Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mini vs BLACK+DECKER Coffee Maker: Head-to-Head for Apartment Brewers

If you're trying to decide between the Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mini and the BLACK+DECKER 5-Cup, I've been exactly where you are. You've got maybe six inches of free counter space, a budget that needs to stretch to the end of the month, and no patience for a machine that requires a manual and a YouTube tutorial just to make a pot of coffee. You want something that works every morning without drama. So let me save you the back-and-forth.

The short answer: the Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mini (ASIN B08QD5NWNF) is the one I'd buy again, and the one I'd tell my sister to buy. It wins on the features that matter most in a small kitchen, specifically the glass carafe you can actually see into, the reusable filter that ships in the box, and the Pause N Pour that lets you grab a cup before the brew finishes. The BLACK+DECKER isn't a bad machine, but it loses on enough of those practical points that I can't call it a better value even when it occasionally dips a dollar or two cheaper.

	Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mini	BLACK+DECKER
Current Price (approx.)	$39.87	$29.99 - $34.99
Carafe Type	Glass carafe with handle	Glass carafe, no lid lock
Reusable Filter Included	Yes, permanent filter in box	No, requires paper filters
Pause N Pour	Yes	No
Footprint (approx.)	6.7 x 7.5 inches	7.2 x 8.0 inches
Wattage	630W	550W
Brew Time (5 cups)	~8 minutes	~10 minutes
Warranty	1-year limited	2-year limited
Amazon Rating	4.4 stars (32,685+ reviews)	4.3 stars (~18,000 reviews)

Where the Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mini Wins

The reusable filter is the first thing I noticed when I opened the box. It comes included. That's not a small thing when you're on a budget. Paper filters are a recurring cost that sneaks up on you, a few dollars every few weeks, and if you run out on a Tuesday morning before work, your day is starting badly. The Mr. Coffee removes that problem entirely. Rinse the basket, let it dry, done. I've had mine for months and haven't bought a filter once.

Pause N Pour is the other feature I didn't know I needed until I had it. The machine keeps brewing when you pull the carafe out, so you can pour a cup partway through the cycle, slide the carafe back in, and the rest of the coffee keeps going. Sounds minor. It is genuinely useful at 6:45 AM when you need one cup before the school bus arrives and don't want to wait for the whole pot. The BLACK+DECKER doesn't have this. You pull the carafe mid-brew and you get drips on the hot plate. I know because I tried it.

The footprint is also slightly smaller on the Mr. Coffee, about half an inch narrower and half an inch shallower. That probably sounds irrelevant until you're the person trying to fit a coffee maker, a toaster, and an air fryer on a 24-inch counter in a one-bedroom apartment. Every inch counts. And the glass carafe with its visible measurement markings means I can eyeball exactly how much water I put in without squinting at the reservoir, which on some machines is nearly impossible to read.

Where the BLACK+DECKER Wins

I want to be straight with you here because this is supposed to be an honest comparison. The BLACK+DECKER CM0700 does two things better. First, it carries a two-year warranty versus the Mr. Coffee's one year. If you are the kind of person who keeps appliances for a long time and wants the manufacturer to stand behind the product longer, that matters. Second, several reviewers mention that the BLACK+DECKER runs a bit quieter during the brew cycle. My apartment has thin walls and an early riser is a real concern, so I understand why that might tip the decision for some people.

The BLACK+DECKER also tends to run a few dollars cheaper on any given day, though the prices float around and it's not a guaranteed gap. If you already have a stash of paper filters from a previous machine and you're looking at a pure up-front cost decision, the slight price difference is more real to you than it is to someone buying a coffee maker for the first time. Those are legitimate wins. I just don't think they outweigh the day-to-day convenience of the Mr. Coffee's feature set for most people reading this.

The reusable filter the Mr. Coffee ships with in the box will save you more than the price difference between these two machines in the first year alone.

Brew Quality: Does It Actually Matter at This Price?

Both machines produce drip coffee that tastes like drip coffee. I want to be realistic with you about that. Neither machine is going to transform mediocre ground coffee into something extraordinary. What they do differently is temperature consistency. The Mr. Coffee at 630 watts runs slightly hotter during the brew cycle and finishes about two minutes faster, which in drip coffee terms means the water is spending appropriate time in contact with the grounds rather than trickling through slowly and extracting unevenly. Coffee brewed on the BLACK+DECKER at 550 watts is noticeably weaker at the same coffee-to-water ratio, which means you end up using more coffee to compensate, which reduces any cost savings from the lower sticker price.

I did a side-by-side test using the same grocery-store ground coffee, the same water, and the same ratio in both machines. The Mr. Coffee cup was richer and more consistent. The BLACK+DECKER cup was fine but thinner. If you like strong coffee and you are already buying mid-range ground coffee to keep costs down, the Mr. Coffee's brew temperature makes a real difference to the result in your cup.

Cleanup and Daily Usability

The carafe on the Mr. Coffee is a standard glass with a comfortable handle and a wide enough mouth that I can get a dish brush in there. The carafe on the BLACK+DECKER has a narrower opening at the top and no lid that locks into place, which means the lid sometimes slides off when you're pouring. I've never personally spilled coffee because of this, but I've had to catch the lid over the sink twice. Annoying. The Mr. Coffee's carafe is simpler in that regard.

The filter basket on the Mr. Coffee pulls out cleanly and the reusable mesh filter rinses under the tap in about fifteen seconds. I tap out the grounds, rinse the basket, done. The BLACK+DECKER requires you to buy paper filters, pull out the soggy used one, throw it away, and make sure you have replacements on hand. Neither process is difficult, but one of them requires an ongoing purchase and the other doesn't. With two kids and a husband recovering from a back surgery, I don't want one more thing on my grocery list.

Who Should Buy the Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mini

This machine is built for people who brew for one to three people, live in a kitchen with limited counter space, and want a no-fuss daily brewer that doesn't nickel and dime them with consumables. If you're making two or three cups every morning before work, you don't need a 12-cup carafe sitting on your counter taking up real estate. The five-cup size is genuinely the right fit for a one- or two-person household, and the Mr. Coffee hits that target without overcomplicating anything. It also pairs well with a compact coffee grinder if you want to step up to fresh beans, since the reusable filter handles any grind size without needing special paper filters.

With 32,685 reviews and a 4.4-star rating on Amazon, this is not a niche product. It is the thing a lot of real people in real apartments are actually using every morning. That review count also means you can trust the patterns in the feedback. The consistent positives are the carafe, the filter, and the compact size. The consistent negatives are that the hot plate doesn't keep coffee warm for very long past the initial brew, which means if you're a slow drinker you'll want to pour what you need right away. I just pour into a travel mug and that problem disappears.

Who Should Buy the BLACK+DECKER

If you already own a large stock of paper cone filters and you're primarily shopping on up-front price, the BLACK+DECKER is a serviceable machine that will make decent coffee. If the two-year warranty is genuinely important to you, perhaps because you've had a coffee maker fail in the first year before and it was frustrating, that extended coverage is a real differentiator. And if noise is your primary concern because someone in your household is a light sleeper, the quieter brew cycle on the BLACK+DECKER is worth considering. For everyone else, especially anyone starting fresh who doesn't have a filter stockpile and wants the most practical feature set for the money, the Mr. Coffee is the stronger daily driver.