Bialetti Musa vs Flair Classic

This stainless steel redux of the iconic Bialetti Moka Express brews a delicious cup of espresso in a matter of minutes. It is easy to clean, easy to finesse, and was a crowd favorite among nearly all of our taste testers. It delivers in terms of function but in form as well; this elegant brewer is the most stylish of the ones we tested. Indeed, one of our reviewers loved this brewer so much, it became her go-to coffee maker for daily brewing at home or the campsite

Considering your wants and preground coffee, I'd advise against the Flair. The Flair seems to work well with coffee ground for espresso and preground coffee will not provide that. If you had a grinder, it could be considered. However, since you're looking for ease of use and cleanup, the Flair isn't it

The top of the pot doesn't get very hot - with the aluminum pot, the whole thing is hot. There's less chance of overheating the coffee. These directions are for an electric stove - no idea about gas or induction. Why 4 stars and not 5? Two design problems: the top lid (which is just a shield to keep from spraying coffee everywhere) is flimsy - needs to be more solid at the hinge

The result is excellent espresso, and on the first day, better lattes than anything I've made with the Aeropress. While the unit is technically portable, I'll continue to use my Aeropress for coffee on the go, but I enjoy being able to make real espresso at home with a device that's very affordable, and one that should be extremely low maintenance in the long run (other than O-rings wearing over time, it doesn't seem like much can go wrong, due to the simplicity of design). From a design standpoint, it's very good, but there are a few minor things that could be better. The base can wobble a bit if there's any horizontal forces applied, which I think has less to do with the oval base, and more to do with the tripod layout of the rubber bumpers on the bottom

I know Bialetti is "the company" for good espresso percolators but they need to get a handle on their product quality. This is the second one I've purchased (different model) that has had an issue with something falling off after reasonable use. The venus one had the lid come off and this one had the handle come apart from the lid. I can still use the unit but it's nice to be able to open the lid without getting burned

I used too much force to press down the lever with too fine ground coffee, and the round metal piece that was sitting on the top of piston withstanding all the force from the lever popped out of its place, and the lever broke the top part of piston. It was partially my fault using too much force, but I still think that something should not break with a force that a person can possibly put on. A stainless steel piston would make this machine almost perfect although the price will go up. I wouldn't mind paying extra for a stainless steel piston if available