Our reviews experts tested over 20 coffee pod machines with compatible eco pods as similar in variety and roast strength as possible, to bring you this list of the best currently available. If you want to inject some colour into your kitchen, look to this postbox red beauty that’s designed for smaller spaces. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. The obvious downside is that you can’t take your eye off this machine while your coffee pours and you also have to spend a bit of time figuring out how much water to pull through each pod.

This machine produced a good cup of coffee – it’s not going to be for die-hard coffee nerds, but for your morning cup (and the kids’ hot chocolate) it’s a purse-friendly option for sure. This meant yes, it delivered better coffee but also means the life of your machine is extended as it’s not going to get so clogged with limescale. It heats up and is ready to go almost instantaneously and has many of the same premium features as the Sage Barista machines. It works with classic Nespresso capsules but there are also plenty of third-party pods suitable for use too. There’s no getting away from the fact it’s bulky and expensive for a pod coffee machine, but for ease of use and delicious coffee, it might just be worth it.

This makes for a supremely easy coffee-making process, with next-to-no-chance of the drink coming out horribly wrong. It comes fully assembled and is quick to heat up, but it took me a while to master making espressos with fresh ground coffee. Other coffee pods are also compatible: Nespresso®* Original, Illy®*, Lavazza®* and most other capsules found in supermarkets. The great merit to these is that the 'messy bits' of coffee making are taken off your hands – namely the grinding, dosing and tamping of grounds. There’s a metal rack attachment for the top of the machine where you can warm cups, and the small steam wand on this machine means you can manually steam milk to create a range of perfectly creamy, frothy coffees.

The real winner for me is the fact you can set this machine on a timer to be ready when you wake up. Launched as 'the first machine purposely designed to brew speciality coffee pods', the Opal One is a modern-looking, slimline piece of kit that's easy to operate and clean up afterwards.Each coffee pod has a barcode, which the machine reads to produce the right volume: a tiny cupfull for the strong espressos, a big mug’s worth for the Sunday morning brews. The steam wand took moments to get up to temperature and allowed us to create dense microfoam easily in the metal milk jug that’s included.

The machine is the product of a collaboration with Sage - the brand in first and fourth position on this list and one we trust here at Telegraph Towers.It’s small enough on the work surface, but all the shiny metal makes it stand out – and you’ll want to show it off. All pod machines have a similar basic function: the user loads in a coffee pod, presses a button, and the machine then pumps hot water from an in-built reservoir, through the pod, and into a cup as coffee. This isn’t anywhere near as authentic as milk frothed with a steam wand or carafe but it is a lot quicker and in most cases, much cheaper too.