It’s no secret that Victoria Arduino makes espresso machines that are both beautiful and convenient. As a manufacturer with over a century of experience, they pack each new model they make with barista-friendly features.
With their Eagle One and miniature Eagle One Prima, the goal was simple: create an environmentally conscious and efficient machine that users will love. But which one is better for you?
In this Victoria Arduino Eagle One vs Eagle One Prima comparison, we’ll answer that question for you. We’ll answer it by examining the following topics:
- Features both the Eagle One and Eagle One Prima have.
- Which features are unique to either espresso machine.
- Information on the cost about both these machines.
- Our guidance on how to pick the right one for you.
Quick Summary
Victoria Arduino Eagle One
The stunning Victoria Arduino Eagle One is poised to soar into action in just about any business. Thanks to its multiple group heads, easy steaming technology, and double steam wands, you can use it to prepare consistently delicious drinks quickly. This is the machine for you if you’re a busy company that needs to make a large volume of espresso orders.
You can learn more about the Victoria Arduino Eagle One in our Victoria Arduino Eagle One review.
Victoria Arduino Eagle One Prima
What if you don’t have the space for a full-sized espresso machine? That’s no problem with the Victoria Arduino Eagle One Prima. Its compact size is perfect for fitting into homes, coffee carts, or crowded countertops in a restaurant. Pick this one if you’re a smaller business or a home that doesn’t have the room for a large espresso machine.
Similarities
Cool-Touch Steam Wand
There’s nothing quite like a creamy latte or foamy cappuccino. Unfortunately, making these drinks can pose a risk to your employees.
How? Well, during use, hot water is propelled through the steam wand, raising the temperature of its exterior to dangerous levels. Even briefly touching the wand can produce an agonizing, stinging burn.
To ensure baristas are always safe, the Eagle One and Prima both have cool-touch steam wands. Even throughout the longest days of use, the wand will always be safe to touch.
Auto-Purge System
After brewing shots, it’s best to purge your espresso machine. This cleans up the group head and encourages temperature stability by bringing new water to the fore.
Too often, however, employees forget to do this in a rush. At other times, when they do remember to purge the machine, they use too much water.
The auto-purge function in these Victoria Arduino machines was implemented to protect you from both those outcomes. As the name implies, the machines will automatically purge themselves, using precisely the same amount of water every time.
You pay for all the water you use. The Eagle One and Prima can help ensure you don’t drive up your costs.
New Engine Optimization (NEO)
Both the Eagle One and Prima have newly optimized engines. The reason this matters is that it makes them more energy-efficient.
Just like with water, energy costs you money. The more of it you use, the more your profits are eaten into as a result of your bills being higher.
Put another way, the Eagle One and Prima can reduce your energy consumption and bills when compared with other espresso machines.
Ghost Display
It’s important that you have access to settings in your espresso machine. In order to ensure that the temperature, pressure, and doses are all perfect, your baristas need to have control.
Usually, this is done with control panels on the front of the machine. If the panels are not well-designed, however, it interferes with the overall look of the espresso machine and makes it harder to access necessary settings.
This is not the case with either of these Victoria Arduino models. Both have a ghost display, which is an attractive electronic display panel built right into the group head.
It achieves two goals: it preserves the flawless look of the machine’s front panel, and it puts the controls within easy reach of your baristas.
Read Also: Best Commercial Espresso Machines
Multiple Color Options
Looks shouldn’t be the only thing you think about when it comes to your business. There’s no denying that aesthetics matter, though.
When a new customer first walks in your door, one of the first things they’re going to notice is how it looks inside. Since your espresso machine is probably going to be front and center on your counter, it will be another thing your customers see right away.
In other words, it’s important that your espresso machine looks perfect. With these Victoria Arduino machines, you’ll have multiple color options to choose from. All these options give you the power to tweak the overall look of your machine to your liking.
Ergonomic Steam Lever
Aside from steam wand burns, there’s another way your espresso machine can potentially hurt your employees: wrist strain.
Many machines have valves you must turn to control the steam. Over the course of a several-hour shift, turning valves over and over again can become painful.
That’s why the Eagle One and Prima both have ergonomic steam levers. Rather than turning a valve, all your baristas will need to do is push a lever, which will not put any stress on their wrists.
Raised Feet
Both these espresso machines stand proudly atop raised feet. One benefit to this is that it draws attention to them, which they certainly deserve given how beautiful their design is.
Another benefit is that it makes space beneath your machines. If you need to clean the counters underneath them, you won’t need to lift and move them in order to do so.
Differences
Number of Groups
An immediately obvious difference between the Eagle One and Prima is their number of groups.
The Prima has only a single group head. On the other hand, the Eagle One can have two or three group heads depending on which configuration you choose.
The benefit to having more group heads is simply speed. Groups are what you use to brew shots of espresso. If you have more of them, you can brew more shots at once.
That means the Eagle One is definitely the faster of these two espresso machines. Capable of making at least two or three times as many shots, it has no problem blazing through drink orders.
The Nuova Simonelli Aurelia Wave is another fast espresso machine. You can read more about it here.
Dimensions
Size is another thing you’d notice if you set these machines down next to each other. Because it has more group heads, the Eagle One is longer and takes up more space.
In comparison, the Prima is much smaller since it only has one group head. To give you an exact picture, the two-group Eagle One measures at 29.8 inches wide, 22.6 inches deep, and 17.2 inches high. The Prima measures at 16.25 inches wide, 20 inches deep, and 15 inches high.
This makes the Prima perfect for homes or businesses with little room to spare.
Prima Direct-Connect or Pour-Over Plumbing
Direct-connect and pour-over are the two different ways you can supply water to your espresso machine. The difference is that a pour-over system requires you to manually add water to the tank, while a direct-connect system will refill itself automatically due to being connected to a water line.
There are benefits to either design. For instance, pour-over espresso machines can be portable since they’re not anchored to a water line. Direct-connect ones, on the flipside, offer you the convenience of automatic refills for uninterrupted espresso brewing.
With the Prima, you can choose which format works best for you. If you’re a mobile coffee cart, then pour-over will be perfect. But if you’re a stationary business with lines of customers, then you’ll love how much time direct-connect plumbing saves you.
The Eagle One, in comparison, is only available as a direct-connect machine.
Eagle One Programmable Hot Water Doses
Part of what makes the Eagle One so efficient is all the aspects of it that can be programmed, like the hot water dispenser.
If you’re a business, you probably don’t have only espresso-based drinks on the menu. You most likely offer your customers other hot drinks, including tea, which means you need hot water.
The Eagle One and Prima both dispense hot water, which is a standard espresso machine feature. However, the Eagle One takes it a step further with its programmable hot water doses.
Instead of having to measure out the amount of water each time you want to make tea or an Americano, you can program the correct dosage in advance. This saves your employees time and ensures that each drink gets a consistent amount of water.
Prima Pressure Gauge
For the most part, the Prima is just a miniaturized version of the Eagle One. There aren’t too many visual differences between them beyond size.
However, there is at least one other feature worth mentioning that you can see: a pressure gauge on the front panel. The pressure gauge makes it possible for you or your baristas to see the pressure in your machine immediately.
Monitoring the pressure is important. If the pressure is consistently off, there could be an issue that needs to be repaired.
It’s important to mention at this point that you can regulate the boiler and group pressure with the Eagle One, as well. Instead of being immediately visible, though, the pressure gauge is part of the digital display panel on the front, along with other information.
In a rush, it’s just easier for an employee to glance at a physical gauge.
Eagle One EasyCream
Brewing the perfect espresso-based beverage is an art form. Like creating a work of art, there are numerous steps, including grinding beans, pulling the shot, and sometimes frothing milk.
A skilled barista makes frothing milk look easy. Truthfully, it takes experience to perfectly foam milk time after time.
Your newer employees could struggle with this step. Fortunately, the Eagle One’s EasyCream system can automate the steaming process, ensuring that you get consistently frothed milk time and time again no matter who’s making the drink.
Eagle One T3 Technology
As we mentioned above, brewing the perfect shot of espresso is a multi-step process. To ensure that each step of the way is ideal, your baristas will want complete control over the steps.
The Eagle One’s T3 technology is designed to give them exactly that power. By being able to adjust the temperature of each individual boiler in the machine, baristas can guarantee that all brewing conditions are ideal.
Pricing Considerations
Our objective at Majesty Coffee is to offer our customers the most competitive prices online for our espresso and coffee equipment.
As a result of our commitment, we’re offering you our Victoria A
Our Victoria Arduino E1 Prima is available for $5,990.
Which is Better: the Victoria Arduino Eagle one or Eagle One Prima?
At the end of this comparison, you are likely still left wondering which machine is better. In all honesty, the answer to that question lies with you and your own specific needs.
There is no espresso machine that’s perfect for everyone. Each person has their own set of circumstances that shapes their unique requirements.
So, rather than saying one is definitely better than the other, let’s look at the circumstances that would make either one more suitable for you.
Don’t have much room for a large espresso machine? In that case, the Prima is the one for you, because it’s designed to be more compact than the Eagle One.
The Prima isn’t just friendlier when it comes to space, though – it’s also a bit more budget-friendly. If you’re a smaller coffee shop that doesn’t have the budget for the Eagle One, you may find the Prima much more affordable.
Where the Eagle One truly shines is in medium to large businesses that go through a huge number of espresso orders every day. Because of its two or three group heads, it can breeze through double or triple the number of shots that the Prima can.
Plus, with its double steam wands, two baristas could work on the machine simultaneously.
That’s why our advice is this:
Go with the Victoria Arduino Eagle One if you have a constant line of customers with espresso orders. It will be much faster than the Prima, since it has more group heads and steam wands.
But if you have a limited space or budget, pick the Victoria Arduino E1 Prima instead. It’s also a good option for those who need a portable espresso machine because of its pour-over configuration.
Still not sure which espresso machine to get? Give us a call at 888-978-5224 and we’ll be more than happy to match you up with the machine of your dreams.