Review: Hero S01 Grinder

Basic Specs

Height: 15.3 cm

Diameter: 5cm

Weight: 287g

Max Hopper Capacity: 25g

38mm stainless steel burr

Grind size Indicator

Dual ball bearings

Stainless steel axle

Axle Stabiliser

This is one of the newest hand grinders in the market today. It currently retails for 2,500 pesos and comes in Silver and Matte black.

For 2,500 pesos, this grinder’s feature set is impressive. It has 38mm steel burrs, dual ball bearings, a grind size indicator, and is built pretty well. Undoubetdly, the engineers of this grinder thought long and hard about how they could pack in as much quality, performance, and value into this product for the lowest price possible.

Let’s walk through the different parts of the grinder.

1.) Construction and Build Quality

a. The form factor of the Hero S01 grinder follows the blueprint of most mainstream, competitive hand grinders in the market today. It is a cylindrical hand grinder that is built around a stainless steel axle, dual ball bearings, and a set of 38mm steel, conical burrs.The heart of the grinder is made of components found in much more expensive hand grinders. To get to this aggressive price point, most of the components of the grinder are made from ABS plastic of which include the body, the grinds catcher, the axle stabiliser, the knob, and the lid.

Let’s take a look at the key features of this hand grinder.

b. Adjustment Knob

The adjustment knob is an integral feature of any hand grinder because this is how one manipulates grind settings. It is a feature the user will be in constant interaction with therefore it is crucial that it performs well. This is one area where the Hero S01 excels. Each turn of the knob on the Hero S01 has a crisp and audible detent. The tactile feedback of the grinder translates to no guesswork and ease of use when making an adjustment. Another great feature of the Hero S01 is its grind size indicator. This is really helpful with remembering where you are in your grind size setting as you will always have a visual reference as to where you are in your grind settings.

This is unlike most systems which rely on blind clicks. For many coffee home brewers who often bounce back and forth between grind sizes, this is a real pain as they have a relatively high chance of forgetting the setting they last used. Forgetting your grind setting on a “blind clicks” system would necessitate going back to zero clicks (the finest setting) and manually counting the number of clicks to your desired setting - really not the most fun experience.

c. Lid / Handle

Now let’s move on to the grinder’s lid and handle. The the lid and the handle are made of ABS plastic while the crank and the crank’s attachment point are made of stainless steel. The lever is of a sufficient length to give the user enough leverage to grind comfortably. The handle features this smooth and rather rounded shape which is pretty comfortable to hold as it doesn’t dig into the hand while grinding. The lid attaches to the grinder’s body very securely and the lid never popped out of the grinder while in use.

2.) Grind Performance One of the best features of the grinder is its 38mm steel burrs. This means that the grinding performance of the Hero S01 will be similar compared to more premium and expensive hand grinders in the market today.

In addition to this, the Hero S01’s grind size adjustment allows the user to fine tune grind size pretty well. In our testing, this Hero grinder has almost double the number of settings compared to the Timemore C2. What this means is that it offers more granularity when it comes to adjusting the grind size — and this allows the user to really fine tune the grind settings.

For the price, the performance of the Hero S01 is remarkable. The Hero S01 is ideal for grinding all the way from cold brew or french press coarse to V60 medium fine. Actually, it can even do espresso in a pinch. Although, the grind time will be significantly longer.

Our grinding time*:

Drip: ~40 sec for 16g

Espresso: ~3-5 minutes for 16g

*Do note that results will vary depending on effort exerted and roast level of beans used.

In summary:

What are the pros of the grinder?

- Grind size indicator

- Approx. 2x the number of settings versus the Timemore C2

- Superior features for a very affordable price of 2,500 pesos

- Around the same price as grinders equipped with inferior ceramic burrs

- Lighter weight and more portable than other grinders with similar specs

What are the drawbacks of the grinder?

- Not much actually. Most of the drawbacks will reference back to its ABS plastic construction. Plastic will insulate less than metal so there will be a bit more noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) in this grinder than an all metal construction grinder

- If ABS plastic bothers you, then the grinder is not for you. Although, it might be helpful to note that there have been cases where metal grinders have dented so badly that they become unusable (the catch cup won’t screw back in). But this shouldn't happen to you if you're careful anyway.

Other Nitpicks:

- The handle could be a little longer (but then again that might affect the leverages and increase the probability of accidental removal of the lid)

- You may find the propeller cheesy or cool. It doesn't really do anything but it doesn't detract from the overall user experience.

5.) Conclusion

After living with this grinder for a while now, I can’t help but be charmed by it. It offers so much value for so little money. It’s easy to use, it’s easy to hold, it grinds quickly, it reminds me where I’m at in my grind settings, and it looks good. It’s a great piece of industrial design that a beginner or even experienced coffee home brewer can appreciate.