Timemore Black Mirror scale review
Coffee scales are a dime a dozen, with a whole multitude of options online. But if you’re looking for something that’s a little more fully-featured, joining the reasonably-priced and practical Hario and Acaia’s sleek (but pricey) range is the Timemore Black Mirror (SGD 60) – here’s our review:
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Design & aesthetics
Imitation is flattery, and the Timemore Black Mirror coffee scale clearly pays homage to the revolutionary Acaia Pearl. With a simple monochrome chassis, it sports an inverted pan design with a “skirt” around the edges – protecting the delicate electronics within from spills.
Although the ever-so-slight rectangular shape does help, the plain black design of the scale does make it difficult to orient correctly on the first try.
Like the Acaia, it too sports a removable silicone insulating pad to prevent scalding hot brews from affecting the readout of the load cells. It gathers dust quickly, but you can use baking soda to reduce stickiness.
There’s little else of note: next to two touch-sensitive buttons on either side are the backlit LCD time and weight readouts respectively, along with a useful 3-bar battery indicator.
Functions and functionality
Like most coffee-centric weighing scales, the Timemore Black Mirror sports both a timer and a weighing scale. With readouts to the closest second and 0.1 of a gram, the scale is sufficient for most brewing methods – be it pour over, AeroPress or even espresso.
Removing and replacing set weights, the scale demonstrates a high level of consistency, although placing it away from the centre can produce different results. Thankfully, the Timemore Black Mirror sports a small logo at its centre to help you achieve repeatable measurements.
The weight readout does have a latency of about half a second, but is responsive enough for pour-overs. Once you develop a steady pour, it’s easy to preempt and stop right before you hit the target weight. Otherwise, a few small dribbles and you’ll get there anyhow.
The scale powers on with a touch of the the T-circle icon on the right, which doubles as the tare button when pressed a second time. Long-pressing turns the scale off. The button on the left, starts and stops the timer, with a long press reseting it, and an even longer press toggling the beeping of the scale.
The button themselves are responsive – in fact, a tad too sensitive. I found myself accidentally turning it on while carrying it around. Some users have also found the beep to be loud – I don’t mind it, but you can turn it off if you brew in the early mornings.
Apart from its regular features, the Timemore Black Mirror allows for USB-C charging – letting you avoid disposable batteries. Each charge takes about 2 hours and can last for about a month of daily brewing.
Should I get the Timemore Black Mirror scale?
With its stunning yet understated design, the Timemore Black Mirror scale will appeal to most coffee-loving. Offering more sensitivity than the comparably-priced Hario scales at higher weights and coming in at a fraction of the Acaia-tier options, the Timemore is functionally sound and recommendable.
However, it does lack imperial measurements for those who brew by the ounces, in addition to a smattering of minuscule issues like sensitive buttons, loud-ish beeps and slight latency in measurements. But in reality, those are easily addressed, making the Timemore Black Mirror scale an attractive choice.
