Which to buy · Every setting
Breville Smart Grinder Pro vs DF64 DF64 Gen 2
Conical against flat — the Smart Grinder Pro's scale curves where the other runs straight. The Smart Grinder Pro is numbered 1–60; the DF64 Gen 2 is numbered 0–90.
Which to buy
Choose the
Smart Grinder Pro if you…
- want fixed steps — 60, with 1–30 for espresso
- want a timer, set in 0.2-second steps
- grind into a portafilter — cradles for 50–54 mm and 58 mm come in the box
Choose the
DF64 Gen 2 if you…
- want 64 mm flat burrs
- want stepless adjustment
- single-dose — the bellows hopper holds about 50 g
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Turin now sells the DF64 Gen 2 as the Gen 2.7; the "Gen 2" revision names vary by seller.
Sources: Breville — Smart Grinder Pro · Breville — Smart Grinder Pro manual · Turin — DF64 Gen 2.7
| Smart Grinder Pro | DF64 Gen 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Breville | DF64 |
| Scale | Numbered dial | Numbered dial |
| Dial range | 1 – 60 | 0 – 90 |
| Burrs | Conical | Flat |
| Espresso → filter | 27 numbers | 55.2 numbers |
| Filter → coarse | 15.8 numbers | 22.3 numbers |
The same number means different things
Both grinders use a numbered dial, which makes it tempting to copy a number straight across. Setting 31 sits at grind index 30.5 on the Smart Grinder Pro but 17.1 on the DF64 Gen 2 — 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.
| Smart Grinder Pro | DF64 Gen 2 |
|---|---|
| 15 | 12.4 |
| 16 | 20.8 |
| 23 | 43.6 |
| 35 | 56.9 |
| 44 | 67.9 |
| 50 | 69.4 |
| 54 | 70.9 |
| 57 | 72.4 |
| 58 | 75.8 |
| DF64 Gen 2 | Smart Grinder Pro |
|---|---|
| 12.4 | 15 |
| 20.8 | 16 |
| 30.3 | 16 |
| 43.6 | 23 |
| 56.9 | 35 |
| 67.9 | 44 |
| 69.4 | 50 |
| 70.9 | 54 |
| 72.4 | 57 |
| 75.8 | 58 |
| 80.5 | 58 |
| 85.2 | 58 |
| 89.9 | 58 |
Side by side, by brew method
Where each grinder lands for the same brew, worked out from its own dial curve.
| Method | Smart Grinder Pro | DF64 Gen 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 12 | 17.5 |
| Moka pot | 16 | 27.6 |
| AeroPress (short steep) | 23 | 35 |
| Pour over — V60 / cone | 41 | 64.4 |
| Siphon | 44 | 68 |
| Pour over — flat bottom | 46 | 68.5 |
| Steep and release — Clever / Switch | 48 | 69 |
| Drip / batch brew | 50 | 69.4 |
| Cupping | 51 | 69.8 |
| Chemex | 54 | 70.8 |
| French press | 58 | 74.1 |
| Cold brew | 58 | 83.1 |
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 Smart Grinder Pro
DF64 DF64 Gen 2
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.
Dialing in the DF64 Gen 2
A 64mm flat-burr single-dose grinder that became popular precisely because it puts commercial burrs at a domestic price. Espresso is the design centre; the burr choice you fit matters more to grind character than the dial does.