ECM Synchronika II Espresso Machine

1. What touches the water and coffee 45% of the rating 3 of 5

   Stainless steel boilers, group socket and mushroom. Against that: a chrome-plated brass E61 group and portafilter with no lead-free claim, PTFE gaskets in the group and valves, silicone tubing, a brass fitting and a plastic tank.

2. Independent testing 10% of the rating 1 of 5

   No independent test of this machine. ECM says each component is “rigorously tested” but names no lab and publishes no result.

3. Durability 20% of the rating 4 of 5

   Retailers publish a full parts list, ECM services through dealers or directly, and its manual sets boiler-water, descaling and group-cleaning routines. ECM states no warranty period itself; the dealer lists 3 years.

4. Trust 10% of the rating 3 of 5

   No recall, Prop 65 notice or lawsuit names ECM. But it does not say if its brass is lead-free or what the tubing and seals are, and it shares a managing director and address with Profitec.

5. Value 15% of the rating 3 of 5

   About $3,599, level with the Profitec Drive ($3,449), which is also a stainless steel dual boiler, and about ten times the Flair 49 PRO ($359), the other espresso route on this list.

The rating, 3.0 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank coffee makers & gear and our standard.

• Whole Latte Love (opens in a new tab) approx. $3,599. The No Accents / No Flow Control version at $3,599; the flow-control and wood-panel versions cost more. In stock when we looked. The store lists and services a 3-year parts and labor warranty; ECM states no warranty period itself and sells spare parts only through authorised dealers.
• Clive Coffee (opens in a new tab) approx. $3,599. Listed with walnut touch points. In stock when we looked. Clive provides a 3-year parts and labor warranty; its flow-control version is about $3,699.

Prices as we saw them on October 23, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.

1. Stainless steel brew boiler, about 0.75 L, and stainless steel steam and hot-water boiler, about 2 L (ECM)
2. E61 brew group, chrome-plated brass (Whole Latte Love spec table), with a stainless steel mushroom (ECM); the group socket and the filter in the group are stainless steel (parts list)
3. Portafilter, chrome-plated brass with a Bakelite handle (Whole Latte Love)
4. Silicone tube (5 x 8 mm), metal flex hoses (liner not stated) and a brass T-fitting (parts list); a metal hose (1/8 to 3/8 inch) ships for plumbing in (ECM), its liner not stated
5. PTFE (“Teflon”) gaskets in the group, the group socket, an elbow and the steam valve (parts list)
6. Rotary pump: body material not stated
7. Water tank: plastic, BPA-free (Whole Latte Love)

• Maker’s own test ECM

  Says on its technology page that each component is rigorously tested and only parts that pass are assembled. No lab, standard or result is named. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Is the brass lead-free?

ECM does not say. Whole Latte Love’s spec table lists the group and portafilter as chrome-plated brass, and the parts list names a brass T-fitting. Germany’s risk-assessment institute (BfR) tested eight coffee machines, three of them portafilter machines. The portafilter machines released the most metal: lead, nickel, manganese, chromium and zinc reached or passed proposed limits, mostly right after descaling and falling over each day. One portafilter machine released much less, so the problem can be designed out. The institute named no machines (PubMed (opens in a new tab)). We found no test of this machine. In 2021 the German consumer group Stiftung Warentest tested seven entry-level portafilter machines (test.de (opens in a new tab)); a Severin and a Solis released too much lead after descaling (press release (opens in a new tab)). ECM and Profitec were not among the seven.

Does a stainless boiler settle the question?

Only in part. An E61 group is fed by a loop that circulates boiler water through the brass group, so steel boilers do not keep water off brass; an owner raised this about the Synchronika on Home-Barista (opens in a new tab) and the replies were not alarmed. ECM’s manual asks owners to refresh the boiler water every 1 to 2 weeks.

Is there PTFE (“Teflon”) where the water flows?

A retailer’s copy of ECM’s parts list names PTFE gaskets in the group, the group socket, an elbow and the steam valve, but no PTFE tubing (parts list (opens in a new tab)). Mamavation (opens in a new tab) (affiliate income) says PTFE parts are now standard in espresso machines and that models without them are very difficult to find. It says no test for PTFE exists, so it relied on what brands told it, and it did not rate ECM.

Is it the same machine as a Profitec?

ECM’s legal notice (opens in a new tab) and Profitec’s imprint (opens in a new tab) name the same managing director at the same Bammental address, and the Synchronika II and Profitec Drive have the same boiler sizes and similar parts lists. Treat them as close relatives when you compare. We found no affiliate program or sponsorship page on ECM’s site, though we did not read every page.

• ECM names the boilers. Its page lists a “stainless steel coffee boiler: approx. 0.75 L” and a “stainless steel steam and hot water boiler: approx. 2 L”.
• More of the path can be read from a retailer’s copy of ECM’s parts list: silicone tube (5 x 8 mm), metal flex hoses, a brass T-fitting, a stainless steel group socket, a stainless filter in the group and PTFE (“Teflon”) gaskets. It names no PTFE or PFA tubing.
• ECM publishes care rules: a manual that asks for water up to 4° dH, refreshing the boiler water every 1 to 2 weeks, and descaling by an authorised dealer if the machine calcifies; an FAQ with a 3 to 6 month descaling interval and group cleaning every 150 cups.
• No Prop 65 notice and no recall naming ECM turned up in our searches on 2026-10-23 (the only “ECM” notices belong to unrelated companies).

• ECM does not say whether its brass is lead-free. Whole Latte Love lists the E61 group and the portafilter as chrome-plated brass, and we found no metal-release test.
• PTFE (“Teflon”) gaskets sit in the group, the group socket, an elbow and the steam valve, per the parts list. Our category criteria say to avoid PTFE seals where brew water flows.
• Beyond the boilers, ECM describes no material. The parts list does not say what lines the metal hoses or what the pump body and tank (plastic, per Whole Latte Love) are made of.
• Servicing runs through dealers. ECM says spare parts come only from authorised dealers, does no remote diagnosis, and says a calcified machine may need the boiler and tubing partly taken apart. At about $3,599 it costs about ten times a Flair 49 PRO. Whole Latte Love and Clive Coffee both sell it with a 3-year parts and labor warranty.

1. ECM: Synchronika II product page. Maker’s page. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
2. ECM: Our technology. Maker’s page. Source for the stainless steel mushroom and the “rigorously tested” line. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
3. ECM: Synchronika II user manual (PDF). Maker’s page. Water hardness limit, boiler water refresh and descaling advice. It names no materials. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
4. ECM: FAQ. Maker’s page. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
5. ECM: Handmade Quality. Maker’s page. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
6. ECM: Legal notice. Maker’s page. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
7. Profitec: Imprint. Maker’s page. Names the same managing director and street as ECM. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
8. Whole Latte Love: ECM Synchronika II (price, spec table, warranty). Independent source. A retailer’s spec table, not the maker’s. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
9. Whole Latte Love: ECM Synchronika part diagram (parts list). Independent source. Part names for the Synchronika family; it names the metal or plastic of only some parts. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
10. Müller et al. 2015: Metal release from coffee machines and electric kettles. Test report. German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. Brands are not named. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
11. Stiftung Warentest: portafilter machines in the test (press release, 17 November 2021). Test report. An independent consumer test: a Severin and a Solis released too much lead after descaling. The release names Krups, Smeg, Severin, Solis, Sage and Graef models, none of them ours. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
12. Stiftung Warentest: portafilter machines in the test (seven entry-level models, 12/2021). Test report. Lists the seven models tested: De’Longhi, Graef, Krups, Sage, Severin, Smeg and Solis, at 156 to 455 euros. The full results are behind a paywall. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
13. BfR: Some portafilter espresso machines release too much lead (questions and answers). Test report. The institute does not name products and calls the small sample not representative. It advises rinsing after descaling. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
14. Home-Barista: E61 metal leaching concerns with thermosyphon (2024). Independent source. Forum discussion, not a test. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
15. Mamavation: Safest espresso machines, moka pots and stovetop espresso makers (December 2024). Independent source. A materials survey, not a lab test. The site earns affiliate income. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
16. California Attorney General: Prop 65 60-day notice search, defendant name “ECM”. Certifier or regulator listing. Three results, none naming ECM Espresso Coffee Machines Manufacture GmbH; they name unrelated companies. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
17. CPSC recall database, title search for ECM. Certifier or regulator listing. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Profitec Drive About $3,449. Profitec names stainless steel boilers and a stainless steel group mushroom; the parts list also shows silicone hose, brass fittings and PTFE gaskets.
• ECM Classika PID About $1,699. A single-boiler ECM with a stainless steel boiler stated by ECM.
• Flair 49 PRO About $359. A manual press with a maker-stated stainless steel brew path and no boiler, brass or tubing.

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