I've had the unique opportunity to experience both the Ceado E37S and the Mahlkoenig K30 Vario grinders at home on a daily basis. As these are two grinders that are cross-shopped frequently, I'd like to help other people going through the same decision process. I will continually update this thread as I get more time with the grinders to refine the review.

Background
I started with the Ceado E37S given the lower price and larger burr set. I figured it's worth a try to get the 'newer' grinder rather than the longer present K30. The grinder arrived in late 10/15 and I immediately put it to use. Please see the comparison for details below. Due to issues with persistent grinds spraying, I chose to return the grinder within the 30 day window. ***There has been an update to a chute part that apparently addresses this issue. I did not have a chance to try the updated part before my return. It's possible this resolves the issue. The verdict on this is pending with other owners as of 12/12/15.***

The K30 arrived with a scuffed top lid, misaligned chute, and malfunctioning single shot timer dial. The time control is giving erratic times during rotation of the dial and appears to be due to the dial wiggling (bad connection?). I will be getting the grinder exchanged.

Given I've had some problems with both grinders, I will be as objective as possible in this review and not let my negative experiences with either grinder impact opinion in specific areas.

Form and Footprint
Both grinders relatively large and have similar depths. My wife immediately found the K30 to be more 'handsome' and has a very impressive look to it. I tend to prefer the K30 appearance as well having had them both on the same counter. The E37S is slightly less wide than deep while the K30 is round. They have similar weights and heights from counter to top of the grinder throat without a hopper. The E37S has a 2" diameter throat that has no retaining pins or prongs. The K30 has a 2 1/4" throat with retaining prongs for a hopper to screw into. Neither have a safety switch so both can be run without a hopper in place. The hopper on the E37S fits into a rubber piece that forms the 'cap' of the grinder body. Included on this rubber piece are the grind fineness markings. The K30 hopper fits right into the metal grinder cap which incorporates the throat. Grind fineness markings are on the far outer portion of the metal cap and more readily visible than on the E37S. Given the markings on the outer portion of the K30, very small adjustments are easier than on the E37S. However, small adjustments are still relatively easy on the E37S, but I found I have to look closely and use two hands to make small movements of the adjuster. Initially I didn't like the grind fineness markings on the E37S being on a rubber piece that has some flex to it. Ultimately it made no difference in daily use. The rubber does get some grinds dust in its pores which gives it a slightly unclean look unless you rinse it occasionally.

Fineness Adjustment
The E37S uses a short lever for adjustment. While making small adjustments is not challenging at all, the K30 is easier for making small adjustments. This is simply due to the adjustment being on the outer rim of the grinder leading to a much longer lever arm and sweep. I did not have to do any calibration on the E37S as it was very dialed in on delivery. On the K30, I was grinding around 2 (0 is burrs touching) and still having some short shots. Pulling the top off, the burr calibration is easily changed by manually turning the upper burr. I now have a middle grind fineness around 3.5, which I prefer given the perceived wider setting range. This can be zero'd wherever you like on the number dial.

Speed and Sound
Both grinders are very fast. The E37S would grind a 20g double in about 4.2s. The K30, despite having smaller burrs, spins them at higher RPM and is about 25% faster than the E37S. It grinds 20g in about 3.4s. The K30 pushes the boundaries of dosing with 0.1s accuracy and borders on needing 0.01s accuracy. Overall the speed difference between the two grinders is meaningless in a home setting. Both grinders are very quite. I'd say the K30 is a touch quieter than the E37S. Both are a vast improvement over my older Baratza Vario which was a lawn mower in comparison.

Electronics
The electronics on the E37S and the K30 are both readily visible and easily controlled. My K30 has a bad dial for the single shot time control giving erratic time values and is being replaced (whole grinder, not part). I found usability to be very similar for the grinders but they have some different nuances. For example, the E37S allows one to grind only with the activation button depressed or in 'pulse mode' where one press and release starts grinding which then continues until the time runs out. On the K30, grinding is only performed if the activation button is depressed. If you pull off the button, grinding stops but your time remaining is saved so you can complete your predetermined shot time. I favor the K30 software here. The K30 is limited to a minimum time of 1.0s now but the E37S can go to 0.1s. Apparently earlier K30 software allowed times as low as 0.1s. I think Mahlkoenig should have left it that way. However, one can still get very short grind bursts simply by pulling the portafilter away during grinding of any set time. The other option is to use 'barista mode' by pushing both single and double shot buttons together. You then grind whenever the activation button is depressed. The E37S has an identical manual mode activated the same way.

Portafilter Holder and Grinds Tray
The E37S simply has two round prongs without any adjustability. They work perfectly well and let you put a PF of any size on them. The K30 has a height adjustable PF holder with incorporated funnel. I was using an OE funnel with the Ceado which made tapping grinds off the funnel easier. The K30 requires a bit of brush dusting to get the grinds off. The K30 can be adjusted to hold PFs of different sizes and guides you in depressing the activation button. The Ceado has no guidance and some people noticed their PF would slip off the button and scratch the paint. I prevented this by putting a rubber stick-on bump guard on the activation button that prevents sliding. The grinds trays are both removable. The tray is larger on the K30 and catches pretty much any stray grinds. The tray on the E37S isn't flush with the back of the grinder and some stray grinds will fall on the grinder body behind the tray which requires extra cleaning effort.

Distribution and Chute Design
This was a main issue for me with the E37S. The Ceado design has an open chute front. I had many many issues with grinds randomly spraying out the front of the chute and all over my arm and counter. Ceado apparently narrowed the problem down to the 'SCC' flap which regulates static and clumping. A new part is now available which I did not have the chance to try. E37S owners in the US are just now receiving these parts to address this issue. When the E37S wasn't spraying me, I found the grinds to be quite clumpy. Fortunately the clumps were soft and a firm tamp resulted in nice bottomless PF shots. On the K30, the chute is enclosed. I have limited time with the K30 so far, but there as been no spraying or clumping at all. The grinds are much 'fluffier' and 20g will heap over my PF while 20g on the E37S was difficult to even level with the finger swipe technique. Suffice to say my E37S was compressing my grinds more during delivery.

Very early on with the K30, I'm already noticing it's more consistent and easier to use with regard to grinds distribution. The grinds are much fluffier without any clumps larger than a grain of Kosher salt (maximum and few). The chute deposits them very centrally in the PF which means you don't have to stop and shake/tap unless you're trying to updose your basket. I'm finding that grind->level->tamp->pull is making bottomless PF shots without any mess. With the E37S, I found myself cleaning the espresso machine for stray spritzs most days. I have not needed to clean any splatters from the bottomless PF since getting the K30.

Taste
***this will be updated once I have more time with the K30***
So far, I have not discerned any taste difference between to two grinders.

Please feel free to post specific questions and I'll be happy to answer them. I no longer have the E37S so I won't be able to do any direct physical comparisons except from memory.

Can you tell us your lottery numbers so...we don't play them.

Good info, the only thing I kinda disagree with is the looks, IMO the black ceado wins that contest. Agreed though, k30 wins over silver one. The black ceado is really sharp.

I think they're both attractive. The Ceado looks more "commercial". The K30 looks more high-tech residential.

A lot of people have been looking forward to a comparison between the two. Please do let us know how the k30 fairs!! Has the single dose button freaking out got better? When I first got my k30 the screen went blank on me a few times and the sent me a new display. The display hasn't gone blank since and I'm sitting here with a brand new unused display in case it does go bad or blank again. I would call Mahlkonig and ask for a new display. They seem easy enough to replace and Brian (the Mahlkonig rep) was a real pleasure to deal with.

I'll definitely keep reporting back as I use the K30 more. The single dose dial is messed up. It has a slight in and out play to it that isn't present on the double dosing dial. If I push in while turing the single dose dial, it works as expected. If I allow it to pull out ever so slightly, it goes bananas. No word yet from SCG or Mahlkoenig about the replacement due to the weekend. Otherwise it's working really well. I'm very impressed with how even and fluffy the grinds are. Zero clumps.

SonVolt wrote:I think they're both attractive. The Ceado looks more "commercial". The K30 looks more high-tech residential.

I think this is really accurate. The Ceado is sleek yet utilitarian in the commercial sense you noted. The K30 is more of an iDevice but equally tank-like. The K30 definitely has more of a presence on the counter given the increased width.

spearfish25 wrote:I'll definitely keep reporting back as I use the K30 more. The single dose dial is messed up. It has a slight in and out play to it that isn't present on the double dosing dial. If I push in while turing the single dose dial, it works as expected. If I allow it to pull out ever so slightly, it goes bananas. No word yet from SCG or Mahlkoenig about the replacement due to the weekend. Otherwise it's working really well. I'm very impressed with how even and fluffy the grinds are. Zero clumps.

That's great to hear! I thought it pulled a tastier shot when I got mine as well probably due to better particle distribution. Mahlkonig should straighten you out... I got my display within a week. One of my favorite things about the k30 is it seems very easy to fix things. Even if the motor goes bad you can easily pull it out and replace it.

That's the same reason I love my Profitec Pro 700. Easy to work on. Given my three issues though, I think it'll be easier for them to just replace the grinder rather than replace the screen, top cover and the chute assembly.

Sounds like you are comparing two lemons though.

Well, yes and no. And I was waiting for the first person to bring that up. However, I feel the comparison is still fair since none of the negative issues has stopped either grinder from turning out its best quality product (grind) at some point in my ownership. It's like the C7 Z51 that Car and Driver just lambasted for being a lemon with a dozen repairs in 30k miles of driving. They still got to see the shining product, but they reported on the ownership experience which happened to include the service department for a significant amount of time. No difference here with these two grinders.

The Ceado gave me some spectacular shots. There is no question that it was a huge advance over a Baratza Vario that it replaced. During the times where it wasn't spraying, the grind quality was extremely consistent albeit a touch chunky. I think it's the nature of letting grinds clump in the chute and then break off and fall into the PF. I live in FL and my house, even with AC running, never really goes below 50% humidity. I imagine if I were still in Chicago and my house had 20% humidity in winter, the grinds clumping would be close to zero but static could come into play. Not the case where I live. I had many shots from the Ceado where the clumps looked like WDT was needed but a simple firm tamp and pull gave a pretty bottomless PF shot. The Ceado was also my first experience where small grind adjustments led to vastly different flavors in the cup. Consistency with my Baratza Vario was so poor that such nuances were not possible. I was duly impressed with the Ceado's overall quality and abilities. My experience simply showed they have some engineering work to do on the chute SCC mechanism which may have been addressed int he updated part being sent out. The K30 had similar issues but with clumping a few years ago. They've since changed the chute system and alleviated them.