Ember 10oz Smart Mug Review

Ember 10oz Smart Mug Review

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Takeaway: Keeps drinks hot at your desired temperature easily, but only single-serve capacity.

You'll receive the smart mug, charging base, and AC adapter. The mug measures 4-1/8” tall, has a 3-1/4” diameter, and an interior depth of 2-7/8” as the bottom section of the vessel houses the battery, heating element, sensors, and circuitry. The maximum capacity of the mug when filled to the brim is 10 fl oz. The cup has a minimalist, sleek design and a thin, somewhat narrow handle. To the left of the handle just under the ember Logo is the status LED and underneath is where the gold charging contact rings and power button are located.

To charge it, simply set it onto its charging saucer, which can take up to three hours. The charger is 4-1/4” in diameter and ½” tall with a rubber pad on the bottom to keep it from sliding; at the back is the charging port for the included adapter. You’ll want to make sure not to leave liquid sitting in the saucer as this could damage the two charging pins. What I like about this charger is that it doesn't matter how you set the mug down in it, since the two pins will always have contact with the mug’s charging rings regardless of position. The LED will pulse when charging and turns a solid green when full.

To set the holding temperature of the mug you will need to download and install the Ember app to a mobile device. Adding it to the app is straightforward as it automatically detects the mug over Bluetooth. You can choose a personalized color for the LED on the front to help identify that specific mug, if you have multiple Ember devices in your household. Whenever the mug is picked up it will quickly flash this color, so you'll know who it belongs to. The app will also update the mug’s firmware automatically, if available. The other main thing you’ll do in the app is to set your desired beverage holding temperature by adjusting the temperature slider from 120 to 145° F or about 50 to 62.5° C. In the settings you can set the LED brightness from 10% to 100%, change units from English to Metric, and choose notification preferences.

Then simply fill the mug with a hot beverage like coffee or tea. If the temperature of the drink is above your selected holding value, the mug's heating element will power off and allow the drink to cool naturally, as there is no active cooling. When it falls below your desired temp by a few degrees, the heating element will activate to warm your drink back up. The LED on the mug will flash to indicating that the heater is, on and on average it takes around 1 minute to raise the temperature one degree and the app will notify you when the drink is ready. Keep in mind the device isn’t meant to heat up cold drinks to hot beverage temperature, for example water straight from the tap. In fact, the heater won’t kick on automatically unless the starting temperature of your drink is at least 100° F. Even though you can manually turn on the heater by changing the holding temperature in the app, that’s not very efficient. Rather it’s designed to prevent hot drinks from cooling off too much between sips.

There are some presets in the app for different drink types that you can customize or you can also add your own favorites. There’s also a timer function for tracking brew times of tea and coffee to help you dial in your perfect drink strength. I personally like my hot beverages between 125 and 130° F as it’s pleasantly hot, but not so hot that I’ll burn my mouth when drinking it. When compared to my instant read thermometer though, the reading in the app can sometimes be 2-5 degrees off, especially while it’s actively heating, so your mileage may vary. However, when I went to take a sip of the coffee it was still plenty hot and enjoyable.

Note that if the mug is placed on the charging saucer and its heater is active, the battery won't increase in charge until the cup is emptied or powered off. There's also an inactivity auto shutoff while sitting in the base that turns it off after 2-hours, though that can be reset by picking up the mug and putting it back on the charger. To turn the mug off completely, press and hold the power button until the LED slowly fades out. The mug is fully waterproof, so you can wash it by hand with a soft sponge or cloth. Just be sure to fully dry it so water doesn’t sit on the charging rings. You'll also want to avoid using metal utensils in it as these may scratch, chip, or damage the ceramic coating.

Overall the Ember mug does exactly what it’s designed to do, keeping beverages warm at your favorite temperature and its battery lasts up to 90 minutes when not on its charging saucer. Once placed on its base, it can hold the temperature indefinitely as long as you pick it up once in a while to avoid the inactivity shutoff. The mug is not microwave or dishwasher safe, as these could damage the electronics inside. I like that this mug is larger in capacity than the 6 oz cup that I previously reviewed, however, it’s still a tad on the small side, so I think the 14 oz model would be more ideal for me. Additional charging bases can be purchased separately which are compatible with all the Ember mug models, so you could have multiple saucers placed around your home so you could set your mug down to stay warm.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Buy it at Amazon: Ember 10oz Smart Mug [Affiliate Link]