The amount of coffee makers for home use has more than tripled over the last decade. Everyone is out to make good coffee at home and companies have been quite competitive about it, with new and improved versions coming out almost as frequently as Samsung phones.
The boost in better available equipment has given rise to a new movement of good coffee at home. We are no longer content by having a coffee maker at home, or a convenient coffee maker at home, as it’s no longer just about convenience. We want a good coffee maker that makes coffee that is at least as good as the coffee we drink at the coffee shop.
To make your life a little bit easier, we set out to find some of the best coffee makers available for under $200. The following is a list detailing what we like about each of these machines and why they might be the right choice for you.
Best Coffee Makers under $200
1. Keurig K-Elite Coffee Maker
Easily one of the better choices among single-serve coffee makers, regardless of price range. The K-Elite has a great look, using black and gray to look sophisticated and modern. It’s easy to use, just like any other Keurig, and makes great coffee.
It works for 5 different cup sizes (up to 10oz.) and, most importantly, it makes iced coffee! The K-Elite has an ICED coffee function. You only need to fill a tall glass with ice and press the ICED button; it will brew hot coffee over the ice. What changes is the strength and volume of the brew, making it ideal for iced coffee.
2. OXO 8710100 Coffee Maker
Dear fans of classic drip coffee machines, this one’s for you!
This OXO drip coffee machine brings us the new and improved way to make drip coffee. With just a few tweaks, this drip coffee machine makes a coffee so good that it’s been recognized by the Specialty Coffee Association.
With an incredibly precise temperature controller, the OXO BREW delivers water at the perfect temperature through an elaborate showerhead which serves to distribute water evenly among the coffee. This helps achieve consistently great results – with little to no effort on your part!
3. Hamilton Beach 49976 Drip Coffee Maker
Actually two coffee makers in one, the FlexBrew lets you enjoy the best of both worlds. On the left side, we find a good old-fashioned drip coffee maker. On the right side, the classic single-serve coffee maker which is suitable for any sort of capsule coffee.
The best part? Each of them has their own water tank! Meaning, this coffee maker has two water tanks. One for drip coffee, one for capsule coffee. Easily the best feature we’ve ever seen on a coffee maker at this price range – almost too good to be true.
While we might find some fault in this coffee maker spreading itself too thin and therefore not being able to make a great cup of coffee in either of its brewing methods, we actually love the fact that we can make a good cup of coffee. Whether drip or capsule, this coffee maker gives you a good cup of whatever coffee you feel like.
4. Ninja Coffee CF09 Coffee Maker System
The very definition of a well-rounded coffee machine. There’s a lot to take in here. First, notice the part on the left: that is an incorporated high-power frother. You can make your own frothed milk on the spot with this super convenient frother. No steam needed!
Now, let’s look at the button panel. A dial helps you select the amount of coffee needed, depending on the receptacle of choice. These are cup, mug, travel cup, multi-serve, half carafe and full carafe.
Then, we have five different coffees (buttons) to choose from: classic, rich, an iced coffee option called “over ice”, and the two more special choices – specialty and café forte.
So rarely we see a drip coffee machine with so many different coffee options to choose from. This baby should be able to satisfy even the pickiest coffee drinkers!
5. Cuisinart DGB-625BC Coffee Brewer Machine
Finally, we have the foolproof option. Besides being the most inexpensive coffee maker on this list, it is also the simplest and, therefore, the easiest choice of them all.
Full of convenient functions like a fully programmable shut-off function or the Brew Pause function which lets you enjoy a cup of coffee early and then resume brewing a full carafe.
Buyer’s Guide
Don’t know which one you want? Don’t sweat it. This guide will help you be aware of which aspects of a coffee maker you should pay attention to when shopping for one.
Convenience
There’s convenience on both sides of the spectrum. The first coffee maker on our list has no notable features and it’s precisely because of this that it is convenient; simple and hassle-free. At the other side we have the Ninja coffee maker. It is the most complex on the list and yet it is convenient because it is packed with features like a further, and many coffee options to choose from.
The choice here is simply to identify which spectrum we value the most and then pick a machine close to that side of the spectrum.
Type of Coffee
We’ll have a type of coffee that we favor over the rest of them. You can either have drip coffee or single serve coffee. If you are indecisive or you absolutely need to spice it up, then you probably shouldn’t go for a machine that lets you choose among different types of coffee.
Time
Do you want your coffee now, later, or sometime in the future?
Depending on the answer and on how urgent coffee is for you, you have to choose a machine that can deliver coffee in the amount of time that you’re willing to wait for it. Single serve machines deliver coffee almost instantly but sacrifice a little bit of quality, for example.
Size
Low-key, the most important aspect to take into account when shopping for a coffee machine. Coffee machines tend to be on the chunkier side, something that you would usually only find out after you bought them.
Having to move your machine every time you want to make coffee can make your mornings much harder. If you don’t have enough space for a big coffee machine, your best bet is to get a small one that won’t have any trouble fitting into your cramped or small kitchen.
