Keurig k350 vs k450 | Best choice for everyday coffee

By Barath
Last Updated:
Keurig K350 vs K450

K350 and K450 (Keurig 2.0 models) are discontinued and no longer available in the official store. You can opt for the latest K-duo (or) Nespresso Vertuo Next Deluxe that has comparable features (except touchscreen) and are priced much cheaper than K350 & K450.

If you are stuck between Keurig k350 vs k450, this guide should make it easy for you.

Both Keurig k350 and k450 have the base models k300 and k400 respectively, and include other accessories like variety k-cup pods and k-carafe bundled together making the k-*50 series.

With that said, the quick verdict is that the k450 is better than the k350 for two main reasons, better control panel settings and a larger water tank.

In 2023, I would not recommend buying either of these models mainly because the models are discontinued from the official stores.

However, if you are stuck between the two models, and get it for a price steal, they are beasts of a machine.

At a Glance

Keurig K350

Water Reservoir – 70Oz

Display – 2.4” black & white

Controls – Temp & Strength

Brew Sizes – 4-30Oz

Includes carbon water filter

Includes variety pack + K-Carafe

Keurig K450

Water Reservoir – 70Oz

Display – 2.4” Color

Controls – Temp & Strength

Brew Sizes – 4-30Oz

No carbon water filter

Includes variety pack + K-Carafe

Other common features: Removable drip tray, high altitude setting, brew selector for hot cocoa/other, comes with carafe and variety K-Cup and K-Carafe pack

Both of them lack Hot water mode, Iced coffee mode, and water tank light that you can find in keurig 550 and the recent K-elite models.

They are priced competitively under $200 but keurig k450 is at least $75 more in most of the online marketplaces. I couldn’t find a new model except Amazon and Walmart.

Importantly, for those who complain about the lack of K-cup varieties, you can buy the reusable 2.0 K-cup from keurig and use the fresh ground coffee of your choice. This is better than trying to hack the machine to allow non-Keurig K-cups.

Main complaints – Even though the K-carafe is supposed to work, there are no reusable pods/licensed carafe pods anymore. Therefore, you will never be able to use the K-carafe brew option unless you get overpriced carafe pods from somewhere!

Design

Both the models keurig k350 and k450 have 2 main features,

  • Pod-scanners that knock off/stop non-keurig pods
  • K-Carafe pods system for a maximum of 30oz (0.88 liters) coffee in 1 brew.

Apart from these commonalities, there are primarily a few differences in the overall design and the units that attach to the main module.

Keurig k350 comes with a water reservoir of 60oz (1.75 liters) tank while k450 comes with a 70oz(2.1 liters) water tank. The larger tank is beneficial for the K-carafe pods in particular, while it doesn’t make much impact on the usual K-cup pods

They are equipped with auto water temperature and strength control (decided by the rpm of the brewing unit), making it possible to brew different strength coffee by merely scanning the pods.

This is a new system, that was competitive with other brands during the launch, but since then has become common in other brands like Nespresso, and Delonghi giving even more control to brew your perfect coffee.

They accept a maximum of 16oz K-cup, but mind that it is very difficult to find the K-carafe pods anymore. They are discontinued by keurig and are currently overpriced on other online marketplaces.

Based purely on the design, you will find minimal differences between the two models in terms of accessories or the machine itself. But Keurig k450 edges slightly ahead because of the larger water tank for a larger brewing experience.

WINNER - K450

Touch Screen/Controls

Keurig K300 and K400 machine control panel with all brew options. Source: ManualsLib

Both models have the following common

  • A full touch LCD screen
  • Brewing controls are very similar, with auto-detection of brew type based on the pod (K-cup, K-Mug, K-Carafe)

The major difference is in the color of the LCD screen, the Keurig k350 comes with a black-and-white screen while the Keurig k450 comes with a color display. The color display is useful for troubleshooting purposes primarily.

The two models look identical except for the bigger reservoir/water tank. You will be unable to know the difference until you see the color of the LCD display.

K350 and K450 have the high altitude mode in common, which allows you to brew your coffee even above the altitude of 5,000 ft. You may need to pre-puncture the pod to make use of this mode. [3]

K450 has auto on/off and favorite settings that are not present in k350. This is useful for office users, where there are many using the same machine, and can be cumbersome to choose the correct setting every time.

Overall, minor differences in some settings like display, auto on/off, and remembering settings (favorites) puts the k450 ahead in terms of the controls.

WINNER - K450

Cost

After some snooping around, I found that the cost at the launch of the Keurig k350 (2014) was $149 while Keurig K450 (2016) was $169, including the variety pack and K-carafe. [1]

Since they are no longer available in the official stores, the prices are varying on the marketplace. The K450 is sometimes priced almost twice the K350 variant. Make sure to check the latest price before you make the purchase decision.

Compatible k-cups

At the time of writing this article, there are 10 different Keurig pods available. They are primarily based on the ounce of coffee extracted to your cup.

K-Cup: 4-10 oz (4 pods)

K-Mug: 10-16 oz (4 pods)

K-Carafe: 22-30 oz (2 pods)

Considering the K-Mug and K-Carafe pods are very difficult to come by, we are already limited to K-cup pods only.

k350 and K450 can reportedly work with 9 (or) pods, the largest K-carafe pod (30oz) does not work with K350. The K-carafes are discontinued and K-mugs are not available most of the time. So you will mostly use it with 4-10oz pods, which gives 4 pod brewing sizes only.

You could still use the Keurig 2.0 reusable pod and redo it with ground coffee and fill your carafe, but that is at least 3-4 brewing cycles before you can fill it completely.

WINNER - Both

Main Differences

The primary differences between the two models are the following

  • The water reservoir in K450 is 10oz larger than K350
  • The k450 has a color display while the k350 houses a black & white display
  • The k350 bundle includes a re-usable carbon filter, while k450 does not include this
  • k450 controls include Auto on/off, storing favorites, programmable clock but k350 does not include these settings

Overall Winner

Design – K450, only because of the larger water tank of 70oz

Touch Screen – K450, has an auto on/off, programmable clock, favorites, and a color display

Temperature control, Strength control – Both K350, and k450 have same features

Available Brewing sizes – 10 for both models (typically 4)

Cost per coffee – k350 (At least $50 cheaper than k450)

Best for home coffee brewers (3-20 cups per day) → K350, cheap and budget friendly
Best for small-crowd brewing (20+ cups per day) → K450 for the favorite settings

Read Also: Keurig 2.0 Touch screen not working easily fixed

References

[1] keurig k350 user manual

[2] keurig k450 user manual

Barath is a coffee lover, who has been brewing his coffee at home for several years. He talks about coffee tasting, brewing guides and much more in home coffee wizard. Follow barath on X (twitter) @diputsC