Great box for those who like hot lunches on the go!
The media could not be loaded. I was pleasantly surprised by this little heated lunchbox. To start, let's clarify exactly what this item is and can do, as I wasn't 100% sure if it was something that could just keep items warm, heat up items, or both. I can say after using this product for a long weekend that it can both heat food up from scratch and keep it warm, which makes it very useful for a variety of situations. If you are someone who is on the go but likes hot lunches without the cost of getting take out or fast food every day, this box is perfect for you! I decided to test the box out under controlled environment at home so I could make sure I knew how to use it before using it at work. I had some leftover Chick Fil A mac & cheese in the fridge, which started at about 40 degrees F. I plugged in the lunchbox and put the mac and cheese in it, still inside the cardboard cup (still not 100% sure on the safety of this, but I think think it gets hot enough to burn cardboard, and definitely didn't in the 1 hour I was heating up my item. Someone did cook soup in this thing however, so I wouldn't put anything combustible in here for an extended period of time without monitoring it - this doesn't really say anything about the product - just common sense!). After 15 minutes the box itself had gotten quite warm, make sure to keep it on a safe surface that can handle a bit of heat. You can still handle the box as it is warming, but it is quite warm to the touch, so be careful. I checked the temperature of the food to see where we were at and only up to about 60 degrees. I decided to leave it for about an hour and check back, stirring after about 45 mins, and when I did it was at a nice 125 degrees, nice and hot all the way through! I will say that this product does have somewhat of a niche use. If you are at home or have access to a microwave it isn't really necessary. It was nice to be able to heat up and eat my mac and cheese without having to leave my room, but being at home I could easily have just thrown it in the microwave after I got it out of the fridge and been eating in 2 minutes. And given that it doesn't have a battery pack, you need to be near a wall or car charger outlet to use it, which rules out some jobs that don't meet those requirements. But for a job where you drive a lot and want to stop pounding those burgers for lunch every day without eating cold sandwiches, this is an awesome little gadget! And I could see it being quite useful for people who live in situations where they maybe can't access the kitchen at all hours, so they could have hot food without leaving their room. Or going camping - lots of little niche situations I intend to use this on when I don't have access to a microwave! I fully recommend it for those situations! And last but not least, the tiny fork and spoon that go in the tiny fork and spoon holder are truly amazing and are, in my opinion, the greatest love story ever told. Go tiny fork and tiny spoon, go! Live and love to the fullest in your tiny little built in fork and spook holder on the top of the lunchbox! I'll bet it's so hot in there when they spork! A few suggestions for improvement to the manufacturer: It does get a bit warm to the touch on the outside. Not hot enough to burn, but it can be a bit uncomfortable if you need to touch the base and cannot use the handle for one reason or another. That being said, the handle is very sturdy and suffices for most movements so this isn't a big issues, but perhaps some more insulation on just the bottom to keep the heat inside would make it both more comfortable for the user and more energy efficient. Also, adding a battery so this could truly be used on the go and a screen/user interface would be amazing, but at this price point I doubt its feasible. Maybe an upgraded model that costs a bit more but has some expanded functionality would make sense, because I think this product is absolutely perfect for certain uses, and not really needed in other situations. That all being said I intend to keep this and use it when the need arises! Read more
