VS3

Varia VS4? I've been happy with my VS3, but it looks like the VS4 addresses a lot of the complaints others have had with the cheaper model.

You want to get an espresso focused grinder and a reputable brand under $300. I have three good options. In order of preference considering (grind/burrs, retention, user experience, durability) 1.) Varia VS3 ($270) changeable burr options & quiet 2.) 1Zpresso J Ultra ($199) hand grinder with great accuracy and flavors 3.) Baratza Encore ESP Pro ($299) old faithful but the Varia looks better and quieter with many burr options I’m sorry but I don’t recommend the DF54. Too many complaints and user issues. Turin has a lot of fans though, I’m just not one of them 🤷‍♂️🤠

I have the latest VS3. It’s fantastic for the price range. None of the gen 1 issues remain. It’s just a bit slow.

I have a Varia (VS3 and 3 different burrs for it). I really like them. I upgraded to my Eureka Atom 65W for the same reasons (fast, convenient, good), but kept my Varia for the one-offs. Very low retention is an advantage. If a VS6 is in budget, go for it!

In cup, Niche Zero is pretty similar, but as others have noted, out of budget, especially with the tariff nonsense rendering them especially unworthy. Baratza Sette 270 is noisy, plasticky, and janky. But excellent support from Baratza and the Etzinger burr gets you better texture and flavor (more clarity, sweetness, dramatically less ashy bitterness). Sometimes on sale just below USD$300. Baratza Encore ESP. Also an Etzinger burr, more liveable than the Sette, perhaps. I mean seriously, the Sette is noisy. Varia VS3 — good when they are good, but I guess QA got wobbly. I had one in a lab for a year, where people abused it 30-40 times a day without a hiccup. But some units were plagued by drifting grind dials which I agree would be infuriating. Stock burrs are decent in cup, maybe slightly cleaner than Niche/JMax. Good body, slow to grind. Excellent build.

All good mate. It was not over the top, I think I also need to read more carefully the post 😔 I tend to do skip read sometimes when I'm not too much into reading posts but still want to help those upgrade avise posts. Having said that, regardless machine + grinder, my recommendations above are really the ones that come to my mind as the best value for money. An all in one, it's ok, but I have seen many times people upgrading from those to a machine+grinder setup, because the integrated grinders are usually not very good. Nevertheless if you really want to go that route, for that budget I would look into sage/breville express or pro.but once again, I would go for sage bambino/bambino plus + df54 or varia vS3/vs4 (depending which of those you can fit in your budget on your region)

This looks exactly like my Varia VS3. Exact copy! My guess is Varia licensed this to a Chinese company and is selling this for 50% of the Varia price.

I had the Baratza ESP. Kinda noisy. Does a good job though. I do drip filter coffee for the family in the morning and espresso drinks in the afternoon. I got tired of always moving the dial back and forth for the different grinds. I got the Varia VS3 for my espressos and use the Baratza for the drip now. I’m very pleased with the results.

Plus on that. Bought the Opus too mostly because I liked how it looks. In person it's all plastic and it was a PITA to use. You will be slamming it on your counter to get the grinds. Then I bought a Varia VS3 and it's been great. Super well made, low retention, easy to use.

Beware, I’ve had to replace the motor twice on this. They replaced it for free the first time it crapped out, but this time they want me to pay $80. I decided to go with a hand grinder instead.

This is the right answer. Vs3 has build quality and appearance of Lagom but at a fraction of the price. It’s really quiet and if you’re considering hand grinding - this is essentially an automated hand grinder. It does grind a little slow but with my DF83 sometimes the speed isn’t worth my eardrums. Main cons i see are the power brick (might be resolved) and the early models had some grind floating

ESP is the only choice besides a hand grinder at this price. Go to varia vs3 if you can stretch. A nicer grinder will go a long way. Normal Encore cannot do espresso and the SGP is buying the brand

I’ve got the Varia vs3 and I like it