Coffee makers aren't really on one continuous quality scale — drip, espresso, and French press are different brewing physics, each suited to a different kind of coffee.
Three fundamentally different methods
Drip machines use gravity to pull hot water through a bed of grounds in a paper or mesh filter. The most hands-off, consistent method for brewing a full pot, and paper filters remove most of the coffee's natural oils, producing a cleaner, lighter-bodied cup.
Espresso machines force hot water through very finely ground, tightly packed coffee under high pressure, producing a small, concentrated shot with a layer of crema on top. This method demands more precision — grind size, tamping pressure, and water temperature all noticeably affect the result — and both entry-level and quality machines require regular cleaning to perform well over time.
French press steeps coarse grounds directly in hot water, then separates them with a mesh plunger. Since there's no paper filter, more of the coffee's natural oils and fine sediment stay in the cup, producing a heavier-bodied, more textured brew than drip coffee — though it also means slightly more sediment at the bottom of the cup.
None of these is objectively "better" — they produce genuinely different drinks, and the right one depends on what you actually like drinking, not which method sounds more sophisticated.
For espresso specifically: the grinder matters as much as the machine
Pre-ground coffee loses freshness and the exact grind consistency espresso needs faster than most people expect. A dedicated burr grinder, even a modest one, generally improves espresso quality more than upgrading from an entry-level to a mid-range machine while still using pre-ground coffee or a lower-quality blade grinder.
The one thing people forget
Check how easy a machine actually is to clean and descale before buying, not just its brewing quality when new. Mineral buildup from tap water affects heating elements and flow paths over time regardless of brewing method, and a coffee maker that's a hassle to descale often just doesn't get descaled — which shortens its useful life and degrades taste well before anything actually breaks.