Here's my review for the Timemore C2, which seems to go against popular opinion, but highlights the several downsides to buying a budget steel burr hand grinder and suggests better alternatives.

NOTE: I am a picky person. If you're not as picky as me, many of the points below may not bother you. But I'm assuming you're reading this because you are at least somewhat picky.

I bought a Timemore C2 about eight months ago to replace my no-name ceramic burr grinder. At first, it was thrilling--the no-name grinder felt like a toy in my hand compared to the C2. Grind speeds are great and it's quite a nice looking and feeling device. The pebbled texture of the grey model is very practical for helping you keep a firm grip as you grind.

However, over the past few months, a number of issues have slowly gotten more and more annoying, to the point that combined they sent me looking for another grinder:

1. The burr alignment on mine is quite bad, even after trying various methods suggested online to try to improve it. You can easily see that one side of the burrs is much closer to touching than the other. This means you’re going to get less evenly ground coffee, which will make it more difficult to achieve consistent, tasty results. And also make it difficult to grind finely enough for espresso, since the burrs may start to clash before you get to your desired grind size (though I haven't tested this myself since I don't make espresso).

2. The quality of the plastics is not great. The lid and handle feel rather cheap and the lid sits lopsided when attached. More importantly the burrs and bearings are mounted in plastics, meaning even if your burrs are better aligned than mine, this can go off over time as the plastic is stressed through repeated grinds. This also results in significant wobble when the grinder is spun.

3. The adjustment knob is plastic and doesn’t have any reference indicators, so you have to count every click from zero, which gets really tedious when you’re grinding for filter coffee and have to count through 16+ clicks. The clicks themselves are not that tactile, so it’s easy to accidentally skip a click and then have to redo the whole thing. I hear that recent production runs have a metal knob, so maybe this is better now.

4. The grind catch cup has way too many small threads to attach to the body of the grinder, which can easily get jammed and deformed, because the aluminium is quite soft. Despite all the threads, the cup frequently comes loose whilst grinding and I often feel the need to stop mid-grind and retighten. Also, the bottom of the catch cup easily comes unscrewed, and if you don't frequently check that it's tight, all of your freshly ground coffee may fall on the floor one day.

5. Grinds tend to get stuck in the retaining ring next to the burrs. Because the channel is quite deep and narrow, it is quite difficult to get a brush in there and remove the stuck grinds. Also, the brush provided with the grinder is quite poor, and the bristles tend to fall out or get kinked at the end, making them less effective.

6. The grey colouring is wearing off in many spots around the grinder. Doesn't seem to be a proper anodising job, but more of a very thin layer of paint. Not a functional issue, but definitely detracts from the feeling of quality.

I have since upgraded to a 1zpresso K-Plus, which again, makes me feel like I've gone from a toy to a proper, slightly over-engineered tool. The build quality is worlds better and using it is just so much more satisfying. Yes, it costs 3x more, but it is worth every penny to me, especially after the slow descent into sadness offered by the Timemore C2. The external grind adjustment ring and magnetic catch up are particularly brilliant.

However, I could have easily paid much less and probably solved most, if not all the problems I had with the C2 above with one of the lower end 1zpresso grinders. From what I've read and seen, the Q2 and JX have comparable build quality (all metal build, wooden handle, and clear polycarbonate lid), only functionally differing in their bean capacity and grind adjustment capabilities, and they only cost tens of dollars more than the C2.

From my experience, it seems like a no brainer for anybody who is able to afford the difference to skip the Timemore C2 and go straight to a 1zpresso Q2 or JX.

Hopefully this is helpful to those looking for a solid grinder at a solid price. I think all of the above grinders deliver value for money, but it feels like 1zpresso goes above and beyond with much of their product line (which is admittedly rather convoluted and doesn't do them any favours).