Keurig K Compact Review: Our Expert Reviews of this Keurig Machine

Do you honestly need to wait in line to spend precious dollars on a single cup of coffee every day? Sure, barista-made coffee is pretty good but wouldn’t you rather get an extra 20 minutes of sleep than waste it in a coffee shop? That’s why we’re exploring a solution to your problem by putting forward this Keurig K Compact review.

What does our Keurig K-Compact review have to do with your wasted mornings? Only everything. We’re checking out the Keurig K-Compact coffee maker as an alternative way to get your coffee faster without having to leave your home or wait in line. It’s a mini machine which you can fit on your counter and use at your convenience. 

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The Keurig Brand: Coffee Maker Powerhouse

Keurig has been making coffee makers for over three decades now. They were one of the earliest inventors of home coffee machines. Keurig has always tried to make the coffee brewing process easier for the common man.

The K-cups we all enjoy today also stemmed from the company. They were the first to take action by designing packaged, flavored coffee cups. After their patent’s expiry in 2011, other coffee brands jumped on board and started making K-cups. Two widely known examples are Nestle and Starbucks.

The K-Compact is the company’s attempt to build a coffee maker for people that don’t have a lot of counter space. This machine isn’t the first time at this rodeo. The company tried to offer a solution with their K Mini models, but they came with many user complaints. Thankfully, the company has been able to review some of these issues via the K-Compact coffee maker.

Keurig K Compact Review

We’ve done all the dirty research and gathered all the information you’ll need. From the features, design, performance, to ease of use, and value for money, we’ll provide the important details. If you’re in a hurry and just want to get our recommendation, then you can be sure that we do recommend the K-Compact. But you can also make up your mind after reading this Keurig K-Compact review. 

Before we get into it, let’s take a look at what you can expect from the Keurig K-Compact.

✔️ Design is space-saving

✔️ Has a 36oz water reservoir

✔️ Extremely easy to use

✔️ Works with over 260 K-cups of different brands

✔️ Available options include tea and hot chocolate

✔️ Lots of color choices available

✔️ Can fit large or small cups and even a travel mug

✔️ Quick brew in just over a minute

✔️ Affordable

✔️ Comes with a one-year warranty

🚫 Can be noisy

🚫 Cannot make strong or iced coffee

🚫 Maximum cup size of 10oz

🚫 Reservoir doesn’t hold much water and isn’t in a convenient area

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Features 4/5 ⭐

The manufacturers kept it pretty simple with the K-compact coffee maker so there aren’t many prominent features. It does have a 36 oz removable water reservoir which is just enough to make about three to four cups of coffee before you need to refill it. 

The water tank is at the back of the machine. If you don’t have a lot of space, it may have to stretch a bit to get to it when it’s time to refill or descale.

Speaking of coffee cups, this Keurig coffee maker offers three serving cup sizes: 10 oz., 8 oz., and 6 oz. You can make your choice of cup size through three of its four buttons. The last button on the device is the Power button.

The K-Compact can accommodate cups smaller than 7 inches in height. If you intend to use something a little larger, you can remove the drip tray.

While doing research for this Keurig K-compact review, we came across perhaps its most important feature — the Auto-Off. The Auto-Off feature will automatically turn off the K-Compact after standing by for two hours. 

It’s one of our favorite features because it helps you save power. We all know how annoying it can be to come home to see someone left your coffeemaker on and it’s racking up electricity bills.

Although the K-Compact doesn’t have many features, what it does have is enough for the average coffee lover.

Design/Build Quality 4.5/5 ⭐

The Keurig K Compact has the word “compact” in its name, so you should be expecting a space-saving coffee maker. 

The K-Compact is a mini coffee maker with a length of 13.2 inches, a width of 8.2 inches, and a height of 12.5 inches. It’s pretty light, weighing only 8.78 pounds. 

However, when you lift the bale at the top of the device, it’s height does extend to 16.25 inches. The K-Compact has a pretty compact design but you can check to see if it’ll fit on your counter.

The Keurig K-Compact works with K-cups so it has a slot for one K-cup inside a bale at the top of the machine. The slot is beside the buttons that control how much coffee you’ll receive. It doesn’t need a filter since each K-cup comes with a filter.

The device is made out of hard plastic which some critique as looking cheap. Well, it’s cheap. However, the plastic material is also durable. The good news for coffee drinkers that need more than one cup to power through the day is that you can use it hundreds of times.

You can also get this machine in a color that’ll match the rest of your kitchen. Available colors are black, red, grey, white, and turquoise.

One of the things we love most about this coffee maker is its versatile design. Unlike the K-Mini models, the K-Compact is engineered to accept all kinds of pod coffee and not just K-cups. It can also use coffee pods from Cinnabon, Starbucks, Lipton, Dunkin’ Donuts, Twinings of London, Maxwell House, and more.

This works great because we all know how expensive coffee pods are. With the Keurig K-Compact, you’re spoiled for choice and can buy any k-cup flavor you like.

The Keurig K-Compact comes with a one-year warranty. If it breaks or malfunctions within that time, you can send it to the brand’s technicians for repairs or replacement.

Performance 3.5/5 ⭐

Both online and during our testing, the Keurig K-Compact got mixed reviews for performance. This isn’t all that surprising. For most single-serve coffee makers, the performance reviews are usually a mix of opinions.

On one side, we have coffee purists and aficionados who may not be satisfied with the taste. On the other side, we have regular coffee drinkers who only need a shot of caffeine for the day’s grind. 

The purists say the Keurig K-Compact’s coffee taste is weak and flat compared to others. They say it lacks the rich flavor of coffee.

And while they may be right, not everyone is willing to wait tens of minutes for a cup of gourmet coffee to go through numerous filters. As we said before, most people just want a cup of Joe to wake them up in the morning and keep them awake throughout their day. 

Richly flavored Coffee is a great perk, but for most people, gourmet coffee is a treat, not an everyday drink.

Plus, there’s the fact that the K-Compact coffee maker only uses one method of brewing — through a K-cup. There’s no way it’s going to shoot out professionally made coffee. The design team built the device for convenience and speed.

The only reason the performance score is so low is that it takes about four minutes for the K-Compact to warm up before you can start brewing. After that though, you can use it to make cup after cup of coffee without a break or until the tank is dry.

Ease of Use 5/5 ⭐

After repeated complaints about the touchscreen interface on some of their coffee makers, the manufacturers have gone basic. Basic here means normal button controls like the ones on the Keurig K-Compact.

There are only four basic buttons on the Keurig K-compact and three of them are present to determine what serving size you want.

A normal morning with the Keurig K-Compact may look like this:

• Take out the tank and fill it up.
• Put it back in K-Compact and turn on the machine.
• Wait four minutes for it to warm up.
• Open the bale, put your coffee pod in, close the bale.
• Place your cup under the drip
• Choose which size of drink you want and start brewing
• Take your freshly made coffee

That’s about it. The brewing process takes five, six minutes max. When your reservoir is low on water, you’ll see a warning light. There’s also a line drawn around the reservoir to tell you where the water level should reach.

The easy setup means cleaning your K-Compact is a straightforward process. All the parts are detachable. To give the coffee maker a quick clean, all you have to do is detach the drip tray, pod holder, and water tank.

Using a damp cloth, give the outer plastic material a good rubdown. You can also use a little soap if you think it’s necessary (just a little, though). 

Regularly cleaning your K-Compact will help the plastic last longer and ensure your coffee doesn’t change taste. Give your device a good cleaning at least once a week.

Alongside a regular rubdown, descale the water reservoir every three to six months. You can use a regular descaling solution but Keurig has its own recommended descaling solution. If you use tap water for your coffee, descale your water tank every month or so.

Value for Money 4.5/5 ⭐

Yes, we do think this baby is worth its price. It’s not the most expensive brewer out there nor is it the cheapest, it’s about mid-range. 

But because the Keurig K-Compact can accept any coffee pod, is easy to use and has a removable water reservoir, we think it’s well worth the price. Plus, you can save money and buy cheaper coffee pods or even purchase a refillable filter pod with your special blend.

The Keurig K-Compact comes with everything you need in a single-serve coffee maker. With proper maintenance, this brewer can last up to two years. There’s also a warranty on it that lasts one year in case the plastic parts break.

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Work-Arounds for the K Compact

While working on the Keurig K-Compact review, we discovered other ways to maximize the device:

Get Hot Water Without a Kettle

You can use your Keurig K-Compact to boil water without making coffee. It’s a great hack for when you need some hot water but don’t have any due to certain reasons. 

All you have to do is fill your tank as usual, place it in the machine, and click on any drink size. Four minutes later, you’ll have steaming hot water. 

Make Your Mix

If you have a peculiar taste and love to try new things, you can combine coffee pods. That is, you can take ground coffee from two differently flavored pods and mix them. 

The mixing will take place in a reusable coffee pod with a reusable filter. Since the K-compact is versatile, it’ll work with reusable coffee pods containing your unique mix. 

Don’t Buy a Keurig K Compact If…

Here are a few reasons why this coffee device may not be right for you: 

You’re a Coffee Snob

If you find yourself turning up your nose at any coffee that isn’t a gourmet brew, then this Keurig machine isn’t for you. The K-Compact doesn’t make fancy brews but it does make coffee for the everyday consumer 

The busy mom, the rushing student, the stressed executive, the late-night worker, the hard working housewife, and more all fall into the everyday consumer category. If you like to control every step of the coffee preparation process, this coffee maker may not be for you.

You Prefer a Strong Brew or Programmable Settings

If you like really strong brews, then the Keurig K-Compact may not be right for you. Since it can only make coffee one way, there isn’t a way to create a stronger type of coffee.

Cleaning Your Reservoir

To descale your reservoir you’ll need a cleaning cloth, a mug, a pitcher, and the Keurig descaling solution. Now, for the actual process:

• Thoroughly, clean your K-Compact with a damp cloth and detach all parts including the pod holder.
• Fill the reservoir with half Keurig descaling solution and half water. If you don’t have the Keurig Descaling Solution, you can substitute it with vinegar.
• Put a big mug on the drip tray, then turn on the brewer. Select the largest of the serving cup sizes (10 oz). When the machine is done brewing, throw the water in the mug away
• Repeat the last step until the warning light comes on.
• Then turn off the Keurig, let it cool for a bit, and then throw away the leftover water and descaling solution.
• Refill the reservoir and brew once again to get the smell of the descaling solution or vinegar out. You can do this as many as 12 times to ensure a clean reservoir.

Final Verdict

After reading this Keurig K-Compact review, you’d agree with us that this device is a good coffee maker, for its price. Although the controls are simple, they’re extremely easy to use. The water reservoir is an addition that makes it better compared to several alternatives including the K Mini models. 

Need an inexpensive coffee machine with a reservoir and simple controls? Then, the Keurig K-Compact is perfect for you. Check it out today!

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