My wife and I bought this machine about 2 years ago, and it has held up nicely over time. It’s proven to be a simple, reliable alternative to going out to buy coffees and lattes from coffee shops, which is perfect since we work from home pretty much all the time. We’ve got 3 adults in our house and on average drink 5-6 total cups per day, and we so far haven’t run into any major problems.
One issue I had at first was that the coffee wasn’t as strong as I was used to (I tend to like it pretty strong), but it’s still good coffee. You can make drinks stronger by adjusting how fine the grounds are with a little knob in the bean compartment at top, but I didn’t start messing with this until very recently. You can only adjust in small increments while the grinder is active to avoid damaging it.
This machine is good for guests who want to make and customize their own individual drinks, though there is a small learning curve for first-time users. Once they know how to use it, they often comment how cool it is, and some have said they’d like to get one too (if it weren’t so expensive).
Maintenance is fairly simple: You have to change the water filter every few months, rinse the easily removable “brew group” every week or two, and apply grease to it every couple months. The only problem I had was reinstalling the brew group for the first time (there’s a little yellow switch on the side that needs to be in the right position). There was also one time we didn’t change the water filter while the replacement light was flashing (it gave us plenty of notice; we just procrastinated too much), so we had to buy a special descaling fluid to clean it out before we could use it again.
Yes, the machine can get loud, but I haven’t met a coffee grinder or latte maker that was quiet. This machine’s noise level seems pretty standard to me.
There are a few little tricks to using and maintaining the machine so that you can get the most out of it, but so do most machines like this. Overall, I’d say it’s very easy to use and makes good drinks. The price is a bit high, and you also have to consider the added costs of buying whole-bean coffee and replacement water filters. But convenience like this often comes at a price, right? I would say it was worth it for us.
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From the manufacturer
 EP3241/54 |  EP3221/44 |  EP2220/14 |  EP2230/14 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Customer Reviews
|
5,526
|
2,092
|
23,105
|
753
|
|
Price
| $355.07 | $517.56 | $499.89 | $427.85 |
|
Series
| 3200 | 3200 | 2200 | 2200 |
|
Color
| Glossy Black | Glossy Black | Glossy Black | Black |
|
Beverages
| 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
|
Milk Solution
| LatteGo | Classic Pannarello | Classic Pannarello | LatteGo |
|
Display
| Touch | Touch | Touch | Touch |
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Aroma Extract System
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
|
100% Ceramic Grinders
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
|
AquaClean Filter
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Compare with similar items
This Item  PHILIPS Philips 3200 Series Fully Automatic Espresso Machine, LatteGo Milk Frother, 5 Coffee Varieties, Intuitive Touch Display, 100% Ceramic Grinder, AquaClean Filter, My Coffee Choice, Black (EP3241/54) | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $355.07 | -8% $549.00 Typical price: $599.00 | -8% $549.00 Typical price: $599.00 | $636.95 | -5% $499.89 Typical: $524.99 | $649.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 11 | — | — | Get it Apr 14 - 15 | — | Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 11 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | Amazon Resale | HouseholdGear | HouseholdGear | Triplenet Pricing INC | AMZDistributor(SN Recorded) | Amazon.com |
| capacity | 60 ounces | 60.8 ounces | 2 liters | 60 fluid ounces | 60 ounces | 1.8 liters |
| material | Plastic | Metal, Plastic | Ceramic | Plastic | Plastic | Ceramic |
| input interface | buttons | buttons | buttons | touch screen | touch screen | touch screen |
| voltage | — | 120 volts of alternating current | — | 120 volts | 220 volts | — |
| wattage | 1500 watts | 1200 watts | — | 1250 watts | 1200 watts | 1500 watts |
| model name | EP3241/54 | EP3241/74 | EP3246 | Magnifica Start | EP2220/14 | EP3326/90 |
2 year and 3 months of heavy use review. Oct 2022 - Dec 2024 review.
This is a review of the PHILIPS 3200 LatteGo Series Fully Automatic Coffee Machine Model EP3241/54 which I purchased new on October 1st of 2022. Revising and condensing an earlier review I had given to encompass the entire duration of my ownership. So 2 years and 3 months with this machine. For reference our usage…I drink on average 7 double “coffees” or “americano's” from the machine a day. My wife drinks an equal amount of single espressos from the machine per day as well. These I would say are minimums for us. We drink a lot of coffee and use this machine a lot every single day, so keep this in mind as you read below.Overall, my wife and I have been pretty satisfied by this purchase. Is this an expensive coffee machine? Yes, it is, it certainly was for us. Does the quality of the coffee and ease of use justify the expense? The answer is a fairly solid yes, with some caveats.This is a very hands on coffee maker. Its automatic yes, but for it to work “automatically” it needs very regular care and cleaning. “How to” YouTube videos are really going to be your best friend with this coffee maker. Just search for LatteGo or Phillips etc. you will find them. Most are worth the watch. There you will find all of the nitty gritty details you will need to upkeep this machine and to keep it working properly. To have a successful ownership of this machine you yourself will need to be comfortable with DIY activities – your going to need it. You will be disassembling this machine to various levels at many instances of time, you have to be comfortable with that. Its not easy at first taking apart at $800 coffee maker. But with the videos as reference and patience and common sense – you can do it. 80% of your upkeep activity will revolve around keeping the brew group clean and functioning. 10% will be keeping the brew group slides and the various orange o-rings in the unit, properly lubricated with food safe grease. The final 10% will be just overall sludge cleaning of the inside of the unit where the brew group sits, to keep that area clean.I would say minimum of once a week you need to give the brew group a very thorough soak and rinse in the sink. Fill the sink with hot water and add lots of dish soap to degrease the assembly of coffee oils and sludge which will build up in the unit. After letting the brew group sit in the water for 15 minutes or so, agitate it briskly in the water with your hand. This will get rid of most of the grime most of the time. Rinse and let dry.With a flashlight or headlamp inspect and clean the chamber where the brew group lives when its inserted into the machine. This area will build up a lot of sludge. You will not see all of the sludge without using the flashlight. The sludge is what causes weird issues to develop and for bad coffee taste.Very lightly grease the slides on the brew group from time to time so that the brew group can be exercised through its range of motion by hand without a lot of resistance. Very lightly grease any orange o-rings you will see in the unit.Every couple of months, your going to need to do a complete tear down of the brew group assembly and give it a very detailed cleaning. You Tube is your friend here.When you start noticing that you have large amounts of water in your drip tray. When you start noticing that your coffee pucks are not well formed well and relatively dry but instead are soggy sludgy masses. When you start noticing water on your counter underneath the coffee maker and around it. It’s time to replace the o-rings. There is a part called a boiler pin on your unit. See my picture, thats the boiler pin. This part has 2 visible orange o-rings on it and 2 o-rings on it which are only visible when you unscrew and remove this part from the unit. These are the culprits of your issue. Replace them. There is also a large o-ring on the main plunger found on the brew group, that too will need periodic replacing. I bought a o-ring kit on amazon (search for Phillips o-rink kits) and for $20 bucks it came with many sets of rings as well as tools to help remove the old rings. Watch You Tube videos on doing this. Pretty easy. Google Phillips boiler pin. I’ve replaced o-rings twice on my unit so far.Other things. While the built in LatteGo frother is “ok”, its not great. Its not going to generate your Starbucks quality milk froth. After about 9 months, we stopped using ours and instead bought a stand alone automated milk frother from amazon for under $40 dollars. Works very easily and milk froth is of much higher quality. The built in LatteGo frother is also pretty finicky and requires very regular cleaning to keep working. I would say skip that and immediately just buy a standalone frother, its much easier to use and keep clean in addition to make better froth. You will be much happier with the final outcome of your drinks. They will rival Starbucks in quality.If you do use your LatteGo built in frother and are getting weird results that cleaning just doesn’t seem to resolve, look to your milk as the culprit and not the machine. We have found that if our milk is not super fresh it will not froth. We had several times purchased the exact same half gallons of whole milk with the same expiration date. One froths normally and the other is a complete dud and will not froth. So if the machine is frustrating you just be mindful of the milk as sometimes it could be just that.All of this said, would we buy it again? Are we overall happy with it? Yes we are, but this machine is a bit finicky and does require very regular maintenance. As long as you are aware of that and are willing to do that maintenance, its worth the headache and price. Buy it if you like great home coffee.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2024
- Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2024
- Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2025
Top reviews from other countries
- A Guy in OntarioReviewed in Canada on July 15, 2023
A Coffee Lover's Dream Come True: Philips 3200 Series Espresso Machine Review
- Eric 88Reviewed in Canada on August 21, 2021
Simple and Fast to make cappuccino every morning
if you are considering this machine, I would like to share some of my experiences with you, pre-owner and new buyer. You might knew those tricks if you’ve read the manual.Eric 88Simple and Fast to make cappuccino every morning
Reviewed in Canada on August 21, 2021
my Little Summary of “Press and hold for 3 seconds” with the following buttons under “Power Off” are able to change some hidden feature settings …. suits EP3241/54
1) Aroma = Water Hardness Soft1>Hard4.
2) Quantity = Water Temperature Low>default>High.
3) Aqua = Activate Aqua-Filter.
4) Calc = Auto-off timer 15/30*/60/180mins.
5) Espresso = Restore factory setting.
6) Coffee = On/off panel Beep Sound.
this LatteGo automatic espresso machine is super easy to make cappuccino under 3 mins from power On. and Super easy to clean up too. It’s make noise but not really loud enough to wake anybody in the morning. It’s gave me really fast, tasty and creamy espresso as always.
if you knew how to use “Bypass” feature … “Press and hold 3’s ” on the “Pre-ground/Aroma” to bypass the grinder on Latte Macchiato can easily get “Hot Milk only” and same way to get “Foam Milk only” on Cappuccino.
so far, for the past 5 months I just have to refill coffee beans and fill up the water tank at the Front side when it’s empty.
Do “Maintains it” just take a minute to drain the drip tray and empty the bin after every use, and also took about 5-10mins to rinse the brew unit weekly.
Wait 5 seconds to “Reset the built-in counter” when took out the Drip tray under Power On as always. Otherwise it’s will keep LED remind you to empty the bin after every 8-10 shots.
The coffee spout is adjustable to fit most travel mug not taller than 16cm which is big plus to me.
And all beverages are able to program it’s own quantity size from 50-250ml but at least larger than the default size. all details is on the manual.
be cautious with the Aqua-filters, it’s needs to be fully filled water and lets bobbles completely out before installation, otherwise you may get trouble with the water intake cause by the air block.
and the running cost, according to the manual that Aqua-Filter needs to be replace every 3 months or every 95L of water ( >1,000 cups), It’s means I need to replace Aqua-filters x4 per year. That’s about 25cents per day for Filters and each shot of the 10g coffee beans cost about10-20cents. Total is just Less than $2 per day for me to make 6-8 shots espresso daily. (I like Melitta and Lavazza beans both not oily)
Lastly, For the past 5 months I did once filter change already and did descaling once just follow with the Philips you-tube instructions step by step easily. the machine still works very great.
Images in this review
- B**** M*****Reviewed in Canada on December 16, 2024
Solid Machine That Makes Excellent Coffee
