When you think of single-serve coffee machines, there are a few players that you know will always deliver. And for many of us, Keurig means coffee – especially when convenience is top of our list. The company makes such a great range of single-serve coffee machines that there is one to suit everyone.
It isn’t always easy, however, to decide which one is the best option for you. Our no-nonsense, straightforward Keurig K50 review is here to help you choose.
Keurig K50 Review
The Keurig K50 All Purposed Coffee Maker is a smart, compact, modern-looking machine. This petite coffee maker has quite a “no-nonsense” look about it, with a simple-to-use design, a decent choice of brew sizes, and a reasonably-sized water reservoir.
Keurig K50 Coffee Maker
- Brews coffee, tea, hot cocoa, specialty, and Iced beverages
- Brews 6 oz. , 8 oz. , and 10 oz. Sizes
- Always ready and brews in under a minute
- Removable 48 oz. Water reservoir | indicator lights
- Programmable auto off feature | removable drip tray
There is no confusion about where to place the cup or the pod, and it’s especially suited to small kitchens, RVs, camping, dorm rooms. Small workplaces will also find it a convenient option to welcome guests and keep staff happy.
You know with Keurig you will always get a fresh cup of coffee, tea, cocoa or hot chocolate, and using the Keurig K50 without a pod also allows you to use it for hot water only. This versatile approach means you can also use it to rehydrate noodles, oats, soup, or other dried snack pot meals. So let’s have a look at the Keurig K50 coffee maker in a little more detail.
Keurig K50 Coffee Maker: Drinks Options
One of the major attractions of buying a Keurig machine is the sheer range of drinks available. The range includes many authentic tasting flavors from high street coffee shops and global hot beverage brands.
The range isn’t limited only to coffee either: with the Keurig K50, you can also brew tea, hot cocoa or chocolate, and, increasingly, specialty drinks. You can even make iced beverages – have your ice ready in a separate container, brew your drink as normal, then simply pour the liquid over the ice.
You get three standard choices of brew size with the K50 Keurig: 6 ounces, 8 ounces, and 10 ounces, with 6 ounces providing the strongest drink. For larger cup sizes, say 16 ounces, you can brew one batch at 6 ounces and one at 10 ounces, making sure you use the appropriate number of capsules to suit your taste.
Most of the pods you can buy are relatively mild, so if you’re keener on the stronger blends you’ll need to buy the more intense blends, use the smaller mug option, or both.
The coffee is generally at a decent temperature, around 192 to 193 degrees Fahrenheit, which is what Keurig regards as the optimum temperature. There is some good-natured debate about precisely what the best temperature for brewing coffee. This model is compatible with any K-cup and can whip up a brew in under a minute.
Design, Care And Maintenance Of The Keurig K50
This is one of the simpler machines in the range; there are no programming options, and the machine itself has a no-fuss black plastic section where the pods go, and an obvious location to show you where to put your cup. The dimensions of the Keurig K50 are 9.8 by 13 by 13.3 inches, and it weighs 7.6 pounds. This increases to around 12.25 pounds when you factor in shipping.
The Keurig K50 comes with a 48-ounce water reservoir. It’s removable to allow for easy cleaning and refilling, and there are indicator lights to help you keep a check on when it needs to be refilled. As with most of Keurig’s machines, and indeed, most coffee machines of this type, it is necessary to descale regularly to keep the coffee maker operating well and ensure your coffee stays great tasting. That’s especially true if you live in a hard water area.
What Else Do You Need To Know About The Keurig K50?
There is an auto-off option, which can be programmed. The removable drip tray means a shorter travel mug can easily be accommodated, and the tray slips out easily.
This machine is far from silent, but it is relatively quiet, for a coffee maker. This machine does require one lithium-ion battery.
Pros And Cons Of The Keurig K50
As with any coffee machine, there are good aspects and not-so-good aspects of the Keurig K50. There is no absolutely perfect coffee maker out there, and so much depends on your own situation and personal tastes.
Well, we’ve given the matter some thought, and the pros and cons of the machine are listed below. We hope they’ll help you make your mind up.
✔ Extremely easy to use
✔ Decent sized reservoir for a one or two-person household or small office
✔ It’s very compact
✔ Very low-maintenance when it comes to cleaning and care
✔ It looks very modern
✗ Even without the drip tray, it doesn’t take tall travel mugs
✗ You can’t change the brewing temperature
✗ For strong, specialty or iced beverages, you’ll need to adapt your brewing technique
Of the Keurig K50 reviews, 80% of those owning this model were pleased, with almost 70% being very pleased. Around 12% of owners expressed disappointment, although in many cases their ratings were related to the fact the Keurig K50 quite different from older machines they had owned. Overall, there are around four times as many positive reviews out there for this machine as there are negatives.
Alternatives To The Keurig K50
The Keurig Hot K50 is a very smart, compact machine, but what if it isn’t quite what you’re looking for? You know it’s still a Keurig that you’d like to add to your kitchen counter, but you just want to take a couple of others into consideration first, before making your final choice.
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The Keurig K55 machine is a little more expensive than the Kuerig K50. It generally ships with 4 K-Cup pods to get you started, a water filter handle, and two spare water filters. Like the Keurig 50, you have a choice of 6, 8, or 10 ounces as the standard brew sizes, and there is a 48-ounce removable reservoir.
One of the main differences is that this machine has an auto-off feature; this coffee maker turns itself off if it’s been idle for two hours. It weighs in the region of 12 pounds, and size-wise, you will need to make sure you have 9.8 by 3 by 13.3 inches available. You need a few more inches of clearance above the 13.3 inches when you’re changing the pods.
We already compared this machine with the Keurig K250, the K45, the K50 and the Keurig K-Select and have to say this model is definitely worth the money.
Keurig 2.0 K200
- 9 brew sizes (including carafe sizes)
- 40 oz. Water Reservoir
- Strength Control
- Black and White Touch Display
- Compact Size
The Keurig K200 is another alternative to the Keurig Classic K50 that you might want to consider. The price point of this machine is typically a little more expensive than the Keurig K-classic K50, and a little lower in price than the K55. With this machine, you can choose the strength of your drink, although not the temperature. There is a black and white touch display to guide you through your options.
It has a rather smaller water reservoir, which is removable to allow for easy filling and cleaning, and you have a choice of 9 brew sizes with this machine, including the carafe options. You do need to buy the carafe separately. The maximum height of travel mug you can use with this machine is around 5.5 inches.
The dimensions of this model are 15 by 9 by 13.7 inches: as with most of the Keurig coffee makers with this type of design, when the lid is open you need 17.6 inches of clearance to remove, insert or change pods. The device weighs 7.5 pounds or around 11.75 pounds with shipping. This model does not usually ship with pods and there is no auto shut-off. You will require 2 AAA batteries for this machine.
The machine performed well during our testing. It often outperformed the competing Keurig machines (the K50 model, the K425 and the K250).
If you would like to see all Keurig alternatives and the best picks of 2023, you can check our detailed guide with a comparison of all Keurig machines below.
Conclusion And Our Rating
In general, users are very loyal to Keurig once they’ve tried out a model or two. You get a great choice of drinks, the machines are ultra-convenient, and if you choose a model like the Keurig K50, you need hardly any space at all to snuggle one into your kitchen.
For that, and many other reasons, the Keurig K 50 gets a 4.5-star rating from us. So with that in mind, it must be time for a brew or two!
Keurig® K50 Coffee Maker
- Brews coffee, tea, hot cocoa, specialty, and Iced beverages
- Brews 6 oz. , 8 oz. , and 10 oz. Sizes
- Always ready and brews in under a minute
- Removable 48 oz. Water reservoir | indicator lights
- Programmable auto off feature | removable drip tray
Hi my name is Larry, a coffee aficionado from the US. I have already visited Colombia, Sumatra, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Jamaica in my pursuit of finding the best-tasting coffee beans. I currently write from Bali and enjoy the relaxed life that you can only find in Canggu. Welcome to my coffee world!
Last update on 2023-03-26 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API.