Some of the best coffee scales are the most basic. As long as you have a reliable scale with a timer and easy-to-use controls, you’ll be making specialty brews in no time. The Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 is one of the most premium scales I’ve reviewed, coming in at $56. It’s versatile and fits onto an espresso machine drip tray while also able to support a Chemex or V60 dripper.
Where you’ll notice the majority of this higher price is in the aesthetics; a sleek, carefully-constructed square body with a weight to it that immediately sets it above other cheaper scales. The Black Mirror also has an auto-flow-rate monitor, which sounds appealing, but in practice I didn’t find this much help.
If you've already got one of the best coffee makers or the best espresso machines and you’re after a coffee scale to level up your routine (at least in terms of appearance), the Timemore Black Mirror could be the one for you. But is it worth the extra $$$? Find out in this Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 Coffee Scale review.
Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 review: Cheat sheet
- Who is it for? Pour-over and drip brewer fans looking to upgrade their coffee setup
- What does it cost? $59 at Amazon
- What does it do well? It looks the part, is waterproof, measures to 0.1g and has a built-in timer
- What do we wish it did better? Auto-flow-rate monitor changes too quickly to perceive
Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 review: Specs
Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 review: Price & availability
The Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 Coffee Scale is available for $59 at Amazon U.S. and £59 at Amazon U.K, Similarly priced, the Subminimal Subscale is $49 direct from Subminimal, but it’s not as versatile as the Timemore due to its cup-like shape or lack of timer. At the cheaper end of the spectrum, the KitchenTour Coffee Scale is just $29 from Amazon U.S., and performs incredibly well for the price.
Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 review: Design & functions
While the Black Mirror scale looks the part, it’s not entirely perfect. I love the sleek black design and the short rectangle dimensions, which give the scale a luxurious, minimalistic cool style. I love how the LED screen shows both battery level and volume level and that you can easily switch between units. However, for the price, I’d expect there to be fewer annoyances than this.
The touch controls are extremely sensitive, meaning all you have to do is hover your finger above the start/stop or tare button for the controls to activate. Sometimes I was just wiping spilt coffee off the top or rearranging my V60 Dripper and the scale tared itself. This is incredibly frustrating as I had to restart my brewing process.
If you can adapt to these sensitive controls, though, this is a pretty, clean-looking scale. It’s weighty without being hefty or bulky and the screen is waterproof, meaning you can safely spill coffee on it and it won’t leave you for greener pastures.
The Black Mirror scale features a shot/pour time, enabling you to track shot times for espresso pulls for consistency between brews, and to precisely time and control bloom and pour stages when using a pour over. It also has a flow rate monitor, which I’ll discuss later.
The Black Mirror is a compact scale which will fit on an espresso machine’s drip tray with a cup on top, but has a large enough pad to support a large Chemex brewer or a V60 chamber without any stability concerns.
Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 review: Performance
When I compared the Timemore’s weight accuracy against five other scales, it displayed mostly the same weight as the other scales. Once it displayed 14.9g instead of 15g — but it was different by literally 0.1 of a gram. For the most part it showed the same weight as others. The fact that the Timemore weighs to an accuracy of 0.1g is worth noting here, too, meaning it’s an incredibly accurate scale.
To test the Timemore Black Mirror scale, I followed my usual brewing routine. I weighed 12g of medium-road medium-fine ground coffee into my V60 Dripper. I started the timer and poured 2 ounces of water over the coffee to let it bloom. Once that had brewed, 32 seconds on the timer, I poured in the final 8 ounces of water. Brewing time in total was 3 minutes 2 seconds, which is a similar time I found with the KitchenTour, V60 Drip Scale, and the Maestri House scales.
During espresso testing, I was able to track flow rate (with rapid number-reading) while my espresso poured, which helped me understand my grind and extraction techniques easier than using another scale.
As mentioned, the Timemore Black Mirror has an automatic flow rate monitor built into the LED screen. I didn’t notice this actually benefiting me during testing, though. Obviously this is simply the nature of measuring liquid flow in real time, but the digits changed too quickly for me to make out a singular number during brewing. This is a good feature in theory, but in practice, I found it superfluous because of how rapidly the number changed.
Other than the accidental taring issue when trying to move my V60 Dripper and mug, I have no major complaints with the functionality of the Timemore Black Mirror scale. As this is one of the pricier scales I’ve used, though, I’d recommend a cheaper version if you’re a scale newbie, like the KitchenTour scale or the Maestri House scale.
Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 review: Storage & maintenance
As this is a compact device, it’s easy to slot away in your kitchen cupboard in between uses. It’s USB-C rechargeable and you get a USB-A-to-USB-C cable in the box so charging is easy. Timemore says the battery will last for 24 hours of continuous use, which initially doesn’t sound like a long time, but when you consider that you’ll use the scale for maybe 3 minutes a day, this works out to 480 days.
The Black Mirror is easy to clean with a damp cloth. Timemore claims the LED screen is waterproof, but it doesn’t have an IP rating, unlike the Subminimal Subscale or the Felicita Arc ($110). Spilling a little water or wiping clean with a damp cloth should be fine, just avoid spilling large volumes onto the scale and don’t submerge it.
Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 review: How does it compare?
As touched on above, the Timemore Black Mirror scale’s screen is waterproof, so you don’t need to worry about accidentally spilling on it during brewing. Only one other scale I’ve reviewed is classed as waterproof — the Subminimal Subscale, $49. The Subscale can only be used with espresso, though, and has no timer, so I’d recommend the Black Mirror over it.
As the Black Mirror scale is $59 as opposed to the KitchenTour’s $29, I’m not entirely sure what this $30 bump in price contains. The Black Mirror is more attractive than the KitchenTour, sure, but its additional live flow rate function is difficult to use. The Maestri House scale is $39 and is compact and good-looking, too, plus it has a rechargeable battery. The Black Mirror is by no means a bad or ineffective scale — quite the opposite — but there are other scales for less money that do all the same things.
Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 review: Verdict
If you want a coffee scale that’ll add a bit of sophisticated intrigue to your kitchen, look no further than the Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2. It certainly looks the part, with its sleek black exterior and minimalistic design. The plastic acrylic casing feels high-quality and weighty without being bulky. The weight is accurate and the timer is a good addition.
Perhaps the most useful function of all is its waterproofing: you don’t need to worry that a splash of coffee or water during brewing will destroy your scale. Of all the coffee scales I’ve reviewed, only 3 have had any sort of waterproofing, and this is the one I think is the best value, although it’s still pricey.
However, I don’t think it’s worth the almost $60 price tag. Sure, the flow rate monitor could have been nice, but when the numbers change too fast for you to read them, what’s the point? Simply timing it could be enough. I do like the battery amount display and the volume display, which I’ve not seen on other coffee scales. If you need something that has all bases covered, then this is your scale. But I think it’s a little overkill for me.
