Breville Smart Grinder Pro vs Fellow Opus Conical Burr Grinder
Both are ~$200 electric grinders that reach espresso, split by workflow. The Breville Smart Grinder Pro at $200 is hopper-fed with timed dosing and grinds into the portafilter — convenient but high-retention with more fines. The Fellow Opus at $195 is single-dose, quieter, better-looking, with cleaner grinds but fiddly espresso dialing. Choose the Breville for hopper convenience and dosing; choose the Opus for single-dosing, low noise, and design.
Spec face-off
Bars scaled to the higher value. Coloured = wins that spec.
Full specifications
Strengths & weaknesses
Full comparison
These are direct price rivals with different philosophies. The Smart Grinder Pro is hopper-fed convenience: 60 settings, 0.2-second timed dosing, grinds into the portafilter with adapters, good for households grinding several cups daily. The Opus is single-dose: bean-by-bean grinding with minimal waste, included catch cups, notably quiet operation, and standout industrial design, reaching espresso via a hidden inner micro ring.
Grind cleanliness favors the Opus. The Breville's defining weakness is high retention (~18g in, 16g out) carrying stale grounds forward, plus more fines and dust; the Opus is cleaner, though it shows some static and retention at fine settings and its espresso dial-in is convoluted (settings 1-2 plus the inner ring).
Workflow and noise are the tiebreakers. The Breville's hopper-and-timer suits high-volume, set-and-forget grinding into the portafilter; the Opus suits single-dosing, bean rotation, and a quiet kitchen, and looks far nicer on a counter. Parts support modestly favors neither strongly, though Baratza beats both.
Buy the Smart Grinder Pro ($200) for hopper convenience, timed dosing, and grind-into-portafilter espresso. Buy the Fellow Opus ($195) for single-dosing, low noise, cleaner grinds, and design, if you can tolerate fiddly espresso dialing.