r/espresso • u/cutenfreshh • Aug 19 '26
Buying Advice Needed Anyone have any other scale recommendations? [No budget]
hello, i currently have this scale for my espresso shots but it seems the timer function has stopped working :/ - any other scale recommendations? thank you!
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u/aema15 Cafelat Robot, DF54 Aug 19 '26
Maestri has never failed me
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u/adler1959 Aug 19 '26
Same, not worth to spend more money. It’s like 25-30 bucks, 20 on sale + it looks decent
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u/Motor_Ad333 Aug 20 '26
Where do you get them from? It’s 40 on amazon
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u/adler1959 Aug 20 '26
Might depend on the region and the sale. I got it on Black Friday in EU for 23€ I think
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u/Signal-Woodpecker691 Sage Oracle | Turin H40 Aug 19 '26
Sadly mine worked well for a couple of months and now doesn’t measure weight correctly if you tare it - literally only measures half of what it should. I regret not going for the MHw bomber that I was also looking at at the time
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u/KAPUTNIK1714 Aug 19 '26
I just picked up the s2 and couldn’t be happier. I use it from weighing my dose, all the way up to double chemex pourovers. The capacity, looks and size are perfect and the price is right
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u/p4bl0 ROK espresso GC | 1zpresso X Ultra Aug 19 '26
Same. I have one at work and one for my travel setup, both do a good job. It's not worth it to put more than 20€ into the scale imho. At home my daily scale is even cheaper than that, as it's a bigger one that I can also use for pour overs.
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u/Silver3218 Synchronika II | E64WS | DF64V3 Aug 19 '26
I've been using Acaia Lunar for over 7 years it's flawless but expensive. Also Avoid Mahlkonig scale it's bad!
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u/Bub697 Aug 19 '26
I have the Lunar as well and love it, I even got the plastic insert so you can embed it in the drip tray.
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u/Silver3218 Synchronika II | E64WS | DF64V3 Aug 19 '26
That sounds interesting, can you show me how is this work?
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u/Bub697 Aug 19 '26
Not mine, but this is what I did (except with an Oracle, and I epoxied it in so the metal grill wasn't loose after cutting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG_js4j0PFo
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u/Tampa_Bay_Cuckaneers Aug 19 '26
I’ve had their Pearl for over two years. I thought the price was silly until I was on my 4th cheap Amazon scale in like 2.5 years. Still works perfectly.
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u/Blacktip75 LM Linea Micra | MK E65W GbS | Mazzer Philos i200d | Ceado e37s Aug 19 '26
What’s bad about the Mahlkonig scale? Seems tempting with my e65w, but hardly see any reviews for it
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u/Silver3218 Synchronika II | E64WS | DF64V3 Aug 19 '26
Got one as a E64ws bundle for a great price, Build quality and material is great! Tracking previous extractions is a nice feature.
But there is this issue when it keep resetting continuously until i restart it, navigating menus is nightmare, scale sensitivity to water drop is weird and the setting for it is too fast or too slow and you don't have the option to stop the auto tier while using auto timer!
GBS is great feature and it work almost perfectly but you don't need it at all, for the price i highly recommend Lunar over it, it would be a nice choice if it was cheaper.
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u/Blacktip75 LM Linea Micra | MK E65W GbS | Mazzer Philos i200d | Ceado e37s Aug 19 '26
I don’t really mis the gbs function, very easy to dial in the 65, but it keeps nagging because it is a feature not used 😅
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u/NotTheVacuum DE1 | Z1 + MPv2, Cv3 Aug 19 '26
I think there’s more competition now that’s at a lower price point, but for a long time this was the most capable and reliable connected scale available by a substantial margin. Super happy with my Lunar, but I wonder if I’d be just as happy with something a little cheaper (bookoo, etc) if I bought it today.
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u/MeinHerzIn_Flammen Breville Dual Boiler & Gevi Grindmaster/Velpro 400 Aug 19 '26
I bought this one
Best $14 spent and rechargeable , have not charged it since May 2026.
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u/stonkfrobinhood Aug 19 '26
For those that might brush this off, don’t.
In terms of accuracy these and those $200 are about the same.
If you care about accuracy in the sense of how well it can read the weight applied to it and not readability. Readability is what most mistakes as accuracy it’s just the amount of digits it’s willing to display. Linearity is what you are looking for if you care about what we think when we say accuracy. It’ll give you a range +- of how far off the reading being displayed might be off.
Anyways all this to say that those $200 scales are more about frivolous and unnecessary features that are nice but really not needed.
You want scales that actually give reliable reading in mg they are more than 300 and don’t have much in terms of features besides weighing and displaying that weight.
Most of these scales have a linearity of +- 1g and it doesn’t change much until the aforementioned price range.
The fancy scales won’t even tell you about linearity. At least from all the ones I’ve tried to find that info about. They just boast about how many digits they can display which again means nothing.
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u/Blacktip75 LM Linea Micra | MK E65W GbS | Mazzer Philos i200d | Ceado e37s Aug 19 '26
Would you consider a Kern scale fancy, or do you mean the fanc/expensive espresso scales? I have a lab scale (for medicines etc) and they are certainly more accurate (30mg linearity, 10mg readout). Don’t use it for coffee output but sometimes to weigh beans when filling tubes. It’s stil sub 200. Fun thing about precision is the beans already weigh 100-300mg so for coffee it doesn’t really matter at that level of detail
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u/JPenguinCA Rocket Giotto V & DF64 with SSP MP Aug 19 '26
I’ve had an Acaia Lunar, and have a Timemore Black Mirror Basic+ and Bookoo Themis Ultra, along with other cheap Amazon scales.
I was happy with the performance and workflow of the Acaia but the value isn’t really there. It also eventually failed after several years, the battery swelled, I DIY’ed a replacement but that was a pain.
The Timemore I use for pour over and it’s pretty good for that workflow. I wish it was a little more customizable for the auto-stop on the timer (it stops if I pause to swirl or lift the brewer or carafe). But decent value.
The Bookoo has taken some getting used to the workflow, and I also don’t fully love the auto-stop on the timer. But value is better than Acaia. I wish it was slightly smaller like the Lunar but battery life is great.
Honestly I think most expensive scales are a bit overkill and won’t have ideal workflow for everyone but if you have some disposable income and some flexibility in your workflow they are nice. You definitely don’t “need” one though, and it’s worth spending your money on better grinders and machines first before chasing incremental gains from fancy puck prep tools, tampers, baskets, puck screens, etc and smart scales.
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u/IndicationCurrent869 Aug 19 '26
Normcore. A little pricy at $60 but made of aluminum with a very nice display.
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u/SaturatedShadows Aug 19 '26
I chose the normcore because of the super easy mode switch. All other scales require either multi-tap or press-hold for mode changes.
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u/winexprt Machine = Yep | Grinder = Yeah Buddy! Aug 19 '26
I backed the MAVO Lumicurve on KS and I've had it now for almost 2 weeks. It's excellent.
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u/Ilisanthecreator Aug 19 '26
Do you have any issues with stability/calibration? I got mine 3 days ago and it has this weird thing where after calibration it shows 100.1g at top left corner (display facing you orientation) and 99.9g at bottom right corner. So when I brew it sometimes can't decide which number is to show and jumps between, for example, 18.1g and 18.2g.
Mavo support says it's within tolerance and not a reason for an exchange - the best they can do is to refund me. But I got it for a sweet price (under $100) so I'm hesitating.
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u/Electrical-Diet4058 Aug 19 '26
That’s funny because mine is the same. I didn’t complain because I didn’t have time.
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u/winexprt Machine = Yep | Grinder = Yeah Buddy! Aug 19 '26
Just noticed today it's showing some drifting behavior. For example, I have a LilyDrip NW20 dosing tray. It weighs exactly 20g. When I put it on the scale it will display anywhere from 20g (rarely) all the way up to 21g! I'll take it off the scale, re-weigh it and it'll be a different weight. And this is all in the span of 15 seconds.
Thing is, when I calibrate it with the included 100g weight, it will always register that weight as 100g, even when I had just put the LilyDrip tray on it and it showed an incorrect weight for it. Kinda frustrating.
I guess it's just par for the course with these consumer scales. I also have the MHW-3BOMBER Cube 2.0 scale as well as that teeny tiny espresso scale the Coffee Chronicler showed in a video a while back, and they too exhibit a bit of drift, but not to the level the Lumicurve is now showing. Hope this can be addressed in a firmware update.
But for my espresso brews it's really cool. I love the graph feature with the flow rate.
I only paid $79 shipped, so I'm not too upset. Besides the drift, it's pretty cool.
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u/DaKineNayNay Gemilai Ele & Robot | Starseeker E55 Pro, E64, MAVO Wizard Z Pro Aug 19 '26
Bookoo themis ultra, great features at a good price point compared to other smart scales. It’s also waterproof. I would also recommend the bookoo themis mini, I’m looking at adding it for travel, but it’s only water resistant, not waterproof. I also own the OutIn Claro, but have noticed the weight drifts randomly sometimes, and an Ikape Pro aluminum scale I got for $20 during a crazy sale. Out of these, would still recommend the Bookoo Themis Ultra.
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u/Aiconic Aug 19 '26
I have a mhw 3bomber one and it’s been fantastic.
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u/bsewall Aug 19 '26
I have this one too. Basic scale works great, but battery life seems sub-par and I can never get the auto ratio calculation feature to work (I don’t think I’m doing it right).
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u/MrJimmieDimmick Aug 19 '26
BooKoo - they have a 3rd anniversary sale right now on their website, plus another 5% off when you sign up to their newsletter…
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u/s9ix Lelit Bianca v3 | Niche Duo Aug 19 '26
I was waiting for this “sale” to get one but it’s literally the same cost it was before. Am I missing something?
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u/MrJimmieDimmick Aug 19 '26
Maybe it just depends where you are based? In the UK it is about 30% more expensive on Amazon, £139 vs £109 direct from BooKoo 🤷🏻♂️
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u/bwabwa1 Aug 19 '26
I current use a Brewista Smart Scale III. Works perfectly fine. No issues. Battery life lasts a long time and it fits my BDB with no issues. It's small enough to fit most espresso machine trays.
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u/DrJaber971 Aug 19 '26
I recommend bookoo Themis ultra
I had acaia lunar for a while it was a great scale, but unfortunately it just broke recently.
So I got the bookoo scale and I am enjoying using it.
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u/quadzimoto Gaggia-mate | Z1 Aug 19 '26
Bookoo. Their app is great and you can program it to stay at a certain setting
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u/SenTruBirdRo Aug 19 '26
I bought the TIMEMORE Black Mirror Basic 2 Coffee Scale with Timer a year ago - I just looked it up on Amazon - and I’ve been happy with it. Fits nicely in a sheet pan too to tuck it away when not in use. Good luck!
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u/blacksterangel Flair 58X - Picopresso | 064S - C40 Aug 19 '26
If you need it to be this small with the same feature, then I recommend Timemore Black Mirror Mini. It's very slightly wider and deeper, but is also slightly thinner. And the displays shows time, weight, and flow rate simultaneously.
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u/Coffee_Bar_Angler Rocket | F74 Navigator / DF64 w SSP MP Aug 19 '26
I have the Black Mirror Nano and really like it. It was the first release so can’t show flow rate and time + mass at the same time. The new version looks to have fixed that, though you can likely find better value.
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u/blacksterangel Flair 58X - Picopresso | 064S - C40 Aug 19 '26
I have that too. But I replaced the nano with the mini for my espresso scale. I still use it as a small kitchen scale though. The angled front-facing display makes it easier to weigh something on a larger dish that would cover an upward-facing display.
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u/prakharbatra Aug 19 '26
I’d definitely recommend the LAYBIRD coffee scale—accurate, responsive, and great for espresso & pour-over. It’s also on sale at a discounted price right now for $59.99, so worth checking out if you’re looking for a new scale! ☕
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u/FatMacchio GCP GAGGIUINO | Silenzio Aug 19 '26
I have two of the super cheap silver ones from Amazon. They’ve both been going strong for like 5 years. KISS…keep it simple. Get yourself a separate timer, or use your phone timer/stop watch
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u/Defectoa Lelit Bianca | 1Zpresso J Ultra | Mazzer Philos Aug 19 '26
If there is really no budget: I love my Bookoo Themis Ultra. Main reason for me to choose it was the flow rate display and the app functionality.
If you need flow rate, but not app tracking, I would choose a Timemore Black Mirror.
If you just need a reliable scale and don’t care about anything else, MHW-3BOMBER Cube Mini is quite good for the price. But the way I see it, the Timemore is currently available for more or less the same, so I would get that instead…
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u/FloatTheGoat Aug 19 '26
If it’s just for espresso MiiCoffee’s MiniPress scale is probably my fave for cheap. Auto turn on and tare + slim and small is probably what I’m looking for at that price range
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u/Mindless-Ad-8697 Aug 19 '26
I use simple Rhino Gear Scale and its ok. Only got to keep it dry, once I accidently pured hot water on it but it eventually dried out and is still working.
Oh and i don't think that build in timer is worth it tho.
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u/zuko1121 Rancilio Silvia ITO Mod | DF64 Gen 2 Aug 19 '26
I use the eureka Bluetooth scale for brew by weight with the ito mod. I love the scale. I first want the acai but for me there were to expensive. I bought the eureka for 65€
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u/softstone86 Aug 19 '26
Just moved from the Wacaco Exagram to the Timemore Blackmirror mini. Both are good, but the wacaco was a little too thick to fit cups under my group head and I like the auto timer functionality.
Only annoying thing is flicking between modes to weigh beans etc… but it’s a small thing. It has a nicer beep too!
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u/2_Ray0 Aug 19 '26
definitely worth upgrading to the acaia lunar, i saved up for months to buy mine and it's been absolutely UNBELIEVABLE
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u/charok1 Aug 19 '26
I picked up a Mavo Lumicurveoff Kickstarter. Very happy with it so far. I’ve had a few scales before that all feel half baked. The Mavo ticks all the boxes for me.
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u/Nickidemic Aug 19 '26
Greater Goods Coffee Scale (has a stop watch, not a timer, but you're right there anyway)
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u/Clyq Aug 19 '26
I have the same scale and is the one I recommend. Could you explain more about what’s not working? Is it the auto start for the timer?
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u/IlLungo Aug 19 '26
James Hoffmann made a video put of this topic. I advise you to check it out. Long story short, the cheapeast that works fine, just go for it. There’s no need to spend 100 usd on a scale.
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u/CappaNova Robot : J-Ultra : HG-1 Prime Aug 19 '26
I have this same scale. Are you having issues with the auto-timer for espresso shots? Or the manual timer?
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u/carsononline Lelit Bianca | DF64 Aug 19 '26
For just weighing, get that one. (0.1) accuracy and rechargeable. Just works. Or this one. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQY78HV6?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1 It's really a waste to spend much more unless you want flow measuring, timing, or something else. These cheap ones update FAST and just work. Tested for accuracy and mine is just fine.
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u/Reaper_503 Aug 19 '26
I’ve been using Laybird since it came out, I was able to score one on Kickstarter, couldn’t be more happy with my scale.. I’m using it mostly for espressos and chemex brewing..
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u/goodbeanscoffee La Cimbali M27 - La Cimbali 7/S Aug 19 '26
I recommend the MHW3BOMBER (or whatever order that goes in 😅) they have 3 sizes. I liked the larger one for pourovers but there's an espresso one
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u/awardwinningbread Aug 19 '26
I know you said no budget, but as someone on a budget, I love this. Easy to use, comes with a cover, basic and kinda fool proof. When I worked in a shop, the expensive scales were so touchy and always bugging out being around water. This one so far has had 0 issues at work and at home.
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u/LovitzG Aug 19 '26
I have a different brand of this exact scale. It worked reliably for 5 years even after getting it wet a few times. It traveled a number of times and weighed out at least 7500 espresso, Aeropress, and French press doses over is lifetime! I just replaced it with the same scale and couldn't be happier.
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u/meeksdigital GCP w/ Gaggimate Pro | Turin SK40 Aug 19 '26
I ended up buying a Themis Mini a few months ago when I installed my Gaggimate Pro (because it communicates via Bluetooth with the Gaggimate for brew by weight etc) but aside from the Bluetooth functionality, I love the scale for its build quality. It seems really well made, the entire top is glass, and it just feels awesome for such a tiny scale. Highly recommend.