This Xiaomi smart coffee machine brews coffee and froths milk simultaneously – but there’s a catch

Xiaomi has announced its plans for a new coffee machine through its crowdfunding site. Claiming to be the ‘world’s smartest coffee maker’, the Seven & Me Coffee Maker brews coffee and froths milk simultaneously – but there are a few catches.

As an electronics company, Xiaomi is best known for its smartphones, tablets and laptops, so seeing a crowdfunder for a coffee machine might seem out of the ordinary. However, Xiaomi has launched pod coffee machines before, except they’re only available to buy now for secondhand on eBay.

But, it seems Xiaomi might be trying to make a comeback in the coffee world, with its new Seven & Me Coffee Maker. Available to view and buy on the xiaomicrowdfunding website, the Seven & Me Coffee Maker is a dual espresso maker and milk frother that can brew coffee and froth milk with a touch of a button.

Unlike traditional espresso machines, the Seven & Me Coffee Maker consists of a hot plate that has two holders, one for the Moka pot and the other for the milk frother jug. The way it works is the Seven & Me Coffee Maker heats the Moka pot’s water from the bottom, which forces up through ground coffee rather than pushing down, like other coffee makers do, which delivers more authentic espresso.

Due to this heating action, the Seven & Me Coffee Maker can brew coffee and froth milk at the same time. The hot plate base has touchscreen controls located in the centre of the two holders, which allows you to choose your brewing time, pressure and heating – or the smart control system will automatically control this for you.

The Seven & Me Coffee Maker brews coffee in just three minutes, and works with ground coffee or Seven & Me coffee capsules. The capsules have the exact amount of coffee for the Moka pot, so while the Seven & Me Coffee Maker doesn’t use pods so a capsule sounds like an odd choice, it actually makes sense as it delivers the precise measurements.

For the milk, the Seven & Me Coffee Maker has precise temperature control at 60-degrees so it won’t burn the milk. The jug uses a 5000 RPM high-speed magnet to heat and froth foam, and as you add the milk directly to the jug, you can use whatever type of milk you like, including dairy alternatives.

As mentioned above, there are a few catches with the Seven & Me Coffee Maker. Firstly, dubbing it as the ‘world’s smartest coffee maker’ might be a bit of a stretch, since there’s no details on its smart technology or whether it can connect to Wi-Fi or an app.

Secondly, it looks identical to a Xiaomi coffee machine called the Xiaomi Household Mini Latte Coffee Machine – as pointed out by TechRadar. Not only does it have the same images and features of the Seven & Me Coffee Maker, but the Household Mini Latte Coffee Machine is available for just £21, so it begs the question over which one is legitimate and if the Seven & Me Coffee Maker is simply a rebrand of an older model.

Despite this confusion, the Seven & Me Coffee Maker is available on the Xiaomi crowdfunding site for $299. As of writing, no UK pricing and availability has been confirmed.