OutIn Nano portable espresso press: full hands-on review

If your day, like mine, needs to start with some caffeine, but you’re on the road, you know that’s not always easy. But that’s where a portable espresso machine can help. This is the OutIn Nano. With a built-in heating element, a battery for portability, and the option of using ground coffee or Nespresso Pods, single shots or doubles, AND cold water or hot, this seems like the ultimate coffee lover’s dream for espresso on the go. But is it? There’s definitely a lot to love about this device, but it does have a few flaws you’ll want to be aware of.

OutIn Nano portable espresso press: full hands-on review

In this review I spent several weeks using the OutIn Nano, both at home, in the camper man, and on the go. I’ll show you how it works whether you choose to use pre-measured pods or your own coffee, and I’ll take a look at the pros and cons and let you know if I think I can recommend this device for you.

Watch my full hands-on video review to see it in action

 Unboxing

Taking a look at what you get with this device it’s a pretty cool and attractive package, and OutIn does a nice job of making the packaging feel luxe.

Let’s take a look at the parts…

You get the OutIn Nano which has your power and battery, along with a few parts; there is a plastic espresso cup which fits over the bottom of the machine, a 2-piece portafilter that’s used for ground coffee, and a separate 2-piece portafilter for using Nespresso pods that has little metal claws inside.

There’s also a coffee scoop which can double as a tamper, and a USB-C power cord.

I had the idea that all of the pieces would fit conveniently back into the body of the espresso machine in some way… But after experimenting with that in a couple of configurations it doesn’t quite fit back together. That was a disappointment that makes it a little less convenient to travel with. The way I found it fits best together is to put the coffee scoop inside the cup of the ground coffee port filter and to set that in the water tank up top. Put the top part of the ground coffee port filter into the bottom of the espresso cup and then attach the capsule port filter into the machine. It mostly fits together, the lid on top never fully closes, nor does the cup fit right. OutIn says it is actually not meant to fit together at all, which I think is a bit of a mist design opportunity.

Using OutIn Nano

To use the machine you want to make sure it is fully charged.

Depending whether you’re using a coffee pod or ground coffee you’ll choose the portafilter you need.

I’m going to run both for you in just a sec…

You can use this machine with cold water and the machine can heat it, or you can pour in boiling water for extraction.

Depending which type of water you use this will change how you program the machine. If you want the machine to heat your water for you you’ll turn it on with a quick press then push and hold the button for two seconds to heat and extract your shot. If you want to skip the heating process turn the machine on and quickly double tap the button. Pressing the power button at any time will stop the extraction process.

The machine is going to use exactly as much water as you place in the tank and will drain it each time.

Let’s start with using ground espresso.

You’ll fill the ground coffee porta filter with finally ground espresso beans and then tamp it lightly using the scoop. Attach the lid and then use the bottom of the porta filter to screw the assembly tightly to the bottom. Then sit the machine into the espresso cup. Push the button quickly to turn the machine on then hold for two seconds to begin the heating and extraction process. While the company says the machine should heat in 2 to 3 minutes, I found that impact this was a lot closer to five or six minutes.

It does feel agonizingly long, yes. But given the parameters of this machine and the fact it’s relying on a battery, it’s possibly not surprising. And it may go without saying that you can always boil your water separately first and then run the shot using boiled water, although of course you’ll still have to wait for that initial boil also.

When the machine is fully heated it will begin extracting your espresso shot on its own. The machine runs extremely quietly so it’s easy to miss this if you’ve turned your back and gone onto something else while waiting for the heating process. With the shot ready it’s time to drink.

Tasty? Hot? Thick?

Using Nespresso Pods

When it comes to using an espresso/Nespresso pod, this is really easy. Just push the pod, narrow side in, to the Nespresso adaptor and then attach the rest of the portafilter.

When using pods you’ll want to make sure the portafilter is screwed in tightly in order to generate enough pressure to do a proper extraction with crema. The first time I tried this I don’t think I tightened the port filter enough and my espresso came out on the watery side. The next time I was able to get a bit of a better result.

How hot is the shot?

You might be wondering how hot the espresso shots are when they are extracted. I measured the temperature immediately after brewing at ??

Of course if you are looking for a hotter shot you could simply use your own boiling water heated to your preferred temperature.

Battery Life & Charging

The company says that when the machine is required to heat the water for you you should get about 3 to 5 shots of espresso on a single charge. If you use already heated water, you can get dozens of uses. I can confirm from my own personal experience that I was only able to get about three shots on a single charge. That is definitely extremely low and may limit the devices usefulness depending on how much power you have access to. If the machine doesn’t have enough juice to complete an extraction it will beep and shut down automatically which happened to me on more than one occasion.

My recommendation for this device would be to charge it after each use so you can always keep it topped up and ready.

In case you’re wondering you cannot use the machine while it is plugged in to recharge.

Recharging takes approximately two to three hours which is actually quite reasonable.

Overall review: OutIn Nano portable espresso machine

Overall there’s a lot of plusses to this machine, but it does have some areas where I do hope the company can make improvements in a Gen 2. Let’s go over the pros and cons so you can evaluate them with me.

On the pro side, this machine is truly an all in one portable espresso maker; it can use either ground espresso beans or Nespresso pods making it very versatile. It uses either cold water and can heat the water for you, or you can add your own boiling water. And depending on how much water you measure and you can make a single shot or a double easily.

The machine is relatively compact and lightweight given all that’s going on. I like that it comes with clever accessories like a scoop/tamper and a drinking cup too. The two hour recharge time is reasonable too.

On the cons side, I found it does take quite a long time to heat up; about five or six minutes which is almost double with the company promises on its website.

The battery life is also extremely short if you want to have the machine heat your water for you. I was only ever able to get no more than three shots on a single charge. And given you cannot use the machine while it is charging that does feel a bit more limiting also.

The accessories don’t fit back into the machine to keep it slim for transport. And I do think some type of drip tray would be helpful so you have somewhere to put it after brewing.

I suppose the battery life would be the biggest dealbreaker since if you were going to take this off grid for a few days it’s usefulness would be quite limited. But if you are aware of the downsides and can work around them, I think this is a pretty clever machine that delivers on exactly what it promises; hot fresh espresso, anywhere, easily.

OutIn Nano sells for about $149US/$209CAD and you can get it from OutIn’s website or Amazon… and this is not the first gadget like this I’ve tried. Check out some other options when it comes to portable espresso….

**Contest is now closed**Win an OutIn Nano!

Congrats to Maritess S. who was the winner of the OutIn Nano.

To enter this contest, write a (preferably nice) comment on this blog in the comments section below.

The Fine Print

There is one (1) OutIn Nano device available to be won. We’ll pick one winner at random from among all website entries/comments. The contest is open to residents of Canada and USA only until 11:59pm MT November 11, 2024.

Only 1 entry per person, please; excess entries will be discarded. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. Not valid in Quebec.

The winner will receive 1 prize. Prize will be shipped direct to the winner by OutIn, so winner is required to provide a Canadian or USA mailing address (PO Boxes not accepted). TechGadgetsCanada.com bears no responsibility for prizes not delivered, delayed or misdirected, or not claimed after 30 days, or misdirected due to incorrect address being provided. This prize has no cash value.

We’ll get in touch with the winner via the email address supplied on entry or via website comment registration. Winner must respond to an email naming them as the winner within 48 hours. Non-response within 48 hours means we’ll redraw under same  48 hour timeframe until we get a winner’s response.

Winner’s name(s) will be posted to this web page after the draw.

If for any reason the internet portion of the OutIn Nano Contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of this website which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Contest, TechGadgetsCanada.com reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. Prize may not be exactly as show in accompanying photographs.

By entering this contest you agree you have read and accept the rules and are to abide by them.

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