Which to buy · Every setting
Breville Barista Touch Impress (built-in) vs Fellow Opus
Two grinders cross-shopped at the same money. The Opus is numbered 1–11; the Barista Touch Impress (built-in) is numbered 1–30.
Which to buy
Choose the
Barista Touch Impress (built-in) if you…
- want the grinder inside the espresso machine, with 30 settings on Baratza European Precision conical burrs
- want the machine to work out the dose, tamp, and correct the next dose automatically
- want touchscreen guidance for grinding, dosing and tamping
Choose the
Opus if you…
- want one grinder for espresso and filter — Fellow rates it from espresso to cold brew
- want a timed auto-stop at 30, 60, 90 or 120 seconds
- want an inner ring for micro-adjustment between the 41 dial settings
Shop links are affiliate links: BrewMark earns a commission if you buy through one, at no extra cost to you. The verdicts were written without regard to it.
Fellow now sells the Opus 2 in place of the original; the settings on this page are for the original.
Sources: Fellow — Opus (archived) · Fellow — Opus gear guide · Breville — Barista Touch Impress · Breville — Barista Touch Impress manual
| Barista Touch Impress (built-in) | Opus | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Breville | Fellow |
| Scale | Numbered dial | Numbered dial |
| Dial range | 1 – 30 | 1 – 11 |
| Burrs | Conical | Conical |
| Espresso → filter | 12 numbers | 5.7 numbers |
| Filter → coarse | 10.2 numbers | 3.9 numbers |
The same number means different things
Both grinders use a numbered dial, which makes it tempting to copy a number straight across. Setting 6 sits at grind index 4.6 on the Barista Touch Impress (built-in) but 34.2 on the Opus — 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 Touch Impress (built-in) | Opus |
|---|---|
| 4 | 1.2 |
| 7 | 1.2 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 13 | 3.2 |
| 15 | 5.3 |
| 17 | 7.1 |
| 18 | 8 |
| 20 | 8.2 |
| 21 | 8.3 |
| 22 | 9.1 |
| 24 | 9.3 |
| 25 | 10.2 |
| 27 | 11 |
| Opus | Barista Touch Impress (built-in) |
|---|---|
| 1.2 | 4 |
| 2 | 10 |
| 3.2 | 13 |
| 5.3 | 15 |
| 7.1 | 17 |
| 8 | 18 |
| 8.2 | 20 |
| 8.3 | 21 |
| 9.1 | 22 |
| 9.3 | 24 |
| 10.2 | 25 |
| 11 | 27 |
Side by side, by brew method
Where each grinder lands for the same brew, worked out from its own dial curve.
| Method | Barista Touch Impress (built-in) | Opus |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 6 | 1.2 |
| Moka pot | 10 | 1.3 |
| AeroPress (short steep) | 13 | 3.2 |
| Pour over — V60 / cone | 16 | 6.3 |
| Siphon | 17 | 7.2 |
| Pour over — flat bottom | 17 | 7.3 |
| Steep and release — Clever / Switch | 18 | 8 |
| Drip / batch brew | 18 | 8 |
| Cupping | 19 | 8 |
| Chemex | 20 | 8.2 |
| French press | 22 | 9 |
| Cold brew | 25 | 10 |
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 Touch Impress (built-in)
Fellow Opus
Dialing in the Barista Touch Impress (built-in)
Built into an espresso machine and tuned for it, with the grind range weighted heavily toward the fine end. Perfectly capable within espresso; if you also brew filter you will find the coarse end short.
Dialing in the Opus
Marketed as all-purpose, and it genuinely does cover more range than the Ode, but the espresso end is workable rather than good — expect to chase it. Where it earns its place is the coarse end: cold brew and French press come out notably even. If you bought the Opus mainly for espresso, dial it as a brew grinder first and judge it there.