While it’s not cold in most of Australia, the metaphorical mercury is dropping in some parts of the country. Here in Canberra it’s been hovering around 0°C for a month or so now and I’m using whatever tech I can to keep warm. The latest winter gadget is the Ember Mug 2. 

It’s a pretty common sight in my home office, the cold remnants of a coffee or sneaky hot chocolate from an hour ago staring up at me from beside the keyboard. While I can, and have heated my coffee before, this is where Ember’s line of smart coffee mugs come in.

Trevor has already had a look at the Ember travel mug, the travel version of their smartphone controlled cup which can keep your beverage of choice warm. I’m more of a homebody and I’m checking out their Ember Mug 2, a more traditional style cup for drinking at home. 

The app for controlling the cup has a bunch of features including timers, presets and a host of features in the app, including steep times for tea drinkers and more.

The Ember Mug 2 comes in two sizes on their website, 295 ML (10 OZ) for $170 and a larger 414 ML (14 OZ) for $220 – with shipping an additional $27. 

I’ve just started using the Ember Mug 2 in the 295 ML size, which Ember have supplied for the review. Here’s how it’s going.

Hardware and Design

I’m a fan of a big mug, and while the Ember Mug 2 I’m reviewing is the ‘smaller’ size, it’s still fairly large compared to my usual mug though I’d probably spring for the larger size if you’re the kind of person like me who orders their coffee by the ‘bucket’ size if available. 

The cup itself looks, well, like a coffee cup. The size is somewhat off when you look at it, then inside it, with part of the base taken up by the heating element and battery.

According to the website, the cup is ‘made of durable stainless-steel with FDA food grade ceramic-reinforced coating’. It feels just like a mug, but doesn’t get too hot to hold.

There’s a multi-coloured LED in the base of the Ember Mug, offering a variety of options to show pairing (Blue), when it’s charging or needs to be charged (Red) and when it’s charged (Green). It also shows when it’s heating or your beverage is at its pre-set temperature (White).

While it’s a connected device, it’s easy to keep clean. You can handwash it safely, though it’s not dishwasher safe. 

Battery and Charging

The two sizes of mug offer different battery life, with the larger mug having to heat a larger volume of liquid. The 295ML mug is rated for 1.5 hours, while the larger 414ML mug gets 80 minutes.  

Battery life is pretty spot on for the 295ML mug, with my coffee still warm an hour and a half later – though I was able to get a little more.  Charging time for the cup, will see you go from flat to full in around 2 hours, with around 50% in 45 minutes. 

Both of the Ember 2 mugs come with a charging puck and brick, with the puck featuring a depression moulded to fit the base of the mug, guiding it to two wireless spring loaded contacts which align with the charging rings on the base of the mug. Simply set the cup down and it charges. 

The charging brick comes with interchangeable heads so if you want to take it overseas you can just plug it in. The brick has a barrel style connector to plug into the base which is pretty secure once inserted.  

Software

The Ember Mug 2 works without the app, but it’s so much more fun with the app. The Ember app is available for Android and iOS making it an easy to install process. Once installed, the app guides you through pairing your new Ember Mug 2 – all you need to do is ensure the mug is charged before starting. 

It’s a super simple process to install from the app. Select your Ember mug from the carousel at the start and then follow the bouncing ball, pressing the power button on the base and holding it until it pairs. 

As part of the setup you can select your individual colour for your Ember mug. This helps differentiate your mug from any other Ember mugs around. When you pull it from the base it will light up with your colour so you know your mug. You can change this colour easily in the settings if you find you clash with another owner, and you can also quickly check battery status, change your alerts, and the temperature from Farenheit to Celsius.

Without setting a temperature or even setting up the app, the Ember Mug 2 will automatically just warm your beverage to 57°C once it’s switched on. With the app though, you can use the scroll bar to select your preferred temperature – which ranges from 50°C – 62.5 °C.  You can also get notifications when your ideal temperature is reached.

You can also swipe up and select one of the preset ‘recipes’, or set up your own pre-select.

I like a milky chocolate, so if I overdo the milk to boiling water ratio occasionally, the Ember Mug 2 can also get your drink up to your preferred temperature quite easily.

Should you buy it?

It’s a hard one for a smart mug priced at $170/$220 – but the answer is yes. I am 100% going to be gifting a couple of these, and I’d be delighted to receive one (It’s on the gift list) for Christmas – however that price tag will make me a little hesitant to purchase – but the utility is definitely there.

The idea and execution is simple and just done so well. Over an hour of keeping your drink at your perfect temperature is simple luxury. It’s also easy to keep clean and feels just like a standard ceramic mug, though without the burning exterior. 

Keeping tabs on the cup through the app is simple, and so is charging. It’s all just executed well.

Put simply, if you are serious about your coffee, this is a fantastic option.