Hamilton Beach 49980a vs. 49980z
In this article, we will speak about one of well known American coffee machines that are made by American company Hamilton Beach and it is recently produced and assembled in factories in China.
It is worth to mention the following before elaborating into details about both types of coffee machines.
The company is targeting with their coffee machines United States of America and Canada markets and it is clearly shown in their manufacturer warranty as they are giving one year for buying and using the machines inside United States of America or in Canada Only.
Both machines are coming from the same product line and both known as well by the name of two ways brewers due to their unique function as they have two separate partitions for operation or use;
One part of the machine is serving one cup of coffee, from its features:
- It has its own water tank, unmovable, with capacity of 0.4 Litre, permanent net filter in a shape of spoon which has dual usage as it is used as a filter and could be used as a measuring spoon.
- In addition, in this part you can use the grounded coffee or soft capsules Only, which is not exclusive on any brand which is giving the customer the free choice to pick his own favorite coffee to use except the k cups as it won’t be fitting.
- The single cup is serving different cup sizes as the machine tray of the drip is removable and could be flipped so it could properly hold and fits different cup sizes in order to avoid spilling the coffee outside of the cup during the pouring process.
- The negativity point about this side that you need to refill the water tank each time you want to make a cup of coffee.The other part of the machine is serving the carafe, from its features:
- It has its own water tank as well but larger, with capacity of 1.8 Litre in order to serve large number of cups without the need to refill it constantly, unmovable as well.
- There are two kinds of filters, the permanent steel filter which is not recommended as it needs a constant cleaning and it won’t function well in the long run comparing to the paper filter, the paper basket one is made for one time use.
Hamilton Beach 49980a

Hamilton Beach 49980A
This machine is an early version of this product line, It has a few features which includes; small digital screen, automatic machine, easy to use, it has two options for fermenting or brewing strength in order to choose from, same options for grinding as well which is essential feature in order to give you a final good coffee to drink based on the type and quality of coffee beans you use, customizing control for the clock timer for brewing your coffee in the time that you need it. Energy saving as it is automatically shutting off after each operation.
For the single cup operation; in case of using the soft capsules, you have two choices, either to use one capsule for serving small coffee cups or to put two for larger cups, serving maximum 0.4 Litre.
For Carafe operation; the machine turning off automatically after couple of hours of usage otherwise you can simply shut it off by pressing the operation button, using here one time paper filter basket better than permanent metal to ensure having a good quality and tasty cup of coffee besides the carafe is standing on a plate that keeps the coffee warm much longer as it reserves the heat coming from the machine hot pipes caused by the brewing operation.
This machine comes in a package that includes a carafe and a filter.
This machine giving you a unique feature of stopping the brewing operation in anytime you wants by simply turning off the operation button.
Note:
- The machine itself is manually washed by using water and vinegar.
- The carafe made of glass
- The company is not producing this machine line any longer.
Hamilton Beach 49980Z
- The machine can provide hot water upon request.
Hamilton Beach 49980z
This is the next generation of this product line, It has the same features, same technicality and operation method, even the exact dimensions, color and shape, the only difference here is that this machine is the newest one, made of stainless steel with high quality of plastic materials while the first brand is made of plastic which is clearly shown hereunder in the weight differences between both machines.
Hamilton Beach 49980a vs. 49980z
Comparison
Hamilton Beach 49980a
|
Hamilton Beach 49980z
|
|
Price | Cheapest | Expensive |
Compatible capsules | Just soft capsules | Just soft capsules |
Can use different grounded coffee brands | Yes | Yes |
Water tank capacity | 0.4L for single cup
1.8L for carafe |
0.4L for single cup
1.8L for carafe |
Available color | Black with metal | Black with metal |
Dimensions | Same dimensions | Same dimensions |
Weight | Lighter | Heavier |
Operation time for heating | 3 minutes for single cup and 7 minutes for carafe | 3 minutes for single cup and 7 minutes for carafe |
Type of operation | Automatic | Automatic |
Level of complication to use | Easy | Easy |
Foam/ frothing | No | No |
Water filter kit | No | No |
Clock timer | Yes | Yes |
Power saving | Yes | Yes |
Electricity power | 950 | 950 |
Warranty period | One year | One year |
Customer review rating | 4.3 out of 5 | 4.2 out of 5 |
Note:
Although this machine has got two separate serving partitions, however you can’t use both in the same time, there is a button on the machine which you can switch it in order to choose which partition you want to use.
Difference between Hamilton Beach 49980a and Hamilton Beach 49980z
From the comparison above, we can see that there is absolutely no difference between the two machines, totally identical in everything but only in the weight which reflects the machine product quality as Hamilton Beach 49980a mostly made out of plastic while Hamilton Beach 49980z made out of stainless steel with strong plastic.
The difference in price is not that high between the two machines and in sometimes you can get 49980z nearly with the same price of 49980a during discount over the internet.
Besides bearing in mind that 49980a is not produced any longer and the only available product from this line in the official company web site is 49980z.
According to all these facts, taking the durable and recent updated machine will be far much better than taking a low quality product that sooner or later will be out of the stock although both have the same functions.