Keurig K575 Review

Reviewed by Jennifer
Rating: 4.1 Stars

Looking to find out more about one of the most “high end” Keurigs on the market? Here it is again, a machine that can do it all, and then some; in full detail I’ll tell all about what the Keurig 2.0 K575 brewer can do in this review and any caveats (yes there are a few) to watch out for before you buy.

In a nutshell, it’s a little more advanced version of the Keurig K475 discussed previously. A bigger touchscreen window, a snazzy looking nightlight, and a 12 oz setting are just some of the “extras” included.

UPDATE (7/7/21) Apologies but this model is no longer available. I know, that’s a bummer! Just so you won’t leave empty handed…I encourage you to take a look at the K550 model  instead which has many of the same great features..

Dimensions

The Amazon sales page lists the Keurig K575 as 10.4″ by 13.6″ by 13.4″ and 13.7 pounds, while the manufacturer site lists the measurements almost toe to toe, just a little more precise at 10.43″ L by 13.63″ W by 14.45″ H.

If the drip tray is removed, the clearance between the dispensing spout area and the open space (as this particular brewer does not have a drip tray base) is 7.25″, which, presumably will accommodate the height of travel mugs up to 16 oz; as mug and carafe adaptability is one of the 2.0’s main distinguishing features.

Creative Commons Photo Attribution: Image courtesy of Mike Mozart

Features

• Brews K-Cups, K-Mug and K-Carafe sizes easily
• 80 oz water reservoir
• Brewer Maintenance Accessory for periodic needle cleaning
• Programmable features including a large multitude of brew sizes
• 5 temperature settings
• Energy saver mode
• High Altitude Setting
• English, Spanish and French language settings
• Auto-Brew for the K-Carafe option
• Hot Water on Demand setting
• 2.8″ large color touchscreen operation
• Nightlight with four different colors

The Keurig K575 only comes in the silver-look gunmetal color with chrome accents; – it does not have additional color options.

What’s Included?

In addition to the unit, there is the addition of a K-Cup sampler pack, the 2.0 water filter kit, start guide, a Brewer Maintenance Accessory (more on that in a little bit) and a 1 year warranty

There was some confusion with regard to whether or not the black carafe was included, as the description does not mention it (there was an image included of a more upgraded thermal carafe, which is sold separately. ) Sorry to report that the carafe is not part of the deal.

Keurig K575 Reservoir

The Keurig K575 has a generous 80 oz reservoir which will last through many brewings before refilling. You can remove it entirely to refill it as needed, but better yet you can open the lid which is hinged for flawless replenishing. It has a min and max fill line indicating the place to begin and end for carafe brewing accuracy.

Lastly is a designated area with which the water filter is inserted. The water filter seems easy to insert and set for the correct change periods as well as switch out the cartridges when necessary. You also have the option of setting the Water Filter Reminder to “enable” on the touchscreen menu if you’re ever had trouble remembering when you changed them.

Love That Color-Changing Nightlight…

In addition the reservoir has an LED nightlight feature with four different colors you can select and set: white, red, blue and green. Through the touchscreen options you can also choose when to turn the nightlight on and off (assuming you have set the clock beforehand.)

Superficiality aside, what’s not to love about an appliance nightlight; especially on those occasions when you need to find your way to the kitchen in the dark, or just for fun you could set it to red or green for Christmas, Valentine’s Day or St. Patricks, if you’ve got kids, they are sure to get a kick out of that 😊

Drip Tray

It’s marquis-shaped and pulls out completely to accommodate the black carafe, no “base” here. Personally, I wish it had a drip tray base like the others have – although I suspect it’s designed this way purposely to accommodate the carafe it has the appearance of an empty space; but that’s just me.

The carafe has to be positioned correctly, apparently there is a magnet along the base to keep the carafe in place. The handle of it should be facing you and the drip tray has to be removed altogether.

Touchscreen and Button Controls

If you’ve been reading up on 2.0’s for awhile you know I’m going to tell you that the touchscreen window has got the lion’s share of power – underneath it is the brew button which finalizes your choices before the machine goes to town.

The touchscreen window puts just about everything in your hands: the time, when the brewer comes on and goes off, brew temp, brew size, option for a stronger brew with a pulse setting, even simple personal touches like changing the wallpaper color or pattern.

 

I know, there’s things you may never need or maybe only need on occasion.

Programming Options

The gamut of things you can change through the touchscreen include the temperature, which is set to a default factory setting of 192 degrees but can go up to a max temp of 197. Although the number itself is not specified -you have readouts of “Low” “Medium Low” “Medium””Med High” and ‘High” .

You can set the clock for the correct time which will enable you to choose if/when to turn the brewer on and off and send it into “energy saver” mode, and whilst action is happening there will be periodic statuses shown like “heating” “ready” and finally “enjoy”.(yep, it’s got good manners 🙂

So in a nutshell, you use the arrows to move through the different selectors. Don’t forget to hit “save” after you’ve made your choice, or changed anything, to finalize the option.What I like is the fact that the “hot water on demand” setting will let you choose your preferred brew size and you don’t have to hold the button down while it dispenses; just punching it once is enough..

This will come in handy on those days when you’re trying to get a bowl of oatmeal or instant soup going when you know the amount of water needed. The clock setting is great too; it can be set to analog or digital (and digital can be set to military time too) – this is important because you need to set the time first before attempting to set the Auto-On, Auto-Off, Auto-Brew, and Energy Saving modes.

   

As long as we’re on the topic of the Energy Saving mode, one thing you’ll agree with me for sure is  …being able to set this baby to go off down to an amount in seconds-wow, how cool is that …instead of a usual preset period of thirty minutes? So if you love the idea of saving energy you’re gonna love that little feature.If you are the tech-savvy type, you may find that you can move through the touchscreen controls like silk on glass. But as I’ve discovered, even those who are not don’t find the basic operations difficult

One thing I want to point out is you may need to have a hand in keeping the brewing chamber clean and mess-free is by pushing down on each K-cup you insert into the chamber

If you make a habit of doing this, you’ll keep the pressure from building up inside the kcup and making the piercing needle less likely to be gunked with grounds. Which leads me to the next thing…

Brewer Maintenance Accessory

This item is another unique bonus that you’ll receive that other models don’t: a brewer chamber cleaner. It looks like a certain piece of toilet tank apparatus appearance-wise….(don’t laugh) but what it does is help clean the Kcup chamber piercing needle periodically.

How it works, is it’s to be filled with water (hence the remark I made earlier) and placed inside the brew chamber and depressed 5 times to expel any errant grounds.

It is being described as easier than using a bent paper clip, which, I understand, not everybody likes fumbling with. It’s recommended that you use this cute little orange dealie pretty regularly, in addition to what I said earlier about pushing on the new Kcups a little.

Keurig K575 Compatible Accessories

With the exception of the water filter, the following items are sold separately and can help enhance your K575 experience:

• Keurig 2.0 My K-Cup
• MaxBrew 24K Gold Refillable K-Cup for Keurig 2.0 brewers
• Keurig 2.0 Water Filter
• Stainless Steel Thermal Carafe
• Keurig K-Carafe pods (for making full pots of coffee)

Update: There used to also be as special type of pod made for the proprietary tumbler known as the “K-Mug” pods which would produce a 14-oz brew. Also the larger K-Carafe pods used for the full pot. Both the K-Mug and the carafe pods have been discontinued.

Is The Keurig K575 Discontinued?

Sorry to have to give the bad news about three-fourths of the way down. Well, actually, I think I mentioned something a little earlier at the start, just to save you a little trouble. This came at me by surprise, too…I’ll admit I was a little late to the party (OK, make that pretty late!) and found out that this model stopped being produced via a sub-Reddit I came across earlier. Someone was trying to get his/her K575 unit replaced or repaired and was concerned about the outcome.

But, yes, it looks as though this is the case. As far as why, it looks like there is no reason given, although I suspect it has something to do with the K-Mug and K-Carafe pods being phased out. Well, that makes sense, I mean, if the necessary products are cost-prohibitive or hard to find, it only serves that the model will follow suit.

Pros

• Pod versatility with K-Cups, Vue pods, K-Mugs and K-Carafes
• Accommodates travel mugs as well as a full carafe
• Customizable touchscreen menu
• Easy to fill hinged lid reservoir
• Nightlight feature with 4 changeable light colors
• Multiple programming options
• Hot Water on Demand feature lets you pick the desired amount and push the button once
• Can adjust the temperature between 192 and 197 degree settings

Cons

• K-Cup proprietary restrictions (however can be overcome)
• Can only use the Auto-Brew function with the K-Carafe option
• A few noise reports
• Larger size pod options like the K-Mug and K-Carafe can be cost-prohibitive
• You may have to be more on top of needle cleaning and refilling

Keurig K575 Reviews and Ratings

What I get a lot of the time when I dig deeper, is that people either seem to love or hate this thing. ..not as much in-between. The positive reviews followed a pattern of enjoyment with the different options, some people loved the nightlight feature, the reservoir size is great and doesn’t need a lot of refilling, and the fact that one can use a 12 oz setting which if they had owned a Keurig previously (to provide a comparison point) Another thing that was enjoyed is the ability to set the Hot Water on Demand amount to your liking and not having to hold on to that button until it fills up the product in question.

There is as always the usually nitpicky remarks about the DRM issue…It is what it is, fair or not. I believe that people who have an understanding of this beforehand have a much better attitude about it…it’s the consumers who didn’t know and felt like the rug was pulled out from under them when they attempted use with their stockpiled K-cups.

A few consumers who reported problems (which resulted in them leaving negative ratings) that resulted from the use of distilled and softened water – these are two no-nos, which cause brewing problems simply because the touchscreen algorithms are stalled in the event of either.

Without going into a ‘scienc-y” explanation; a lack of mineral content in water can cause faulty readouts on the brewer touchscreen. Never use distilled or softened water with the 2.0!

Price

The unit, in and of itself, I think, is priced reasonably – considering that you are getting the bonuses of a larger reservoir (yes and the pretty light) and a gazillion options to choose from regardless of what you’re making. What may not come across as so budget-friendly is the exotic shaped pods unless you’re only planning to use them every now and then.

What I overheard a few consumers commenting on is wishing that there was a refillable option for the larger pods as they felt it would be cheaper long-run…I agreed. The most cost-effective option will be a one-time purchase of the refillable My-K-Cup 2.0 version.

The stainless steel carafe that is sold as an optional accessory; does cost a little more than the basic black one of the same size, but I think the quality is better; being thermally insulated it is less likely to burn your hands and will keep your standby coffee hot longer.

There appear to be a number of price options to choose from and a bundle package that included the thermal carafe, and when I added up the unit and carafe price as they are separately on my own – it passed the “good deal” smell test. Also at the time of writing Amazon beat Walmart’s price by about $15

UPDATE; As the Keurig K575 is no longer being produced, what I say here about pricing will no longer apply. At the time of writing and this update (7/7/21) Amazon is no longer carrying it, and Wal-Mart isn’t either. That pretty much leaves eBay….that’s one place you can get a good deal on an older model that is less relevant now.

I’d encourage you to check out its predecessor, the Keurig K550 – as it’s very similar, if you can get past the initial sticker shock so you won’t shoot the messenger… or better yet, have a look at the K-Elite, which is the newest upgrade (without all the DRM bells and whistles,  so that’s a plus!)

Summary

All in all, it’s a Keurig 2.0 that does everything; some of which you may or may not need at a given moment. The Keurig K575 would be a great choice for you if:

You don’t like to have limitations on various hot beverages-seeing variety as the “spice of life”

The proprietary K-Cup restrictions; or the tricks to overcome them, will not be a deal-breaker for you,

You are seeking a machine that does it all; especially if you have a busy schedule that includes not just making coffee for yourself, but entertaining guests as well

Now will you find a need for all of the options? You’ll have them all at your fingertips whether you need them or not. That will be for you to decide.