Ember Temperature Control Travel Mug 12 Ounce 2-hr Battery Life Black - App Controlled Heated Coffee Travel Mug

So I felt like a review was warranted, because this little mug seems to have quite a lot of mixed reviews. I think that's because people buy it expecting it to do something that it wasn't designed to do. It all depends on your need. If you need a mug to hold a hot temperature, without electricity, for hours, this isn't the mug for you. And there is no such mug, aside from vacuum sealed options - in which case, those are better for that purpose than this one is. I like my coffee at 140. This mug will hold it there for about an hour on battery-alone. BUT, I rarely ask it to do that. PRIMARY USE: I wanted a way to keep coffee at a perfect temp, sitting next to me while I type reports, or visit with a patient in my office. I drink coffee (sometimes tea) throughout the day. It was far too often I was running to the microwave to heat up a cup - not ideal. With the Ember, I can have my mug sitting next to my computer at home, next to my computer at the office, or next to my therapy chair at the office... yes this means buying more than one docking station. But, come on - this whole product is a very 1st-world problem solver, anyhow. SECONDARY USE: I'm also a part-time law student, and I visit the law school in Minnesota once or twice each semester for intensive residencies. I get there at around 7am and stay till around 5pm. How can I get coffee? Starbucks is too far to walk. The student center coffee is unacceptable. I needed a solution to brew my own coffee, at my desk. My solution is the combination of this mug (to provide hot water at the perfect temperature) and the Handpresso Auto, which heats its own water, and brews an espresso shot directly into my already perfectly temperature Ember mug... The result? A lovely Americano, brewed at my desk using tap water and an Illy espresso pod. For this method, I do need to wait about 15 to 20 minutes for the water to be heated up to 140 (depending on how hot the water was when I first put it into the Ember). ACCURACY: So far, for me, it's been very accurate. I have tested it at different times with a laser thermometer, and it's almost spot on each time. CONSTRUCTION: I like the soft touch materials, even on the charging dock. The standard lid is plastic, but works very well. The 360-degree drinking design is nicely thought out. The "dial" feels a bit scratchy - not smooth. Which surprised me, given the great attention to detail in every other aspect of the design (including the lovely packaging - similar to Apple Products packaging). CHARGING: One con that doesn't make much sense to me, is that the battery isn't being recharged, while the mug is on the doc being kept warm. This makes little sense, given that there is enough electricity being input, that both could be happening at the same time: the mug could be heating/maintaining, while the battery is being topped off. Perhaps there is some technical reason this isn't happening. But I can't fathom one. Most people wouldn't be ok with their laptop or phone being un-charchable while it was in use. But, does that change it from 5 stars? No. APP: Kinda neat. I'm a tech nerd, so it's cool, but not really necessary. Would be nice to see a computer app for this - maybe something that could pop up in the notification center of your iMac... sometimes I'm working on the computer and have no idea where my phone is even located. OPTIONAL RING: Embarrassed to say that I did get this LOL. I like the plastic lid, because if I'm traveling or walking around, the spring-loaded lid keeps the splashing at bay, and bug/gnats from sneaking into the coffee (I sometimes do sessions outside). But generally, I prefer the ceramic feel, and was happy to see that as an option - it, too, came in lovely packaging. Hopes for the Future: I'd like to see a car lighter option with a docking station designed to fit into a standard cup holder (about the size of the bottom of the Ember). I have thought about mounting an extra dock in my car, but I think it'd be too difficult. But eventually, it would make sense that Ember could at least increase their sales by 1/3 or even 2/3's if they re-marketed this add-on to EXISTING customers. One huge part of expansion is being able to market a product to your existing customer base (like with the ceramic ring). An auto-version of the base would most certainly be more successful than the ceramic ring. I'd like to see the battery start charging at ANY time the Ember is on the dock - not just while it's powered off. I'd like to see the display modernized. The dot-letters and dot-images remind me of dot matrix printers for some reason. Not the most aesthetically appealing, but not horrible either. Would be nice to turn off the display while on the dock - I don't always want to see what the battery level is - or show off to others my dot-matrix-y display LOL. Read more

Sometimes these reviews get mixed in with the different versions in the mug so I will start by which one and the price. It's the Ember Travel Mug v1 (black) for $248 in Jan 2022. I haven't tried any other smart mugs like this so don't have much to compare but as far as I'm concerned it has three jobs. First let me know what temperature the drink is at. Second keep it warm until I'm finished drinking it. Third accomplish the first two steps without annoying me. It mostly does all three. The biggest thing I like is no longer burning my mouth playing the temperature guessing game. You know the anxiety of tilting a hot mug closer and closer knowing that you could have a bit of molten lava touch your tongue? That's no longer a thing. Although this does take time to accomplish. Basically, thirty mins to an hour. I have a dumb mug that it takes longer but that's because it's basically a thermos. Also, no more race to finish the mug or face the second half of the drink being cold. As long as you drink it withing a reasonable amount of time I would say. By the time let my drink cool down (hot coco these days) there is about 60-75% battery left. I am not one to nurse a drink, so it doesn't usually take me two hours. Yes, you do have to turn it off manually or risk the chance that it will deplete its batteries just sitting on your desk. It does have an auto shutoff but that's TWO HOURS. Just finish your drink and turn it off. I imagine if I had this in the office, I could get two uses from it per day pretty easily without recharging. Good - Temperature display on mug and phone app, but you don't have to use the phone app. - Outside of the mug isn't completely insulated, but it's not like you will burn your hands. It's mildly warm, which feels good on a cold day. - As easy to clean as any other mug with a mug brush. Bad - Price too high. I don't see the value in this brand so far and would try cheaper alternatives. Also, the v2 model is $100 less? - Anti-spill lid is not very well designed. You have to push it in mechanically to open it and it locks in place while you're drinking. This leaves the possibility open for you to open it, set it aside, knock it over and spill it. My dumb mug has a better design where you have to hold a button down while drinking and when you let go of it the lid closes. - Electronics seem wonky. It didn't work from the start. Put it on the base, paired it with phone, let it charge for 4 hours. The battery animation on the mug was showing charging but it stayed at 0% the whole time. I think this is the flat battery issue others have stated where it takes 6 hours to charge initially. I opened a ticket, but the problem fixed itself. Now it won't turn on unless it's in the charging base! It's not just a one-time glitch, it does this every time. I will have to open another ticket, but this is already getting annoying and not a good first impression. - Charging is outdated. You cannot charge the mug by itself with USB-C, micro USB, etc. You have to have that charging stand. That charging stand itself also doesn't have any modern connectors like mentioned above, it's just a wall plug. So, no charging in your car with a cigarette lighter adapter and no charging on the go unless you bring the base charger with you or buy a second one to keep with it. - No power light. There is an electronic display on the mug which gives you pretty much all the information you need. However, unless you touch the Ember logo, it doesn't look like its "on" or even a smart mug. They could just have had one little LED to remind you remind you that the mug is on, so you don't leave it sitting there discharging its battery before the two-hour auto-shutoff kicks in. Update: The mug stopped powering on unless you power it on while it's in the charger. I opened another case and was told that the mug is now out of warranty. Conveniently it expired during the 6 days it took them to get back to me, but they offered me the v2 mug for $89. No thanks. Seriously a one-month warranty on a $248 mug? Read more