The short answer
The two share a 40 mm conical burr size and 40 stepped settings, so the grind itself is close. Buy the Virtuoso+ if you want timed, one-button dosing for a daily brew. Buy the Encore if you weigh your beans, because the timer is most of the difference.
Side by side
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Quick picks
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1. Choose this if you weigh your beans
Baratza Encore
Entry tier · The standard entry burr grinder for filter brewing.
40 steps, 40 mm burrs and a repairable design - most of what the Virtuoso+ does.
The Encore uses 40 mm conical burrs made in Europe, 40 stepped settings, and a grind range listed at 250 to 1200 microns. Its burrs turn at roughly 450 to 550 rpm, which limits heat and static.
That range covers every filter method comfortably, and it is the reason the Encore is the default recommendation for a first burr grinder.
Its dosing is manual - you run it until you have enough - which is no hardship if you weigh your beans before grinding, as single-dosing owners do anyway.
Like every Baratza it is designed to be repaired: parts are sold individually, so a worn burr set or gear is a component rather than a new grinder.
Specification
- Burrs
- 40 mm conical, made in Europe
- Settings
- 40 stepped
- Grind range
- 250-1200 microns
- Burr speed
- Roughly 450-550 rpm to limit heat and static
What it does well
- The reference answer for pour-over, drip and French press
- Fully serviceable, with parts sold individually for years
- Low burr speed keeps static and heat down
Where it gives ground
- Bottom of its range is too coarse for espresso - that is the ESP model job
- Stepped settings only
- Plastic body and a loud motor
Skip it if
Skip it if you want the grinder to dose for you. It has no timer, and the Virtuoso+ does.
2. Choose this for timed dosing
Baratza Virtuoso+
Mid tier · The Encore chassis upgraded with a metal body and a digital dosing timer.
A digital timer adjustable to a tenth of a second, and a slightly finer bottom end.
The Virtuoso+ shares the Encore's 40 mm conical burr size and 40 stepped settings, with a listed range of 200 to 1200 microns and a burr speed of 550 rpm.
Its defining feature is a 40-second digital timer adjustable in 0.1 second increments. If you make the same brew every morning, a timer lets you press one button and walk away with roughly the same dose each time.
The range reaches a little finer than the Encore's - 200 microns against 250 - which gives slightly more room at the fine end of filter. It does not make it an espresso grinder.
Timed dosing drifts as beans age and change density, so it approximates a dose rather than measuring one. Owners who weigh their beans get little from the timer.
Specification
- Burrs
- 40 mm conical
- Settings
- 40 stepped, 200-1200 microns
- Timer
- 40-second digital, adjustable to 0.1 s
- Burr speed
- 550 rpm
What it does well
- Repeatable dosing without a scale in the loop
- Metal body and a noticeably quieter run than the Encore
- Grind range starts finer than the standard Encore
Where it gives ground
- Built for filter brewing, not espresso
- Timed dosing is not weight dosing - beans age and the dose drifts
- Same 40 mm burr set as grinders costing much less
Skip it if
Skip it if you weigh your beans before grinding. The timer is the main thing you are paying for, and a scale makes it redundant.
Timers against scales
A timer doses by duration: the grinder runs for a set time and delivers whatever that time produces. As beans age they become less dense and the same time produces a different weight, so a timer approximates.
A scale doses by weight, and weighing beans before grinding is exact regardless of the beans. If you already weigh, the Virtuoso+'s timer adds convenience you do not need. If you do not, and do not intend to, the timer is a genuine daily improvement.
Neither is an espresso grinder
Both reach into the fine end of filter and neither holds espresso fineness with the consistency and step resolution espresso needs. If espresso is on the horizon, compare the Encore against the Encore ESP instead - that is the Baratza built for it.