After ripping through around 10KG of beans, I will say this is a fantastic value-for-money Espresso grinder for the up and coming coffee enthusiast.
I'm surprised how well this grinder performs at the price point. Producing quite consistent and reasonably uniform grinds in the espresso range, there's not much to fault it on. The motor appears plenty adequate for the 54mm burrs, light roasts were no problem when dosed while switched on. Grind speed is adequate, though I'd argue that's completely irrelevant at home.
It would have been nice to see a better quality dosing cup and bellow lid included, as these both of these accessories feel like cheap afterthoughts. Alas, the overall construction of the grinder feels quite sturdy and robust.
To be clear, these burrs are very much intended for espresso and are not multi-purpose. Whilst they will rip beans just fine for your filter brews and can certainly make a decent cup, grind uniformity isn't great on the coarser side. Expect a lot of fines, leading to clogging on filter brews. Low agitation methods will get you an ok cup, or sieving through fine mesh tea strainer can work wonders to remove those bitter, unwanted, and just plain-rude fines.
If you want a real multi-purpose grinder, consider the df64 instead with its multi-purpose burr set. This will also open you up to using alternate burr sets in the future, like the SSP range which provide several different burr profiles depending on your preference.
Grind retention, this delivers what you'd expect from a single-dose grinder, bean Input = Output. But the key here, is keeping it clean between use..
Grinds will inevitably build up on the both the de-clumper, and ionising probes inside the chute, causing an increase in grind retention. Whilst this is in no way specific to this grinder, the ioniser fundamentally will not function if it's not kept clean.
The retention won't realistically affect your extractions at all, but it will get messy if not maintained. The chute itself isn't removable, so if grinds do get stuck you'll have to go digging to unclog it.
I recommend getting a squeezable air blower to clean out the chute between uses. It's quick, non-intrusive, and doesn't risk damaging the ioniser.
Pros:
Value for money, low retention, easy disassembly/cleaning, consistent espresso grind, solid construction.
Cons:
Burrs produce a lot of fines in filter range, no alternative burr options on the market that won't void your warranty.