The short answer
Buy the Switch if you want one brewer that does both jobs: V60 percolation when you feel like pouring, immersion when you do not. It uses standard 02 papers, includes 40 of them, and its valve is the only mechanism here that can be half-opened into a hybrid recipe. Buy a plain V60 or a plain Clever if you know which of the two methods you actually use.
What the valve changes
A pour-over is a percolation brew: water passes through the bed once and leaves. Extraction depends on how fast you pour, how evenly you wet the bed and how the bed settles - which is why two people get different results from the same recipe.
An immersion brew holds water and coffee together for a fixed time. Every particle sees the same water for the same duration, so the result depends on dose, grind, temperature and time - four things you can measure - rather than on technique.
The Switch's stainless ball valve lets you pick either, in the same device, with the same filters. That is the entire product, and it is a genuinely useful one.
The hybrid recipes are the reason enthusiasts buy it
Closed for the bloom and the first pour, then opened to finish: that sequence gives the even saturation of immersion and the clean finish of percolation. Recipes of this shape circulate widely, and they are not possible on a single-mode brewer.
It also makes the Switch forgiving of a modest grinder. Immersion time compensates for a wider particle distribution in a way a fast percolation brew does not - see conical vs flat burr for why distribution matters.
Where it stops
Capacity. Hario lists a 200 ml finished capacity. That is a mug, not a carafe, and it is the specification most likely to disappoint someone who brews for two.
Glass and silicone. It is a glass bowl in a silicone base with a resin switch. Treated normally it lasts; dropped, it does not - and there are more parts to clean than on a plain cone.
Price. It costs more than a ceramic V60 and more than a Clever. You are paying for the option, so the question is whether you will actually use both modes.
Quick picks
The answer first. Tap any row to jump to the full reasoning for that pick.
| # | Product | Best for | Award | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | One brewer that covers both methods | The brewer reviewed | |
| 2 |  | Learning to pour properly | If you only want percolation | |
| 3 |  | Hands-off brewing with a paper filter | If you only want immersion |
1. The brewer reviewed
Hario Switch Immersion Dripper 02
Budget tier · A V60-style glass dripper with a ball valve, so it can steep like an immersion brewer and then drain.
V60 geometry with a valve, so the same device percolates or steeps.
The Switch is model SSD-200-B: a heatproof glass V60-style bowl in a silicone base, with a stainless steel ball valve operated by a PCT resin switch. Hario lists it at size 02, W118 x D115 x H133 mm, with a finished capacity of 200 ml.
With the valve open it brews as an ordinary V60 - the same 60-degree cone, the same spiral ribs, the same dependence on how you pour.
With the valve closed it becomes an immersion brewer. Water and coffee sit together for a set time, then one flick drains the bed through the paper. Steeping removes pour technique from the equation almost entirely, which is why this is the dripper to hand somebody who has never made pour-over.
The hybrid recipes are where it gets interesting: steep for part of the brew, then open the valve and finish as a percolation. That combination is not available on any single-mode brewer.
It takes standard V60 02 papers - 40 tabbed filters are included - so there is no proprietary filter to source.
Specification
- Size
- 02; W118 x D115 x H133 mm
- Finished capacity
- 200 ml (listed)
- Materials
- Heatproof glass bowl, silicone base, PCT resin switch, stainless steel ball valve
- Filters
- Standard V60 02 papers; 40 tabbed filters included
- Model
- SSD-200-B
What it does well
- Brews as a normal V60 with the valve open, or steeps and then drains with it closed
- Immersion makes the cup far less dependent on pour technique
- Takes the standard V60 02 papers you can buy anywhere
Where it gives ground
- Glass bowl is more fragile than plastic or stainless
- One more moving part than a plain cone to keep clean
- Immersion mode trades some of the V60's clarity for consistency
Skip it if
Skip it if you only ever want one method. A plain dripper or a plain immersion brewer does that job for less.
2. If you only want percolation
Hario V60 Ceramic Dripper 02
Manual tier · The 60-degree cone dripper that defines modern pour-over.
The classic 60-degree cone in Arita-yaki ceramic, with nothing to switch.
The ceramic 02 is the reference V60: 1 to 4 cups, W140 x D120 x H102 mm, and a single large hole that puts flow control in your hands.
Because nothing holds the water back, the brew responds directly to your pour rate, grind and bloom. That is the reason people learn on it and the reason it frustrates people.
Ceramic holds heat once preheated, which matters over a three-minute brew.
It takes the same 02 papers as the Switch, so moving between the two costs nothing in supplies.
It cannot steep. If your cups are inconsistent because your pour is inconsistent, this dripper will keep telling you so - see the V60 review.
Specification
- Geometry
- 60-degree cone, single large hole
- Ribs
- Inner spiral ribs
- Capacity
- 1-4 cups
- Material
- Arita-yaki ceramic, made in Japan
- Size
- W140 x D120 x H102 mm
What it does well
- The single large hole hands flow control to you rather than the dripper
- Ceramic holds heat far better than plastic
- More published recipes exist for the V60 than for any other brewer
Where it gives ground
- Unforgiving: an uneven pour shows up in the cup
- Ceramic needs preheating and can chip
- Needs a gooseneck kettle to be worth owning
Skip it if
Skip it if you want consistency without practice. That is exactly what the valve is for.
3. If you only want immersion
Clever Coffee Dripper Large
Budget tier · A cone dripper with a valve in the base, so it steeps like an immersion brewer and then drains.
A plastic steeper with a drip stop, at a fraction of the Switch's price.
The Clever Dripper brews up to 18 oz in BPA-free Eastman Tritan, with a drip stop that holds the brew until you set the dripper on a cup.
It is pure immersion: add coffee and water, wait, then release. There is no pour technique to get wrong and no scale required beyond the dose.
It ships with 100 paper filters, so a clean cup is the default rather than the French press's sediment.
Its capacity is larger than the Switch's 200 ml finished volume, which makes it the better choice for a big mug.
It cannot do percolation at all, and the plastic body feels like what it costs next to glass or ceramic.
Specification
- Capacity
- Brews up to 18 oz
- Material
- BPA-free Eastman Tritan
- Valve
- Drip stop holds the brew until the dripper is set on a cup
- Included
- 100 paper filters
- Cleaning
- Plastic and silicone parts are removable
What it does well
- Immersion brewing removes pour technique from the result
- A paper filter still gives a clean cup, unlike a French press
- Cheap, light and almost impossible to break
Where it gives ground
- Plastic body in a category where glass and ceramic exist
- Brews one batch at a time and needs a cup wide enough to sit on
- Steeping takes longer than a pour-over
Skip it if
Skip it if you want to pour. It is designed to remove exactly that.
How it compares
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Who should buy it
- People who brew one mug and change their mind about how, which is most of the people who own three brewers.
- Anyone with a modest grinder, because immersion time hides a multitude of particle-size sins.
- Households where one person pours and the other wants a button, since the valve is about as close as manual brewing gets.
Who should not
- Anyone brewing for two or more - 200 ml finished is one cup.
- People who want the cheapest immersion brewer, which is the Clever by a wide margin.
- Pour-over purists, who will use the valve twice and then leave it open forever.