Philips 4300 vs 5400: Comparing Two Similar-Looking Machines

Here is our in-depth comparison of two mid-range bean-to-cup machines from Philips – the Philips 4300 vs 5400.

I am an avid coffee drinker who has researched these product lines to help you determine which option is best for you.

In both machines, Philips offered the same powered brewing unit, which is the heart of any coffee machine, and even with the same basic customization & cleaning process. 

So, what exactly separates these machines from each other? Let’s find out in our detailed comparison below.

Philips 4300 vs 5400 – Which One to Consider?

The Philips 4300 and 5400 come at a very close price point, but the more value-for-money product and the winner of this comparison is Philips 4300 LatteGo.

The features and drinks options of the Philips 4300 can able to satisfy a larger part of consumers and also offer two different types of frothing options – you can pick any one on your preference.

The Philips 5400 is for those who are interested in a drink that the 4300 doesn’t offer or many coffee drinkers will use it and its other functions over the 4300 don’t directly improve your coffee journey for which you’ll have to pay the extra $200.

Philips 4300 vs 5400: Head To Head Comparison

Now, we have come to the section where there is actual meat and bones, which means an in-depth comparison. Starting with…

Beverage Options

Types of beverages offered are among the main differentiating factors between these two flagship machines from Philips.

The Philips 4300 LatteGo comes with 10 beverage options while the 4300 Steam Wand comes with 7 beverage options.

On the other hand, the Philips 5400 offers 14 beverages, which is a huge difference compared to the Philips 4300 series. 

So, let’s look at the names of the beverages in each machine.

Beverages	Philips 4300 LatteGo	Philips 4300 Steam Wand	Philips 5400 LatteGo
Espresso	✔	✔	✔
Coffee	✔	✔	✔
Americano	✔	✔	✔
Cappuccino	✔		✔
Latte Macchiato	✔		✔
Café au Lait	✔		✔
Caffé crema	✔	✔	✔
Ristretto	✔	✔	✔
Flat white			✔
Espresso Lungo			✔
Travel Mug			✔
Caffe Latte			✔
Hot water	✔	✔	✔
Milk froth	✔	✔	✔

There is an interesting coffee drink feature that you might notice is the travel mug that only Philips 5400 brews; in this, you have two cup sizes, 8.1 oz & 12.2 oz, and it’s great for those who enjoy coffee on the go.

Also, if you want to take hot water from both machines, then you need to detach LatteGo or the steam wand.

In terms of taste and flavors, if you use any one type of beans, then all the drinks taste exactly the same as both the machines have the same 15 bar pump pressure brewing unit with single boilers.

But I feel at this price both the machines should have given iced coffee options like Philips 3200 and Delonghi Dinamica.

Programmability

Programming and customizing the Philips 4300 & 5400 machine series are very simple and straightforward.

For customizing coffee drinks, you have three options in both machines; five coffee strength settings, three water temperature settings which are low, medium and high, and finally volume of the drink that depends on the type of beverage.

But in the coffee strength customization, there comes a difference and it is a feature called an extra shot function where your coffee machine will grind & brew a new puck of coffee for the same drink.

See, in strength customization, there is a progress bar that has seven settings; the lower one is for accessing the bypass chute, the mid 5s are for coffee strength and if you go to the top, then there you can access the extra shot function.

And this feature is only available in Philips 5400 and it is one of those features that consumers can likely use every day because it increases the intensity of the coffee without tasting bitter.

So, if you like your coffee extra strong and have to brew twice for the same cup, this feature will greatly help and save you a few minutes.

Also, Philips 5400 has four user profiles which are yellow, green, blue and pink, as well as one guest profile and when I compare it with Philips 4300, it has two user profiles which are blue and green, plus one guest profile.

Suppose you are two people in the house and each one’s drink preference is different like you want your cappuccino strong and your husband/wife like their cappuccino light.

So with user profiles, you can save your drink customization (coffee strength, milk froth size and water volume) by choosing a color without disturbing anyone’s settings.

And if someday you want to taste something other than your preferences or if there are guests over at your house, then, in this case, a guest profile is the best option as it doesn’t remember anything.

Display & Controls

Both the Philips 4300 & 5400 have exactly the same quality touchscreen display (mainly in terms of touch response and quality) and even the controls are located at the exact position.

Except for the appealing display, the Philips 5400 display is much better in terms of looks and understandability, as it clearly displays the coffee image with crema & milk.

And if you are new to coffee, then by seeing that, you can also guess whether it is black coffee or milk-based and you can have a coffee-to-milk ratio idea for some drinks.

As we have already discussed, Philips 5400 has 14 drink options, but at a time, you only see six drinks on the front in both LatteGo machine series; you can access another eight drinks by selecting the “more drinks” option.

But in the Philips 4300 steam wand, you don’t find any “more drink” options as there are a total of 7 drink options.

So, the quality of the color touchscreen display of the Philips 5400 is only limited to a few first drinks and other things remain the same as the 4300.

Now, if you take my suggestions, your shortlisting shouldn’t be on this factor except if you don’t have any budget issues or want a fancy display because, with drinks names & related icons, the Philips 4300 isn’t a bad option.

Design & Build

The design and build of the Philips 4300 series and Philips 5400 are exactly the same; in fact, they both are similar-looking machines with the same dimensions of 246x372x433 mm.

Many people are also concerned about the fit and finish of the accessible areas like the water tank and drip tray, but I must tell you all the removable parts have a good build quality and you won’t face any problems while pulling and pushing them.

The main difference here is in the type of milk frothing, these Philips machines come with two types of milk frothing; LatteGo and Panarello steam wand.

The LatteGo system is a kit that is attached to the machine and with the help of this, a machine can automatically brew all types of milk-based beverages.

Panarello is a type of steam wand that injects steam pressure into the milk for frothing and it is a manual process. If you make milk-based beverages with this technique, it will generally take more time compared to a LatteGo.

As we know, both the Philips 4300 and 5400 series have the same LatteGo system, but I noticed that the Philips 4300 froths milk comparatively louder than the 5400 – however, there isn’t much sound difference.

Now, the finishing and look of all three machines from two different series is very different.

The Philips 4300 LatteGo has a spray-painted silver specchiato finish, the Philips 4300 Steam Wand has a black glossy finish and the Philips 5400 has chromed finish.

Now, except for this, the design and build are exactly the same. Below I’ve mentioned important technical specifications that will further complementarity guide you in choosing the suitable machine for you.

Specifications	Philips 4300 Series	Philips 5400
Water tank capacity	1.8  L	1.8  L
Grounds container capacity	12-14  servings	12-14  servings
Weight	8 kg	8 kg
Coffee bean capacity	275  g	275  g
Adjustable Coffee Spout	85 – 145  mm	85 – 145  mm
Capacity milk carafe	0.26  L (Only in LatteGo)	0.26  L

If you want to explore more, check our comparison of Philips 3200 vs 4300.

Philips 4300 – Quick Rundown

Philips 5400 – Quick Rundown

Philips 4300 vs 5400: The Winner

This comparison of Philips 4300 vs 5400 demonstrates that Philips 4300 is the overall winner as it is more than sufficient for a regular coffee drinker.

Also, if you love frothing your milk, you have only one option left, i.e., Philips 4300 Steam Wand; with this, you can make any beverage and even a great latte art.

Philips 5400 is comparatively an expensive option and you should only look for this machine if you love & regularly brew drinks like Flat White, Espresso Lungo and Caffe Latte, which 4300 hasn’t.

However, as we have discussed, both machines are exactly the same except for 1-2 things like beverages, extra shot and user profile, so whether you choose Philips 4300 or 5400, you won’t make any mistake.