Lelit Victoria Review: A Beginner-Friendly Prosumer Gem

I’ve been writing a lot of initial reviews on premium Lelit espresso machines lately, but so far none of the machines have been budget-friendly. I’m hoping this Lelit Victoria review can fill that niche.

The Lelit Victoria is a compact and budget-friendly beginner espresso machine. That said, it’s got enough features to be your new end-game prosumer espresso machine, too.

I’ll explain why in this Lelit Victoria review. Let’s get into it!

Overview: Lelit Victoria Review

Lelit is an Italian manufacturer that’s been making premium home espresso machines since its founding in 1987. Though Breville purchased the brand in 2022, Lelit espresso machines are still designed and hand-made in Italy.

The Lelit Victoria is one of only a few home espresso machines that falls into three market categories: budget-friendly, beginner-friendly and prosumer. Needless to say, this stainless steel gem is quite special.

Sure, you can get budget espresso machines for less than the Victoria’s $800-$1,000 price tag, especially if you go the route of a manual espresso maker.

That said, the Lelit Victoria isn’t just your basic entry-level espresso machine. For one thing, its compact and classic design will look great with any kitchen aesthetic.

Plus, the Victoria boasts adjustable brew temperature, a preinfusion setting and an electronic control system with an OLED screen. Even serious espresso connoisseurs will come running, wallet in hand, for a beginner machine with these features.

What’s more, the Victoria has a 3-way solenoid valve in the 58mm group and a commercial grade steam wand. I’ll talk more about these features later on in my Lelit Victoria review.

Still, I’ll admit that the Victoria isn’t the best choice for latte lovers, given its single brass boiler. Rather, it’s a better fit for espresso fanatics who enjoy an occasional milk drink.

So, if a daily cappuccino is more your style, you’ll want to look into an HX espresso machine or one with a dual boiler or thermoblock.

Despite the Lelit Victoria’s prosumer features, this espresso machine is decidedly beginner-friendly. In particular, it’s got an intuitive user interface which includes automatic settings like pre-infusion and backflushing.

In other words, beginner baristas don’t have to have all their ducks in a row in order to brew quality espresso with the Lelit Victoria.

Lelit Victoria Features

Now that you know the basics of this initial Lelit Victoria review, let’s break it down further. There’s a lot to be excited about here! And some complaints, too.

Size and Design

The Lelit Victoria espresso machine is compact, with a retro design. It comes with a brushed stainless steel body with black accents and a stainless steel cup warmer on the top. Incidentally, the stainless steel drip tray has a 4-inch (10-centimeter) cup clearance.

With only a 9-inch (23-centimeter) footprint and a depth of 10.75 inches (27 centimeters), most people won’t have a problem fitting this espresso maker on their kitchen counters. Plus, at 15 inches (38 centimeters) tall, the Victoria will easily fit under most overhead cabinets, with more than enough room to fill the water tank.

And if you can’t decide where to put the Lelit Victoria espresso machine, not to worry. It weighs only 25 pounds (11.3 kilograms), so moving it around isn’t too much of a hassle.

Stylistically, the Victoria is simple and unassuming. It definitely doesn’t blow me away, unlike the beauty of Lelit’s other prosumer gems, the Lelit Bianca and the Mara X. Still, the stainless steel body and 30-ounce (900-milliliter) drip tray look professional and well-made.

Then again, I’ll admit that some of the design elements look a little cheap or tacky. In particular, the symbols next to the brew and steam buttons look cheap. What’s worse, the manometer looks more like a car odometer with its colored markings and white numbers.

As this is only an initial review, I’m holding out hope that the Lelit Victoria espresso machine looks a little nicer in person.

User Interface

As I mentioned at the beginning of my Lelit Victoria review, this espresso machine is beginner-friendly.

The user interface consists of backlit stainless steel buttons for espresso, hot water and steam. What’s more, there’s a steam wand knob, the OLED LCC (Lelit Control Center) display and a backlit pressure gauge.

I’ll talk more about the Lelit electronic control system in a bit, but the pressure gauge is pretty self-explanatory. In short, it allows you to monitor the pressure from the vibratory pump and shows the ideal espresso range in green.

While I’m on the subject, I’ll say that the espresso machine might be a little loud due to the vibratory pump. As the name suggests, the pump vibrates quite a bit as well.

Anyway, using the Lelit Victoria is intuitive and simple. The power switch is on the left side of the machine, while the steam wand knob is on the right; everything else is front and center.

Since the user interface is so slimmed-down, it’s pretty hard to mess up. That said, you need to pull your shots manually by pressing the espresso making button to start and stop your extraction.

In that sense, the user interface would benefit from an external coffee scale to monitor your espresso yield. Otherwise, you could just use the LCC’s automatic shot timer to track the specs of your shot.

Lelit Electronic Control System

Like some other models in Lelit’s lineup, the Lelit Victoria espresso machine has an electronic Lelit Control Center. The LCC is an OLED display on the front of the machine that allows you to customize and enable all sorts of features:

The LCC isn’t the most high-tech, seeing as you navigate it using the plus and minus keys. In other words, I definitely wouldn’t call this a smart coffee maker.

Still, I’m excited to mess around with the LCC when the Lelit Victoria arrives on my doorstep.

Programmable Preinfusion

If you frequent my espresso machine reviews, you know that I rave about pre-infusion settings.

In my opinion, pre-infusion can really improve your espresso quality. Pre-infusion settings dampen the espresso puck with low pressure. This helps you achieve an even extraction with a lower risk of channeling.

You can turn this setting on and off via the Lelit Victoria’s LCC display.

PID Temperature Control

PID temperature control is a mainstay of high quality home espresso machines. A PID controller, or Proportional-Integrative-Directional controller, enables you to choose a precise brew temperature for optimal espresso extraction.

Plus, the PID controller in the Lelit Victoria also allows you to change the steam wand temperature. This is especially great for tea drinkers using the steam wand as a hot water spout.

Again, temperature control is accessible through the LCC display.

Boiler

The Lelit Victoria features a 10-ounce (300-milliliter) single brass boiler for all your espresso and steaming needs. Due to the small size of the boiler, the Lelit Victoria espresso machine can heat up to brewing temperatures in less than 10 minutes.

A single boiler helps keep the Victoria’s cost down, and is much more compact than a dual boiler machine. Still, I’ll allow the gearheads some disappointment here.

These days, many of us are dissatisfied with any espresso maker that doesn’t have a stainless steel dual boiler or heat exchanger boiler system. This is especially true for espresso lovers who want to regularly and easily make milk drinks.

After all, single boilers usually can’t pull shots and steam milk simultaneously. What’s worse, there’s often a lag time after pulling shots while the boiler heats up to steaming temperatures.

In the case of the Lelit Victoria, you have to wait a whole two minutes after pulling a shot to steam milk.

That said, you can always opt to pay more for an espresso machine with a different boiler.

In Lelit’s lineup, the Lelit Mara X has an advanced heat exchanger boiler system. Meanwhile, the star-studded (and quite expensive) Lelit Bianca features a stainless steel dual boiler that you can even plumb into your waterline.

While I’m on the subject, I should mention that the Lelit Victoria’s vibratory pump is not compatible with a water line. However, the generous 845-ounce (2.5-liter) water tank automatically refills into the boiler, so you shouldn’t have to regularly refill the tank.

Plus, the LCC will give you a low water level alert when it’s time to top off the tank. Naturally, it helps that the tank is easy to fill. I’d say that refilling the Victoria’s tank is hardly a chore.

Portafilter

The Lelit Victoria espresso machine comes equipped with a 58mm stainless steel portafilter. 

In this initial Lelit Victoria review, I have only a few complaints – and one of them is the portafilter handle. Though it’s got a nice Lelit symbol on the end, overall the black plastic handle looks cheap.

I know the Lelit Mara X and Lelit Bianca are much more expensive than the Lelit Victoria, but couldn’t they have given the Victoria portafilter the same wood handle? I mean, it looks so much nicer and can’t cost too much more to produce.

Complaints aside, the Victoria’s commercial-style portafilter comes with high quality Italian-made IMS baskets. Incidentally, there are three baskets in the accessory kit: a blind basket, a single shot basket and a double shot basket.

What’s more, the grouphead itself offers great temperature stability. Since the group is built into the boiler, it stays nice and toasty. Still, I’d recommend preheating the espresso machine for twenty minutes or more before pulling a shot to ensure even extraction.

Finally, the grouphead also features a 3-way solenoid valve. This valve makes clean-up a breeze by diverting excess water directly to the drip tray and thereby preventing a soupy mess in your portafilter.

Milk Foam

I’ve already mentioned a few times in my initial Lelit Victoria review that this espresso machine is not ideal for those who plan to steam milk for every drink.

After all, you’ll need to wait about two minutes after pulling a shot for the boiler to reach an optimal steaming temperature. For this reason, I’d really only recommend this espresso machine to patient latte lovers who care about quality espresso and have a tight budget. 

Okay, I’ll get back to the subject at hand: milk foam.

Even espresso devotees make milk drinks once in a while, and the Lelit Victoria espresso machine does not compromise on steam quality.

It’s got a professional-style multi directional steam wand with an anti-burn handle. Oh and the steam wand doubles as a hot water spout.

What’s more, the knob on the side of the machine regulates steam power. However, even at the highest steam power you can expect it to take about 30 seconds to steam milk for a latte. 

Again, that’s just one of the trade-offs of a smaller and more affordable – yet still prosumer – home espresso machine.

Accessories

I’m coming to think that a goodie bag of espresso accessories is one of Lelit’s hallmarks. I know these accessories are included in the overall price of the Lelit Victoria espresso machine, but it still feels like you’re getting some freebies!

Aside from the espresso machine itself, here’s what you can expect in your box:

I was hoping to avoid my tamper rant today, but alas: Lelit has forced my hand. Why, oh why, do espresso machine manufacturers give you a cheap espresso tamper to use with your expensive new espresso machine?

Other Lelit espresso machines come with a high quality espresso tamper, so I know they’ve got nice tampers in their warehouses. Instead they send this cheap one, which will likely end up in the trash. Honestly, I’d feel better if they didn’t include a tamper at all!

On that note, you’ll probably want a better coffee scoop, too. Despite these disappointments, I suppose Lelit redeemed themselves with their other accessories. In particular, the water softener filter is an especially nice touch.

There’s also the cup rack, which is almost like a booster chair for espresso cups. Even better, the cup rack is removable to make room under the coffee spout for tall latte cups and travel mugs.

How to Use the Lelit Victoria

Using the Lelit Victoria should be fairly easy, as long as you’ve got your espresso preparation down.

As always, wash and dry all removable parts before using the machine. Then, follow the user manual to set up the Lelit Victoria. At this point, you should use the LCC to activate pre-infusion and choose your preferred brew temperature.

To pull a shot, prep your portafilter as you normally would: grind your favorite espresso beans in an espresso grinder, then tamp with even pressure.

Insert the portafilter into the grouphead until it’s snug, but not overly tight. No need to wear out the gaskets! Then, press the topmost button on the Lelit Victoria to start pulling your shot.

Normally I’d say you should have your phone or a timer on hand, but the Lelit Victoria already has one! The LCC automatically turns into a shot timer when you press the espresso button.

Once your shot reaches your preferred specs, press the espresso button again to stop the shot. Now you’ll have to wait two minutes to steam milk, or you could just drink the shot straight as the Italians intended. Bottoms up!

Lelit Victoria Cleaning

I already have a whole guide to cleaning and descaling coffee makers, so I won’t bore you (or myself) by repeating it here.

Rather, I’ll mention that this is one of few Lelit espresso machines that doesn’t come with an included cleaning kit. I suppose that’s another trade-off of buying one of their more budget-conscious espresso makers.

In my opinion, the most useful and affordable cleaning tools are vinegar, a microfiber cloth and a nylon brush. Beyond that, all you need is a blind basket for backflushing, which is included in the Lelit Victoria’s accessories.

Novice and professional baristas alike can use the LCC’s automatic backflush cycle to thoroughly clean the grouphead. Regularly backflushing will keep your espresso shots tasting clean and fresh.

Along those lines, you’ll want to rinse your portafilter and screen after each shot. Finally, don’t forget to wipe milk residue off the steam wand immediately after steaming milk.

Lelit Victoria Technical Specifications

Lelit Victoria vs Rancilio Silvia

I can’t finish this Lelit Victoria review without first comparing it to a legend in the world of home espresso makers: the Rancilio Silvia.

The Rancilio Silvia has a pretty comparable price tag, retailing at $900.00.

Additionally, these two espresso makers are similar sizes, with 10-ounce (300-milliliter) brass single boilers. Aesthetically they’re in the same vein as well, with stainless steel bodies and black accents.

That said, the Lelit Victoria offers significantly more programmability. In particular, the Silvia lacks an electronic user interface, a pre-infusion setting and an adjustable brewing temperature. In fact, this model of the Silvia doesn’t have a PID controller, which makes it a little less beginner-friendly. Rather, you’ll have to learn how to temperature surf a fickle boiler, which is a bit of a learning curve.

Incidentally, you can pay more for a Silvia model with a PID controller and other programmability features. That said, the Lelit Victoria already has these features, and at a lower price point than the Silvia upgrades.

Ultimately, I’d have to say that the Lelit Victoria represents a better value for money, since you’re getting modern features with a classic design.

However, I’ll admit I’m still feeling miffed about the Victoria’s cheap tamper. The Silvia gets extra credit in my book for its durable espresso tamper, and for being an early icon in my espresso journey.

See Also: Rancilio Silvia Review

Lelit Victoria vs Rancilio Silvia Comparison Chart

Verdict: Lelit Victoria Review

Now that we’ve reached the end of this Lelit Victoria review, I’m definitely feeling excited to try the thing out.

All in all, the Lelit Victoria seems like a great beginner-friendly and budget-conscious prosumer espresso machine. Time will tell if it stands up to the rigors of my tests!

Be sure to check back for my updated review once I get the Lelit Victoria in my hands.

Lelit Victoria Review FAQ