Baratza tried to stretch their pour-over workhorse into espresso duty, but the bones weren't built for it. The plastic burr ring holder cracks reliably within the first year of daily use, often multiple times even after warranty swaps, and an undersized seal lets grounds bypass the burrs entirely and pile up inside the body. It'll pull shots on a pressurized basket while you're learning, but anyone moving to real espresso quickly outgrows the coarse adjustment and watches grind quality fall off a cliff after six months. Save the $200 toward a grinder that won't need replacing before you've learned to dial in.
This grinder delivers solid burr quality at a budget price for pour-over and drip, but it's fundamentally unsafe for long-term use. Grounds migrate into the motor housing over months, creating a fire hazard that multiple owners have independently documented, and the extreme retention means stale coffee mixes with every fresh batch. If you're brewing coarse methods and never touching espresso, it works fine short-term, but the safety issue and inability to grind fine enough for espresso make it a poor investment for anyone who might expand their coffee setup or keep a grinder for years.