2025-04-23: Thoughts on the Fellow Espresso Series 1

The espresso world has been shaken to its core, or so one could believe with the hype surrounding Fellow’s recently announced espresso machine, the Espresso Series 1. I have thoughts.

What I like

The machine is technologically advanced, it’s really well designed, and is coming in at a competitive price.

The heating architecture, with a thermoblock pre-heater, a boiler, and then another thermoblock is an interesting approach. For the group, using a thermoblock and a low-thermal-mass group is a valid design choice. I am wondering whether they’re also using a thermoblock for the steam wand, which typically has less than stellar effects on steam power. The alternative (from my perspective) would be keeping the boiler at steam temperatures (around 120°C), but considering the use of a thermoblock after the boiler when brewing, that would be odd.

Features like flow and pressure profiling are a welcome addition. Judging by the sound of the machine (as heard in some videos), they are using a vibratory pump, which they presumably use a triac to dim. This is a tried and true method of pressure profiling, but it’s not as nice as some more high-end machines which use gear pumps or rotary vane pumps with BLDCs.

They’ve also clearly given a lot of thought to the UX of the machine, especially in the interface of their controller. This isn’t unexpected, as Fellow has a very good track record when it comes to designing nice interfaces. It feels polished.

Also, while very subjective, I think the machine and the accessories look great (although I suspect Douglas Weber may have thoughts on their portafilter design).

What I’m hesitant about

Classical Italian espresso machines are typically built like tanks. Huge honking brass boilers, copper tubing, lots of space inside. The Fellow looks a lot more compact and plastic-y. This compactness comes with a significant downside for tinkerers: limited internal space to work with. While tinkerability usually isn’t an advertised feature in espresso machines, the more room you have for it, the easier it gets.

From what we can see, the machine appears to have a highly integrated, tightly-packed design with custom components and proprietary systems. This approach certainly helps Fellow deliver an advanced feature set at a competitive price point, but it creates natural barriers for anyone hoping to modify, enhance, or customize their machine down the line. It is entirely understandable why Fellow has made this design choice - from a business perspective it’s perfectly rational, and from a customer perspective it’s usually a very acceptable trade-off, but it’s not a trade-off that I personally prefer to see.

Regarding materials, plastic is a valid design choice, but is typically not as robust as a mostly-metal design (although there are exceptions - not all plastics are alike). My worry (unfounded as it may be) is that this is one of those machines that break down after 3 years, deemed Beyond Economical Repair, and end up in landfills.

To be clear, I don’t have any reason to suspect any kind of quality issues. Fellow does have an okay track record on selling parts. Taking the Fellow Aiden as an example, the common wear-and-tear components are available as spare parts, but components like PCBs, pumps (or even the base unit itself) are not. My worry comes more from the fact that similar appliances from other manufacturers typically aren’t very servicable, and have a lifespan that is approximately equal to their warranty period.

A digression on right-to-repair and spare parts

Fellow is by no means an outlier by not offering components and sub-assemblies as spare parts. In my opinion this is a result of one of the major weaknesses of right-to-repair legislation. Typically right-to-repair legislation forces parts to be available, but it is perfectly acceptable to only sell complete assemblies as spare parts. It also doesn’t typically mean that these parts have to be available at a reasonable cost (compared to the price of the unit).

This is presumably because right-to-repair legislation typically targets consumers, and consumers are presumed to be inept at repairing electronics. This may or may not be the case, but in my opinion this makes the legislation not far-reaching enough. Effective right-to-repair legislation needs to ensure that even if the consumer is unable to repair the item themselves, they can hand it in to a qualified technician, who in turn has access to parts, at a reasonable (preferably sub-assembly or lower) level and at fair prices.

This challenge with repairability is precisely why the open-source hardware approach is so important for the sustainability of coffee equipment.

Closing thoughts

Despite my concerns, the Fellow Espresso Series 1 does seem like a good machine for its target audience. The target audience being home users and coffee enthusiasts who want a polished, technologically advanced machine - something that fits in nicely in their kitchen, and that’s easy to use but still very capable. It’s coming in at a very competitive price point. It looks like a very nice machine that appeals to a wide audience, and I have a huge amount of respect for the well thought out engineering and design that must have gone in to the machine. Hopefully they’ve put an equal amount of effort into giving the machine a long lifespan, and making it repairable.

Is it a good fit for me personally? No, not particularly, as I want to be able to upgrade and customize my machine. I want to be able to add more sensors, use a fancier pump, write custom firmware and more. Do I want to give it a try? Absolutely! It’s a cool piece of coffee tech.

I do think that if you’re an Enginista, you’re probably better served by buying a used high-end built-like-a-tank machine (perhaps something with dual boilers and a saturated group, or at least an E61 group), and upgrading it yourself, or better yet, upgrading the machine you probably already have. To be frank, it may well cost you more than an Espresso Series 1 (my setup certainly has), but to me at least, this is one of these journey-is-the-destination situations.

The most sustainable espresso machine is usually the one you already own. If you have the skills, the time and the interest, rather than contributing to the cycle of disposable appliances, consider extending the life of your current equipment through thoughtful upgrades and modifications. Even if you don’t already own an espresso machine, buying a used one is a much more sustainable choice than buying new. There are enough espresso machines in landfills already. We don’t need more of them.