Reviewed
Baratza
Baratza Encore ESP
Conical Burr · 40 mm · Manual
$199.95Live Amazon price · as of 09/11/2026 11:49 PM
Entry-level espresso owners and brew coffee enthusiasts on a budget
Buy on Amazon →These two land at the same price and are bought by the same person: someone who has just discovered that the grinder matters more than the machine. They differ in how you tell them what to do — one is a manual grinder you dose by feel, the other times its output and holds the portafilter while it works.
On this page
The short answer
Buy the Breville Smart Grinder Pro if you want the grinder to handle dosing for you. Its timed dosing and portafilter cradle make it the more hands-off of the two, and our record marks it best for budget espresso and brew households wanting one easy, portafilter-ready grinder.
Buy the Baratza Encore ESP if you would rather weigh every dose and keep the mechanism simple. Our record marks it best for entry-level espresso owners and brew coffee enthusiasts on a budget.
How we can say this: both grinders went through the same published evaluation against the same rubric, and each one's full record is on its review page. That is a repeatable, documented comparison; it is not a taste test, and we say so wherever it matters.
Buy the Baratza Encore ESP if you would rather weigh every dose and keep the mechanism simple. Our record marks it best for entry-level espresso owners and brew coffee enthusiasts on a budget.
How we can say this: both grinders went through the same published evaluation against the same rubric, and each one's full record is on its review page. That is a repeatable, documented comparison; it is not a taste test, and we say so wherever it matters.
Which one should you buy?
Every row below is resolved from the two catalog records, not from a preference of ours; where the records tie, the row says so.
| If what matters most to you is… | Then | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Grinding straight into the portafilter | Breville Smart Grinder Pro | One holds the portafilter while it grinds; the other expects a dosing cup and a scale. |
| Finer control over the grind | Breville Smart Grinder Pro | More settings is not automatically better, but it is more places to land when dialling in. |
| Filling a hopper once a week | Breville Smart Grinder Pro | The difference here is substantial, and it decides how often you think about beans. |
| A longer warranty | Breville Smart Grinder Pro | One carries twice the cover of the other, which is the clearest gap on the page. |
| The quietest kitchen | Baratza Encore ESP | Manufacturer figures, and the gap is small enough to ignore. |
| The smallest footprint | Baratza Encore ESP | Grinders live on the counter, so width is the spec people regret ignoring. |
| The lightest to move | Breville Smart Grinder Pro | Matters if it lives in a cupboard rather than on the counter. |
Where each one stands
Baratza Encore ESP
—
No 2026 award
Entry-level espresso owners and brew coffee enthusiasts on a budget
vs
Breville Smart Grinder Pro
—
No 2026 award
Budget espresso and brew households wanting one easy, portafilter-ready grinder
Award standing is the only recognition this site shows outside an award page. A grinder with no badge did not lose anything — most of the field was not entered in the category it would have competed in.
Spec by spec
| Baratza Encore ESP | Breville Smart Grinder Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Burr type | Conical Burr | Conical Burr |
| Burr size | 40 mm | 40 mm |
| Burr material | M2 hardened steel | Steel |
| Adjustment | Step (40 steps — 1-20 espresso 20µm, 21-40 filter 90µm) | 60 settings (espresso to French press) |
| Dosing | Manual | Timed (Dosing iQ) |
| Hopper capacity | 230 g | 450 g |
| Grind range | Espresso to French Press | Espresso to French press |
| Portafilter holder | No | Yes |
| Clump reduction | No | No |
| Static reduction | Yes | Yes |
| Motor speed | 560 rpm | 450 rpm |
| Power | 170 W | 165 W |
| Manufacturer noise figure | 72 dB* | 75 dB* |
| Dimensions (W×D×H) | 12.0 x 16.0 x 35.0 cm | 15.0 x 13.5 x 40.0 cm |
| Weight | 3.1 kg | 2.3 kg |
| Warranty | 1 year | 2 years |
*Noise figures are manufacturer statements, not our measurements. Every specification here comes from the maker's published material as recorded in our catalog; we have not opened either grinder or measured anything. Grind sizes across brewing methods are on our grind size chart.
The price difference, and what it buys
| Grinder | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Baratza Encore ESP | Conical Burr · 40 mm · Manual | $200 |
| Breville Smart Grinder Pro | Conical Burr · 40 mm · Timed (Dosing iQ) | $200 |
| Difference | $0 | |
They cost the same. That is unusual and it makes this a pure workflow decision: both run 40 mm conical burrs and both reach espresso, so nothing you are choosing between is about grind capability. What differs is dosing, hopper size, warranty and footprint — and those are the specs you live with rather than admire.
Timed dosing versus weighing every shot
This is the real difference and the spec sheet buries it. Breville Smart Grinder Pro doses by time: you tell it how long to run and it repeats that. Baratza Encore ESP is manual: you run it until you have what you want, and the accurate way to do that is on a scale.
Timed dosing is more convenient and less accurate, because the weight of coffee a grinder produces in a fixed time drifts as beans age, as the grind setting changes, and as the burrs season. Weighing is a step you will resent for a week and then stop noticing, and it is what actually makes shots repeatable.
Neither approach is wrong. But if you already own a scale, the argument for timed dosing is thinner than it looks.
Which one fits the machine you already own
If you bought a Breville espresso machine, Breville Smart Grinder Pro is the obvious pairing and it is designed to look and behave like one — including a cradle that holds the portafilter while it grinds.
That convenience is real, and it is also the whole of the advantage. Neither grinder is locked to a brand, and Baratza Encore ESP will fill a Breville portafilter perfectly well with a dosing cup and a scale.
Our grinder pairing tool matches grinders to specific machines on documented specs if you want the pairing question answered for your exact setup.
Where each one wins
| Baratza Encore ESP | Breville Smart Grinder Pro |
|---|---|
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| What each gives up | |
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Both lists are the ones published on each grinder's own review page, not written fresh for this comparison.
Both grinders
Reviewed
Breville
Breville Smart Grinder Pro
Conical Burr · 40 mm · Timed (Dosing iQ)
$199.95Live Amazon price · as of 09/11/2026 11:49 PM
Budget espresso and brew households wanting one easy, portafilter-ready grinder
Buy on Amazon →Frequently asked questions
Which is better for a beginner, the Encore ESP or the Smart Grinder Pro?
It depends on whether you want to weigh doses or have the grinder time them. The Smart Grinder Pro doses by time and holds the portafilter while it grinds, which is more hands-off. The Encore ESP is manual and expects a scale, which is less convenient and more repeatable. Both grind fine enough for espresso, which is not true of everything at this price.
Is timed dosing accurate enough for espresso?
It is convenient rather than accurate. The weight a grinder produces in a fixed time drifts as beans age, as you change the grind setting and as burrs season, so a timed dose needs re-checking against a scale periodically. If you already own a scale, weighing is the more repeatable route.
Do I need the Breville grinder for a Breville machine?
No. Neither grinder is locked to a brand. The Smart Grinder Pro is designed to match Breville machines and holds the portafilter while grinding, which is a genuine convenience, but the Encore ESP fills the same portafilter perfectly well with a dosing cup.
How many grind settings do I actually need for espresso?
Fewer than the marketing implies, but they need to be in the right place. What matters for espresso is how fine the steps are near the espresso range, not the total count — a grinder with more settings spread across filter and espresso can be coarser in practice where it counts. The spec table lists what each one offers.
Can either grinder do pour-over as well?
Both cover a range beyond espresso; the spec table lists what each states. A grinder built to hit espresso fineness will generally reach filter settings too, though grinders optimised for brewed coffee often do that end better.
Sources for this page: Specifications, best-for lines, pros and cons: our published review records for Baratza Encore ESP and Breville Smart Grinder Pro, and data/grinders.json. Award standing: our {YEAR} CoffeeLab Awards register. Prices are live from the Amazon Creators API where a product has a listing, and our tracked catalog figure where it does not. Noise figures are manufacturer statements. We have not physically tested either grinder, have not measured a grind distribution. Recognition on this site is published on award pages only, for award winners.