Which to buy · Every setting
Breville Barista Express (built-in) vs Breville Smart Grinder Pro
Whether the machine’s built-in grinder is enough, or you add one.
Which to buy
Choose the
Barista Express (built-in) if you…
- brew espresso only — Breville gives all 16 settings to espresso
- want the grinder in the machine, dosing for a 1- or 2-cup basket
Choose the
Smart Grinder Pro if you…
- want filter and French press too — 60 settings, with 1–30 for espresso
- want to set grind time yourself, in 0.2-second steps
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Sources: Breville — Barista Express · Breville — Barista Express manual · Breville — Smart Grinder Pro · Breville — Smart Grinder Pro manual
| Barista Express (built-in) | Smart Grinder Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Breville | Breville |
| Scale | Numbered dial | Numbered dial |
| Dial range | 1 – 16 | 1 – 60 |
| Burrs | Conical | Conical |
| Espresso → filter | 4.2 numbers | 27 numbers |
| Filter → coarse | 5.3 numbers | 15.8 numbers |
The same number means different things
Both grinders use a numbered dial, which makes it tempting to copy a number straight across. Setting 9 sits at grind index 40.9 on the Barista Express (built-in) but 0 on the Smart Grinder Pro — far enough apart to change the cup.
Converting a setting
If a recipe quotes a setting for one of these grinders, read across for the equivalent on the other. Rows are spaced evenly by grind size, not by dial number — on a conical burr those are not the same thing.
| Barista Express (built-in) | Smart Grinder Pro |
|---|---|
| 5 | 15 |
| 6 | 16 |
| 7 | 23 |
| 8 | 35 |
| 9 | 44 |
| 10 | 50 |
| 11 | 54 |
| 12 | 58 |
| 13 | 58 |
| 14 | 58 |
| Smart Grinder Pro | Barista Express (built-in) |
|---|---|
| 15 | 5 |
| 16 | 5 |
| 23 | 7 |
| 35 | 8 |
| 44 | 9 |
| 50 | 10 |
| 54 | 11 |
| 57 | 11 |
| 58 | 12 |
Side by side, by brew method
Where each grinder lands for the same brew, worked out from its own dial curve.
| Method | Barista Express (built-in) | Smart Grinder Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 5 | 12 |
| Moka pot | 6 | 16 |
| AeroPress (short steep) | 7 | 23 |
| Pour over — V60 / cone | 9 | 41 |
| Siphon | 9 | 44 |
| Pour over — flat bottom | 9 | 46 |
| Steep and release — Clever / Switch | 10 | 48 |
| Drip / batch brew | 10 | 50 |
| Cupping | 10 | 51 |
| Chemex | 11 | 54 |
| French press | 12 | 58 |
| Cold brew | 13 | 58 |
The shape of each dial
Where the connectors bunch, that grinder’s dial is compressed and single steps count for more. Comparing the two shapes tells you which gives finer control, and where.
Breville Barista Express (built-in)
Breville Smart Grinder Pro
Dialing in the Barista Express (built-in)
The grinder built into the Barista Express, tuned around that machine's basket rather than as a general-purpose grinder. It has a narrower usable range than a standalone unit, and the internal burr adjustment matters as much as the outer dial for reaching a proper espresso grind.
Dialing in the Smart Grinder Pro
Sixty settings sounds like fine control and mostly is not — the useful espresso territory compresses into the bottom handful of steps, and there is an internal burr adjustment most owners never touch that shifts the whole scale. If the finest setting still pulls fast, the internal adjustment is the fix, not the outer dial. Filter and French press, by contrast, are well served and easy to hit.