Single-serve coffee makers are the best thing you can have when you just want a delicious cup of coffee straight away, without any hassle.
While you might hear that you shouldn’t get them since they’re all low quality and taste the same, you’ll find that such talk is far from the truth.
You won’t find two that are exactly the same, and you won’t find two brands that are more different than Keurig and Ninja.
You’ve probably heard of the first, but the second might still be unknown to you.
Today, you’re going to find out about them and how their top products compare to each other their performance, pricing, unique features, flaws, and more, so stay tuned.
Ninja Coffee Maker, Programmable Auto-IQ, Milk Frother
This machine is a great example of what Ninja products are all about versatility and a wide range of options.
The best thing about it is the ability to use any coffee grinds. You also get a lot of different brewing options, allowing you to make the exact coffee you want. You can even control the temperature and set it to your liking.
Besides coffee, it can also make other beverages and does it quite well.
There are a lot of different size options, but they are a bit limited. The water tank on the unit is also on a smaller size.
You get tons of accessories with it, though, including a frother, an insulated tumbler, a permanent filter along with some paper filters, and more.
However, compared to most coffee makers, it takes its time up to 3 minutes. You can program it to make coffee in advance if you want to get around that.
Keurig K575 Single-Serve Programmable Coffee Maker
Overall, this is what you would expect from a Keurig machine which is not a bad thing
Its main upside is the ability to quickly brew a hot cup of coffee and can do that in under a minute. You might have to wait a bit longer if you choose the strong brew option.
There’s a ton of different size options, and the water tank is large enough to accommodate them. You can brew up to 30 oz at once if you’re using the K-carafe pods.
That’s a thing you’re going to have to deal with though you can only use pods to make coffee. If you want to use your favorite brew, you probably won’t be able to.
Making other beverages with it is also a bit difficult it dispenses hot water, though. No matter what you do the water won’t be scalding hot, which some people prefer.
It is also noisy while working, so you might have trouble using it if someone is asleep.
Overall, it’s a quick and efficient machine but a bit limited and with a few quirks.
The Manufacturers
First, a little bit about the manufacturers.
The Keurig
Keurig is a company you’re probably already familiar with. They specialize in making single-serve coffee makers and have over 50 models in their catalog.
Their machines are known for reliability, simplicity, and speed. Anyone can use them and get a tasty cup of coffee in no time at all.
However, their simplicity might be their main flaw most models only brew one or two types of coffee. You’re also reliant on the K-pods, which limits your choices.
The Ninja
Ninja is a different beast altogether. They have been making coffee machines for about two decades and are not as well-known as Keurig, but they have a lot of dedicated customers for a reason.
The main pull of their coffee machines is the amazing versatility. Most of them can make at least 4 types of coffee, and have lots of settings, allowing you to make a unique cup of coffee.
They also give you the choice of picking your own coffee mix, and they can make things other than coffee.
Most people’s main problem with them, however, is that they’re not as straightforward as other coffee makers. It takes time to get used to their machines and all the different options before you can get the coffee you want.
Ninja Coffee Bar vs Keurig K575 – The Complete Comparison
Next up, here’s a detailed comparison of the two products.
The Size
As far as the size of the two units goes, they’re quite similar. The Keurig unit is around 3 inches higher, while the Ninja machine is around 1.5 inches deeper.
So, there’s a bit of a difference but nothing significant. Both should be able to fit into a most kitchen or office spaces quite comfortably.
Water Tanks
The real difference shows in the capacity of the water tanks 80 ounces for the Keurig coffee maker and only 43 for the Ninja one.
That’s almost double the size in favor of Keurig and if you’re looking to use the machine often, that’s a major bonus.
Ninja Auto-IQ vs. Keurig 2.0
The Ninja Auto-IQ Technology is touted as one of the landmark features of the system, and it’s easy to see why.
It’s a system designed to always draw the exact amount of water needed from the tank, thus wasting nothing. It takes into account the size and brew type options that you chose as well as the number of coffee grinds used.
However, Keurig has its own version, the Keurig 2.0 Scanning Technology. To start with, it scans the pod, making sure that it’s an original Keurig pod, then offers you different brew sizes based on the type of pod.
Overall, the Ninja system works better, since it offers you more choice, while the Keurig system limits you a bit.
Pods vs. No Pods
One of the large differences between the two systems is the type of coffee they use. Keurig uses their well known K-pods while the Ninja system allows you to use almost any type of coffee grinds that you want.
It’s mostly a question of reliability vs. more choice. Keurig machines offer you the same experience each time you use a specific type of pod (and they have over a hundred types available), while the Ninja machines allow you to make the exact blend you want, but at the risk of messing everything up.
We’d say that going with no pods is the right thing to do while you may mess up sometimes, you will probably get a taste closer to the one you want. If you’re not in the mood to experiment, though, then choose a pod-based system.
Speed
Even on its fastest day, the Ninja machine will take more than a minute to brew a cup of coffee.
If you need to fiddle with the settings beforehand, it might take much more than that.
On the other hand, the simpler Keurig machine can almost always deliver a cup of coffee in under a minute.
Brewing and Size Options
When it comes to brewing options, the Ninja machine has more of them, and they’re far more versatile.
With the Keurig, you can only make regular and strong coffee.
On the other hand, the Keurig has more size options than the Ninja machine and can brew far larger sizes overall, though that’s dependant on the type of k-cups that you’re using.
Versatility
The Ninja machine wins out. It can brew lots of other beverages and do it much better than the Keurig machine. It has heat options, some great extras, and more.
They also allow you to brew coffee using any type of grinds, which is a huge plus compared to the Keurig, which is limited to what they offer in their K-pods.
The Bottom Line
After all of that, you probably want to know which one is better, right?
Well, as far as single-serve coffee makers go, their main purpose is to make decent coffee and to make it fast and in large quantities. In that regard, the Keurig machine is clearly better.
However, if you want more options, the Ninja machine is the way to go. For us, Keurig is the superior choice though, and the clear winner.
Leave a Reply