Breville just re-invented its iconic drip coffee maker — meet the Luxe Brewer

Breville makes some of the best coffee makers on the market, period. But while the brand is best known for its espresso machines, it also offers a number of outstanding drip brewers.

Released 8 years ago, the Breville Precision Brewer has been the brand's most popular drip brewer for the best part of a decade. But now there's a new drip brewer on the market: The Luxe Brewer.

Breville, which U.K. readers will know as Sage, calls this drip coffee maker "a new standard for at-home drip coffee". Among its huge range of smart features, there's one element that fixes the most annoying part of the original Precision line. Finally, this drip coffee maker comes with a removable water tank.

The price? $319 for the Luxe Brewer Thermal, which comes with a dual-wall thermal carafe or $349.95 for the Luxe Brewer Glass with a glass carafe and upgraded warming plate, both available at breville.com. Here's what's new with the Luxe Brewer.

Breville Luxe Brewer: $319 at Breville

The next generation of Breville's Precision Brewer, the Luxe Brewer follows in its predecessor's footsteps while offering you so much more. You'll get the same Gold Standard coffee, but a revamped interface, removable water reservoir, an Auto Start feature, the ability to brew single-serve cups and three primary modes. All for $319 for the thermal carafe and $349.95 for glass.

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Gold standard

The Breville Luxe Brewer is the Precision Brewer, but better. Improving on the much-loved features of its predecessor, its the "next generation" of one-touch filter coffee at home.

And while you'll get all the same features as the Precision Brewer, you'll also get a lot more. This is a Luxe experience, after all.

Boasting the same quality results as its predecessor, it's got a revamped interface, removable water reservoir, directly brewing for single-serve cups and three primary modes: a Gold Cup Standard, Cold Brew, and Custom Brew.

There's also a choice between two carafe options, with a varying price. The dual-wall thermal carafe will keep your coffee hot for up to four hours with no additional heat.

The glass carafe with an upgraded warming plate will maintain a consistent temperature for up to six hours. If you don't need the carafe, you can brew directly into your mug.

Amongst all these new shiny features though, there's also a dedication to Gold Standard coffee with the same Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) Certification as the Precision Brewer.

Gold Standard coffee sounds fancy, and it is. This means, once again, that Breville has successfully followed the guidelines for quality. So, you're guaranteed a well-balanced, well-brewed and perfectly ratioed cup of Joe.

How does it compare?

Drip coffee machines are a super popular choice given how simple and easy-to-use they are, resulting in consistently delicious coffee achievable from the comfort of your home. And with their popularity, it should come as no surprise to see a wide range of drip machines appearing amongst the best coffee makers on the market.

There's the Fellow Aiden, the Braun Multiserve Plus, GE Profile Smart Grind & Brew, and the OXO Brew 8-Cup all excellent options covering a range of prices and specs.

For the best value option, Braun's drip coffee maker comes in at under $150 – an excellent pick for those on a budget in comparison to Breville's over $300 price tag.

And in terms of spec, the Luxe Brewer fits in closely alongside our favourite drip machine, the Fellow Aiden. Both boasting pre-programmed brewing, single-cup to whole carafe servings and keeping coffee hot for around 4 hours (or 6 with the Luxe Brewer's glass carafe and warming plate).

For AI-powered drip coffee, the GE Profile Smart Grind & Brew is a clever machine with an abundance of settings and the Gold Cup standard, coming in at a similar price.

Then, OXO's coffee maker boasts the same SCA certification while also managing to stay compactly-sized, but notably without the removable water tank and ability to program.

Each machine will have features that suit your needs, but fortunately they're all capable of making you flavorful brews with customization to suit your tastes.

Of course, we also have to compare the Luxe Brewer to the Precision Brewer considering Breville say its the predecessor's upgrade. And since we gave the Precision Brewer four-stars, we're going to hold our thoughts until we've sufficiently tested the newer model in our full review, coming soon.

More from Tom's Guide

• How to make cold brew coffee at home — no fancy equipment needed
• Sage's new espresso machine will save you from watered-down iced lattes this summer
• I was a drip coffee skeptic until I tried this super-smart coffee maker — now my beloved espresso machine is gathering dust