Welcome to the battle of the grinders: Fellow Opus vs. Baratza Encore ESP. These two grinders are priced nearly identically and are meant to do the same thing — brew coffee for all methods, from espresso to cold brew. So, how do you choose the right one for you?
These are conical burr grinders with almost the same number of grind settings. But, there are differences in the design and ease of use. Baratza Encore ESP has a metal ring that makes it easy to access and change the grind setting, while the Fellow Opus has inner and outer rings that are somewhat complicated to understand and use. I prefer Baratza for this reason, but it’s a close call.
Here’s how these two popular grinders compare. I’ll break down everything from the design, noise levels, ease of use, and more.
Feature Comparison
Design and Build
Fellow Opus is the winner in the design category. It’s one of the more stylish and sleek-looking coffee grinders you’ll see. It’s made of plastic which isn’t ideal, and I mentioned it’s prone to scratches. However, apart from this, there aren’t any complaints about the build.
The Fellow Opus has a magnetic catch cup that easily slots under the grind chute. The cup fits both 58 mm and 54 mm portafilters, which makes it easy to transfer the grounds when making espresso. It’s nice that Fellow thought of Breville’s smaller portafilter in their catch cup, while most grinders only work with standard 58mm portafilters.
Fellow put a lot of thought into the design, and it also shows in the hopper lid. It functions as a dosing cup with 20 g to 40 g compartments and can be filled up to 110 g. The lid has measurements for different brew styles, which means you don’t have to take out your scale when you want to make filter coffee, French press, and more. However, I would still recommend a scale since it’s far more precise.
This coffee grinder is meant for single-dosing only, which makes it easy to change the beans. You don’t have to finish a bag before switching to another.
Baratza Encore ESP has an almost identical design to the original Encore. It has a simple, clean look and compact footprint. It also has a plastic build and is available in black and white. It has the same hopper as the original Encore, which you turn to adjust the settings.
Baratza Encore ESP also has a catch bin and a dosing cup. You can grind directly into the 54 mm dosing cup or add the adapter ring to make it compatible with a 58 mm portafilter. There’s a 10 oz bean hopper, and a 5 oz grounds catch bin, so this isn’t a single-serve grinder.
Whether single-dose is better depends – you get fresher coffee by using only one serving at a time, and zero beans in the hopper means there’s less retention and lost grounds when switching settings (more important for espresso).
But, single-dose requires a new dose every time you want a drink, which adds time. I like single-dosing for the freshest coffee possible and don’t mind the 30 seconds to weigh out beans. Obviously, you can still single-dose with the Encore, just don’t fill it up!
This coffee grinder also has a plastic build. However, Encore ESP has a metal adjustment color and base, which are plastic on the original Encore and the Fellow Opus. Overall, the plastic build feels durable, and like it’ll last for years. However, the design isn’t as attractive as the Fellow Opus.
Grind Consistency
Fellow Opus is a 40 mm conical burr grinder. It has high torque and spins at 350 RPM. This allows it to crush coffee beans without creating too much heat. The grind quality is excellent (on par with much more expensive grinders), and the grinder can handle both light and medium-roast coffee beans.
There are 41 grind settings that go from 400 to 1500 microns. Overall, the grinds are uniform, and you can dial in and grind for espresso. That being said, the grinds aren’t quite up to par with the Encore ESP when grinding for espresso.
Baratza Encore ESP has M2 40 mm conical steel burrs (which is a step up from the original Encore, which has M3 40 mm burrs). The M2 burrs are sharper than M3 and can produce a consistent grind with fewer fines when grinding for espresso.
The ESP has a high-torque motor that spins at 550 RPM. The motor doesn’t overheat, even when grinding light beans. The output is much faster on the ESP than on the Encore, which is another plus. Overall, the Baratza Encore ESP coffee grinder has a slight edge over the Fellow Opus when grinding for espresso.
Grind Settings
Fellow Opus has an adjustable ring on top with numbers ranging from 1 to 11. There are four increments between each number, which means there’s a 41-grind adjustment. This gives you room for a coarse grind, but it’s not ideal for dialing in, which is why Fellow comes with extra micro settings on the inner dial under the hopper. This is where things get complicated.
An arrow on the inner dial points to six ticks on two sides. One inner tick is 2/3 of the outer ring click. For example, if you make one adjustment for finer grounds on the inner ring, you’re located a notch below the original position on the external ring.
Overall, this takes time and practice and is a fairly complicated way to access grind settings, but on the bright side, there are 120 grind adjustment settings in total, which is a wide range.
Baratza ESP is much more intuitive and easier to adjust the grind settings. There’s a coarse part of the grind options that goes from 21 to 40.
The threads are further apart on these settings, so you make larger adjustments, which works well for filter coffee. The threads from 1 to 20 are located much closer, which means you can make fine adjustments, which makes it easy to dial in espresso. It’s a simple yet impressive system where the grinder jumps to “micro” settings on the same dial.
Overall, both grinders make it possible to have fine, high-resolution grinding, but the Baratza Encore ESP makes it much easier.
Noise and Ease of Use
Fellow Opus is fairly complicated to use when adjusting the grind size. However, all other parts of the grinder are easy to use. The magnet makes it easy to slot in the catch cup. Plus, it’s compatible with portafilters for easier transfer. There’s a button located on the front that you press and hold to grind.
Fellow Opus is fairly quiet. I wouldn’t call it the quietest coffee grinder I used, but it’s decent and won’t wake anyone up.
Baratza ESP is straightforward to use. There’s an on/off switch on the side and a grinding button on the front. You fill the hopper, turn the switch to grind, and turn it back to stop. That’s all. The grind adjustments are also easier compared to the Fellow Opus, as there’s no hidden inner ring, and all you need to do is rotate the collar.
However, the Encore is much louder than the Fellow Opus. It’s so loud you’ll shy from grinding coffee while others are sleeping.
Value
Both coffee grinders provide excellent value for money. They produce consistent grinds for everything from French press to espresso. The plastic build is solid, and it’ll last a long time.
Overall, both of these are great grinders for coffee enthusiasts who want to try different brew methods.
Recommendation: Which Grinder Is Better
This is a close call, but I go with the Baratza Encore ESP for its simplicity of setting changes. If you want a coffee grinder that’s straightforward to use and don’t mind the noise, Baratza Encore ESP is the best choice for you. This is also a better choice if you drink a lot of espressos as it creates less acidity and bitterness than the Opus, and you have a more balanced and well-rounded cup.
Baratza Encore ESP highlights:
- 40 mm conical burrs
- 40 grind settings (20 fine micro-settings, and 20 coarse macro-settings)
- Plastic build
The Fellow Opus grinder is a better choice if you want a grinder that looks amazing and can make consistent grinds. It’s also a good option if you don’t mind a somewhat complicated inner ring grind setting or only drink filter coffee and need coarse grinds more than fine.
Fellow Opus highlights:
- 40 mm conical burrs
- 41 click settings
- Plastic build
Final Thoughts
Both of these coffee grinders provide excellent value for money for any coffee lover. They cover everything from coarse to finer adjustments. However, I have to give advantage to Baratza Encore due to the ease of adjustments. Plus, the 54 mm catch cup that fits Breville is a really nice plus too.
If you want to learn more, check out our Fellow Opus in-depth review. Or, if you want a more premium all-in-one grinder, read our Baratza Sette 270 270wi review.
