Keurig Supreme vs Supreme Plus vs Supreme Plus SMART

Quick answer: The Keurig Supreme Plus is the best deal of these three machines. 

This is my comparison of the Keurig Supreme vs Keurig Supreme Plus vs Keurig Supreme Plus SMART.

I’ve owned the Keurig K Supreme Plus for just over a year. I also spent half a day researching the differences between the Supreme Plus, Supreme, and Supreme Plus SMART to put together this comparison.

There’s typically around a $30 – $40 jump between each of these models, so I’m going to explain how Keurig has tried to justify these price differences and explain which Keurig model offers you the best deal.

Which is Best: Keurig Supreme, Keurig Supreme Plus, or Keurig Supreme Plus SMART (Quick Verdict)?

The Keurig K Supreme Plus is the best deal on these machines. 

It can make significantly better coffee than the Keurig K Supreme due to its additional strength and temperature settings. 

I can’t see people using the Supreme Plus SMART’s phone connectivity features that often. It, therefore, does not justify its price tag over the Supreme Plus.

What Do the Keurig K Supreme, Keurig K Supreme Plus, and Keurig K Supreme SMART Have in Common?

The three pod coffee makers have the following in common:

• They can all brew with standard and reusable K-cups.

• They all have an “over ice” button that allows them to brew iced coffee.

• They all have an easy-to-carry “pitcher-style” water reservoir.

• They all pierce K-cups with five needles in the top (Keurig calls this “multi-stream technology”).

Keurig loves trying to sell you on their most expensive models by talking about their use of “multi-stream technology”. If this is the main thing that you want your Keurig coffee maker to have then you are best off with the Keurig K Supreme.

You can find out more about these machines by reading my:

• Keurig K Supreme review
• Keurig K Supreme Plus review
• Keurig K Supreme Plus SMART review

What Are the Differences Between the Keurig Supreme and Keurig Supreme Plus?

The key differences between the Keurig K Supreme and the Keurig K Supreme Plus are:

Serving sizes

The Keurig Supreme Plus offers you four preset serving sizes from 4 oz to 12 oz. The Keurig Supreme offers you three preset serving sizes from 6 oz to 12 oz.

I really like the Keurig Supreme Plus’s addition of a four-ounce serving size. 

K-cups only hold enough coffee grounds to be brewed with 6 oz of water, so brewing with just 4 oz of water allows you to make an extra strong coffee, especially when you whack up the Supreme Plus’s strength and temperature settings to full.

Coffee brewed with K-cups tends to come out a bit weak and watery. The Keurig K Supreme Plus’s option of a coffee brewed with minimal water, therefore, allows it to make significantly better coffee than the Supreme.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus over the K Supreme: Yes

Strength Settings

The Keurig K Supreme Plus has one additional strength setting over the Keurig K Supreme.

The K Supreme Plus has three strength settings, whereas the K Supreme only has two strength settings.

Strength settings determine how long Keurig machines brew their coffee. The table below shows how long each coffee maker brews for on each of its strength settings:

Personally, I think that the highest strength setting on the Keurig K Supreme Plus is a bit of an overkill and that the K Supreme’s strong setting is adequate for brewing a good-tasting coffee.

My fancy Breville Precision Brewer only brews single servings of coffee for 70 seconds, and this is regarded as one of the best drip coffee makers that money can buy.

The jump from 70 seconds to 90 seconds of brewing time makes a much smaller difference in coffee quality than that between 45 seconds and 70 seconds. 

Once you get past the 70-second mark, other factors like ground coffee to water ratio and brewing temperature are the main determining factors in how your coffee tastes.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus over the K Supreme: No

Temperature Settings

The Keurig K Supreme Plus offers you three temperature settings, whereas the Keurig K Supreme only offers you one temperature setting.

While it’s hard to measure how these temperature settings affect your coffee’s brewing temperature, a problem with Keurig coffee makers generally is that they do not brew at a high enough temperature.

Brewing temperature is one of the biggest determinants of how well your ground coffee is extracted into your water. A coffee machine with higher brewing temperatures therefore will create a richer, fuller-bodied coffee.

Additional brewing temperatures, and the ability to brew at a higher temperature, are therefore a good addition to the Keurig K Supreme Plus.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus over the K Supreme: Yes

User Profiles

The Keurig K Supreme Plus allows you to save three coffee types to three user profiles. You can then access these coffee types at the touch of a button. The Keurig K Supreme does not have this feature.

Even though Keurig coffee makers have well-thought-out control panels that make it easy to customize coffees, I’m always in favor of features that reduce the number of button presses you need to make a coffee.

The addition of user profiles does improve the K Supreme Plus compared to the K Supreme, if only slightly.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus over the K Supreme: Yes

Size

The Keurig Supreme is one inch shorter and one and a half inches slimmer than the Supreme Plus.

This slimmer width does make the K Supreme a better single-serve coffee maker for those with limited countertop space than the K Supreme Plus.

The Supreme’s additional compactness vs the Supreme Plus is further compounded by the fact that you can swivel its water reservoir to the back or left side of the machine. This allows you to change the shape of the machine based on where you have space on your counter.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus over the K Supreme: No, the Keurig Supreme outperforms the Supreme Plus here.

Price

The Keurig Supreme Plus is around $40 more expensive than the Keurig Supreme.

This price difference will vary by retailer.

I think that the Keurig Supreme Plus justifies its additional cost compared to the Supreme. 

This is because Supreme Plus does make significantly better-tasting coffee than Supreme. 

A coffee machine’s most important feature is how well it brews coffee, so any improvements in this regard tend to justify a jump up in price.

Does the Keurig Supreme Plus justify its extra cost compared to the Keurig Supreme: Yes

Below is a table that shows the features and specifications of the Keurig K Supreme, Keurig K Supreme Plus, and Keurig K Supreme Plus SMART:

Should I Buy the Keurig Supreme or Keurig Supreme Plus?

I’d recommend the Keurig Supreme over the Keurig Supreme Plus.

The Keurig Supreme Plus makes better coffee than the Keurig Supreme because of its smaller serving size and higher brewing temperature. This justifies the Supreme Plus’s extra cost over the Keurig Supreme.

What Are the Differences Between the Keurig Supreme Plus and Supreme Plus SMART?

Here are the differences between the Keurig K Supreme Plus and Keurig K Supreme Plus SMART:

The Keurig Supreme Plus SMART Can Connect To Your Phone, but the Supreme Plus Cannot

The main difference between the Keurig Supreme Plus Smart and the Keurig Supreme Plus is that the SMART can connect to your phone via the Keurig app, whereas the Supreme Plus cannot. 

This phone connectivity is why the SMART is categorized as a smart coffee maker.

The app allows you to do the following with your machine:

• Brew a coffee
• Set and name user profiles
• Buy new K-cups and track your orders

The machine will also identify which K-cup you are brewing with and give you brewing suggestions.

While this does offer a small upgrade to the SMART compared to the Supreme Plus, I don’t see myself using this feature that often.

The main function of the Keurig app is to allow you to brew coffee without touching the machine’s control panel. 

However, you still need to load the machine with your K-cup and put your cup in the machine. It’s really not a lot of extra effort to punch your desired brewing settings into the control panel as well.

So while the phone connectivity is not anything, I really don’t think it is enough to justify the SMART’s additional cost compared to the Supreme Plus.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus SMART over the K Supreme Plus: Barely

The Supreme Plus SMART Has Two More Strength Settings than the Supreme Plus

The Keurig Supreme Plus SMART has five strength settings, compared to the Supreme Plus’s three.

As I said earlier, once we get past a 70-second brewing time (the second strength setting on each machine) we are starting to get diminished returns.

I, therefore, don’t think that the addition of two extra strength settings improves the Supreme Plus SMART’s coffee over the Supreme Plus.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus SMART over the K Supreme Plus: No

The Supreme Plus SMART Has Two More Temperature Settings than the Supreme Plus

The Keurig Supreme Plus SMART has five temperature settings compared to the Supreme Plus’s three.

I think that the Supreme Plus SMART’s additional temperature settings should enable it to make better coffee than the Supreme Plus. 

Coffee makers need to get to a really high brewing temperature before an increase in temperature results in worse-tasting coffee. In 99% of cases, the hotter a Keurig machine can brew, the better coffee it will make.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus SMART over the K Supreme Plus: Yes

The Supreme Plus SMART Has Seven Extra User Profiles than the Supreme Plus

The Keurig Supreme Plus SMART has ten user profiles compared to the Keurig Supreme Plus’s three.

You are only going to benefit from the SMART’s ten user profiles if you have a big family of coffee drinkers, and they all like to brew their K-cups in a different way.

Generally, people prefer to use the same brewing options over and over again. Certain brewing styles just make better-tasting coffee than others.

I, therefore, think that, other than in very specific circumstances, the SMART’s ten user profiles don’t actually add that much value to the machines compared to the Supreme Plus’s three profiles.

Does this feature significantly improve the K Supreme Plus SMART over the K Supreme Plus: Barely

The Supreme Plus SMART is Around $40 More Expensive than the Supreme Plus

I don’t think that the SMART justifies this additional cost over the Supreme Plus.

The SMART’s main benefit over the Supreme Plus is that you can control it with your phone. However, since you still need to fill the machine with a K-cup and put a mug on its drip tray, it’s not like you can make coffee remotely or anything like that.

I think that these SMART Keurig machines are little more than a marketing gimmick.

Does the K Supreme Plus SMART justify its cost over the Keurig K Supreme Plus: No

Final Verdict

I’d recommend the Keurig Supreme Plus over the Keurig Supreme and Keurig Supreme Plus Smart. In fact, I think that the Keurig Supreme Plus is the best Keurig coffee maker more generally.

The Supreme Plus justifies its extra cost over the Supreme by making better-tasting coffee than it. 

I don’t think you’ll end up using the SMART’s phone connectivity feature much, so it really doesn’t justify its additional cost compared to the Supreme Plus.

If you’d like to find out more about how the Keurig Supreme Plus stacks up against other machines, please see my comparison of the Keurig K Supreme Plus vs Keurig K Elite.