This machine is fast: it heats up quickly, creates espresso quickly, and has a powerful steam to quickly heat your milk. When you want to make another espresso after steaming, the machine rapidly cools down to proper coffee extraction pressure. You can go back and forth between extraction and streaming with ease.The brushed stainless steel looks beautiful; the design is narrow and modern. The buttons are easy to press, clearly marked, and logically laid out. I like having a dedicated on/off button (on the right side). The machine measure a little deep, so I placed it diagonally into a corner of my counter.I'm very happy with this machine and would give it 6 stars if I could. The machine works as described in the manual. When installing the water filter, you have to use enough effort to click the filter into place. Other than that, this Solis espresso machine works like a dream.As soon as I had the machine set up, I made two lattes using the non-pressurized double shot filter basket. I used 18g and then 16g of finely pre-ground French Roast coffee. The 18g extraction temperature, flavor, and crema were great. I wasn't as careful measuring or tamping the 16g extraction, but it was good, although there was less crema. I found the espresso to be good and hot on the default (middle) temperature setting; the machine quickly steamed my almond milk to be good and hot. Solis recommends using the pressurized filters for pre-ground coffee, so I was impressed with the results I obtained.The tamper is very nice. It is a weighty, precision tool that exactly fits the filter basket and is comfortable in the hand. Although I already have various barista tools (frothing pitcher, tamper, measuring scoop, etc.), I was happy that Solis included a complete set of tools from the start. The frothing pitcher is decent, but the handle could be a little more comfortable; the approximately 1 Tablespoon coffee scoop is a heavy plastic and works fine.I wish the warming tray worked better - it is plastic and doesn't warm your cups much at all. Better to pull a double shot without coffee into the cup, thereby warming the portafilter as well. The steam is so hot and powerful that the milk heated up faster that my thermometer could measure, and the milk threatened to be blasted out of the pitcher. I addressed this by only turning the steam knob on half to two-thirds, which gave me more control. At the same time, if I have a larger pitcher, this steam can keep up fine. If your pitcher is very tall, you may have to position the machine near the edge of a counter to fit the pitcher. The frothing wand is easily positionable.I read and viewed a lot of reviews before purchasing this machine. The reviews were mostly good to great and my experience matched the positive features discussed. This machine makes it easy to get great results with little effort; it also has enough features that a hobbyist could use it to perfect their coffee techniques (brew temp, brew volume, extraction pressure, pressurized vs non-pressurized filters, tamping pressure, grind, coffee roast, amount of coffee, type of milk, steaming technique, latte art, etc.) I highly recommend this machine and would buy it again.