Breville Smart Grinder Pro Review

Breville Smart Grinder Pro
Overall Rating
91
Grind Quality (40%)
90
Design & Features (20%)
92
Durability (20%)
90
Ease of Use (10%)
91
Brand Reputation (10%)
90
The Bottom Line
With 600 different grind sizes (not a typo), grind time increments down to 0.2 secd, an LCD digital display, and the ability to grind for single shots to full pots, there isn’t a better do-it-all grinder in this price range.
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Key Features of the Breville Smart Grinder Pro

Key Features of Breville Smart Grinder Pro

  • Grind Settings: 600 (60 macro-level and 10 micro-level)
  • Burrs: Stainless steel conical burrs
  • Hopper Capacity: 1 lb
  • Display: Digital LCD screen with knobs to adjust settings
  • Dosing IQ: Precision electronic timer to adjust grind time in 0.2-second increments
  • Portafilter Compatibility: Includes cradles for 50-54 mm and 58 mm portafilters
  • Exterior: Stainless steel
  • Dimensions: 6.5"W x 8.5"D x 15.3"H
  • Weight: 6.4 lbs

Breville Smart Grinder Pro Overview

Your next (first?) great coffee grinder will meet a few key criteria:

  • Offer grind sizes for the type of coffee beverage you prefer
  • Yield a consistent, reliable grind size and volume
  • Be durable enough to work for years
  • And, of course, be in your price range!

With an impressive array of features and consistent, reliable grinding performance, there’s a good chance this grinder is for you.

Pros
  • Digital LCD display with numeric grind time and size setting indicators makes precision grinding much easier
  • 60 macro and 10 micro grind adjustments means 600 different grind sizes
  • Durable, reliable build and an excellent value
Cons
  • Noisy motor is a little less powerful than comparable grinders
  • Coarsest grind size is still too fine for French press
  • Needs frequent cleaning if you regularly use very dark, oily beans

Is the Breville Smart Grinder Pro for you?

Are Breville Smart Grinder Pro for you?

A good grinder is the key to great coffee, and the Breville Smart Grinder Pro is indeed a good grinder.

It has its limitations — notably at the coarser end of the grind size spectrum — but it delivers consistent, precise grinding without breaking the bank.

If you’re looking for a dedicated espresso grinder, I really recommend the Baratza Sette series.

But if you want a versatile, easy-to-use grinder for all kinds of coffee, give The Smart Grinder Pro a long look.

Breville Smart Grinder Pro Review: An In-Depth Look

Performance

Get reliable, consistent grinding with the included conical stainless steel burrs. Compatible with almost all portafilters and has enough clearance to fit a whole filter basket. Truly gives you flexibility across the grinding spectrum, but has issues with coarse grinding for French Press.

Features & Design

600 different grind sizes is pretty remarkable. LCD display makes changing grind size and time settings extremely easy. It’s nice being able to see numeric values for each as opposed to just “this notch is coarser.” Magnetized attachments are a nice feature.

Materials & Durability

Stainless steel burrs aren’t as good as ceramic burrs, but in this price range you’ll never find ceramic burrs. Brushed metal exterior has good heft, look, and more durability than similar all-plastic grinders.

On the plus side, stainless steel burrs won’t break and the brushed metal exterior adds to appeal. Users have not reported many motor failures. Needs to be cleaned regularly in order to avoid clogs. Comes with a 1 year limited warranty.

Value

Top marks in this category as this Breville Smart Grinder Pro review will clearly show the range of performance for this model in a relatively low price range.

Brand Reputation

While not as notable as top grinder brands like Baratza, Breville is a leader in kitchen appliances and has been a big name in coffee for a long time.

Stainless steel conical burrs grind with reliable precision

The Breville Smart Grinder Pro comes fully loaded with a robust set of conical stainless steel burrs.

These burrs work well with beans of all types, but beware frequent usage of super oily espresso beans. If you make one or two espressos per day, you shouldn’t have much of a problem with regular cleaning.

Top view of the Breville Smart Grinder Pro’s stainless steel conical burrs.

If you want to make more than that, you might want a dedicated espresso grinder. Check out the Baratza Sette 30 for an entry-level espresso grinder in the same price range as the Breville Smart Grinder Pro. I’d recommend the Baratza Sette 270 if you want something more robust.

Dial in the perfect grind size with 600 size settings

Six hundred grind sizes — that has to be a typo, right?

Wrong.

The Breville Smart Grinder Pro has two different grind size adjusters:

  • 60 macro-level adjustments using the side knob
  • 10 micro-level adjustments on the top burr

That’s 600 different grind sizes, giving you unprecedented fineness control in this price range.

The Breville Smart Grinder Pro has 60 macro-level adjustments on the right side of the machine…
…and 10 micro-level adjustments help you dial it in.

This is a major improvement on the previous model from Breville, the older Smart Grind (not Pro), which only offered 25 different grind settings with no micro-level adjustments.

The table below (from the Breville Smart Grinder Pro user manual) shows which settings you should use for each type of brew.

Which style of coffee do you prefer?

Easy-to-read LCD display shows you exactly what you’re doing

A simple, easy-to-read LCD display tells you exactly what you’re doing.

The LCD display shows you exactly what you’re doing for easily repeatable grinds.

In the image above, you can clearly tell you’re on grind size #36, right in the drip coffee range according to the bar indicator on the top. You’re also grinding for 3.8 seconds.

Note: This grinder allows you to control grind time in 0.2 second increments.

Bonus Feature! The Grind Amount knob on the left side of the interface doubles as a Program button, which can save the Grind Time and Grind Size settings you love. Simply press and hold until the grinder beeps, and — BOOM! — settings saved.

Best of all, if you want to scale up for multiple shots or cups, just press the middle Shots/Cups button and the Breville Smart Grinder Pro will recalculate the Grind Time for your new volume.

Comes with 2 portafilter attachments

In the quest for a do-it-all grinder, Breville has made the Smart Grinder Pro compatible with two different sized portafilters:

  • Attachment 1 works with 50-54 mm portafilters
  • Attachment 2 works with 58 mm portafilters

Both attach magnetically to make sure your grounds are deposited directly into your portafilter.

Not an espresso drinker? No problem. The Smart Grinder Pro also has enough clearance to fit a full-sized coffee filter basket under the spout.

The Breville Smart Grinder Pro has enough clearance to grind straight into a full-sized filter basket.

The grinder also comes with a plastic ground coffee canister made from the same UV-resistant plastic as the bean hopper, helping prolong your coffee’s freshness.

Pro Tip: Always grind your coffee right before brewing. Grounds can begin to lose their flavor, aroma, and all around freshness in as little as 15 minutes! But if you’re an early riser and don’t want to wake the family every morning, well, go ahead and pre-grind.

There’s a multi-function start/stop button behind the spout, too

Take a look right under the spout where the grinds come out. You’ll see a start/stop button to give you a little more control over your grind. It has two functions:

  1. Push and hold to grind without setting a grind time; when you’re done, you’re done
  2. If you’re doing a timed grind, push to pause grinding and push again to finish; this is useful if you want to shake level your portafilter
The manual start/stop button gives you a little extra control.


Bean hopper is airtight and UV-resistant for maximum freshness of up to 1 lb of beans

The Breville Smart Grinder Pro’s bean hopper has a 1 lb capacity and is made from UV-resistant plastic. This prevents the early degradation of your coffee beans, meaning you can feel OK about pouring in the whole bag.

The bean hopper, made from UV-resistant plastic, holds up to 1 lb of beans.

The bean hopper also features a lock/unlock switch, shown above. Need to access the burrs or want to pour out the beans in the hopper? Move the switch to Lock and the flow of beans is turned off for easy, mess-free removal.

Check out the Breville Smart Grinder Pro!

Check out Breville Smart Grinder Pro!

Breville Smart Grinder Pro
With 600 different grind sizes (not a typo), grind time increments down to 0.2 secd, an LCD digital display, and the ability to grind for single shots to full pots, there isn’t a better do-it-all grinder in this price range.

More Breville Reviews From The Coffee Maven

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Breville Cafe Roma ESP8XL
Overall Rating: 85
An inexpensive entry-level espresso machine from Breville, the ESP8XL Cafe Roma is a serviceable model most notable for its durability. But you'll need to upgrade for more consistent extraction and better foam.

Breville Dual Boiler BES920

Breville Dual Boiler BES920
Overall Rating: 92
Breville's least expensive machine with dual boilers, the aptly-named Dual Boiler with PID temp control lets you extract/steam simultaneously for faster milk-based beverages but lacks the HX steam boiler of the Oracles.

Breville Barista Pro BES878

Breville Barista Pro BES878
Overall Rating: 91
A step down from the Barista Touch, the Barista Pro costs 20% less but still features Breville's ThermoJet heating element with an impossibly-quick 3-second start-up. The sacrifice? The touch display and programmed recipes.
About The Coffee Maven
bryan de luca
Bryan De Luca

I'm Bryan but most people know me as The Coffee Maven. I grew up outside Boston, Massachusetts and received my Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Providence College. My first introduction to coffee was during my college days, when I used it as a source of caffeine to fuel late-night study sessions, but soon I became obsessed with the chemistry of coffee. How did changes to water temperature or contact time affect its taste? Why do beans from Africa taste fruity while beans from Indonesia taste spicy? I launched The Coffee Maven in February 2017 to explore these questions and help others brew their perfect cup. Welcome to my site, and thanks for reading!

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