Description
The Gaggia Magenta Plus, model RI8700/46, is a bean to cup machine built in Italy with a removable milk carafe for automatic cappuccino and latte macchiato, a 60 ounce removable water tank, a Mavea Intenza water filter and a colour display. It measures 17.1 inches deep, 8.8 inches wide and 14 inches high, weighs 17 pounds, and runs on 110 volts with a 3.9 foot power cord.
The 8.8 inch width is the specification that most distinguishes it. Bean to cup machines are usually wide because they have to house a hopper, a grinder, a brew unit and a tank side by side; the Magenta Plus stacks them into a narrow, deep body instead. If your counter constraint is width rather than depth, that is a genuinely different shape from most of the machines in our super automatic espresso machine section.
The Removable Milk Carafe
The style field describes a removable milk carafe for automatic cappuccino and latte macchiato, which is the defining feature. Milk sits in a sealed jug that clips to the front, steam is drawn through an internal channel, and the drink builds itself into the cup. The carafe detaches and goes into the fridge between sessions.
That is the format’s advantage and its cost in one. It removes the skill requirement and the pitcher entirely, and it stores cleanly. It also fixes the foam texture at whatever the carafe dial is set to, so latte art is not possible and the milk will not integrate the way pitcher steamed milk does. The internal channel needs a rinse cycle after every session and the carafe itself needs washing, which is more upkeep than a wand. Anyone who would rather steam milk themselves should look at the standard Gaggia Velasca with its manual wand, which is the same maker’s answer to the same question from the other direction.
Grinder, Dose and the Display
Earlier listing copy credits the machine with a dose range of 6.5 to 11.5 grams per drink. That is a wider adjustment than most bean to cup machines expose and it is the specification that most affects how strong the coffee is, because dose is the main lever on strength when everything else is automated. The figure is not in the structured specification, so treat it as a manufacturer claim, but the presence of an adjustable dose is consistent with the programmable feature listed.
The full colour display is the other practical difference from cheaper machines. Icon and text menus make grind, dose, temperature and volume settings reachable without a manual, which matters because those settings are the only control you have. What the listing does not state is the number of grind settings, the burr material, or the temperature range, and on a machine sold on customisation those omissions are significant.
The 60 Ounce Tank and Water Filter
Sixty ounces is roughly 1.8 litres, which is large for the class and one of the strongest points on the specification. It is removable, and on a machine only 8.8 inches wide the tank has to come out to be filled, so how easily it does that matters. The listing does not say from which side it removes.
The filter type field reads Mavea Intenza, which is the cartridge that sits inside the tank and reduces the minerals that form scale. It is a consumable with a replacement schedule, and it works alongside descaling rather than instead of it. Getting the water hardness setting right when you first configure the machine is what determines whether you descale every two months or every six, and it is the step most owners skip. Descaler and cleaning tablets are covered in our cleaning and descaling section, and keeping some in the cupboard avoids losing a week to a delivery when the machine asks.
Footprint, Cup Riser and Handling
At 17.1 inches deep this is a deep machine, and depth is the dimension people forget when they hear compact. Add clearance behind for the plug and above for the bean hopper lid, and the real space required is more than the 14 inch height suggests. The 14 inch height itself is genuinely useful because it clears a standard wall cabinet, which many bean to cup machines do not.
Earlier copy describes an updated drip tray and cup riser accommodating mugs up to 6 inches tall. A riser is the mechanism that lets one machine serve both a short espresso cup and a tall latte glass without splashing, and 6 inches of clearance covers most travel mugs. That figure is a manufacturer claim rather than a confirmed field. The 3.9 foot power cord is short, which is worth checking against your socket position before delivery.
What the Specifications Do Not Settle
The specific uses field on this listing is keyword stuffing rather than product information. It lists more than twenty gift occasions, kitchen renovation phrases and cocktail suggestions in place of any actual use case, and none of it describes the machine. Read past it.
There is also a contradiction worth naming. The listing’s own highlights refer to a commercial grade steam wand, while the style field describes a removable milk carafe for automatic drinks. Those are two different milk architectures. On this model the carafe is the fitted system, and the wand reference appears to be copy carried over from a different Gaggia variant. Beyond that, the listing does not state the bean hopper capacity, the grounds container capacity, the number of grind settings, the brewing temperature range, the pump pressure, whether the brew unit is removable for rinsing, the number of drinks on the menu, or the warranty term. The removable brew unit question is the important one, because it determines whether the machine can be properly cleaned at home or only flushed with tablets.
Who It Suits
This suits a household that drinks milk based coffee daily, wants it in one press, and has a narrow counter with reasonable depth. The 60 ounce tank means fewer refills than most machines in the class, the 14 inch height clears wall cabinets, and the colour display makes the settings usable rather than theoretical. The Gaggia Velasca Prestige RI8263/47 is the closer sibling with the same milk carafe.
It suits you poorly if you want latte art or pitcher control, since the carafe format cannot deliver either. It suits you poorly on a shallow counter, given 17.1 inches of depth. And it suits you poorly if you drink only black coffee, because you would be paying for and cleaning a milk system you never use. Anyone in that position should look at a bean to cup without the carafe, or at a manual machine and a grinder from our espresso machines category, which gives more control for less money. The Jura E4 15466 is one machine that drops the milk system entirely.
