Mueller 4-Stage vs. Zwilling 4-Stage Manual Sharpener Side-by-Side Comparison
Mueller 4-stage vs. Zwilling 4-stage manual sharpener. How they measured up when faced with the same sharpening tasks.
Specifications
Design
Despite its affordable price, the Muller 4-stage sharpener has a strong, solid build, substantial abrasives, and tightly-fitting parts. It has a nice fit and finish and a spacious grip that’s comfortable to the touch. However, a lower working section would offer better control and stability.
The Zwilling sharpener has a robust construction; its frame is made with mostly high-quality materials and has an excellent fit and finish. Its most important components—the sharpening blades—however, seem to be made of the wrong material for the job. The tall, long, but narrow body, meanwhile, makes it more prone to losing balance and stability.
Usability
Though the Mueller is a bit tall, it offers decent balance and stability. Its large size and substantial abrasives give you a lot of confidence when sharpening. The slot layout could be improved, in our opinion, but it doesn’t pose much of a problem in terms of usability.
Though the Zwilling’s slot layout is not exactly basic, it’s easy to work with. Blade insertion is safe and simple. However, the actual sharpening process can be a little challenging as the device tends to rock on its narrow base pad.
Performance
It won’t make your knife razor-sharp, but the Mueller takes little time getting a dull edge ready for common cutting tasks in the kitchen. Contrary to its twin, the Longzon, however, it eats away the blade and leaves a rough, uneven edge.
The Zwilling isn’t a complete failure: It can sharpen a dead, dull knife to highly serviceable keenness. However, it lost way too many points on speed, which is a critical criterion for convenient sharpeners. Its sharpening blades left a consistent edge, but that doesn’t make up for the excessive amount of material it removed doing so. It reminded us of the Chef’s Choice 4643 in many ways.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Strong construction, pretty coloring
- Quick sharpening
- Scissor slot
- Ease of use
- Substantial weight
- Sharpens both Asian and standard knives
- Strong build, high-quality body material
- Slot cover
- Beautiful design
- High center of gravity
- Harsh on the knife edge
- Brittle sharpening blades
- Anti-slip pad doesn’t fully cover the base
- Awkward grip
Conclusion
Both the Mueller 4-stage and the Zwilling 4-stage manual sharpeners feature a strong and sturdy build. However, the former offers better balance and stability during sharpening thanks to its broader base.
Note that while both sharpeners have four sharpening slots, the Mueller actually reserves three for kitchen knives and the remaining one for scissors. The Zwilling, meanwhile, assigns two slots for each type of knife, namely, standard and Asian.
Neither offered a particularly well-rounded performance. The former was quick and capable, though it was also rigorous on the knife’s edge. The latter produced a smoother edge but took too much time to sharpen.
All in all, the Mueller is the better choice because it’s faster, more effective, and easier to use— and that is what’s most important in a convenience sharpener.
Behind the Comparison
Anh Ngo is a writer with 9 years experience at different media outlets, covering from public news and events to product testing and analysis. At HealthyKitchen101, she works across different departments, communicating closely with its network of writers, editors, and health, tech, and search engine experts to provide a meaningful and pleasant reading experience for visitors.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
