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Ninja now sells five versions of the Luxe Café in the UK, and the names do not make the differences obvious. Mini, Mini Plus, Premier, Premier Plus and Pro all have a built-in grinder and all promise café drinks at home. The prices run from about £400 to well over £700.
The short answer: the Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601UK) is the right pick for most people. It is the cheapest model that does espresso, filter coffee and cold brew, and it froths milk for you. Buy the Mini if you only want espresso and filter coffee and your counter space is tight. Buy the Pro if you want more espresso styles and a tamper built into the grinder, and only if you can get it close to the Premier’s price.
Check Ninja Luxe Café Premier prices on Amazon UK
A quick note on how this guide was put together. We have not had all five machines on our counter. The comparison below is built from Ninja’s UK specification sheets, the current Amazon UK and Ninja listings, and the features that actually change how your morning coffee works. Prices were checked in September 2026 and move often, so check the live price before you buy.
Ninja Luxe Café models compared
| Model | What it makes | Milk frothing | Tamping | Typical UK price | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini (ES301UK) | Espresso and filter (2-in-1) | Manual steam wand | Assisted tamper | About £400 | Check on Amazon UK |
| Mini Plus (ES352UK) | Espresso and filter (2-in-1) | Automatic frothing | Assisted tamper | About £480 (Ninja only) | Ninja UK |
| Premier (ES601UK) | Espresso, filter and cold brew (3-in-1) | Automatic, 4 froth presets | Assisted tamper | £499 to £580 | Check on Amazon UK |
| Premier Plus (ES655UK) | Espresso, filter and cold brew (3-in-1) | Automatic, 5 froth presets, XL jug | Assisted tamper | £550 to £600 (Ninja only) | Ninja UK |
| Pro (ES701UK) | Espresso, filter and cold brew (3-in-1) | Automatic, 5 froth presets, XL jug | Tamper built into the grinder | £549 to £850 depending on edition | Check on Amazon UK |
Every model has a built-in burr grinder and Ninja’s Barista Assist system, which recommends a grind size and adjusts brewing for the drink you choose. The differences come down to three questions: do you want cold brew, do you want the machine to froth milk for you, and how much of the tamping do you want to do yourself.
The three decisions that separate the range
1. Two-in-one or three-in-one
The Mini and Mini Plus make espresso and filter coffee. The Premier, Premier Plus and Pro add a cold brew setting. If you drink iced coffee through the summer, the three-in-one models save you buying a separate cold brew maker. If you never drink it cold, you are paying for a feature you will not use.
2. Manual or automatic milk
The Mini has a manual steam wand. You hold the jug and texture the milk yourself, which takes a little practice but gives you full control. Every other model froths automatically: you pick a preset and the wand steams and whisks the milk while you get on with something else. If lattes and flat whites are your daily drink and you are not interested in learning to steam milk, skip the Mini.
3. Assisted or integrated tamping
Tamping is pressing the ground coffee into the basket before brewing. The Mini, Mini Plus, Premier and Premier Plus use an assisted tamper, a lever-style tool that keeps the press level. The Pro builds the tamper into the grinder, so the coffee is dosed and tamped in one step with less mess on the counter. It is a genuine convenience, but it is not a reason on its own to spend an extra £150 or more.
Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601UK): best for most people
The Premier is the model the rest of the range is measured against. It covers espresso, filter coffee and cold brew, has 25 grind settings, a built-in scale and four froth presets (steamed milk, thin froth, thick froth and cold froth). Ninja lists 4 espresso styles, 4 coffee styles and 7 drink sizes. The box includes single, double and “Luxe” baskets, a cleaning kit and a water hardness test kit, which is useful in most of the UK where hard water shortens a machine’s life.
Who it suits: anyone who wants a proper espresso machine with a grinder but does not want to become a hobbyist barista to get a good latte.
What you give up: the extra espresso styles and fifth froth preset on the Pro, and the integrated tamper.
Check Ninja Luxe Café Premier prices on Amazon UK
Ninja Luxe Café Mini (ES301UK): best for small kitchens
The Mini is the compact option. Ninja lists it at 26 x 31 x 34 cm and 8.6 kg, which makes it the easiest to fit under wall cupboards. It has a burr grinder, a precision scale, 3 strength and 3 temperature settings, and a manual steam wand. There is no cold brew setting.
Who it suits: espresso and Americano drinkers, people with limited counter space, and anyone who wants to learn milk texturing properly.
What you give up: automatic frothing, cold brew and the wider drink menu.
Check Ninja Luxe Café Mini prices on Amazon UK
Ninja Luxe Café Pro (ES701UK): best if the price is right
The Pro adds 9 espresso styles (against 4 on the Premier), 5 froth presets including an extra-thick setting, an XL froth jug and the integrated tamper. At full price it is a hard sell over the Premier. But Amazon has had the silver Pro listed at a similar price to the Premier, and when the gap is that small the Pro is the better machine to own.
Who it suits: people who drink a mix of espresso styles and want the least mess on the counter.
What you give up: nothing compared with the rest of the range, apart from the extra money.
Check Ninja Luxe Café Pro prices on Amazon UK
Mini Plus and Premier Plus: the Ninja-only models
The Mini Plus (ES352UK) is a Mini with automatic milk frothing. It makes sense if you want the small footprint but not the manual steam wand. The Premier Plus (ES655UK) is a Premier with a fifth froth preset and an XL froth jug. Both are sold through Ninja directly rather than Amazon. The Premier Plus is priced close enough to the Pro that we would usually point you to the Pro instead.
Worth knowing before you buy
- These are not fully automatic bean-to-cup machines. You still lock in a portafilter and tamp. If you want one-button coffee with no handling at all, see our guide to the best bean-to-cup coffee machines.
- Descale regularly. In hard water areas, scale builds up fast. Use the included test kit to set how often the machine reminds you.
- Prices swing a lot. The Premier has ranged from £499 to £580 on Amazon depending on colour. If you are not in a hurry, Ninja machines are usually discounted in the Black Friday sales.
- Beans matter more than the machine. Any of these will make disappointing coffee from stale supermarket beans. Buy fresh roasted beans and check our grind size chart if you are dialling in by hand.
Ninja Luxe Café or Sage Barista Express?
The Sage Barista Express is the machine most people cross-shop against the Ninja. It sits around £499, has a built-in grinder and a manual steam wand, and has a long track record in UK kitchens. The Sage suits people who want to learn espresso by hand. The Ninja Premier suits people who want the machine to do more of the thinking, especially with milk. Our best espresso machines guide covers more options.
Check Sage Barista Express prices on Amazon UK
Frequently asked questions
Is the Ninja Luxe Café a bean-to-cup machine?
Not in the usual sense. It grinds whole beans, but you still move the portafilter from the grinder to the group head and tamp. Fully automatic bean-to-cup machines do all of that internally.
Does the Ninja Luxe Café Mini make cold brew?
No. The Mini is a 2-in-1 machine for espresso and filter coffee. Cold brew is only on the Premier, Premier Plus and Pro.
What is the difference between the Ninja Luxe Café Premier and Pro?
The Pro adds more espresso styles (9 against 4), a fifth froth preset, an XL froth jug and a tamper built into the grinder. The core grinder, scale and brewing system are otherwise very similar.
Which Ninja Luxe Café is best for lattes?
Any model except the Mini, because they all froth milk automatically. The Premier is the best value choice for a daily latte.
The bottom line
For most UK kitchens, the Ninja Luxe Café Premier is the one to buy. Step down to the Mini if space and budget are tight and you are happy to steam milk yourself. Step up to the Pro only when it is on offer at close to the Premier’s price.
