Customer reviews from Fellow
Fellow - Espresso Series 1 Semi-Automatic Espresso Machine with up to 9 bars of pressure and custom roast profiles - Black
Average customer rating
4.5
(159 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 159 reviews
5 Stars
118
4 Stars
24
3 Stars
4
2 Stars
3
1 Star
10
91%of customers recommend this product.
(
90 out of
99)
Customer Reviews for Fellow - Espresso Series 1 Semi-Automatic Espresso Machine with up to 9 bars of pressure and custom roast profiles - Black
Customer Rating
4
Great espresso machine
on March 20, 2026
Posted by: Pickles
The machine is fantastic and better than I expected. Out of the box it had strange presets including no shot feedback (it took me a while to find this on the menu), the turbo shot for espresso was already selected, and time dosing for the espresso shots. Once I changed settings and pulled shots without dosing I was able to begin dialing it in. Strangely, the grouphead rinse aborts after only a few seconds despite changing the default time. The menu button is sensitive and jumps around but is overall manageable.
I would have given 5 stars but it has some software quirks that need fixing holding it back from the perfect rating. Overall a great machine reminiscent of the Decent espresso machine
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Fellow
Customer Rating
5
Espresso Series 1
on March 19, 2026
Posted by: Shelley
Love the machine. We received a little over a month and have pulled around 70 shots and are still learning: Practice Practice
Makes a great latte in the morning
Happy customers
Makes a great latte in the morning
Happy customers
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Fellow
Customer Rating
4
Great Machine, Some bugs need to be fixed.
on March 19, 2026
Posted by: Will
To start with, this is an amazing machine with so much flexibility. I am loving it, and it allows me to do complex things even with medium to low skill.
Now here are the issues I have had with the machine, most of these are firmware, so I expect my machine to be 5/5 stars when some updates roll out, but if any of these things are important to you, take note:
Espresso:
- flow control is lacking
- Adjusting profiles can be annoying without the app working yet
- You can't pull a shot of a different profile without changing the active profile.
- "make a drink" is kind of lacking and weird
- Flow-based stopping is simply unpolished; you have to use a scale with the machine, even if you adjust flow parameters, they change for each coffee, so it is a waste of time. I am waiting for an update to play with this because, without the app, the UI is too bad to properly adjust this. It should be profile-based, not machine overall, and it should be far clearer what each adjustment does.
- because of this, some of the other smart features don't work (grind suggestions)
- flow control is lacking
- Adjusting profiles can be annoying without the app working yet
- You can't pull a shot of a different profile without changing the active profile.
- "make a drink" is kind of lacking and weird
- Flow-based stopping is simply unpolished; you have to use a scale with the machine, even if you adjust flow parameters, they change for each coffee, so it is a waste of time. I am waiting for an update to play with this because, without the app, the UI is too bad to properly adjust this. It should be profile-based, not machine overall, and it should be far clearer what each adjustment does.
- because of this, some of the other smart features don't work (grind suggestions)
Steaming:
-When steaming, water comes out of the tip first, even after auto purge; there is no way to manually purge without being hacky.
- The steam wand ball joint is very exposed, and I am worried about it breaking when a lot of coffee grinds inevitably end up in the mechanism.
- To adjust steam end temperature, you have to be steaming; there needs to be a menu for this.
-When steaming, water comes out of the tip first, even after auto purge; there is no way to manually purge without being hacky.
- The steam wand ball joint is very exposed, and I am worried about it breaking when a lot of coffee grinds inevitably end up in the mechanism.
- To adjust steam end temperature, you have to be steaming; there needs to be a menu for this.
Hot water:
- Flow slows drastically after 100ml, I initially thought this was a heater limitation, but you can instantly click off then back on, and hot water flows again full speed. The pump is slowing for no reason.
- The amount of water out is completely inaccurate; it is consistently 20% less than I ask for, and there is no way to adjust this, which makes me think the flow sensor is, in general, not accurate
- Again, there is no way to adjust the amount or temperature outside of when you dispense
- Cold water is dispensed for the first second, or two, it needs to be purged because the temperature is very inaccurate. With this being the case, if you only want 50mL of water, it's just cold water that comes out.
- water comes out relatively slowly, but if the other comment about it slowing over 100ml is fixed, this is a non-issue.
- Flow slows drastically after 100ml, I initially thought this was a heater limitation, but you can instantly click off then back on, and hot water flows again full speed. The pump is slowing for no reason.
- The amount of water out is completely inaccurate; it is consistently 20% less than I ask for, and there is no way to adjust this, which makes me think the flow sensor is, in general, not accurate
- Again, there is no way to adjust the amount or temperature outside of when you dispense
- Cold water is dispensed for the first second, or two, it needs to be purged because the temperature is very inaccurate. With this being the case, if you only want 50mL of water, it's just cold water that comes out.
- water comes out relatively slowly, but if the other comment about it slowing over 100ml is fixed, this is a non-issue.
Cleaning:
- There is a bug where the number of shots doesn't increase for backflushing, which means you get no backflush suggestion.
- groupheaad purge only goes for a second regardless of setting time, at this point, I just press the shot button to purge instead of using the purge feature.
- There is a bug where the number of shots doesn't increase for backflushing, which means you get no backflush suggestion.
- groupheaad purge only goes for a second regardless of setting time, at this point, I just press the shot button to purge instead of using the purge feature.
Personally, none of these are major to me, but I want to lay them out for potential buyers and for Fellow to improve. That being said, here are a few of my favourite things about the machine:
- Perfect steam wand, it is powerful but controllable, very ergonomic, and the temperature sensing makes it all a breeze.
- Fit and finish are excellent, feels sturdy and high quality (more than I expected)
- Consistency, every shot you want the same is the same, and when you change a parameter, it is easy to tell you changed it. The espresso pulling experience is dialled and accurate.
- Fit and finish are excellent, feels sturdy and high quality (more than I expected)
- Consistency, every shot you want the same is the same, and when you change a parameter, it is easy to tell you changed it. The espresso pulling experience is dialled and accurate.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Fellow
Customer Rating
5
Legacy brand in action!
on March 19, 2026
Posted by: Bullfrog
I love this machine. It was worth the wait and the investment. I have had nothing but joyous interactions with the Fellow brand. They are a well-thought-out company with solid product offerings. They truly care about what their name goes on, planned obsolescence be damned!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Fellow
Customer Rating
5
The smartest espresso machine
on March 18, 2026
Posted by: kyra26
Truly best espresso shot I’ve had. Super easy to work and love the real-time feedback. The only feedback is the portafilter is a bit snug and hard to screw in/screw out - makes a poor noise and not a seamless fit
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Fellow
Customer Rating
1
on March 18, 2026
Posted by: Yups
Not a fan of the flavor. Seems like it needed more beta testing.
Response from FellowBy CX, Customer Experience Team, March 19, 2026
We're sorry to hear that this was your experience with Series 1! We're confident that with a little tweaking, we can get you pulling shots that you love. One of our Customer Experience team members has reached out via email to assist you with this issue. We look forward to connecting!
-The Fellow Team
Andrew Martin (He/Him)
Customer Experience, Learning & Development Specialist
Mon-Fri 8-5 PST
F E L L O W | fellowproducts.com
-The Fellow Team
Andrew Martin (He/Him)
Customer Experience, Learning & Development Specialist
Mon-Fri 8-5 PST
F E L L O W | fellowproducts.com
Written by a customer while visiting Fellow
Customer Rating
4
I like it?
on March 18, 2026
Posted by: JohnU
Overall very happy with this machine. Initial dial in of volumetric system a little confusing. I don't like going to reddit to find answers. Recently I found water on my countertop. I thought I had a leak. Water tank was almost empty. Well even though I had only had 3 coffees it was full. But again reddit was the answer. During a wind storm the power went out. So each time it came back on the machine back flushes. Also steam wand purges a large amount of water. I guess their will be a software update. Lastly the app. I can't figure out what it does. It doesn't control any settings. You can't create profiles with it. So far no firmware updates. So what does it do? Maybe during production of the machine someone could have worked on the app. I still think a good machine but not perfect.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Fellow
Customer Rating
5
Exactly what I hoped for!
on March 18, 2026
Posted by: BenW127
I’ve been using the ES1 for a couple of weeks and I’ve enjoyed getting to know its ins and outs. For me, the ES1 has delivered on what was promised, and has made getting into making espresso easy and approachable. While the exterior is plastic, the build feels solid and high quality. As I become more comfortable with the machine, I’ve appreciated the ES1’s ability to make tweaks to the process. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting into and learning about espresso.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Fellow