After making espresso triple shots for my morning brew exclusively for the last few decades or so, I’ve seenthese basic machines go through their life-cycles, working great to start, pushing back the inevitable with descaling,then eventually the pump fails toncut the mustard and no amount of cajoling can make it caffeinate your AMany longer.I had a basic Krups that lasted about 5 years and thought that was a real pity.My next machine was a Braun that required a different manual of arms to operate, but brought superheatedsteam into the kitchen. It advertised a pump that pressurized the the pre-espresso a life-changing amount.That one failed to keep it up after a couple of years, but we partially restored it with various attempts to descale.After 8 years about, itwas dissected for fun and a nervous looking DeLonghi took its place on the trials counter.It lasted a gear, the pump began to make a shattering sort of sound and the output tasted of dying machine.It was replaced, of course, with another DeLonghi. This was the EC155. It worked very wellfor a solid two years,December 2016 gift until stopped making sufficient pressure to form espresso, just sort of dribbling hot liquid from the pressure cup in a sad parody of its younger self. It had been a mighty contender, frampling well tamped filter basquetsof very fine grounds and producing awesome amounts of crema.Enter the EC3420. It promises a host (one or two?) of new, fantastical featurs I’m not sure how we have thus far lived without. But now that it’s on the counter of espresso machine deat, how well does it perform compared to the last,$35 less expensive, but very adequate machine? I don’t really cotten to the three categories suggested anove, “Blending Power”? Not sure what that means. I compare its vagueity to “Streaming Experience.” Ill defined, and not wholly applicable. Instead, let’s look at what was promised and also what is expected of such machine:⚫︎ heating the water to make espresso it takes a very long time, minutes. Ok, Ill wait for the first cup, but even then it doesn’t heat enough water for a double, much less a triple. The first double winds up less than optimally hot! The manual says it won’t probably be right until at least thesecondcup. What? I’m supposed to waste water and time and electricty getting this thing ready to make one good shot? The cheaper machine was ready to do its best when the ready light came on, this one is not ready....⚫︎Water jug: the reservoir is nice and large; I’m guessing that you could get 3 or 4 triples out before needing to replenish. It lifts right out for filling or cleaning or just to admire it, but it’s so tall you can’t lift it underneath the inevitable over counter cabinet, you’ll bave to move the machine, usually not too big of a deal⚫︎Cup-warmer: oh, wow, a new feature. Not good, not good at all! It could warm the average ‘cup’ in about 6 hours. It reached an astonishing 88°F in my 68°F kitchen. As for heat transfer, the warming surface is sheet steel, not a heavy gauge, so it doesn’t have much mass to gain energy to transfer, so heating even small, tiny little cups in a cool room isnot effective. I believe it is transferring heat from the water charge heater, wasting it in an ineffective feature that instead robs needed heat energy from the main purpose of the machine, making a decently warm espresso!⚫︎CREMA: the EC155, the cheaper cousin, uses a different basket and strainer that has fewer and less fine holes in the strainer. It produces two or three times the amount of CREMA or cream and brown colored coffee foam. I like the foam, I think it adds to the end product, along with sufficient heat and extraction (and properly fresh ground good quality beans) I would count it as one of the legs of a great espresso. So far this machine, the EC3420, is barely producing good CREMA.⚫︎Hot water delivery through a nozzle for tea and such. That seems to work ok though once again, especially with the volume of an entire mug as tea or hot chocolate are typically served, this is not a sufficient hot water producing machine. It is labeled to consume 1100 Watts, but I have seen water heaters operate at 1100 Watts that produce water that is suitably hot for the task, and this machine does not.I have to rate it ★★ two stars out of five ★★★★★ for poor performance of its basic function, to make a decent, warm, CREMA covered espresso.