Extremely impressed with Mahlkönig E64 WS
I moved over from a Eureka Oro XL which I despised for its poor build and terrible finishing to an E64 WS.
I hesitated for a fair bit of time getting the E64 because of the poor earlier reports of messy grinds and other issues, additionally I didn't like that there was no mechanical override to adjust the disc distance and it was done completely through an electric motor.
I'll starts with the Positives.
• After eventually pulling the trigger, I realised how wrong I was and that in fact, Mahlkönig DDD is a revolutionary improvement and should be industry standard. The level of accuracy achieved is above and beyond any mechanical link or arm, for example on any mechanical system there will be backlash unless that's removed your dialling will not align to previous settings and will also change depending on load or unloaded when adjustment was made.
• The grounds coming out of the Mahlkönig are fluffy and temperature stable even after multiple back to back grinds.
• The build quality of all components that are important to the output quality are good to excellent. Carriers, Housing, Chute, Portafilter holders are all built and inspected to a clearly very good standard and in case of the Carriers and Internal components to an excellent standard. This is huge for me as Eureka were quite frankly abysmal, with their terrible finishes, laughably poor Portafilter holders, thin carriers which will create uneven load pressure based on their design, though they get credit for a good choice of thickness of aluminium used for their housing.
• EASE OF USE. Probably the greatest strength of this grinder. It caters seamlessly to both the experimental user and their counterpart, one who just wants a nice coffee. 3 recipe slots ( Ability to create more in the app and push to one of the 3 slots on grinder is also available ) plus offers a dialling in helper for the inexperienced user. The colours and choice of UI elements used on the large panel make it easy to know where the grinder is in the grinding process and also when it has successfully reached its target weight.
• App integration, offers recipe creation which can then be loaded onto the E64. The ability to easily see what recipes are on the grinder and event history is neat. An example of this in practice. We alternate between 3 bean roasters, Someone at home wants a different coffee this week but doesn't know anything about the grinding process. I'm not home, I can still push the recipe for that coffee onto the grinder and they can use it without having to fiddle with the machine at all.
Now onto the, Less Positive, which, to me felt more like overlooked items and can hopefully be polished.
• User manual is poor in explaining functions. There are 2 user manuals one is for grinder and other software. The software manual needs to be improved in explaining some of the items.
• The app needs a pull down refresh on page after adding grinder or it doesn't show, that isn't clearly defined anywhere and to me is an unnecessary step.
• T On / T Off should be clearly labelled either in app or on base of grinder at least.
Finally features I can't comment on, as I have no experience.
• Sync Function, I haven't used it and probably won't. I use my current scale to weigh extraction and adjust grinder to suite.
My overall impression of the E64 WS has been overwhelmingly positive and has changed my thought process on the integration of features with functionality and even my expectations going forward.