I must admit I surprised myself by having apparently conflicting views to the entire rest of the internet.
My take is that it’s WAY overpriced, and too
much of the product design process went on looks and not function. The specs are impressive on paper but for me they didn’t deliver in quality in the cup.
It’s so so messy, to the point it’s almost funny. I’d literally come down to the kitchen to find a load of ground coffee had just dumped itself out of the grinder onto the work surface. The little rubber cap on the grinds cup makes absolutely no sense to me. The grind knock button also feels like it shouldn’t be necessary. It felt awkward to me to have to spray water on beans to reduce static and then flick a spring loaded tab… and still get ground coffee everywhere.
I’m a designer by trade, maybe I’m too fussy.
I also found it didn’t grind fine enough on light roasts unless you’re making two cups or more.
I had a Baratza Encore for like ten years that to
me was a far superior grinder in the cup. You could buy two for the price of an Ode.
On the plus side the Ode is fast. Feels solid and it is quiet. As above you can upgrade the burrs and it’s arguably one of the best looking grinders out there. It’s also the only grinder small enough that I’d be happy having two grinders. I REALLY wanted to like it.
But at the end of the day, is it worth £150-200 more than competing brew grinders? I don’t mean competing on the spec sheet, I mean in day-to-day use and in the cup. Not for me.
If they refined the design of the cup, sorted the mess and added enough fine headroom to grind light roasts then I’d buy one again, possibly even at the rrp.