The Profitec and similar machines operate like a machine one would find in a speciality espresso cafe. They must be paired with a quality grinder. The upside is the potential for outstanding espresso and the downside being it takes quite a lot of time, effort, and practice to figure out to consistently create an excellent cup. One has to dial in the precise amount of coffee used, the grind setting (which will vary depending on the type and freshness of the coffee), and brewing temp and time, and learn how to properly froth milk. And you also need a quality grinder and a scale and some patience. It is almost has to be a hobby, at least until someone in your house figures it out. But once someone in your house gets it figured out, the coffee is great.
(BTW, @gwnorth, there’s only one steam wand. The thicker wand on your right dispenses scalding hot water for tea or americanos (although tea and coffee snobs will think the scalding water too hot for that.)
As for Breville I was going to mention that as a possibility above. The Dual Boiler came out about 15 years ago as Breville’s first espresso machine and it is the one closest to a coffee specialty cafe set up-- not super automatic, no internal grinder, so the user maintains more control over the final output, and thus the potential for great coffee. The Oracle Touch @gwnorth mentions is more automatic in that it has a grinder and tamps the coffee but the user has to move it over to the brew head. Both machines have been around for quite a while now. And there are other machines as well. The brevilles are easy to use, are stacked with features, and can make good coffee.
One knock on Breville among the coffee hobbyist/snobs is that they sometimes break down. Breville is great about fixing them, but it is still a pain. My guess is that other super automatics have similar issues, although it seems like Jura has a better track record on this issue. Like @gwnorth, many coffee people start with a breville then move into something more prosumer like the Profitec and a dedicated espresso grinder, because their breville broke down and/or they are chasing even better coffee. My guess is that it is much rarer for someone to go from a Breville like the Oracle or Dual Boiler to a super automatic because you will not produce a better espresso/latte/cap with a super-auto, but you could with traditional setup.
Anyway if you are looking for an almost completely automated experience, I would at least consider the Oracle. The user has to be minimally involved, but the quality of the coffee is strong.
Hoffman didn’t include the Oracle in his review above because it requires minimal involvement from the user, but here is his detailed review of the product.
Also, here is a video that is somewhat of a follow up the super-auto review video in the post above, talking about how to try to “dial in” a super automatic machine. IMO the very idea of having to dial in such machines goes against the super-auto idea, but it does give some idea of the shortcomings of the super automatic setup.
