Varia's VS4: 53 mm Conical Burrs, 150–300 RPM and a US$499.90 Price

Varia's third grinder — Varia, the Hong Kong-based maker behind the VS3 and VS6, listed the VS4 on 2 December 2025 at US$499.90, and Whole Latte Love distributes it in North America (Varia).

53 mm conical, 200 W — The VS4 runs a 53 mm six-core conical burr set on a 200 W brushless motor and planetary gearbox at 150–300 RPM, with stepless adjustment of roughly 10 µm per division, in a 161.4 × 97.7 × 337 mm body weighing 5.27 kg (Varia).

Burrs out, setting kept — The burr chamber releases on a bayonet mount without shifting the grind setting, and Varia adds an ioniser, bellows and RDT bottle against static and retention; KaffeeMacher timed 18 g in about 13 seconds (Varia, KaffeeMacher).

US$499.90 direct from Varia — Varia lists it at US$499.90 (€445); Alternative Brewing sells it in Australia for A$764.90 (US$535 / €477) and KaffeeMacher puts the German price just under €500, against US$269.90 for the VS3 and US$749 for the VS6 (Varia, AB).

Best New Product, San Diego — World of Coffee named the VS4 the 2026 Best New Product in Consumer Coffee Preparation & Serving, and Varia took second place in the same category with its ORBI brewer (WOC, WLL).

Varia specs 0–0.06 g — Varia rates retention at 0 to 0.06 g with RDT on 10 g doses, and Whole Latte Love measured 0.015 g on average across ten 18 g tests with bellows and RDT in a dry room (Varia, WLL review).

Objection · Review · KaffeeMacher — Two grams on two units — In a test that ran two VS4s for almost six months, KaffeeMacher used a grind-weigh-vacuum-brush protocol and measured about 1.8 g of temporary retention plus 0.2 g permanent: “For a single-dosing grinder, that's a poor result” (KaffeeMacher).

Reaction · YouTube · Tom's Grinder Lab — Three grams without bellows — Tom's Grinder Lab measured 2–3 g left behind when the bellows were skipped, rated the stock burr 5/5 for medium espresso against 3/5 for light, and called it the best value in its class at about US$500 (video).

Objection · Reddit · r/espresso — Owners post the buildup — One owner photographed coffee stuck to the anti-static probes after a 20 g medium roast and wrote that he does not “experience the advertised low retention”, while others report settings far coarser than the manual suggests (thread, thread).