My own thought process did include a two-grinder setup. I thought about it quite hard. A large part of it was that the Mignon was showing on a supplier’s site as being in stock. It wasn’t.
But, the more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that for the amount of time I want to switch between espresso and, say, V60 or Clever, the Niche was a workable option. The Mignon? A bit of a PITA to do, so as a two-unit setup, maybe. As a dual-purpose but single-grinder setup, I prefer the Niche.
Am I bothered about flat v conical? Not enough to buy both.
Appearance? Subjective, but I prefer the Niche. To me, it looks like it was designed with some flair. The Mignon looks like someone hacked other CAD files to stick it on an angle, and added wood bits and feet because, hey, it worked for Niche. It looks to me a bit like wearing a knock-off Rolex or a local market ‘designer’ suit. I’d have had more respect for it if it wasn’t a wanna-be style.
All told, by the time the Migngn SD was actually available, I already had the Niche, had decided I wasn’t buying both, and don’t regret it. If I was buying now, the only thing I think would sway me to the Mignon was avoiding the delay getting the Niche. And I doubt it would be enough to swing it for me.
A flat-burr Niche? Well, if it ever happens, and at a sensible price, I’ll think about that, then. I’m not holding my breath, though. While they’re selling the current one faster than they can make them, I don’t see it happening as they would too much be competing with their own primary product. A lot depends on how much, if any, they want to grow the company. Do they want to try to be a big player, or just to be a very successful big fish in a specific pond? The effort, and especially capital demands, of scaling up to the level to be a much bigger fish means running a very different kind of company, and a very different set of risks. I don’t know the people involved, but it looks to me like they’re smart enough to not to too ambitious. Clever move, guys.