Ember Smart Mug 2 on Sale: Keeps Coffee Warm for Hours
The pitch is simple: you set a target temperature anywhere from 120°F to 145°F using either the app or the wheel on the bottom of the mug, and the Ember holds your drink there — not for 20 minutes, but for hours. My morning pour-over stays at 135°F from the first sip until I’m done reading the news. That’s the whole point, and the mug delivers.
Some things that stood out after using it for a while:
- Battery life: About 80–90 minutes on a full charge when you’re sipping away from the charging coaster. If you’re parked on the coaster, it stays indefinitely, which is how I use it 90% of the time.
- App control: The app works fine, but honestly the physical control on the mug is enough. Twist the bottom to change temperature, tap to switch from Celsius to Fahrenheit. The app is only really useful for presets per drink type.
- Not a sealed mug: It’s an open ceramic cup, so don’t expect insulation in the thermos sense. The heating element is doing all the work. That also means the outside can get slightly warm, but not hot enough to be uncomfortable.
- Capacity: 10 oz for the standard model, 14 oz for the XL. The 10 oz is fine for a proper coffee cup, but if you drink the American-sized monster cups, get the XL.
- Dishwasher? No, hand wash only. The manual is pretty clear about that, and I’ve been following it religiously.
Is it worth it at full price? That’s a tougher call. But at a sale price — and the source mentions it’s currently discounted — it starts to make sense, especially if you work from home or have a desk setup where you constantly walk away for meetings and come back to a tepid drink.
One thing that surprised me: the mug is not just for coffee. I’ve used it for tea, hot chocolate, and even warm lemon water. It holds any liquid that you don’t want to cool down. There’s also a companion travel lid that turns it into a closed cup for commuting, though that adds extra cost and makes the battery drain faster.
If you’re on the fence, my advice is to think about your actual drinking habits. Do you finish a cup in five minutes? Skip it. Do you nurse a coffee for half an hour while answering emails? Then the Ember Smart Mug 2 is one of those small comfort upgrades that quietly eliminates a daily annoyance. The sale makes it easier to justify, but even without the discount, the value shows itself every time you take a sip that’s exactly the right temperature.