Silvercrest Slim Espresso Machine - £79.99 @ LIDL

These kind of machines are perfectly OK so long as you don't want to delve too much into "good coffee".

Firstly, they use pressurised portafilter basically meaning that it's designed for supermarket bought preground coffee. The problem there is that you have virtually no control over freshness of coffee beans or grind settings and speciality coffees etc are out of reach.

They'll give as "espresso like" kick and taste alright but it's not espresso. You won't be able to control the grind properly and a lot of the time you'll get something that chokes or pulls way too fast. To be fair in a milk drink it's OK but even a starbucks or Costa will taste better and that's not a high bar to reach, and you may find yourself battling overly sour or bitter coffee.

On the whole though these kind of machines are "OK". Better than instant, somewhat realisable, quite finiky but alright. If you ever invisage yourself upgrading to a proper machine or are not wholly wedded to the idea of supermarket only coffee than avoid and save the cash. If you just want a nice way to make Ok latte's at Home it'll likely sufficeFor an actual good home espresso setup you'll likely need to spend about £250-300 unfortunately. A £75 knock Aergrind and a Flair Classic/ROK espressoGC or Sage Bambino/Cafelat Robot are the better entry level setups.

Alternatively, you're honestly better off buying a £30 Aeropress, a £60 Timemore C2 (optionally a £30 Fellow Primos attachment). That costs about the same or a bit more but will guaranteed to give you better tasting coffee that can be brewed "espresso style" and batch brew. And while you're at it then delete I to the world of specialty coffee and pour overs etc too.

This may work for you fine, but be warned it's not really a deal in any sense. Any cheap pressurised portafilter style machine sort of works the same. If it advertises 15bar - stay away!

Good looking copy of a Delonghi. I've had a few Silvercrest machines in the past and they are ok, but won't last much longer than the warranty if used frequently. Possibly a bit expensive?

I’ve recently gotten into coffee as work gets tedious in the winter, I drink cheap instant coffee though. In a latte format, would sometbing like this make it smoother or taste better or less lethargic ?

Or any other brand to go for and with what coffee to use ?

I am Mediterranean and coffee is holy for us
Mainly black. If you are after a very decent cup of coffee with minimal hassle, low cost and consistent near perfect results then go for Bialetti Mocha pot, preferably the SS version. Coffee is the second strongest after espresso and very smooth.
Frothing milk is never good and such machines even those how cost several hundred pounds as all has single boiler the struggle to do both jobs consistently (I have three)
You can however achieve excellent frothing results from. Hand held or better electric heated frothing jug things

Anyone impressed by "Italian quality pump" has never owned a 1980's Fiat

Has anyone managed to get one of these? I've been a couple of Lidl stores near me, but no luck.