Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I spent way too much time looking for a good burr grinder and decided on the Breville Smart Grinder (Breville BCG800XL Smart Grinder). As detailed in my review of the Breville, one of the contenders was the Vario, which I borrowed from a friend to try out. I loved it, but the price was a bit too steep. Low and behold, I got a Vario as a gift! Absolutely love it, but now that I've been using it side-by-side with the Breville for a few weeks, there are a few trade-offs: Build quality: Both are good, but the Vario feels more substantial. Less plastic, more metal. I uploaded a picture of them side by side. Burr quality: although the Breville has a decent set of conical burrs, the ceramic flat burrs in the Vario are far more meaty and substantive. Ease of changing grind: draw. Both are simple to use. Degree of control over the grind: the Vario wins hands down. It's about a close as you can get to a stepless grinder while still retaining the ease of use of a stepped design. Mess when not using the cup: the Breville is much, much less prone to over spray when grinding directly into a portafilter or filter basket. The Vario is not horrible, but you need to clean up after it. Mess when using the cup: Again, the Breville has zero over spray. The Vario is pretty close, however. Both have nicely anti-static cups. The Breville has a nicer design with an air-tight cap. Controls: The Breville's display is very clear and easy to read. The Vario is easy to use, but the timer display is totally unreadable unless it's right at eye level. It desperately needs a back lit display. Changing beans: Breville wins hands down. The hopper has a gate lock so you can take it off when full and only have to dump out what's in the grinding chamber. I keep a second hopper filled with different beans for quick change-over. The Vario has no hopper lock, so you have to dump the whole hopper when you want to change to a different type of bean. The hopper lid on the Breville is also much nicer, with a rubber gasket and a handy handle loop. Consistency of grind: this is the big one, and the reason we spend money on grinders and put up with all the fuss and muss. This is also where the Vario pulls ahead strongly. No matter what the setting, the grind is spot on uniform. Just perfect. Now, the Breville is pretty good as well, but there are size variations in the grind that you just don't see with the Vario. So, if I had to do it again, would I buy the Breville? My pocketbook says that's the one, but my coffee cup wants the Vario. It clearly produces a better grind. I pulled a series of espresso shots using the Breville and the Vario. Same beans, same espresso machine. Both were dialed in to produce the best they could. In a taste test after a dinner party, the shots from the Vario won each and every time. Same with a pour over test, although that was a lot closer with a few people unable to tell a difference. So, if you are absolutely limited to $200, must have a fancy-looking display, and can't tolerate even a small amount of stray grinds, the Breville is the way to go. If, however, the main goal is to produce a cup of coffee or espresso that is the best you can produce, spring for the Vario. You will taste the difference, and the taste will ease the pain in the wallet and the mess on the counter top. If the Baratza people read these reviews: please, please, PLEASE improve the display! Keep everything else the same (although a gate lock on the hopper for easy change-over of beans would be nice). It's no use to have a fancy display that times the grind length to a tenth of a second when you can't read the numbers! Update: Sept 2012 - I had a problem with the grinder not responding to grind level changes. The Baratza website explained how to calibrate the grinder, but unfortunately that didn't solve the problem. I'm pleased to report that their customer service is outstanding. I got a same-day reply to every email I sent, and Baratza replaced my machine without any fuss or bother. Plus, they paid 100% of the shipping costs both ways! The rep I worked with was helpful, polite and responsive - it's so nice to get an actual reply to a question rather than a boilerplate email. I remain very pleased with their grinder, and am especially pleased with their customer service.