Description
The Nespresso Inissia, listed here as the De'Longhi EN80B in black, is the entry level machine in the Original line. It has two programmable buttons for espresso and lungo, a folding cup support, an automatic power down after nine minutes of inactivity, and a weight of 5.29 pounds. Earlier copy puts the water tank at 24 ounces and the heat up time at around 25 seconds.
The Inissia and the Essenza Mini are the two smallest Original machines and they answer the same question in slightly different ways. The Inissia is the lighter, plastic bodied one with a slightly larger tank; the Essenza Mini is smaller still. Neither has a milk system in its base form, and both make identical coffee, because the capsule decides everything about the drink.
The Original Capsule Format
This is an Original line machine, not Vertuo, and the distinction is the most consequential thing about buying any Nespresso. Original capsules are the small aluminium ones. They are extensively cloned by third party roasters, so compatible pods are available at a fraction of Nespresso's own prices, and the range on the shelf is wide. Vertuo capsules are larger, barcoded and effectively single source.
Buying into Original means you have a genuine market to buy from and a real cost escape route. It also means accepting what fits in the capsule, which is around 5 to 6 grams of coffee. That is why Nespresso drinks are lighter in body than a proper double shot from an 18 gram basket, and no machine setting changes it. The capsule side of the market is covered separately in our single serve capsules and pods section.
Two Buttons, Volumes and Auto Power Down
The machine has two buttons, specified by Nespresso as espresso at 40ml and lungo at 110ml. Both are reprogrammable: hold the button through a pour and the machine stores that volume, and it retains the setting through power cycles. That is the whole drink menu and for a capsule machine it is sufficient.
The nine minute automatic power down listed in the highlights is worth noting as a genuine specification rather than a marketing line. It is short, which is good for standby power and less good if you make two drinks twenty minutes apart, because the machine will have to reheat. The heat up is quick enough that this is a minor inconvenience rather than a real cost. Like most machines of this type, the Inissia also dispenses hot water when no capsule is loaded, which covers tea and americanos, and the listing does not mention it at all.
The 24 Ounce Tank and Capsule Bin
Twenty four ounces is roughly 0.7 litres, which is around seventeen espressos or six lungos before refilling. For one or two drinkers that is a refill every few days. The tank is at the rear, so filling it means reaching over or moving the machine, and there is no level indicator, so you find out it is empty when the machine stops.
The used capsule container holds somewhere between nine and eleven capsules depending on how they stack, which is a figure from published owner reports rather than the listing. When it fills, the lever will not close properly on the next capsule. Neither the tank nor the bin is instrumented, so both are managed by habit. Earlier reports also note that the plastic tank can stain if it is not rinsed regularly, which is a cosmetic issue on a clear plastic reservoir rather than a functional one.
Errors in the Listing Data
This listing is one of the least reliable in the category and several fields should be disregarded outright. The voltage reads 230 Volts. That is a European supply figure, not a standard North American domestic outlet, and a 230 volt machine would not run on a normal household circuit there without a transformer. Confirm the voltage of the unit being shipped before ordering.
The batteries field reads that one AA battery is required. There is no battery in a Nespresso machine of any kind. The included components field reads Milk Frother, while the title describes the machine alone; the Inissia base model has no frother, and Nespresso sells a separate Aeroccino that ships with bundle versions. Whether one is in this box is not settled by the page. The filter type reads Reusable, which has no meaning on a capsule machine. The operation mode reads Semi-Automatic, which in coffee terminology means a pump machine with programmable shot volumes rather than a capsule brewer. And the dimensions of 4.72 inches deep by 12.6 inches wide are transposed: the Inissia is roughly 4.7 inches wide and around 12.6 inches deep. The model designations also disagree, with EN80B in the title, EN80BAECA in the model name field and 25153 as the item model number.
What the Specifications Do Not Settle
The listing does not state the pump pressure, though Nespresso publishes 19 bar for the Original line and earlier copy repeats that figure. It does not state the tank capacity as a confirmed field, the used capsule container capacity, the heat up time, the cup clearance in either drip tray position, or the warranty term.
Nothing on the page addresses running cost, which is the number that should drive a capsule machine decision. A capsule costs several times what the same weight of beans costs, and across two drinks a day over a few years the capsules cost far more than the machine did. There is also no descale prompt documented, so descaling falls to you; a product from our cleaning and descaling section run every few months is what keeps the water path clear.
Who It Suits
This suits a one or two cup a day drinker who wants a short, strong coffee with no process, no grinder and almost no cleaning. It suits small kitchens, offices, spare rooms and holiday flats, because capsule machines tolerate long periods of disuse in a way pump machines do not. It is also the cheapest way into the Original ecosystem, which is the more open and cheaper of the two Nespresso systems. The Nespresso Pixie EN124S is the metal bodied machine on the same system.
It suits you poorly if you drink milk based coffee, since the base machine has no frother and the listing is contradictory about whether one is included. It suits you poorly if three or more people use it daily, given the small tank and the small capsule bin. And it suits you poorly over a multi year horizon if cost matters, because the system is where the money goes rather than the machine. Anyone in that position should look at a pump machine such as the De'Longhi EC155, where the coffee costs a fraction as much per cup. The Nespresso Lattissima Pro EN750MB is the machine in the range built around milk.
