The Francis! Francis! X3 sells for $399 as of this writing for the stainless steel version, and $349 for the colour models. They include a pod portafilter as well as a traditional grounds portafilter, two filter baskets, and a can of illy pods. |
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Beautiful. Yes. Functional? That's a question.
That's how I felt about the Francis! Francis! (FF!) line of machines. My opinions were based on a lengthy test session I did a couple of years ago with a couple of X1 machines, the first machine in the FF! lineup. It was pretty bad. And that experience made me think that all machines in the FF! line were similarly bad.
It may be time for me to eat some of my words. You see, we have a Francis! Francis! X3 in the house, and darnitall, I've been coaxing some pretty decent shots out of it. Colour me surprised.
The X3 is the cheapest machine in the FF! lineup, but in some ways, is a much better engineered machine than the X1. And in my opinion, it's also better looking. For many, the X3 may prove to be the ideal kitchen espresso machine; if your primary concerns are good tasting shots, a great looking machine, and a super small footprint necessary for a tiny kitchen, this could be the ideal choice.
As always, this is a First Look, not a detailed review. Anything and everything can change between the two publications - this is our initial look. Our definitive word comes later on.
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