This Barista Pro is my first espresso machine so it’s hard to compare to others, but the controls are easy to maneuver and it’s fairly straightforward to operate.  Breville also does it right with many custom color options; I landed on the slate gray color and it’s pretty sharp.  I will say however there is definitely some learning with this system!  You will burn through some coffee beans in your first attempts at a decent cup of joe.  My advice is to buy some cheaper beans until you get the hang of dialing in the grind/timing.  YouTube has a few good videos out there if you need more instructions as the manual I feel is pretty generic.  The Pro has many options and I’m glad I stuck with the semi-manual approach over the automatic ones.  Very happy with this purchase!  Happy brewing!