Outin Coffee Grinder Review: Better Than a Hand Grinder?

In today’s Outin coffee grinder review I’ll be discussing my experiences using one of the most interesting pieces of coffee gear I’ve ever tested. As you guys probably know, I’m a huge fan of manual coffee grinders, and always carry one with me when I’m on the road. However, I’d never used a portable electric coffee grinder until I got my hands on the Outin Fino.

I’ve spent the past few weeks testing the Outin coffee grinder to see whether it’s worth buying. And in this review I’ll give you the lowdown on the Outin Fino’s features and performance. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Outin Portable Electric Coffee Grinder

A great rechargeable travel grinder

Compact and lightweight

Full charge in an hour

Easy to use

Fantastic grind quality

Battery can’t be replaced

CHECK PRICE

All specifications

Outin Portable Electric Coffee Grinder
Current price on Amazon	$179.99
All specifications

Overview: Outin Coffee Grinder Review

If you’ve checked out my Outin Nano review, the Outin Fino Portable Electric Coffee Grinder will look very familiar. It certainly seems like the grinder is intended to be used with the brand’s portable electric espresso maker. However, there’s nothing to say you can’t use the Outin coffee grinder with the brewer of your choice.

Currently retailing for $179.99, the Outin Fino isn’t exactly expensive, especially in comparison with most decent electric coffee grinders. But it costs the same as the 1Zpresso J-Ultra, which I consider to be one of the best manual coffee grinders out there.

Now, I’m not saying that the Outin Fino isn’t a solid grinder. In fact, I found it very easy to use and appreciated its versatility and design. Still, it doesn’t come close to achieving what the J-Ultra can, in terms of performance across the grind size spectrum. The thing is, you have to do all the hard work with a manual grinder, whereas the Outin Fino runs on battery power.

Personally, I don’t mind being the power source for my Comandante grinder when I’m out in nature. But I wouldn’t want to use it to make coffee for a group of camping buddies. With that in mind, I can see how a portable electric grinder would come in mighty handy. Besides, the Outin Fino could be a fantastic option if you want a small grinder for your kitchen.

Before going any further, I will tell you that the Outin Fino isn’t the best espresso grinder out there. In fact, it’s way better suited to pour-over or French press. But you can get pretty decent shots with the thing, especially if you’re using a portable espresso maker like the Outin Nano or WACACO Nanopresso.

Coffeeness Medium Roast Espresso

Well-balanced with chocolate & hazelnut notes

Freshly roasted in Brooklyn

Very low acidity

To the Coffeeness Shop

Outin Fino Features

Let’s continue this Outin Fino review by taking a closer look at the grinder’s most notable features.

Materials and Design

As with the Outin Nano, this portable electric coffee grinder has been incredibly well designed. Although the grinder is made of plastic, it feels very sturdy, and I love the way it feels in my hand.

What’s more, the Outin Fino looks very classy; it’s slim, streamlined and minimalist, which always scores points for me. In my mind, the design team obviously spent a lot of time on the Fino grinder. Heck, I even love the fact that the “O” in the Outin branding on the side of the grinder doubles as the on/off button.

Rising to just 7.8 inches (20 centimeters), the Outin coffee grinder is nice and compact. And although it’s heavier than I expected, I feel like the manufacturer would have had to compromise on build quality to make the thing lighter. Anyway, at around 1.5 pounds (680 grams), the Fino weighs about the same as a high-quality hand grinder.

Stainless Steel Conical Burrs

The Outin Fino Portable Electric Coffee Grinder is equipped with 38mm heptagonal burrs made of hardened stainless steel. And seeing as the Fino’s design is based on that of a manual grinder, the burr set is located at the bottom of the grinder’s body.

I have to say I was extremely impressed by these burrs – they work extremely efficiently and the grinds display superb particle uniformity. Still, you should be prepared for a slower grinding experience than you’ll get from a traditional electric burr coffee grinder.

As it turns out, the Outin Fino’s motor works comparatively slowly, so it takes up to two minutes to grind enough coffee for a shot of espresso. With that said, you’ll halve the grinding time at coarser settings for pour over and French press.

Grind Settings

Just like the aforementioned 1Zpresso J-Ultra, the Outin coffee grinder has a cool external grind adjustment ring. You’ll see numbered macro settings going up to 10, and there are micro settings in between each number, with 28 grind settings in total.

During my testing, I found it really easy to switch between settings – the adjustment ring moves seamlessly, making the mechanism feel almost stepless. What’s more, I love the indicator light that shows up when you start grinding.

Incidentally, there’s a very small amount of burr movement with each grind change – 20 microns to be precise. So, while 28 grind settings might not sound like much, the Outin Fino is definitely a legit precision coffee grinder.

Collapsible Bean Hopper

In terms of clever design features, Outin has outdone itself with the Fino’s collapsible bean hopper. Here’s how it works: you twist the hopper to the right, and it pops up, allowing you to (carefully) add your favorite coffee beans. Oh, and you’ll notice that when the hopper is open like this, it displays grind size “zones” to help you dial in. Again, a very nice touch from the design team.

Once you’ve added your beans, simply twist the hopper to the left, and your Outin Fino is locked and loaded. The Outin coffee grinder’s bean hopper has a 25-gram capacity, making it ideal for espresso and pour over. However, if you’re using a larger French press or drip coffee maker, you’ll likely need to run a couple of grind cycles.

Catch Cup

The Outin Fino catch cup screws onto the bottom of the grinder, just below the burrs. As with the rest of the Fino, the catch cup is made from rugged plastic. However, the concave stainless steel interior makes pouring out coffee grinds really easy and also cuts down on static buildup.

The catch cup lid also doubles as a portafilter dosing funnel – there’s a smaller opening with its own screw-on lid. And while the dosing funnel has been designed for smaller portafilters in portable espresso makers, it works fine for a home espresso machine portafilter.

USB Charging

The Outin Fino is fitted with dual 1000mAh lithium battery cells, which are rechargeable via a covered USB-C port on the grinder’s body. In my experience, it only takes around an hour to fully charge the Outin coffee grinder, and then it’ll be good for around 15-18 grind cycles. With that said, if you’re grinding dense, light roast coffee beans at finer settings, you can expect fewer cycles per charge.

All in all, I’d say you’d be able to use the Outin Fino for a multi-day camping trip without having to worry about it dying. Oh, and if you need to see how much juice is remaining, simply press the power button once to see the battery power LED indicator light.

At this point, I have to mention the biggest downside to the Outin Fino grinder. The official line from the manufacturer is that you aren’t able to replace the batteries. And considering the fact that rechargeable batteries don’t last forever, I’d say you can expect the Fino grinder’s lifespan to be around five years.

In my opinion, that’s a real oversight, and it makes the Outin Fino seem almost disposable. So, if anyone from Outin is reading this review, I implore you to start offering a replacement battery service!

Accessories

The Outin Fino Portable Electric Coffee Grinder comes with a decent amount of accessories. In fact, I’d say you’ll have everything you need:

The Outin Fino Portable Coffee Grinder in Use

As I’ve already pointed out, the Outin Fino is really easy to use – simply twist the hopper, load it up with coffee beans and then twist it back to load the chamber. Once that’s done, long press or double press the power button.

One thing I really appreciate is the auto-stop feature – the Fino shuts off once all the beans have passed through the burrs. However, I recommend giving the grinder a shake and grinding briefly again, seeing as a bean or two might not have made it.

During my testing, I experienced significant static buildup on the burrs, but again, a good tap and maybe a little brushing will take care of that. Oh, and I can say that the Fino is an extremely low-retention grinder; my dose was usually accurate to within around 0.1 grams.

As for noise levels, my phone app registered 65-69 decibels when the grinder was working. So, the Outin Fino is definitely on the quiet side. Plus, the noise it makes is pleasant rather than high-pitched and uncomfortable.

Like I said earlier, I was very impressed by the uniformity of the coffee grounds the Outin Fino produced. And while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this grinder to espresso enthusiasts, it’ll do the job in a pinch. On the other hand, the Outin coffee grinder is ideal for manual brewing methods.

Finally, I’ve heard reports of the Outin grinder stalling at the finest settings when users have added a full dose to the hopper. Personally, I didn’t experience this, but there is a workaround. I’ve heard that you can “hot start” the Fino – press the on/off button, then add coffee beans slowly once the burrs are rotating.

Outin Coffee Grinder Cleaning & Maintenance

As with any coffee grinder, you’ll need to clean the Outin Fino’s burrs on a regular basis if you want the thing to keep working well. Doing so is super easy, so you won’t have any excuses.

All you need to do is remove the inner burr by using the included Allen key to remove a screw. Once that’s done, take out the spring and washer before popping out the burr. Now you can use the brush to remove debris and buildup from the burr, and the bellows to blow out any dust from inside the grinding chamber.

Outin Fino Portable Electric Coffee Grinder Specifications

Verdict: Outin Coffee Grinder Review

Outin Portable Electric Coffee Grinder

A great rechargeable travel grinder

Compact and lightweight

Full charge in an hour

Easy to use

Fantastic grind quality

Battery can’t be replaced

CHECK PRICE

All specifications

Outin Portable Electric Coffee Grinder
Current price on Amazon	$179.99
All specifications

I must say I had a great time using the Outin Fino Portable Electric Grinder. I was pleasantly surprised by both its performance and build quality. What’s more, the Outin Fino is incredibly well-conceived, and it looks very cool.

So, would I recommend buying the Outin coffee grinder? Well, if you want an easy way to grind coffee when you’re camping or traveling, I’d say the Outin Fino checks (almost) all the boxes. Sure, I’d always go with a manual grinder instead, but I get that many folks would rather not risk breaking a sweat to achieve ground coffee.

Ultimately, the Outin Fino is far from a novelty device. Nor is it just a coffee grinder for beginners. This thing is the real deal, and will appeal to both casual dabblers and seasoned pros.