OXOBrew 8 Cup Coffee Maker, Stainless Steel,Black

Warning, this is a critical review. I give this a 5 star because overall product merits an excellent rating. However, if I was to rate this based on value, I rate it a 3 star.I'm not a coffee snob. I like my cheap coffee. I've watched several coffee snob reviews on this product prior to purchase, and this is my take. What the heck is the difference between a $30 drip coffee maker and a $300 drip coffee maker? Well, it's the same difference between a 900watt microwave and a 1400watt microwave. This $300 coffee maker has a higher wattage heating element. Which means it'll heat the water of faster and hotter. Does it make that big of a difference? That's something only a coffee snob can tell you. I'll say this: I can tell the difference. It's not earth shattering, but it does make a difference. Does it make a $200+ difference? Most will say 'no'.So now I move onto rating the coffee maker on overall quality. This is where I get a little more critical. Why? Because it's OXO. I own lots of OXO products and I love them all. I'll be honest and say, this feels more like an OXO product in the making. It's not the user experience I'd expect from OXO. Translation, this misses the mark on being sensational. The insulated carafe is nice, but OXO could have done better. It's a quality carafe, but like some reviewers point out, it leaves about a table spoon or more of liquid when done pouring. It's a minor inconvenience. But ever day use will add up that frustration. Means when you clean the carafe, you'll have that fair amount of water left inside as well. I admit, it is annoying. Very surprised OXO couldn't have designed that better...for $300.The other complain perceived by many is the filter basket. This is my biggest complaint. For $300 and being OXO, this is really were they missed the mark. The basket is flimsy. Not the $300 quality I'd expect. The snap into place operation is clunky. It doesn't just easily slide into place. Little details you'd expect from a brand like OXO are completely missing here. I personally find the selection of 2-4 cup vs 4-8 cup a garbage design. I've used both modes. Makes little to no difference. I recommend using the carafe at all times. The 2-4 cup operation is a waste. And because of that waste, it adds to the frustration of the lacking filter basket design. The sliding lever you use to select 2-4 vs 4-8 doesn't lock into place. That will annoy you. The big difference between 2-4 vs 4-8 is having a choice of which type of filter you want to use. THAT is where OXO could have made a killing on their design. For whatever reason, most expensive coffee makers opt for basket style filters. I personally hate them. They're a pain to use and tedious to fiddle with in the morning. Conical filters are superior in my opinion. It's great that OXO created an option to use conical filters. However, as pointed out their filter basket design is garbage. Not worth using conical filters in the 2-4 cup mode. My advise to OXO, fix this aspect of your coffee maker! The filter basket design will make you crave your Mr. Coffee simplicity. This filter basket will make your $300 coffee maker feel cheaper than a $30 coffee maker. The coffee snob channels will detail how wonderful the filter basket design disperses the water and so on. Garbage observations. Even a $30 coffee maker does the same job.The last complain is so trivial, and yet surprised OXO could have designed this better. Why the two power buttons? You turn on power, then you actually need to select 2-4 vs 4-8 for brewing? Why? Maybe it needs to sense you're boiling less water vs more water. It couldn't have been designed to sense that? The fact that the coffee maker will auto shut off really hammers home the uselessness of having two buttons.Why am I complaining so much right? It's because it's OXO! You expect something different with OXO. You expect great quality and super simple operation. And I admit you don't feel that with this coffee maker. It should have been a one button design from the start. You expect OXO to be innovative. There's nothing innovating in this design. Nothing at all. It's just a quality coffee maker with seemly more complexity in it's cheap filter basket design than what's needed. OXO had a great idea in allowing both conical filters and basket style filters. It's a shame they couldn't have executed on that design better. I personally would prefer conical filters. Especially for an OXO product. Why? Because conical filters are always easer to work with. People buy OXO because they like simple quality and easy. Saying that, they may want to cater their next design to those that prefer conical style filters.I definitely have some criticism for this product. Keep in mind the harsh criticism is do to the $300 price tag and it having the OXO brand. You expect something different from both. Do I recommend buying the product? Oddly yes. I admit in the world of automatic drip coffee makers, no one really rises to the challenge of nailing the perfect design when it comes to quality and simplicity. That surprises me to this day. It's just a coffee maker! I commend OXO for it's styling. To be honest, that's why I bought it. I would have bought the Brawn if it had the better heating element. Overall it's a 5 star compared to competition. A solid 3 star in falling short of OXO expectations.

I had a Gevalia coffee maker for the past 10 years. The glass carafe finally cracked, there were no replacements available so I decided to not only replace it but to treat myself to an upgrade. After reading as many reviews as I could find, especially those from America's Test Kitchen, I decided to splurge on this Oxo coffee maker. I'm so glad I did. I had no idea how good my coffee could be. I love dark roast but my husband can't stand anything too "harsh" (his words). Chock Full o Nuts Dark Satin has been a good compromise for us. Perfect for him. Good enough for me but I still crave a Starbucks triple shot from time to time. No more. We've been brewing the Dark Satin in the Oxo all week and it's marvelous! I have no desire for Starbucks now. My cheap, Dark Satin is smooth and full-bodied with a chocolatey mouth-feel. It's everything I want in a dark roast. The fact that it brews this wonderful elixir hotter and faster than the Gevalia is a bonus.We've had to make few adjustments to how we make the coffee.First, we don't use the thermal carafe to fill the water tank. I tried once and it dribbled all over. Also, the carafe doesn't have any measurements so there's not much point in using it anyway. I use a large Pyrex measuring cup instead and it's perfect.Second, it takes a different type of filter than I'm accustomed to. Oxo recommends a high-sided basket filter like the ones sold by Bunn. I don't know if regular basket-filters work just as well. I'll try soon.Third, we follow the manual's recipe regarding the amount of coffee and the amount of water to use. I tried deviating from that recipe and immediately noticed the difference. This goes much quicker if you have a digital scale that measures in grams. Just put the coffee can on the scale, it the Tare button to zero it out, then scoop out your coffee. The scale will show you the amount you've taken out as a negative number. Much quicker than using the little measuring spoon that comes with the Oxo.Fourth, when pouring coffee from the thermal carafe, you have to make sure is turned clockwise as far as it will go, otherwise it will dribble.Possibly the best $200 I ever spent.