the need to tip.

    So why didn’t I give it five stars? I really wanted to, but three minor things added up to hold me back:

    First: It’s a pain to refill the water if you have to place the machine under a cabinet. You have to lift the container up and out, an impossibility if there’s a cabinet over it. If you have a space to put it without anything overhead this is a non-issue.

    Second: The frother nozzle on my unit doesn’t point directly down when you twist it back after using it. This is *almost* a completely cosmetic issue except:

    Third: If you’ve left the espresso maker unused for a little while, it will go into “Rinsing” mode when you re-activate it, running a small amount of water through the espresso and frother nozzles. There is a drip tray that would catch this rinse water… unless the nozzle doesn’t point straight down.

    My solution: I have a taller frothing cup that I put under the nozzles when I use the machine first thing in the morning that catches the rinse water, solving issues two and three.

    If I could, I’d give this little espresso maker 4.8 stars. I love it and it has changed my coffee routine for the better. I have to stop myself from making espresso around the clock.

15. 

    zboot – February 7, 2022

    Rated 4 out of 5

    The GE Profile Automatic Espresso machine is a great kitchen appliance for those looking to get a quick cup of espresso without needing to do much setup and without needing to leave the comforts of home. The Espresso machine has a solid design, looks to be well built, and made from premium materials. Unpacking it, I did not get the sense that this was made cheaply or would have issues. The interface is pretty simple, a set of touch sensitive buttons running along the top front face of the unit. There’s a front dispenser for espresso and even a milk frother. If there’s any critique I have of the looks, it’s that the unit, almost exclusively aside from the frother, is black plastic. I think some chrome/aluminum highlights would go a long with with giving this a much more premium look (it already has the feel) without adding more cost or heft to the product. It takes up just slightly more kitchen counter space than an electric kettle. Yes, it is bigger than a kettle, but given that you don’t usually stack things right above a kettle, the effective footprint isn’t that different. While the presence of an app suggests there’s more hidden functionality, in practice, the app pretty much just replicates everything you’d get on the on-device touchscreen and the only added functionality is the ability to micro adjust the amount of espresso produced.

    Setup is relatively straightforward to get things ready for that quick, one touch auto espresso production. Fill up the water tank, then power it ON so it runs through a cleaning cycle where it runs hot water through the machine (and thus onto the drip tray). Open up the top lid to fill the coffee beans. It has a rubber seal so you’d want to press a bit to make sure it closes. But that looks like it forms a good seal and so the beans should stay fresh in there until you get around to making a shot. Note, the grind size control is under this lid, so you’d likely want to experiment a bit to determine the size you want, then you can leave the lid on with the exception of when you need to refill beans. While there’s an LED notification for various things which could be needed (more water, more beans), I’m relatively confident I’ll never memorize them all and it’s just easier to look at the indications under the text on the top. Maybe this is another place the app provides some added value. The machine has on-board buttons for two sizes (espresso and americano) and a button to just dispense hot water (so you don’t need to keep that electric kettle). And like mentioned before, you can set it to use the app to control dispensed coffee volume to finer granularity.

    I was pleased with the taste and texture of the espresso produced, especially after tweaking bean grind size (it turned out the original setting was best, but I needed to be sure). I tried out the milk frother and it works but this isn’t really something I use that much, so can’t speak to it. I expect my coffee drinking friends who visit will make more use of it than I. It’s certainly a nice to have feature. In all, I think this is a solid device, well designed, with few things where I’d tweak the design.

16. 

    bkelly217 – February 7, 2022

    Rated 5 out of 5

    The GE Profile automatic espresso machine is a great option if you’re looking for an at-home option for making coffee shop drinks right at home. It’s very user friendly and easy to use.
    The box includes the espresso machine and milk frothing cup as well as set up instructions and there is an app to control your machine right from your phone.
    There is a water tank on top and your whole beans go right in the top of the machine. There is also basket on the side that takes care of the espresso waste. It comes with an espresso setting, americano, my brew, steam, and hot water. I typically use the americano if I want something closer to a standard cup of coffee. Compared to other espresso machines, this one is so much easier to use as it automatically pulls your espresso shots for you. The frother can be used with any type of milk or even apple juice for a hot cider. The frother is also removable so you can clean it to remove milk residue. A great feature is that every time you turn it on it rinses but the espresso puller and the frother for you. The build is super slim so it fits easily on my counter top next to my regular coffee maker.

17. 

    argamando – February 7, 2022

    Rated 5 out of 5

    If you are searching for an espresso machine that is appealing to the eye and makes an impeccable cup of Joe, then the GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine should be on your radar.

    While a bit on the pricier side of things when it comes to at-home brewing systems, the GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine works extremely well. One of the things that I enjoy about this machine is that it is truly automatic when it comes to making espresso or Americanos. All you have to do is keep the bean hopper full of coffee beans, and the machine handles the rest.

    DESIGN
    While pretty basic, sitting on the counter as a large black rectangle, the machine is minimalistic in appearance and looks nice. When turned on, its appearance is immediately upgraded when the touch-sensitive buttons appear and the light ring around the main pour spout turn on. When the machine is actually dispensing your drink, there is a light that shines under the spout into your cup, so that is also pretty cool. I’m not really a fan of the glossy front surface because it develops swirls quickly, even when using the included cleaning cloth. The rest of the matte black appearance on the top and sides does not really leave finger prints, and overall looks nice. I wish there were stainless steel accents, or perhaps a plastic silver or graphite design option. It would perhaps provide additional flare to this espresso machine.

    OPERATION
    The GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine is very simple to use. All you have to do is keep the water tank filled with water, keep the coffee bean hopper filled with coffee beans, and have a cup ready to be filled. There are a series of touch-sensitive buttons along the top of the machine that light up when its turned on, allowing you to select a setting. The light ring on the pour spout lights up in an array of colors to let you know what the machine is doing or what it needs (see user manual for legend on what each color means).

    By default, you can select Espresso, Americano, “My Brew”, Steamer, and Hot Water. The first three come out of the pour spout, where the steam function (for milk-frothing) and hot water both use the steaming wand. The My Brew option works in conjunction with the SmartHQ app where you can access other types of espresso drinks, including Ristretto, Doppio, Triple Espresso, Red Eye, and Lungo. The app also allows you to adjust the default grind and volume settings for the Espresso and Americano buttons.

    DISLIKES
    The steaming wand does not seem to position all the way to the left often, so when the machine is first turned on and it goes through its rinse cycle, if you’re not careful, the steaming wand will do it’s thing and spray water everywhere. The reason is because the wand is not all the way to the left for the ejected water to go into the drip tray. Instead, it hits the top of the drip tray, causing the water to splatter/spray everywhere. I thought it would improve, but after a month of use, I still have to try to push it all the way down to ensure it doesn’t make a mess. While not exactly a big deal, it is still somewhat annoying. This could largely be avoided if the drip tray was entirely a grill instead of just two openings under the main and steaming wand spouts.

    As large as the machine is, and seemingly lots of empty space inside, specially the interior drip and waste container trays, I feel like GE could have done something different to make more efficient use of space to allow for a larger water tank. If doing nothing but espressos, the water tank will suffice, but if you are pouring larger amounts of Americanos or something like that, then you will always be needing to fill the water tank.

    I still have not mastered the art of figuring out pour size. I continue to play with the settings, but I wish it were easier to specify the specific amount of output for espressos and Americanos. While the SmartHQ app does help a bit with the espresso setting, I have still yet to completely understand the specific Americano output setting. I need to get a measuring cup and play with it some more to find the right setting.

    LIKES/OVERALL CONCLUSION
    What I like most about the GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine is that it looks attractive and uses coffee beans to create a delicious cup of espresso-based drinks at home. It is a far better solution, and more eco-friendly, than pod-based systems from like Kureg and Nespresso. There are other machines in the market at this price range that provide a bit more up-front beverage functions without having to use an app. Be sure to shop around before coming to a decision. With that said, I am happy with the GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine, and I am positive you will be as well.

18. 

    Alex – February 11, 2022

    Rated 5 out of 5

    This is a very nice super automatic machine

    What’s in the box: metal milk frothing mug, user manual, water hardness test strip and a few descaling packets.

    Setup: very easy: wash the water container, add beans and plug it in. If you don’t want to customize anything, you’re done. Push one of the few options to make an espresso shot, get hot water or turn on the steamer. If you want to customize the drinks, the easiest way is to connect the unit to WiFi, and set up the app. This is very easy to do, and once done – you can make custom brews such as make a cup of regular (as regular as you can get), or tweak the other settings to customize how you would like.

    Use: also very easy and intuitive. Turn it on and it will do a self rinse. Then push the button corresponding to the drink you want. It will grind the beans and make a nice shot of espresso, or cup of coffee, for you.

    Cleanup: there isn’t much to do. The drip tray is held in by magnets, so it’s very easy to remove to rinse out. The brew unit is easy to remove and clean out excess coffee grounds and gunk that builds up over time.

    Overall: this lacks some of the high end features that more expensive super automatics have, but if this has the brew features you use, this is a great unit to buy!

19. 

    CraigB – March 17, 2022

    Rated 4 out of 5

    Pros
    Compact design
    Clean look with buttons that disappear
    Simple after setup
    Consistent results
    Quiet
    Works with large cups
    Can be improved with software updates
    Sealed bean Hopper
    Built-in cup light
    Water tank works perfect for GE refrigerators
    Good quality milk froth

    Cons
    Doesn’t work well darker beans
    Limited grind selection
    No grinder bypass
    No easy way to clean grinder
    No easy way to empty beans
    Can run out of water mid brew
    Cannot be set above 198°
    Awkward angle of steam wand
    Not stainless steel like the rest of the Profile line

    Design
    The GE Profile Fully Automatic Espresso Machine has a sleek black minimalistic design. The unit has made an almost entirely out of black plastic with a matte finish around and a glossy finish in the front. The only stainless-steel part is a covering of the steam wand. While attractive, it seems a bit of a strange design choice considering the rest of the GE Profile line is stainless steel. Controls are touch sensitive buttons hidden underneath the plastic on top. When off, only the power and Wi-Fi button are visible. Other options, such as status and brew buttons, only light up when needed. The water tank is removable and fits perfectly inside the water dispenser of a GE refrigerator. The coffee bean hopper has a seal to help keep the air out, slowing oxidation of beans. On top of the brew head is a color changing status light that shows you the status of the brew. Beneath the brew head a light that turns on when brewing allowing you to see the brew in process

    Setup and Performance
    While the unit can be used straight out of the box, it is best to set it up in the app. This allows you to fully configure the machine and install updates. In fact, shortly after setting up the device an update was available that added new features, improved brew quality, and fixed some quirks of the way it operated. Hopefully GE continues to improve it further. The app currently allows you to set different settings for temperature, grind time, and brew volume for each type of brew. The machine has a dedicated espresso, Americano, and a custom My Brew button. The My Brew button allows you to assign one custom brew such as a Ristretto, Doppio, Triple, Red Eye, or Lungo. While it’s nice to see the app allow more customization, it would be nice if GE added a little bit more flexibility. For example, brew temperature maxes out at 198° and on most settings only has two temperature options. If possible, it would be nice if there was an option to go up to as much as 204°. Sometimes after brewing at the max of 198° the coffee is lukewarm after adding creamer. This makes for a perfect temperature to drink immediately it does not allow much time before the coffee becomes too cold to drink.

    While not marketed at coffee connoisseurs, some may so find it worthwhile. Espresso might not be as strong or full bodied as from experience barista, but the results are still very good with little more than the press the button. Once you have your settings dialed in, the results should be consistent and enjoyable for those times when you just want a decent espresso with little fuss. Admittedly, the steam wand is awkward to use and feels a bit cheap, but the froth it produces is good quality with micro bubbles. Strangely, after using the steam wand you must move it back-and-forth several times in for it to properly upright again and point into the drip tray.

    One nice feature is that if you have a GE fridge, the espresso machine water tank fits perfectly in the water dispenser of the fridge. The bean hopper is easy to fill and has a seal to slow oxidation of the beans, so they last longer. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to empty the beans and no bypass if you would like a single cup using different beans. Not a dealbreaker, but not great for those who love to change brews regularly. Inside the bean hopper is the grind size adjustment. In usage, the finest grind setting always produced the best result and the machine never struggled to extract the shot properly at this setting. Possibly the only exceptions are dark roast beans and beans with a flavor added that creates a sticky coating on the beans. This causes the beans to stick while feeding in the grinder and result in poor shot quality. Once you figure out which beans and settings work best for you, most of the time having an espresso or Americano is as easy as pressing a button.

    Probably one of the most underrated features is how quiet it operates. Anyone who’s ever been in a coffee shop knows how loud the machines can be. This machine, even during grinding, is barely louder than some regular coffee machines. No need to wake the rest the family to have your favorite fresh ground morning brew. It’s also far easier and simpler for guests to use.

    Beyond underrated features GE didn’t seem to even market other functions. For instance, with the steam wand it can make cappuccinos, espressos, and flat whites. Almost nothing is mentioned in any of the materials and no instructions are given on how to create these drinks. This could be easily remedied by adding how-to videos on their YouTube channel and possibly adding them in the app.

    While this machine does take a lot of the guesswork out of the process, it isn’t without quirks. For instance, the low water sensor stops the early when there’s enough water to finish. Hopefully a software update can fix this, but currently, it might stop the espresso shot before completion saying add water when enough is left. After filling, it will continue even though it’s been sitting causing the shot to taste off. There is also a sensor that indicates when too few beans were ground into the shot, but so far that has not been triggered even when no coffee was ground. While not a dealbreaker, it does take away from the smart aspect of this machine slightly.

    Maintenance is straightforward. The machine lets you know it needs to be descaled or grounds empty. Most of the time all you need to do is pull out the tray and dump it in the trash. Occasionally, it may require more thorough cleaning with the included cleaning brush. However, the brush doesn’t get all the debris. There is a spot that the brush can’t clean, and you can’t quite reach with your fingers that collects grounds. Sometimes it prevents the waste tray from going back in. This is easily fixed with a handheld vacuum and crevice wand, but GE should include a better cleaning tool or design the space slightly different.

    Final Thoughts
    Overall, the GE Fully Automatic Espresso Machine removes a lot of the complication out of espresso. If you wanted a simple way to have more of your favorite coffee shop drinks at home without adding too much complexity this machine might be a great fit. Just be prepared to look beyond the manual if you would like to take full advantage of this machine.

20. 

    IBEWSuper – March 19, 2022

    Rated 5 out of 5

    For the past two weeks I’ve been absolutely addicted to making espressos in my new GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine. In my house coffee is a big deal; we drink coffee every day at least twice a day, and we’re always looking to add new coffee tech. Setting up the Automatic Espresso Machine was really easy, the instructions are very user friendly. You basically add water to the water tank, and add coffee beans to the grinder (which has adjustable settings) and you’re ready! You can choose from espresso, americano, a personalized brew, steam, or hot water. I am loving the hot water function because I don’t really enjoy boiling water every time I want to make tea, so having a hot water dispenser is a life changer for me convenience wise!
    Now, back to the “steam” setting: let me tell you about the frother… it makes me feel so fancy every time I use it! my coffee is so creamy and smooth! I love adding cream to my espresso and since all the holiday flavors are still out I’m so excited to froth peppermint, pumpkin spice, sugar cookie… all the creamers! The GE Profile Automatic Espresso Machine can also rinse itself! It makes me feel better to know that the machine is clean and I’m not getting any yucky residue in my drinks. I really am so in love with my espresso machine! I hope it lasts me forever because using it is definitely the favorite part of my day and I love the $15 a day I have saved at Starbucks.

21. 

    Ilovecoffee – July 4, 2023

    Rated 5 out of 5

    I had bought this expresso coffee machine for few months. The coffee come out great, so far. The cappuccino is also good. This isn’t only an expresso e cappuccino machine, but it also makes American coffee. So you have everything in one machine. I will recommend it. Hopefully it last in good condition for at least 5 years since is so expensive.

22. 

    Ahmad – January 11, 2024

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Easy to setup and use. App controlls are good. I wish the water could be hotter.

23. 

    JtotheP – January 13, 2024

    Rated 1 out of 5

    I truly dont like leaving negative reviews unless absolutely necessary and in this case it is. Initially we had the Café version of this machine and it was solid. It gave out after 18 months and we secided to replace with this GE Profile cousin. Awful machine. It took over an hour to connect to wifi. Then once that was finalized it never brewed a coffee to the specifications we set it at. Every selection even after setting it to the highest grind times and Finest grind was an awful cup. Please know that it will not work unless you set it up to wifi and control it on the app. You cannot change aettings on machine and that’s unfortunate. Its a nice looking machine but the final product is far from practical.