This all-metal workhorse grinds espresso beautifully and runs quieter than most competitors, but the stock adjustment dial is the size of a shirt button and makes fine-tuning feel like defusing a bomb in the dark. The 55mm burrs are excellent, the build is tank-like, and the compact footprint fits under cabinets, but displays fail after six months for enough users to matter, and true single-dosing requires an aftermarket hopper and bellows the factory should have included. Buy it if you enjoy tinkering with a strong modding community behind you, or if you'll use the hopper as designed and can live with 2g retention. Skip it if you want plug-and-play reliability or resent paying $400 for a grinder that needs fixes out of the box.
Mahlkönig's first home grinder brings commercial 54mm flat burrs and whisper-quiet operation to your counter, grinding clean and consistent across every method when it cooperates. The gears can seize completely within months, one owner hit total failure at three months, outside the return window, and older units earned complaints for slow grinding and finicky dialing before a quiet 2024 update. Expect a learning curve (multiple shots to dial in, possibly lower brew temps for flat burr balance), and light roast espresso fans worry it won't grind fine enough. If you're patient and willing to gamble $650 on durability, this delivers café performance at home; if a dead grinder outside warranty sounds like a nightmare, the Eureka Atom W65 Casa offers similar capability with fewer reported problems.