Jesse, Great job with the video! I've been using my Ember mug daily for almost 4 months now. I originally purchased 2 mugs and an extra charging coaster (3 coasters total). At about the 3 month mark, the ceramic coating started to chip off inside the mug. I always washed by hand but I did use a bristle brush and that could have lead to the chipping. I contacted Ember via email with photos and after asking for the serial number, they sent me a new mug and a return label to send them back the damaged mug. Before the new mug arrived, two of the coasters stopped working. Shortly after the new mug arrived, the 3rd coaster stopped working and I had no way of charging either mug. Apparently, the gold charging tips are spring loaded to ensure a good contact with the mug when the mug is placed on the saucer. On each saucer, one of the gold contacts lost it's ability to spring back effectively making the saucer useless. I again contacted Ember and they sent me three new saucers...so far so good. They also explained to me that there was a manufacturing issue with some of the batches of saucers and that issue has been resolved (time will tell). FYI...I drink 2-3 cups of coffee at 140 degrees filled very close to the brim daily in the Ember mug.I almost always keep it on the charging coaster when not in my hands. I drink the coffee fairly slowly throughout the morning between 8:00 am - 11:00am and they only time the battery has gotten low is when I went walking around and left it off the charger. In one instance, I accidentally left a 3/4ish full cup on the charger one Saturday while I went out to work on the yard. I returned 3-4 hours later and the mug was still at 140 degrees and at least 50% of the coffee had evaporated. Suffice it to say, I think the Ember would evaporate a full mug full of liquid before the battery would die when left on the saucer. Would love to see a long term review of your experience with the Ember mug. Even with the issues I've had, I think it's worth every penny...assuming Ember stays in business long enough to fix all their growing pains.
You don’t need it to set in charging coaster when you drink. I don’t put into the coaster until maybe i have 1/4 left in cup just to boost the charge a little. I usually have setting on table along side the coaster…especially when mug is FULL as I don’t want to get liquid in the coaster…it really is not a drip catching device.
The most impactful product review I have ever seen. I really enjoyed it!Now in addition to the perks, I have knowledge of the less user friendly aspects of it. I am extremely satisfied to be aware in advance of possible frustrations and the whys of them. For me that Pre awareness defuses them and makes me a savvy user! Thank you 😊
Thanks brother... I've had an Ember for over a year, and because I "nurse" the same cup all morning, it works like a charm! I just bought my wife the travel mug version, and my MIL the larger version for Christmas. And I got a second coaster as a gift! SCORE!
I loved this, Jesse. My sister gave this mug to me because she knows I microwave my coffee straight out of freshly brewed because it's not hot enough. She thought this would solve the problem. I used it a few to,es and discovered it's a total pain. I am a heavy coffee drinker and this mug isn't for people like me! I thought I might have missed something until I listened to you. You are right on the mark. One thing I did think is maybe for tea drinkers it might work because normally they don't drink more than one cup. Not worth the big price tag. Thank you for reafferming what I thought.
Your well-executed video answered and clarified my question about my Ember-which I love (mostly because it was a gift from my daughter❤️). From the FAQ available in the app I could not clearly find why one could not use coaster to heat/charge. You can use the coaster to maintain battery strength, but after removing cup, it used battery to maintain heat, not to re-heat. Oh and I like the handle “feel” (I have smaller hands and like the delicate feel of the slim edged handle). And I totally get that the charger is meant to appear as a coaster/saucer but-as with a lot of electronics-ought to be kept free of moisture. Just a different perspective there. Thank you for this great video. It was most helpful and you are a lovely and ingenious man for gong to the effort to do the time lapse sections.
Good review, though I thought I might see a tear-down 😉 As someone who sips on a cup for a long time, this clever device has been a game changer for me. It's particularly nice for being able to enjoy my various white teas and more fragile greens at a slower pace. It's actually great for making gyokuro in, as that tea steeps at only 140F (which is challenging to maintain precisely). However, I too initially found the capacity a bit inadequate. To solve this, I usually make my tea (or coffee) in a separate vessel, in 16-24oz batches, fill the cup and then reserve the rest in a thermos (which I use to top off the cup until it's all gone). The battery life isn't much of an issue for me usually, as I keep it on the charger more often than not. The only concern I have is what the overall lifespan of the device - or, more specifically, the batter will be, given the constant switching between (presumably) high drain and fast charge, all while being sandwiched in with a heater...
Jesse, THANK YOU for doing this review. Not only did you answer some deeper questions that other reviews have not, but you even provided insights that Ember's website does not cover (I could not find on their if the charger was AC or USB. Perhaps I should have known but I honestly don't know enough about electricity). With respect to the time the mug keeps things hot or brings cool liquid up to temperature, it's my opinion that Ember envisions most people keeping the mug on the saucer at least 80-90% of the time, and only taking it off to go to a meeting away from your desk, then coming back and putting it right on the charger. I think if you used it that way you would not have a problem. That being said, that does limit the way people can use the mug, which is absolutely a consideration before buying it.
This is my one year follow up report on my Ember mug. It is still working perfectly with no discernible change in the charge dynamics. This may be due to the fact that I rarely discharge it fully. Generally I use it once or twice in the morning for 30 minutes before returning it to the base charger. I have experimented with warming liquids and have discovered that the heating time is substantially shortened by covering the Ember. For example, a full cup of coffee can be heated from 120 degrees to 140 in 9’ 30” while covered but uncovered requires several minutes longer.
Good data! Makes sense.... Heat rises and all thermoses and insulated mugs have lids to keep heat from escaping from the top. Thanks for chiming in and glad you like your mug!
Well made first video! I’d say your arguments are well thought out and the experiments make sense. Personally, I solved the volume issue by simply pouring my extra coffee into a Contigo insulated travel mug, which also keeps the liquid hot, so when I refill my Ember it is still warmer than my desired temperature. The default is 57°C (134.6°F) which I find borderline too hot to drink for filter coffee... I have mine set to 52.5°C (126.5°F), and it tends to last me a couple hours or more (there is some idle time where the cup is empty before I refill). I find it interesting that you enjoy yours above 140°F which is 60°C, but I see how that higher energy demand really cuts into your battery life. But, that’s why it’s customizable! (I do set temperatures higher for other drinks, like French press or hot chocolate). My recommendation to you would be to store your coffee in a way that it can retain its heat - I think that’s far better than re-heating, especially if you are hoping the mug itself will do most of that work.
The reason for the "saucer" is to force alignment with the gold pogo pins. Those pins are the weakest aspect of the design. If the tiny spring breaks or gets gummed up electrical contact can't occur. The design is very vulnerable to a single fragile point of failure. Those pins are not easily replaced. That scenario occurred with the earlier model cup. I'm surprised it was not fixed here by increasing the number of pins for redundancy, or by putting more robust contacts (matching rings?) on the base.
Thank you! This was very helpful. I'm definitely one of those ppl that nurses 1 cup of coffee for a longer period of time. Which is why I think this works well for me!
I agree with all the critiques in this review. I purchased two mugs and one coaster. I drink tea out of one mug while I leave the other on charge, and after I have finished this one or the battery runs out I take the other mug and fill it with a new cup of tea made on the stove. Why not leave it on the coaster? Try leaving it on the coaster and report back what your experience is. For me, the clear green tea turns into a black muck. Something to do with using AC current and DC current (My theory). The DC that comes via the battery works MUCH MUCH better. The AC current directly from the socket (thanks tesla!) will muck your tea up.
Excellent product review! This is the type of review I'm always hoping to find on RUclips. I can see this channel really taking off. I've liked the video and subscribed. The only critique I would make is that the opening Jesse Makes credits at 0:42 seems unnecessary. We know what channel we're visiting, and you shouldn't have to ask us to "stick around." If you're committed to it, perhaps you move it to the closing. Overall, I'm excited to see what you do next! Thanks for making this video.
Great video. I've use the ember for about a year and my biggest problem is the charging "coaster". I've gone through two of them already. I think the reason they want you to dry the mug before placing it on the coaster is because liquid will get into the charging pins and damage the springs inside of them. This means the pins will push down and not push back up causing them to lose contact with the bottom of the mug preventing it from charging. My biggest mistake was thinking that the charging coaster was a charger *and* a coaster. They need to improve the battery and charging mechanism before this becomes a viable product. Especially for something that costs $140 for a standard size mug.
Yes, its $170 AUD in Australia and the 240ml of liquid is far too little for me, I want more like 450ml and expect to be able to use the coaster/saucer as exactly that, be able to catch spills as they often occur to a small degree, drips at least. the Mug size isn't available in Australia and perhaps that's a good thing as its saved me a lot of money. Thanks for your comments.
Great review! You made some great points. Specially about the use case you described which is also pretty much the way mine gets used. I found this review only because I was having issues with my Ember mug I purchased a few days ago. I must mention that after encountering the battery life issues you described I don't turn the mug on immediately since I brew my coffee at around 190F. I wait until it's around the temperature I want it to be held at and then turn the mug on. I haven't timed it but I would think those few minutes of not monitoring the temperature and communicating that via bluetooth should extend battery life a bit.
Pam here….I just got the Copper Ember mug, and I love it! I love that my coffee and tea stays the ‘fresh/hot’ taste to the last drop. Mine is bigger than yours. Hhhmmm. It holds the full amt of the largest kuerig brew. It is a little full but I’m fine with that. I only use the saucer to charge the mug. when drinking i use mug sitting on table…don’t need a coaster as it is not HOT to damage it.
Your 'use cases' completely overlook the most common scenario which is that users actually drink the liquid in the mug. Drinking the liquid reduces the amount of liquid to be heated and therefore drastically increases the time available to keep your liquid at your preferred temp. This is a huge point and a huge oversight in your review frankly. Realistically nobody has a full mug after an hour. Secondly, the handle has in my opinion, extremely satisfying ergonimics and the semi-matte finish only aids with the wonderful tactile feel of the entire mug. It's beautiful to hold and to sip from. Pure satisfaction. Everyone who sees mine wants to touch it and hold it which speaks volumes. Furthermore the newer version is larger with improved heating. All said, this is an amazing product and upon reflection I see a huge possibility that as a competing designer you're jealous of the product. Haters gonna hate.
The main problem, missed in this review, is with the fragility of the spring inside the pogo pins on the charging coaster. Pin collapse due to spring failure occurred with both the old-style mug and with the new. This is an obvious design problem that should have been resolved before the product saw the light of day. The entire functionality depends on a teeny, tiny spring that is heavily exercised. An obvious highly fragile critical single point of failure. At the very least the pogo pin assembly should be easily accessible and easily replaceable, and a small supply (half a dozen) spares should be included with the product.
Thank you for reviewing this in this manner with unbiased real world test results. Was thinking about purchasing this right before I watched this. Have since decided I'll wait until it's improved. The battery life is too short in my opinion. The whole idea of the mug is to prolong your cup of coffee if your busy and not drinking it very fast. And it does do this but barely before your out of battery. If I was to use it in a cooler environment such as walking out to my shop, it would only make the battery life that much worse. Great job and great review. Subscribed.
Was thinking of getting this as a gift and your review was much more helpful than many other videos. I appreciated the extra mile you went through while making this video.
I've owned this mug for about a week and I'm pretty happy with it so far. I purchased the 14oz size, and when I brew 12 oz, it fills it up almost to the brim. Also, I don't have the problem of a second cup being cooler and needing to be warmed up. I brew one cup at a time, so it's always plenty hot. As an aside, I also just purchased a Ninja Dual Brew, which allows me to brew single cups or a carafe full, and I do NOT use disposable pods.
I keep the coaster plugged in at my work desk and if I need to walk away with my coffee it is always charged and ready to withstand my “20-30 min” break away from my desk keeping my coffee hot at all times that I need it to be. I did find this review pretty interesting and definitely worth the watch as it is great to know the limits of my mug as I didn’t think nor plan to run these types of tests to find out. I appreciate the time you put into this video. I did feel like you wanted me to not appreciate the mug as much as I do, however that may come with the territory of your personal profession and being a designer of products yourself! (Don’t be so hard on my mug, even when you’re making valid points lol) All In All Awesome Review From A Cool Guy ! ✨🥂😂🙏🏼
Thanks and glad you appreciated it on the whole! To be frank, I would way rather people enjoy products they bought! It breaks my heart to see products put into the world at great human and material expense only to not meet peoples wants or needs so I'm genuinely glad it meets yours!
The HANDLE is actually for me a better design, larger round handles require you to use more pressure because its round shape doesn't allow any leverage against your hand. The SMALL 8-9OZ SIZE was kind of a turn off, but as a slow coffee drinker you'll get used to not noticing you're drinking less coffee because you actually end up drinking more that before (when you used to just dump it out because its been cold for so long) . I definitely vote for INDUCTION CHARGING.. but I wonder if that would be too slow to charge and keep hot simultaneously? I don't think your usual case scenario is (the usual). And in that case... you can place it on the coaster while it climbs in temperature and problems solved.
Very in-depth review. I actually have the travel mug and believe optimal usage (for mug and/or cup) is some combination of battery and resting it on the coaster when not drinking. On weekends I drink multiple cups of coffee throughout the morning/afternoon. The Ember has allowed me to enjoy perfect coffee well into mid-afternoon without ever using the microwave.
Thanks for the comment, Corey! Yeah, I actually think the coaster kind of solves a lot of the issues I had with it, so long as you're willing to rest it on there between sips (or at least occasionally). Either way, thanks for watching and commenting!
The saucer thing bothered me as well. There is a little notch where the bottom and electronics meet that would probably keep stray drips from actually making it to the saucer. I've been using mine about a week now and love it; keeps my tea and coffee hot as long as it takes to drink it. I think the use case you tested for though was appropriate for the travel mug. I have the saucer at my desk and usually have the cup sitting on the saucer. The battery is kicking in when drinking, walking around and when I'm in meetings. I did test the heating capability while on the saucer and the mug did heat ice water to my desired temperature of 135. Not exactly the fastest way to heat water but it managed it. One thing I've yet to test is if the cup helps cool the coffee down any faster than ceramic. Being too hot is as much of a problem for me as too cold.
This is fantastic. A very thorough review that actually tells viewers how a product will behave rather than one which is a longwinded "I (dis)liked it". One small thing: I think with anything technical, Celsius (at least) would be appreciated, since it is used in most of the world and in most of science as well (and hey Kelvin is just shifted Celsius anyway). Similarly for lengths the metric system is more appropriate, and volumes litres (which are metric) etc. if the target audience is 'everyone'. No harm in mentioning Fahrenheit, ounces, feet & inches values as well, but they are less universal. I'm sure you know all this of course, but thought I should point it out.
Interesting review, I just received one as a gift. I haven't used it. The quick start manual says how to charge it but doesn't say anything how to use it. I expected it would turn on with hot liquid, but that's something I think they should have mentioned. The box says 14oz. this a Mug2, perhaps it's larger. I was very disappointed when you mentioned capacity. I am one that slowly enjoys my coffee but like it hot. My go to mug is an stainless steel dual wall "thermos type" mug that will take 14oz and have room to slosh or apply the lid. It keeps the coffee pretty warm for over an hour or more. It was $10 on Amazon. Oddly enough, it has a tubular stainless handle. It also works well with cold beverages.
I've had the original ember mug (which is more of a thermos rather than a mug) for coming up on a year. One thing i take issue with your use case is this, for me, i'm at a desk almost always when i am drinking coffee. So i have bought an extra charge dock to have on my work desk, and one to have at my home desk. So in the morning, i fill it up and immediately put it back on the dock, and while in use, i leave it on the dock. I take it off to sip, and it goes right back on. Using it this way essentially gives you unlimited run time. So the only time the battery is actually in use is if i get up to visit someones office and take it with me, or, on my travel to work in the car. Now one thing i do wish they had was a car charger, and they've said theyre working on this, but i've yet to hear any updates on this. But if you use it in the way i've described, where its almost always at rest on the dock itself, the issue with low run time is much less of an issue. In fact, i put room temperature coffee in my ember all the time, and as long as its on the dock, it will not use any battery, and it also heats up to my also desired 140 degrees much faster than yours did. Another thing i'd mention is theres really no reason to dispose of the coffee after 20 minutes. I've poured coffee on a "light coffee day" at 8am and nursed it all day long, still having coffee at the perfect temperature by noon, or even later. Getting rid of the coffee after 20 minutes is kind of defeating the purpose of the mug. Also, as the amount of liquid goes down in the mug, the amount of energy required to keep the liquid at a certain temperature also goes down. The other issue i have with the new ceramic mug is that the amount of energy required in an open lid environment is much greater than my ember mug, which has a closed sealed lid. If i leave the lid off of my ember mug the battery depletes at a much faster rate than if i put the lid in place, opening it only when taking a drink. All in all i think you did a good job of indicating some of the limitations of using a small battery mounted heating element in a mug, but if your use case is like mine, where the mug can be on the charger almost all the time except in transit, or short trips away from the dock before being promptly put back on the dock when returning to your desk, its actually been quite an amazing product. Obviously if you're up and moving around all the time instead of sedentary, your experience will be much different. Sorry about the wall of text!
>as the amount of liquid goes down in the mug, the amount of energy required to keep the liquid at a certain temperature also goes down. Very good point. @Jesse, How about a short follow-up video where you remove, say, 10% from the cup every 10 or 5 minutes and see how much that effects the battery life?
Commenting on an old video, but thanks for it. What I didn't expect (just received an Ember Mug 2) was the power supply requirements. Where I work at home, there's few sockets and the hope had been to run the coaster off USB. So now I'm having to jerryrig something to get mains to a coffee table. PITA.
Looking at this great explanation of the mug I just got for Xmas-2018. Snd trying out for the first time. I’d like to say it takes forever to reach temps., specially above 123!.. so unless you are pouring say coffee already super hot, patience is needed. Best use is to just keep a cup of coffee from getting too cold, cause I like my coffee hotter than their 145 max. Great channel, thanks!
Thank you so much for your video. I was looking everywhere for the material the mug was made and couldn’t find it. This definitely effects whether I would buy it or not. 👍🏻
Great review! Helped with my decision making during the gift purchasing perspective. Would have bought six for gifts but really liked your review about the 'saucer' and the other user comfort design approaches such as the limited handle shape. TY
Really enjoyed your style. You’re a professional to the core. I’m glad your review was so detailed and crystal clear. I won’t be buying this mug. Much obliged
Love what you're pointing out! Just wanted to mention that Folgers in a batch brew (adding cooler coffee made earlier to the Ember) doesn't seem like a great use-case to me. In my mind, it's for craft coffee. Keeping it at that perfect temperature for the most taste/noted on your expensive beans.
Heya and thanks for the comment! Not sure where Folgers came from... As an example I make a chemex pour over of good coffee I grind in my conical burr grinder etc. But the Ember holds so few ounces and inevitably I then need to go back and get more from the Chemex which has already cooled. Your point is totally sound: reheating good coffee isn't the best idea, but just wanted to clear the air here that no Folgers is involved 😉
Great review. Matches my current experience with it. I've also found it substantially slows down it's charge when it has a liquid in the cup and it's on the saucer. It is nice to drink that last bit of coffee and it's still hot.
This was great. I find it funny how all the Ember videos and marketing shows it looking like the coaster is indeed wireless with an option to connect it to the charger. I figured the coaster had a small internal battery to be able to place the mug on it at your kitchen table and enjoy your coffee. If they changed it to be a wireless charging pad with a battery I think it'd be a much better gadget.
Thanks for the review. FWIW, another datapoint. The charger for Mug 2 uses 3.8w - 4.3w of energy when it's recharging. Actually, damn you already covered this at 4:30 mark. You're really comprehensive!
subbed at 954. love the analysis and the mentioning of things that other reviews didn't like the feel of the handle. You answered questions I didn't even know I had. Please review everything ever made.
Excellent review! Thanks for taking the time to do this. You covered things about this mug that I didn't even think about, but would have surely led to my disappointment after purchasing the mug. I am an avid tea drinker and wanted a way to keep my tea warm. I may just go old school and use a tea light candle and cast iron pot. Thanks again and Happy New Year!
Brilliant, detailed summation. I really appreciate your diligent review. Very informative! I was on the fence about this $79+ mug but you pointed out my exact use case: I’m a person that drinks, typically, just one cup sloooowly over an hour to an hour and a half while I read the morning paper, read a book, etc. I don’t drink 80 cups of coffee/tea needing a refill every 20 minutes. Nope. Just my one cup getting cold pretty quickly and pissed I have to get up every 10 minutes to heat it back up in the microwave or drink room temperature tea that tastes yucky! Also, I will be placing the cup on the saucer whenever I’m not actively drinking from it so I can go even longer than 58 minutes because the saucer and the cup will be almost constantly drawing power, prolonging the overall time I I have to drink my tea at the perfect temperature. 😉 I’m sold. I’m going to hunt down one at a Starbucks or buy one directly from Ember. Thanks again and keep up the nice videos! 👍
i recently received one of these mugs as a gift and quickly discovered an unexpected benefit of this item. Perhaps this has already been mentioned previously in the chat; I haven't read the other comments. The fresh brewed coffee from my French press pours at 170 degrees F or thereabouts. I tend to drink it fast because hey, who wants cold coffee. As a physician I know there are theoretical risks to consuming overly hot liquids (roughly warmer than 140F) but I pretty much assumed I was OK and never worried about it. I still don't worry about it- the risk being quite small in my view- but guided by the information provided by the Ember app I have slightly modified my behavior to allow my coffee to cool slightly to 145 degrees before consuming it. Will this have any demonstrable health benefits for me? Unlikely since I am 69 and have been drinking too hot coffee for 50 years or so but I am quite impressed by the efficacy of this device as a behavior modification tool.
Pam here….I keep mine at 145. Which is the right amount of hat without burning my tongue! I find I can sip my coffee/tea at my pace, not having to gulp it down before getting cold or having to toss out. I can enjoy every last drop.
@@KeithandPamBilyeu Absolutely true. There are few things in life more satisfying then returning to your mug and discovering that the last ounce is still at the perfect drinking temperature while still tasting like it was just poured.
I received a mug as a gift recently and found your critiques to be similar to mine (you are an excellent reviewer btw). Indeed, as you predicted, I have moved the "coaster" to my typical work desk (wood) since i need the coffee to stay warm > 1 hour, but found myself trying to place soda cans (as I transition from coffee to soda on some days) on the coaster and then realizing I could "short out" the base!
I got an Ember mug for Christmas because I'm constantly running back and forth to the microwave to warm up my latte which I like to drink hot. As Jesse pointed out, this mug does not bring liquids up to temperature. So I was disappointed to learn that I had to use another mug to mix my expresso and cold mild into, zap that in the microwave and then pour it into my Ember mug (leaving me with 2 dirty mugs). 1 month ago, my Ember mug stopped charging despite using all precautions (drying fully, leaving mug on coaster which is always plugged in after use, hand washing mug). Troubleshooting on the Ember site didn't help. RUclips has a lot of people with similar charging problems. Often the culprit is the gold prongs on the saucer that don't spring back but that's not the case with my saucer...I don't know why mine isn't charging anymore. I haven't contacted Ember yet about it yet. Jesse, I enjoyed your thorough review.
I know this is an older video, but I just picked up one of these. The only real way to use it is as you said at the end- Keep it on the saucer at your desk. Then you can move around with a bit and still have warm coffee. But not for long. I like it as overpriced as it is. PS: Bought the larger version 😉
Clear honest review, Jesse, thank you. Valuable for someone on the verge of picking this thing up to know the cons then make an informed decision. Maybe, going forward, your tagline might be "Make more informed decisions." All best.
Given how much energy it takes to raise the temperature of water, I think your criticism of the little battery in the mug is a bit harsh. The battery is obviously there to keep things warm, not warm them up in the first place. If you put the mug on its saucer it warms your cold coffee up and then even sends a message to your phone when it's perfect.
Totally a fair opinion. For the record I bought it exactly for what you mentioned and only made the video because it didn't serve that purpose.... If I have to put it on the saucer it may as well be a ten dollar hot plate and at least then I can microwave the cup too. And the battery simply cannot keep the mug hot for very long. But I do agree it's a small battery and energy densities aren't there yet for use cases like this. That's why I don't think it's a badly designed product from a heating perspective.... Just one that in my opinion needn't have been made. But again, I'm happy when people like it. I'm just sharing my experience with it
My last comment on this product (I promise). I have now used it daily for 465 days and sometimes multiple times per day. Today I tested how long the charge still lasts. There is inherently variability in this because the mug uses more energy to keep say 6 ounces warm than 2 ounces. Also, I keep my coffee at 145 degrees. If it was instead set at 135 the effective charge duration would be longer. Anyway, for about 4 ounces of liquid uncovered at 145 degrees after 16 months of use the mug still maintains the target temperature for 54 minutes. Compared to the original 75 minutes (from memory-I didn’t review the video) this is a reduction of 36% which is substantial but the mug is still quite useful, at least for my purposes. Based on this data, is it worth investing $100 for at least 1,000 temperature controlled cups of coffee (I generally have 2 or more per day) or 10 cents per cup? For me the answer is definitely yes but for others maybe not. Your results may vary.
Great review! I got a gift card for this and you have answered all my questions. I'm definitely going to enjoyed this. I have a mickey mouse one that heats too hot. I am at my desk constantly and the correct temperature would be nice for coffee or teas. Thanku so much and subbed!
Hey Jesse, really enjoyed your approach here. Thanks for doing this. Overall, really well done. One point where I think you got mixed up and may confuse your viewers: at 3:10 you say that your favorite mug holds 12.5oz of liquid whereas the Ember holds 8.5oz. Then, at 12:54 you indicate that the Ember mug holds “50% less volume than this one”, referencing your fav again. I think you meant to say that your fav mug holds approximately 50% more than the Ember. Again, great video. I bought the 10oz ember hoping it would be great but I found its holding capacity to be far too little for my liking. So, I upgraded to the 14oz Ember which, so far, seems to hold a more satisfying amount of coffee or tea. Using the charging coaster, I have been surprised how long I will nurse a cup whereas I would typically have consumed my coffee as quickly as possible because I love my coffee HOT. It’s been a great purchase for me (Ember Mug2 140oz.). Cheers!
The problem with this review is he doesn’t use the charging base while using. Most people sit at a desk and work. I don’t get the feeling it’s meant to be a cup that heats your old counter coffee or will maintain its heat for hours. With no lid it would eventually evaporate and be bad anyway. But for doing work at your desk, especially if you’re like me and tend to forget you have a coffee going, it’s quite nice to find that it’s still the perfect temp and delicious. Also, they make a larger one now.
Thanks for the comment and I totally hear what you're saying! My contention is this: if it was designed to just sit on the coaster, it's a poorly designed product. You can buy a $20 heated coaster at Target or Amazon that keeps your mug hot while at your desk, lets you use virtually any mug you want, lets you dishwasher or microwave your mug, etc. If the mug doesn't need to heat itself when it's not on the coaster, for example, it shouldn't have a battery! It could just have a heating element it and a mating power connection on the bottom (like electric kettles do). In a nutshell, the only reason it needs to have on-board power is for you to use it away from the base and todays battery tech just doesn't have a high enough energy density to have this make sense. But.... I totally hear that you enjoy using the product and I'm glad that's the case! Despite how it may seem, I'd rather you enjoy the product you bought than not, even if we differ in opinion!
@@LetsOverthinkThis I've tried many of those heated coasters and regular mugs. Too hot and they get a burnt taste. Too cold and they are terrible too. And they're never right. I think it might just be the lack of smart that is the problem. It's not perfect as a product (the price - why!) but the Ember does hold the exact temperature super well. I can take it to my other desk or to a meeting and it continues to hold it's exact temp. It's amazing to actually use. And if the battery does go dead, It's a sign I prolly didn't need that last coffee. One last thing, I'm seeing other similar mugs showing up now. Most with an induction charger that will also charge your phone. So maybe there's a better, cheaper solution out there or will be soon. Thanks for the review and the reply! I'll check out your channel more often.
You need to do more reviews! This is the attention to details that I've been looking for. Everyone focuses on B rolls instead of details about the product.
Jessie, Good video and information. I stumbled on to this mug right before Christmas and hinted to my wife I'd like one. I agree with the volume being low and they definitely need to smooth the sharper edges, but overall it's a good start. I'm the guy that has one cup of coffee in the morning. I take the time to fresh grind my beans because it taste so much better, and so I really hate that I have to rush through the last third of the cup because I can't stand it even being a little bit cool. It's actually been a little weird to get to the bottom of the cup and it's still the 140 degrees. For me, this is a great product. Time will tell how well it was manufactured. For someone like myself who has one or two cups inside of an hour, you're going to love this mug. If you work in an office and can set the charger at your desk, you'll love it. Hot coffee all day! I used it for the third time this morning and have to admit it's really nice to slowly enjoy my coffee.
What about coffee stains. I have my coffee black no sugar. Now even cleaning the mug straight away, it now has a slight brown hue. I also agree that the volume is deceptively small.
Oh man that's a bummer. I didn't see that in the brief time I owned mine. Sorry to hear that.... The ceramic coating should certainly not be porous enough to stain in my opinion.
I have purchased over 6 of these embers with 4 mugs and 3 tumblers. I thought i would be using them more but i eventually ended up selling all of them except three keeping a tumbler for my mother and one of each for me. however i noticed that i got lazy making the coffee and then pouring it into the ember while i could have just used my k CUPS and it makes my coffee for me. What i do enjoy this item for is for a last minute drive in car or if coffee got cold and i put it in there to HARM IT UP. THE ONLY THING I DON'T LIKE AND I DON'T MIND HAD Washing it is the small volume size. i got the 14 oz. mug but even the tumbler is to small. However cool product and I recommend it. but also make sure you look at other smart tumblers or thermos and there are others that might be better. The price is too high for this as I have noticed customers like to purchase this around $80 to $100 which sounds reasonable and a lot of Starbucks stopped carrying them because they kept on getting stolen. of course no security and the product is the most expensive item in there (like everything else, LOL). I will get again in future and have gotten the second edition as well especially the copper special edition just for the cool color and the look when i'm drinking it.
I have this mug. Someone was selling it for $35. I bought it. It originally sells for $100. I do keep the "coaster" plugged in and the cup on top. I agree it has a small capacity. It is not worth more than perhaps $25. I also have a plug in coaster from Brookstone that I can sit any mug on. Flat bottom mugs work best. It's hard to find flat bottom mugs, so I bought the Ember. I would not recommend the Ember.
Sir....u r supposed to drink from that coffee. Meaning the battery will last longer when gradually it will need to keep less and less coffee at that temperature. (Thanks for this video, Subscribed)
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, octap79! Much appreciated. My experience with the mug (and my understanding of how this works) respectfully disagrees, but I could easily be wrong! :) On it's own, the coffee doesn't want to do anything. IE it just sits there at the temperature it's at. The colder environment is what creates the heat loss, and because of the ceramic coating and such, loses most of the heat through the open top. Since that area at the top is always the same, the rate of heat loss is actually always the same. BUT, in fact, the actual DROP (not RATE) in temperature will be FASTER if there is less coffee in the cup because it has less thermal mass. At any rate, the amount of energy the cup has to put into keeping the liquid hot is a function of how much the coffee is losing (IE surface area and loss through insulated surfaces, which is less), not the amount of liquid in there. Where the liquid volume *does* really kick you in the pants is when you have to heat it from a lower temperature, and then the volume of liquid is directly proportional to the energy is takes to heat is, PLUS the thermal loss on top of the that. Anywho, that's my understanding of thermodynamics, but that's not my specialty ;) Either way, appreciate the brain-teaser!
Hi, Jesse...! Great review. I have an Ember Mug - have had it for 2 years today, as a matter of fact. I do love it, but the issues you point out are very real. I keep it on the coaster, but do occasionally pick it up to walk around for a bit, and then set it back down. So, over the course of a day it will gradually lose more and more battery, since (as you pointed out) it can't warm and charge at the same time. Two years in, I have also had some of the coating come off the interior of the cup - especially at the bottom on the inside - and the inside bottom seems to be of a different material. One thing that's come up is that one of the charging pins has now lost its spring - so it won't charge (this happened today). I've seen where I can repair that myself, and I may do so, as the charging coasters are about $35 a piece to replace. Again... great review. I do love the mug...and it was a gift, so even if I had seen your video first I would still have it...but I can simply attest to your being spot on - over my 2 years of experience with it. Thanks - I just stumbled across this and will be looking for more of your videos.
8:30 Well I mean if you are waiting an hour to finish your coffee you must not have really needed it in the first place. Still, though this review along with all the Amazon customer reviews convinced me not to buy it. I do want to say though it seems that a lot of people complained that the inside of their mug chipped but I've noticed the only people that are complaining of that are those that bought the white version of the mug. Not sure why that would be the case
Wow, thank you for the great insight and testing on this product. What a great first video! You've set the bar high for your future videos I'm afraid... :-) Thanks again!
Jesse, Great job with the video!
I've been using my Ember mug daily for almost 4 months now. I originally purchased 2 mugs and an extra charging coaster (3 coasters total). At about the 3 month mark, the ceramic coating started to chip off inside the mug. I always washed by hand but I did use a bristle brush and that could have lead to the chipping. I contacted Ember via email with photos and after asking for the serial number, they sent me a new mug and a return label to send them back the damaged mug.
Before the new mug arrived, two of the coasters stopped working. Shortly after the new mug arrived, the 3rd coaster stopped working and I had no way of charging either mug. Apparently, the gold charging tips are spring loaded to ensure a good contact with the mug when the mug is placed on the saucer. On each saucer, one of the gold contacts lost it's ability to spring back effectively making the saucer useless. I again contacted Ember and they sent me three new saucers...so far so good. They also explained to me that there was a manufacturing issue with some of the batches of saucers and that issue has been resolved (time will tell).
FYI...I drink 2-3 cups of coffee at 140 degrees filled very close to the brim daily in the Ember mug.I almost always keep it on the charging coaster when not in my hands. I drink the coffee fairly slowly throughout the morning between 8:00 am - 11:00am and they only time the battery has gotten low is when I went walking around and left it off the charger.
In one instance, I accidentally left a 3/4ish full cup on the charger one Saturday while I went out to work on the yard. I returned 3-4 hours later and the mug was still at 140 degrees and at least 50% of the coffee had evaporated. Suffice it to say, I think the Ember would evaporate a full mug full of liquid before the battery would die when left on the saucer.
Would love to see a long term review of your experience with the Ember mug. Even with the issues I've had, I think it's worth every penny...assuming Ember stays in business long enough to fix all their growing pains.
It is worth it!!
This guy wrote a chapter 🤔
You don’t need it to set in charging coaster when you drink. I don’t put into the coaster until maybe i have 1/4 left in cup just to boost the charge a little. I usually have setting on table along side the coaster…especially when mug is FULL as I don’t want to get liquid in the coaster…it really is not a drip catching device.
Please review everything ever made.
A great way to save money
Very well done. I was left with no unanswered questions. Thank you.
The most impactful product review I have ever seen. I really enjoyed it!Now in addition to the perks, I have knowledge of the less user friendly aspects of it. I am extremely satisfied to be aware in advance of possible frustrations and the whys of them. For me that Pre awareness defuses them and makes me a savvy user! Thank you 😊
Thanks brother... I've had an Ember for over a year, and because I "nurse" the same cup all morning, it works like a charm! I just bought my wife the travel mug version, and my MIL the larger version for Christmas. And I got a second coaster as a gift! SCORE!
I loved this, Jesse. My sister gave this mug to me because she knows I microwave my coffee straight out of freshly brewed because it's not hot enough. She thought this would solve the problem. I used it a few to,es and discovered it's a total pain. I am a heavy coffee drinker and this mug isn't for people like me! I thought I might have missed something until I listened to you. You are right on the mark. One thing I did think is maybe for tea drinkers it might work because normally they don't drink more than one cup. Not worth the big price tag. Thank you for reafferming what I thought.
Yeah, cut down on that bro.
Your well-executed video answered and clarified my question about my Ember-which I love (mostly because it was a gift from my daughter❤️). From the FAQ available in the app I could not clearly find why one could not use coaster to heat/charge.
You can use the coaster to maintain battery strength, but after removing cup, it used battery to maintain heat, not to re-heat.
Oh and I like the handle “feel” (I have smaller hands and like the delicate feel of the slim edged handle). And I totally get that the charger is meant to appear as a coaster/saucer but-as with a lot of electronics-ought to be kept free of moisture. Just a different perspective there.
Thank you for this great video. It was most helpful and you are a lovely and ingenious man for gong to the effort to do the time lapse sections.
Good review, though I thought I might see a tear-down 😉
As someone who sips on a cup for a long time, this clever device has been a game changer for me. It's particularly nice for being able to enjoy my various white teas and more fragile greens at a slower pace. It's actually great for making gyokuro in, as that tea steeps at only 140F (which is challenging to maintain precisely).
However, I too initially found the capacity a bit inadequate. To solve this, I usually make my tea (or coffee) in a separate vessel, in 16-24oz batches, fill the cup and then reserve the rest in a thermos (which I use to top off the cup until it's all gone).
The battery life isn't much of an issue for me usually, as I keep it on the charger more often than not. The only concern I have is what the overall lifespan of the device - or, more specifically, the batter will be, given the constant switching between (presumably) high drain and fast charge, all while being sandwiched in with a heater...
Ryan Reese totally agree with you. Setting the temp for various drinks has been awesome.
Jesse, THANK YOU for doing this review. Not only did you answer some deeper questions that other reviews have not, but you even provided insights that Ember's website does not cover (I could not find on their if the charger was AC or USB. Perhaps I should have known but I honestly don't know enough about electricity).
With respect to the time the mug keeps things hot or brings cool liquid up to temperature, it's my opinion that Ember envisions most people keeping the mug on the saucer at least 80-90% of the time, and only taking it off to go to a meeting away from your desk, then coming back and putting it right on the charger. I think if you used it that way you would not have a problem. That being said, that does limit the way people can use the mug, which is absolutely a consideration before buying it.
This is my one year follow up report on my Ember mug. It is still working perfectly with no discernible change in the charge dynamics. This may be due to the fact that I rarely discharge it fully. Generally I use it once or twice in the morning for 30 minutes before returning it to the base charger. I have experimented with warming liquids and have discovered that the heating time is substantially shortened by covering the Ember. For example, a full cup of coffee can be heated from 120 degrees to 140 in 9’ 30” while covered but uncovered requires several minutes longer.
Good data! Makes sense.... Heat rises and all thermoses and insulated mugs have lids to keep heat from escaping from the top. Thanks for chiming in and glad you like your mug!
Well made first video! I’d say your arguments are well thought out and the experiments make sense. Personally, I solved the volume issue by simply pouring my extra coffee into a Contigo insulated travel mug, which also keeps the liquid hot, so when I refill my Ember it is still warmer than my desired temperature. The default is 57°C (134.6°F) which I find borderline too hot to drink for filter coffee... I have mine set to 52.5°C (126.5°F), and it tends to last me a couple hours or more (there is some idle time where the cup is empty before I refill). I find it interesting that you enjoy yours above 140°F which is 60°C, but I see how that higher energy demand really cuts into your battery life. But, that’s why it’s customizable! (I do set temperatures higher for other drinks, like French press or hot chocolate). My recommendation to you would be to store your coffee in a way that it can retain its heat - I think that’s far better than re-heating, especially if you are hoping the mug itself will do most of that work.
The reason for the "saucer" is to force alignment with the gold pogo pins. Those pins are the weakest aspect of the design. If the tiny spring breaks or gets gummed up electrical contact can't occur. The design is very vulnerable to a single fragile point of failure. Those pins are not easily replaced. That scenario occurred with the earlier model cup. I'm surprised it was not fixed here by increasing the number of pins for redundancy, or by putting more robust contacts (matching rings?) on the base.
Thank you!
This was very helpful. I'm definitely one of those ppl that nurses 1 cup of coffee for a longer period of time. Which is why I think this works well for me!
I agree with all the critiques in this review. I purchased two mugs and one coaster. I drink tea out of one mug while I leave the other on charge, and after I have finished this one or the battery runs out I take the other mug and fill it with a new cup of tea made on the stove. Why not leave it on the coaster? Try leaving it on the coaster and report back what your experience is. For me, the clear green tea turns into a black muck. Something to do with using AC current and DC current (My theory). The DC that comes via the battery works MUCH MUCH better. The AC current directly from the socket (thanks tesla!) will muck your tea up.
Excellent product review! This is the type of review I'm always hoping to find on RUclips. I can see this channel really taking off. I've liked the video and subscribed. The only critique I would make is that the opening Jesse Makes credits at 0:42 seems unnecessary. We know what channel we're visiting, and you shouldn't have to ask us to "stick around." If you're committed to it, perhaps you move it to the closing. Overall, I'm excited to see what you do next! Thanks for making this video.
I disagree. First visit to this channel. If I hadn't seen that intro I'd think this was a mug review channel.
Great video. I've use the ember for about a year and my biggest problem is the charging "coaster". I've gone through two of them already. I think the reason they want you to dry the mug before placing it on the coaster is because liquid will get into the charging pins and damage the springs inside of them. This means the pins will push down and not push back up causing them to lose contact with the bottom of the mug preventing it from charging. My biggest mistake was thinking that the charging coaster was a charger *and* a coaster. They need to improve the battery and charging mechanism before this becomes a viable product. Especially for something that costs $140 for a standard size mug.
Yes, its $170 AUD in Australia and the 240ml of liquid is far too little for me, I want more like 450ml and expect to be able to use the coaster/saucer as exactly that, be able to catch spills as they often occur to a small degree, drips at least. the Mug size isn't available in Australia and perhaps that's a good thing as its saved me a lot of money. Thanks for your comments.
Great review! You made some great points. Specially about the use case you described which is also pretty much the way mine gets used. I found this review only because I was having issues with my Ember mug I purchased a few days ago. I must mention that after encountering the battery life issues you described I don't turn the mug on immediately since I brew my coffee at around 190F. I wait until it's around the temperature I want it to be held at and then turn the mug on. I haven't timed it but I would think those few minutes of not monitoring the temperature and communicating that via bluetooth should extend battery life a bit.
This is the best review I've ever seen. From one engineer to another, truly appreciate your analysis. You need to do more novel electronics reviews!
Thanks my friend! They are super time-consuming so I haven't done many but I much appreciate the comment 👏
Pam here….I just got the Copper Ember mug, and I love it! I love that my coffee and tea stays the ‘fresh/hot’ taste to the last drop. Mine is bigger than yours. Hhhmmm. It holds the full amt of the largest kuerig brew. It is a little full but I’m fine with that. I only use the saucer to charge the mug. when drinking i use mug sitting on table…don’t need a coaster as it is not HOT to damage it.
Glad it works for you! I'd way rather that than more landfill 🙂
Your 'use cases' completely overlook the most common scenario which is that users actually drink the liquid in the mug. Drinking the liquid reduces the amount of liquid to be heated and therefore drastically increases the time available to keep your liquid at your preferred temp. This is a huge point and a huge oversight in your review frankly. Realistically nobody has a full mug after an hour. Secondly, the handle has in my opinion, extremely satisfying ergonimics and the semi-matte finish only aids with the wonderful tactile feel of the entire mug. It's beautiful to hold and to sip from. Pure satisfaction. Everyone who sees mine wants to touch it and hold it which speaks volumes. Furthermore the newer version is larger with improved heating. All said, this is an amazing product and upon reflection I see a huge possibility that as a competing designer you're jealous of the product. Haters gonna hate.
Wow. That answered all of my questions. I wanted a mug that would last a long time without a charging plate and now i have my answer. Excellent job.
Thanks for the kudos! Much appreciated.
The main problem, missed in this review, is with the fragility of the spring inside the pogo pins on the charging coaster. Pin collapse due to spring failure occurred with both the old-style mug and with the new. This is an obvious design problem that should have been resolved before the product saw the light of day. The entire functionality depends on a teeny, tiny spring that is heavily exercised. An obvious highly fragile critical single point of failure. At the very least the pogo pin assembly should be easily accessible and easily replaceable, and a small supply (half a dozen) spares should be included with the product.
Good call out! I returned mine way before I hit this problem. But yes, does look like a huge design oversight.
Thank you for reviewing this in this manner with unbiased real world test results. Was thinking about purchasing this right before I watched this. Have since decided I'll wait until it's improved. The battery life is too short in my opinion. The whole idea of the mug is to prolong your cup of coffee if your busy and not drinking it very fast. And it does do this but barely before your out of battery.
If I was to use it in a cooler environment such as walking out to my shop, it would only make the battery life that much worse.
Great job and great review. Subscribed.
Was thinking of getting this as a gift and your review was much more helpful than many other videos. I appreciated the extra mile you went through while making this video.
Fantastic quality, delivery, and informational layout. Really enjoyed how in-depth you went with this. Congrats on a really solid first upload.
The charging set up between the saucer and the mug completely changed my mind about buying this thing. Thanks for the review.
I've owned this mug for about a week and I'm pretty happy with it so far. I purchased the 14oz size, and when I brew 12 oz, it fills it up almost to the brim. Also, I don't have the problem of a second cup being cooler and needing to be warmed up. I brew one cup at a time, so it's always plenty hot. As an aside, I also just purchased a Ninja Dual Brew, which allows me to brew single cups or a carafe full, and I do NOT use disposable pods.
Glad you are enjoying it! Curious, how long do you take to drink that one cup at a time that you make?
I keep the coaster plugged in at my work desk and if I need to walk away with my coffee it is always charged and ready to withstand my “20-30 min” break away from my desk keeping my coffee hot at all times that I need it to be. I did find this review pretty interesting and definitely worth the watch as it is great to know the limits of my mug as I didn’t think nor plan to run these types of tests to find out. I appreciate the time you put into this video. I did feel like you wanted me to not appreciate the mug as much as I do, however that may come with the territory of your personal profession and being a designer of products yourself! (Don’t be so hard on my mug, even when you’re making valid points lol) All In All Awesome Review From A Cool Guy ! ✨🥂😂🙏🏼
Thanks and glad you appreciated it on the whole! To be frank, I would way rather people enjoy products they bought! It breaks my heart to see products put into the world at great human and material expense only to not meet peoples wants or needs so I'm genuinely glad it meets yours!
The HANDLE is actually for me a better design, larger round handles require you to use more pressure because its round shape doesn't allow any leverage against your hand. The SMALL 8-9OZ SIZE was kind of a turn off, but as a slow coffee drinker you'll get used to not noticing you're drinking less coffee because you actually end up drinking more that before (when you used to just dump it out because its been cold for so long) . I definitely vote for INDUCTION CHARGING.. but I wonder if that would be too slow to charge and keep hot simultaneously? I don't think your usual case scenario is (the usual). And in that case... you can place it on the coaster while it climbs in temperature and problems solved.
That was amazing and so practical. So much more useful than any other review I've seen of this mug. Thank you!
Very in-depth review. I actually have the travel mug and believe optimal usage (for mug and/or cup) is some combination of battery and resting it on the coaster when not drinking. On weekends I drink multiple cups of coffee throughout the morning/afternoon. The Ember has allowed me to enjoy perfect coffee well into mid-afternoon without ever using the microwave.
Thanks for the comment, Corey! Yeah, I actually think the coaster kind of solves a lot of the issues I had with it, so long as you're willing to rest it on there between sips (or at least occasionally). Either way, thanks for watching and commenting!
The saucer thing bothered me as well. There is a little notch where the bottom and electronics meet that would probably keep stray drips from actually making it to the saucer.
I've been using mine about a week now and love it; keeps my tea and coffee hot as long as it takes to drink it. I think the use case you tested for though was appropriate for the travel mug. I have the saucer at my desk and usually have the cup sitting on the saucer. The battery is kicking in when drinking, walking around and when I'm in meetings.
I did test the heating capability while on the saucer and the mug did heat ice water to my desired temperature of 135. Not exactly the fastest way to heat water but it managed it. One thing I've yet to test is if the cup helps cool the coffee down any faster than ceramic. Being too hot is as much of a problem for me as too cold.
The white ones stain like crap, but these are the only mugs to have.
This is fantastic. A very thorough review that actually tells viewers how a product will behave rather than one which is a longwinded "I (dis)liked it". One small thing: I think with anything technical, Celsius (at least) would be appreciated, since it is used in most of the world and in most of science as well (and hey Kelvin is just shifted Celsius anyway). Similarly for lengths the metric system is more appropriate, and volumes litres (which are metric) etc. if the target audience is 'everyone'. No harm in mentioning Fahrenheit, ounces, feet & inches values as well, but they are less universal. I'm sure you know all this of course, but thought I should point it out.
Thanks for the kudos and totally fair points on the units! 👍
@@LetsOverthinkThis Awesome!
Interesting review, I just received one as a gift. I haven't used it. The quick start manual says how to charge it but doesn't say anything how to use it. I expected it would turn on with hot liquid, but that's something I think they should have mentioned. The box says 14oz. this a Mug2, perhaps it's larger.
I was very disappointed when you mentioned capacity. I am one that slowly enjoys my coffee but like it hot. My go to mug is an stainless steel dual wall "thermos type" mug that will take 14oz and have room to slosh or apply the lid. It keeps the coffee pretty warm for over an hour or more. It was $10 on Amazon. Oddly enough, it has a tubular stainless handle. It also works well with cold beverages.
I've had the original ember mug (which is more of a thermos rather than a mug) for coming up on a year. One thing i take issue with your use case is this, for me, i'm at a desk almost always when i am drinking coffee. So i have bought an extra charge dock to have on my work desk, and one to have at my home desk. So in the morning, i fill it up and immediately put it back on the dock, and while in use, i leave it on the dock. I take it off to sip, and it goes right back on. Using it this way essentially gives you unlimited run time. So the only time the battery is actually in use is if i get up to visit someones office and take it with me, or, on my travel to work in the car.
Now one thing i do wish they had was a car charger, and they've said theyre working on this, but i've yet to hear any updates on this. But if you use it in the way i've described, where its almost always at rest on the dock itself, the issue with low run time is much less of an issue. In fact, i put room temperature coffee in my ember all the time, and as long as its on the dock, it will not use any battery, and it also heats up to my also desired 140 degrees much faster than yours did. Another thing i'd mention is theres really no reason to dispose of the coffee after 20 minutes. I've poured coffee on a "light coffee day" at 8am and nursed it all day long, still having coffee at the perfect temperature by noon, or even later. Getting rid of the coffee after 20 minutes is kind of defeating the purpose of the mug.
Also, as the amount of liquid goes down in the mug, the amount of energy required to keep the liquid at a certain temperature also goes down. The other issue i have with the new ceramic mug is that the amount of energy required in an open lid environment is much greater than my ember mug, which has a closed sealed lid.
If i leave the lid off of my ember mug the battery depletes at a much faster rate than if i put the lid in place, opening it only when taking a drink.
All in all i think you did a good job of indicating some of the limitations of using a small battery mounted heating element in a mug, but if your use case is like mine, where the mug can be on the charger almost all the time except in transit, or short trips away from the dock before being promptly put back on the dock when returning to your desk, its actually been quite an amazing product. Obviously if you're up and moving around all the time instead of sedentary, your experience will be much different. Sorry about the wall of text!
>as the amount of liquid goes down in the mug, the amount of energy required to keep the liquid at a certain temperature also goes down.
Very good point. @Jesse, How about a short follow-up video where you remove, say, 10% from the cup every 10 or 5 minutes and see how much that effects the battery life?
Commenting on an old video, but thanks for it. What I didn't expect (just received an Ember Mug 2) was the power supply requirements. Where I work at home, there's few sockets and the hope had been to run the coaster off USB. So now I'm having to jerryrig something to get mains to a coffee table. PITA.
Just found your videos this morning, great stuff nice...
Looking at this great explanation of the mug I just got for Xmas-2018. Snd trying out for the first time. I’d like to say it takes forever to reach temps., specially above 123!.. so unless you are pouring say coffee already super hot, patience is needed. Best use is to just keep a cup of coffee from getting too cold, cause I like my coffee hotter than their 145 max. Great channel, thanks!
Thank you so much for your video. I was looking everywhere for the material the mug was made and couldn’t find it. This definitely effects whether I would buy it or not. 👍🏻
please come back, just found and would have loved to follow all your reviews!
Thanks so much! It's super time consuming to do this so I just do it when I have time. But I do appreciate the encouragement!
Great review! Helped with my decision making during the gift purchasing perspective. Would have bought six for gifts but really liked your review about the 'saucer' and the other user comfort design approaches such as the limited handle shape. TY
Really enjoyed your style. You’re a professional to the core. I’m glad your review was so detailed and crystal clear. I won’t be buying this mug.
Much obliged
Thank you! Its incredibly time consuming to make these videos so I appreciate your comments!
Great start for your channel Jesse. I subscribed-and clicked the bell too!
.LAG
Wasn't sure on this potential purchase. Now not going to get it until the current price is halved. Thanks!
Love what you're pointing out! Just wanted to mention that Folgers in a batch brew (adding cooler coffee made earlier to the Ember) doesn't seem like a great use-case to me. In my mind, it's for craft coffee. Keeping it at that perfect temperature for the most taste/noted on your expensive beans.
Heya and thanks for the comment! Not sure where Folgers came from... As an example I make a chemex pour over of good coffee I grind in my conical burr grinder etc. But the Ember holds so few ounces and inevitably I then need to go back and get more from the Chemex which has already cooled. Your point is totally sound: reheating good coffee isn't the best idea, but just wanted to clear the air here that no Folgers is involved 😉
Great review. Matches my current experience with it. I've also found it substantially slows down it's charge when it has a liquid in the cup and it's on the saucer. It is nice to drink that last bit of coffee and it's still hot.
This was great. I find it funny how all the Ember videos and marketing shows it looking like the coaster is indeed wireless with an option to connect it to the charger. I figured the coaster had a small internal battery to be able to place the mug on it at your kitchen table and enjoy your coffee. If they changed it to be a wireless charging pad with a battery I think it'd be a much better gadget.
Thanks for the review. FWIW, another datapoint. The charger for Mug 2 uses 3.8w - 4.3w of energy when it's recharging.
Actually, damn you already covered this at 4:30 mark. You're really comprehensive!
subbed at 954. love the analysis and the mentioning of things that other reviews didn't like the feel of the handle. You answered questions I didn't even know I had. Please review everything ever made.
Thank you! Such a great compliment and I'm glad you enjoyed the review 😊
Nice review, im doing Christmas shopping and this was probably the best review i saw
Glad you enjoyed it! It was one of my first videos and it's great to hear it's still being watched 😉
Excellent review! Thanks for taking the time to do this. You covered things about this mug that I didn't even think about, but would have surely led to my disappointment after purchasing the mug. I am an avid tea drinker and wanted a way to keep my tea warm. I may just go old school and use a tea light candle and cast iron pot. Thanks again and Happy New Year!
Brilliant, detailed summation. I really appreciate your diligent review. Very informative!
I was on the fence about this $79+ mug but you pointed out my exact use case: I’m a person that drinks, typically, just one cup sloooowly over an hour to an hour and a half while I read the morning paper, read a book, etc. I don’t drink 80 cups of coffee/tea needing a refill every 20 minutes. Nope. Just my one cup getting cold pretty quickly and pissed I have to get up every 10 minutes to heat it back up in the microwave or drink room temperature tea that tastes yucky!
Also, I will be placing the cup on the saucer whenever I’m not actively drinking from it so I can go even longer than 58 minutes because the saucer and the cup will be almost constantly drawing power, prolonging the overall time I I have to drink my tea at the perfect temperature. 😉
I’m sold. I’m going to hunt down one at a Starbucks or buy one directly from Ember. Thanks again and keep up the nice videos! 👍
i recently received one of these mugs as a gift and quickly discovered an unexpected benefit of this item. Perhaps this has already been mentioned previously in the chat; I haven't read the other comments. The fresh brewed coffee from my French press pours at 170 degrees F or thereabouts. I tend to drink it fast because hey, who wants cold coffee. As a physician I know there are theoretical risks to consuming overly hot liquids (roughly warmer than 140F) but I pretty much assumed I was OK and never worried about it. I still don't worry about it- the risk being quite small in my view- but guided by the information provided by the Ember app I have slightly modified my behavior to allow my coffee to cool slightly to 145 degrees before consuming it. Will this have any demonstrable health benefits for me? Unlikely since I am 69 and have been drinking too hot coffee for 50 years or so but I am quite impressed by the efficacy of this device as a behavior modification tool.
Pam here….I keep mine at 145. Which is the right amount of hat without burning my tongue! I find I can sip my coffee/tea at my pace, not having to gulp it down before getting cold or having to toss out. I can enjoy every last drop.
@@KeithandPamBilyeu Absolutely true. There are few things in life more satisfying then returning to your mug and discovering that the last ounce is still at the perfect drinking temperature while still tasting like it was just poured.
I received a mug as a gift recently and found your critiques to be similar to mine (you are an excellent reviewer btw). Indeed, as you predicted, I have moved the "coaster" to my typical work desk (wood) since i need the coffee to stay warm > 1 hour, but found myself trying to place soda cans (as I transition from coffee to soda on some days) on the coaster and then realizing I could "short out" the base!
I got an Ember mug for Christmas because I'm constantly running back and forth to the microwave to warm up my latte which I like to drink hot. As Jesse pointed out, this mug does not bring liquids up to temperature. So I was disappointed to learn that I had to use another mug to mix my expresso and cold mild into, zap that in the microwave and then pour it into my Ember mug (leaving me with 2 dirty mugs). 1 month ago, my Ember mug stopped charging despite using all precautions (drying fully, leaving mug on coaster which is always plugged in after use, hand washing mug). Troubleshooting on the Ember site didn't help. RUclips has a lot of people with similar charging problems. Often the culprit is the gold prongs on the saucer that don't spring back but that's not the case with my saucer...I don't know why mine isn't charging anymore. I haven't contacted Ember yet about it yet.
Jesse, I enjoyed your thorough review.
mine did. I do drip coffee and use lots of (cold) creamer. went from 100-130 degrees.
Great video! Very thorough. I respect the brand change, it fits your analytical approach. :)
Awesome! Thank you!
I know this is an older video, but I just picked up one of these. The only real way to use it is as you said at the end- Keep it on the saucer at your desk. Then you can move around with a bit and still have warm coffee. But not for long.
I like it as overpriced as it is. PS: Bought the larger version 😉
Thanks for the comment and glad you like it! Despite what people seem to think I'd prefer it if people actually enjoy the product they bought. 😉
Clear honest review, Jesse, thank you. Valuable for someone on the verge of picking this thing up to know the cons then make an informed decision.
Maybe, going forward, your tagline might be "Make more informed decisions." All best.
Given how much energy it takes to raise the temperature of water, I think your criticism of the little battery in the mug is a bit harsh. The battery is obviously there to keep things warm, not warm them up in the first place. If you put the mug on its saucer it warms your cold coffee up and then even sends a message to your phone when it's perfect.
Totally a fair opinion. For the record I bought it exactly for what you mentioned and only made the video because it didn't serve that purpose.... If I have to put it on the saucer it may as well be a ten dollar hot plate and at least then I can microwave the cup too. And the battery simply cannot keep the mug hot for very long. But I do agree it's a small battery and energy densities aren't there yet for use cases like this. That's why I don't think it's a badly designed product from a heating perspective.... Just one that in my opinion needn't have been made.
But again, I'm happy when people like it. I'm just sharing my experience with it
Awesome. Love it. Keep em coming. Would love some product recommendations from you. Put out a top 10 list!
My last comment on this product (I promise). I have now used it daily for 465 days and sometimes multiple times per day. Today I tested how long the charge still lasts. There is inherently variability in this because the mug uses more energy to keep say 6 ounces warm than 2 ounces. Also, I keep my coffee at 145 degrees. If it was instead set at 135 the effective charge duration would be longer. Anyway, for about 4 ounces of liquid uncovered at 145 degrees after 16 months of use the mug still maintains the target temperature for 54 minutes. Compared to the original 75 minutes (from memory-I didn’t review the video) this is a reduction of 36% which is substantial but the mug is still quite useful, at least for my purposes.
Based on this data, is it worth investing $100 for at least 1,000 temperature controlled cups of coffee (I generally have 2 or more per day) or 10 cents per cup? For me the answer is definitely yes but for others maybe not. Your results may vary.
Great review! I got a gift card for this and you have answered all my questions. I'm definitely going to enjoyed this. I have a mickey mouse one that heats too hot. I am at my desk constantly and the correct temperature would be nice for coffee or teas.
Thanku so much and subbed!
Great video! Your product designer prespective is very interesting and I'd love to see you review more items this way! Keep it up
Thank you! This was very comprehensive and helpful!
Glad it helped!
Hey Jesse, really enjoyed your approach here. Thanks for doing this. Overall, really well done. One point where I think you got mixed up and may confuse your viewers: at 3:10 you say that your favorite mug holds 12.5oz of liquid whereas the Ember holds 8.5oz. Then, at 12:54 you indicate that the Ember mug holds “50% less volume than this one”, referencing your fav again. I think you meant to say that your fav mug holds approximately 50% more than the Ember. Again, great video. I bought the 10oz ember hoping it would be great but I found its holding capacity to be far too little for my liking. So, I upgraded to the 14oz Ember which, so far, seems to hold a more satisfying amount of coffee or tea. Using the charging coaster, I have been surprised how long I will nurse a cup whereas I would typically have consumed my coffee as quickly as possible because I love my coffee HOT. It’s been a great purchase for me (Ember Mug2 140oz.). Cheers!
very insightful, thanks for pointing things out that normal reviews don't
Nice review. I was considering buying one of these. The direct contact metal charger is a deal-breaker for me. I thought the charger used a coil.
This is a good review. But, I still love my ember. Had it for over 6 months and I enjoy hot coffee at my desk and it’s truly awesome.
Glad you do! Not trying to take anyone's enjoyment away 😊
Wow, your videos are incredible. I hope you start making more again.
Thanks! Only had time to do them when I was between jobs as they're super time consuming. Much appreciate the kudos though!
The problem with this review is he doesn’t use the charging base while using. Most people sit at a desk and work.
I don’t get the feeling it’s meant to be a cup that heats your old counter coffee or will maintain its heat for hours. With no lid it would eventually evaporate and be bad anyway.
But for doing work at your desk, especially if you’re like me and tend to forget you have a coffee going, it’s quite nice to find that it’s still the perfect temp and delicious.
Also, they make a larger one now.
Thanks for the comment and I totally hear what you're saying! My contention is this: if it was designed to just sit on the coaster, it's a poorly designed product. You can buy a $20 heated coaster at Target or Amazon that keeps your mug hot while at your desk, lets you use virtually any mug you want, lets you dishwasher or microwave your mug, etc. If the mug doesn't need to heat itself when it's not on the coaster, for example, it shouldn't have a battery! It could just have a heating element it and a mating power connection on the bottom (like electric kettles do). In a nutshell, the only reason it needs to have on-board power is for you to use it away from the base and todays battery tech just doesn't have a high enough energy density to have this make sense.
But.... I totally hear that you enjoy using the product and I'm glad that's the case! Despite how it may seem, I'd rather you enjoy the product you bought than not, even if we differ in opinion!
@@LetsOverthinkThis I've tried many of those heated coasters and regular mugs. Too hot and they get a burnt taste. Too cold and they are terrible too. And they're never right. I think it might just be the lack of smart that is the problem.
It's not perfect as a product (the price - why!) but the Ember does hold the exact temperature super well. I can take it to my other desk or to a meeting and it continues to hold it's exact temp. It's amazing to actually use. And if the battery does go dead, It's a sign I prolly didn't need that last coffee.
One last thing, I'm seeing other similar mugs showing up now. Most with an induction charger that will also charge your phone. So maybe there's a better, cheaper solution out there or will be soon.
Thanks for the review and the reply! I'll check out your channel more often.
Wow!!! All the information I was wanting!!! Thank you so much!!!!
great review. Thank you. There's an "Ember mug 2" - I'd love to hear if you have any thoughts on that one
You need to do more reviews! This is the attention to details that I've been looking for. Everyone focuses on B rolls instead of details about the product.
Thank you! Takes a lot of time but I'm glad you appreciate it! 😁
excellent I got one today as a gift. I really enjoy the mug ... I do wish there was more battery potential.
Great review! I appreciated the details you summed up and allowed me to come to a decision regarding this expensive purchase. THANK YOU!
Greatest review ever! I’m with K Arny...please review EVERYTHING!
Finally an honest rewiev!
I would call it a mood saver, or they should market it like this. It works perfectly fine, and I am delighted with every buck I've spent.
Great!
Jessie,
Good video and information.
I stumbled on to this mug right before Christmas and hinted to my wife I'd like one.
I agree with the volume being low and they definitely need to smooth the sharper edges, but overall it's a good start.
I'm the guy that has one cup of coffee in the morning. I take the time to fresh grind my beans because it taste so much better, and so I really hate that I have to rush through the last third of the cup because I can't stand it even being a little bit cool. It's actually been a little weird to get to the bottom of the cup and it's still the 140 degrees.
For me, this is a great product. Time will tell how well it was manufactured.
For someone like myself who has one or two cups inside of an hour, you're going to love this mug. If you work in an office and can set the charger at your desk, you'll love it. Hot coffee all day!
I used it for the third time this morning and have to admit it's really nice to slowly enjoy my coffee.
I love the handle
One thing I'd like to know is...are the coaster plates interchangable ie. the travel mug on a basic coaster. I subscribed as well!
What about coffee stains. I have my coffee black no sugar. Now even cleaning the mug straight away, it now has a slight brown hue. I also agree that the volume is deceptively small.
Oh man that's a bummer. I didn't see that in the brief time I owned mine. Sorry to hear that.... The ceramic coating should certainly not be porous enough to stain in my opinion.
Thank you that observation. Very well explained.
Thanks!
Thanks for the review, I hada few questions that you answered and others failed to do so, please make more reviews from more products
I have purchased over 6 of these embers with 4 mugs and 3 tumblers. I thought i would be using them more but i eventually ended up selling all of them except three keeping a tumbler for my mother and one of each for me. however i noticed that i got lazy making the coffee and then pouring it into the ember while i could have just used my k CUPS and it makes my coffee for me. What i do enjoy this item for is for a last minute drive in car or if coffee got cold and i put it in there to HARM IT UP. THE ONLY THING I DON'T LIKE AND I DON'T MIND HAD Washing it is the small volume size. i got the 14 oz. mug but even the tumbler is to small. However cool product and I recommend it. but also make sure you look at other smart tumblers or thermos and there are others that might be better. The price is too high for this as I have noticed customers like to purchase this around $80 to $100 which sounds reasonable and a lot of Starbucks stopped carrying them because they kept on getting stolen. of course no security and the product is the most expensive item in there (like everything else, LOL). I will get again in future and have gotten the second edition as well especially the copper special edition just for the cool color and the look when i'm drinking it.
Thank very well done
I have this mug. Someone was selling it for $35. I bought it. It originally sells for $100. I do keep the "coaster" plugged in and the cup on top. I agree it has a small capacity. It is not worth more than perhaps $25. I also have a plug in coaster from Brookstone that I can sit any mug on. Flat bottom mugs work best. It's hard to find flat bottom mugs, so I bought the Ember. I would not recommend the Ember.
I will watch any reviews you put up:) very professionally done. Kudos!
Great job, Jesse. Exactly the aspects that I wondered about with this product. Keep up the good work.
Sir....u r supposed to drink from that coffee. Meaning the battery will last longer when gradually it will need to keep less and less coffee at that temperature. (Thanks for this video, Subscribed)
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, octap79! Much appreciated. My experience with the mug (and my understanding of how this works) respectfully disagrees, but I could easily be wrong! :) On it's own, the coffee doesn't want to do anything. IE it just sits there at the temperature it's at. The colder environment is what creates the heat loss, and because of the ceramic coating and such, loses most of the heat through the open top. Since that area at the top is always the same, the rate of heat loss is actually always the same. BUT, in fact, the actual DROP (not RATE) in temperature will be FASTER if there is less coffee in the cup because it has less thermal mass. At any rate, the amount of energy the cup has to put into keeping the liquid hot is a function of how much the coffee is losing (IE surface area and loss through insulated surfaces, which is less), not the amount of liquid in there. Where the liquid volume *does* really kick you in the pants is when you have to heat it from a lower temperature, and then the volume of liquid is directly proportional to the energy is takes to heat is, PLUS the thermal loss on top of the that. Anywho, that's my understanding of thermodynamics, but that's not my specialty ;) Either way, appreciate the brain-teaser!
Like the detailed longterm view, that is not in all the basic reviews ;) Please keep it up ;)
You did a great job with this video. Thank you
Glad you liked it! 🙌
Hi, Jesse...! Great review. I have an Ember Mug - have had it for 2 years today, as a matter of fact. I do love it, but the issues you point out are very real. I keep it on the coaster, but do occasionally pick it up to walk around for a bit, and then set it back down. So, over the course of a day it will gradually lose more and more battery, since (as you pointed out) it can't warm and charge at the same time. Two years in, I have also had some of the coating come off the interior of the cup - especially at the bottom on the inside - and the inside bottom seems to be of a different material. One thing that's come up is that one of the charging pins has now lost its spring - so it won't charge (this happened today). I've seen where I can repair that myself, and I may do so, as the charging coasters are about $35 a piece to replace.
Again... great review. I do love the mug...and it was a gift, so even if I had seen your video first I would still have it...but I can simply attest to your being spot on - over my 2 years of experience with it. Thanks - I just stumbled across this and will be looking for more of your videos.
Hey thank you, this was a very justified review on this product. Thank you for the honesty and presentation it has been extremely informative.
I just got the travel mug 2 and so far i like it i got it for less than £80
Great!
You're natural Jesse, keep them coming!
+Sam Saliba thanks sam!
8:30 Well I mean if you are waiting an hour to finish your coffee you must not have really needed it in the first place. Still, though this review along with all the Amazon customer reviews convinced me not to buy it. I do want to say though it seems that a lot of people complained that the inside of their mug chipped but I've noticed the only people that are complaining of that are those that bought the white version of the mug. Not sure why that would be the case
Fantastic review. Nice to see some real world practicality rather than a focus on theoreticals. You have another subscriber.
Wow, thank you for the great insight and testing on this product. What a great first video! You've set the bar high for your future videos I'm afraid... :-) Thanks again!
Best review on Ember I have seen, you were fair and unbias, thank you.