I’ll be honest: until recently, my entire coffee knowledge began and ended with whatever the barista at my local Starbucks handed me. The world of expensive coffee machines, grind sizes, and milk frothers felt like a hobby for people who already knew what they were doing, and I was not one of those people.
So when I decided it was time to finally make coffee at home, I went looking for something that wouldn’t require a YouTube tutorial every morning.
The Nespresso Vertuo Up kept coming up.
You might know the brand from its long-running celebrity campaigns, George Clooney has been the face of Nespresso for years and Dua Lipa is among the more recent ambassadors, but behind the glossy adverts is a machine with a serious reputation for simplicity. As a total beginner, that was exactly what I needed.
After using it over the last couple of days, I can tell you this: I won’t be going to Starbucks any more.
Out of the box, the Vertuo Up makes an immediately strong impression. It’s genuinely slim and compact, measuring just 49 x 12 x 25.5cm. These compact dimensions are achieved thanks to a new vertical orientation of Nespresso’s ‘Centrifusion’ technology.
The 1.4-litre water tank can be positioned on either side of the machine or inline with it, which is perfect for anyone working with limited counter space.
I’m reviewing the Ink Black model, which is my favourite of the available colour options. It looks like a premium, sleek machine. You can also choose Pearl White, Ocean Blue, or Graphite.
The button count is refreshingly low, the redesigned lever feels satisfying to use, and the brushed Champagne gold accents give the machine a luxe feel (without being over the top). Nothing about it feels cheap or plasticky.
One practical detail worth flagging: there’s enough clearance under the nozzle to fit a travel mug up to 19cm / 7.5in tall, which is handy if you want coffee on the go without decanting into a separate cup.
Setup and app
Setup was painless. There’s a QR code on the machine; you scan it, download the Nespresso app, and it walks you through the initial cleaning and preparation process step by step. I had it ready to brew within minutes.
I’ll admit I was initially sceptical about a pod coffee machine needing an app, but I was won over fairly quickly.
With the app you can adjust coffee volume and temperature, run maintenance routines, and access a selection of recipes.
I tried the Café Mocha recipe and it came out well, though I’d note that the recipe steps include mentions of additional machines or accessories you might not own, which was momentarily confusing.
I did have one small frustration with the app – you can’t order new pods through it. For that, you’ll need to switch to the Nespresso Boutique app, which feels like an unnecessary inconvenience.
Features and performance
The Vertuo Up brings a handful of meaningful upgrades to the range Vertuo range. The headline addition is the Coffee Creations button, which brews a more concentrated version of whichever pod you’re using. It’s ideal for iced drinks or anything milk-based where you don’t want the coffee flavour to get lost. It’s a genuinely useful addition and the results were very flavourful.
Heat-up time has also been reduced to just three seconds, and this might be my favourite aspect of the new machine. In practice this is exactly as impressive as it sounds – there’s no waiting around for your delicious cup of coffee each morning.
Like other machines in the Vertuo range, the Up supports seven cup sizes: Ristretto, Espresso, Double Espresso, Gran Lungo, Mug, XL Coffee, and Carafe.
The clever part, and this is what makes Vertuo so beginner-friendly, is that you don’t need to think about any of it. Each pod has a barcode that the machine reads automatically, releasing the correct amount of water for that specific coffee. Switch from an espresso pod to a mug pod and the machine adjusts itself accordingly. No settings to fiddle with and no guesswork.
From my very first pod, I felt like I knew what I was doing, which is exactly what a machine like this should achieve.
The app adds a layer of customisation on top of that baseline simplicity. You can choose to brew a pod longer or shorter than its default (useful if, like me, you use a large mug), and you can increase the temperature. My first cup wasn’t quite hot enough, but a quick adjustment in the app sorted it, and every cup since has been perfect.
On noise: yes, it’s a coffee machine, and yes, it makes coffee machine noises. I didn’t find it intrusive, but if you’re particularly sensitive to that kind of thing, it’s worth knowing.
The pod situation
This is where things get more complicated. Vertuo pods use a proprietary format, which means you can’t buy cheaper third-party alternatives the way you can with the original Nespresso range. You’re buying exclusively from Nespresso, in sleeves of 10.
That can get pretty expensive. Whether that feels reasonable depends entirely on your point of comparison. If you’re currently spending US$5 / £5 at your local Starbucks, a Vertuo pod starts to look like a bargain. If you’re used to buying a bag of supermarket instant coffee, the maths is a little less flattering.
Verdict
The Nespresso Vertuo Up is an excellent entry point into home coffee. It’s well-designed, genuinely easy to use, quick to set up, and the app, while not essential, adds real value once you’re past the initial scepticism.
The three-second heat-up time and the Coffee Creations button are both welcome additions over previous models.
The pod costs are a real consideration and worth factoring into your budget before buying. But as an approachable, attractive machine that consistently produces a good cup of coffee with minimal effort, the Vertuo Up has earned its place on my kitchen counter.
Liked this? How to make the best coffee at home, whichever machine you have
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