I used to have a Nespresso Vertuo round-head until moving out into my own place last year (the ex took it, NBD). It was spring, it was nice and bright at 5 AM and I really didn't need coffee to help me wake up so I never bothered replacing it with anything.
Well, fast forward to this winter and I finally decided that the darkness won; I need a coffee in the morning, and I don't want to go through the tedium of a French press.
I was going to just go with what I knew -- another Nespresso Vertuo round-head -- until I started watching too much James Hoffmann on YouTube and thought "I should get a fancy espresso machine where I have to grind, and tamp, and blah blah blah. I quickly realized that was a dumb idea and I would get sick of doing that much work and cleaning in short order, and so I was back to considering a Nespresso. Hearing this, a friend of mine started making fun of me for considering a Nespresso and told me about automatic bean-to-cup espresso machines.
After researching and watching and reading a few reviews plus taking the experience of my friend into account, I decided on the
Philips 5400 fully-automatic espresso machine with LatteGo. Game. Changer. I friggin' love this thing. Since learning more about the machine and playing around, I've switched to having a morning caffe crema and sometimes I'll have an espresso or a caffe macchiato as an after-dinner treat. Such a great little toy. A bit spendy, but it does so much and I tend to use a lot of the options it offers. I invested in some good quality beans from The Roasterie in Kensington, and now my coffee game is strong. Love it.