While coffee may not be everyone's cup of tea, there is nothing like a good, strong cuppa to shake the dread of waking up for work and to keep you going while at work!
That's probably why thermal flasks are so popular and useful to keep your favourite hot beverage piping hot throughout the day. Thermal flasks do an excellent job of maintaining temperature but, if you want a bit more flexibility and control, you can only get it with the Ember Mug 2 cup.
The Ember Mug 2 will prevent a cup of hot drink from going cold, which is useful if you are someone with hectic days. Not only Ember Mug 2 prevents a cup of tea or coffee from going cold, it also lets you maintain a specific hot temperature of your choosing.
The base of the Ember Mug 2 has a circular, outer rubber ring, two circular gold-plated inner contacts and a large button for power/bluetooth connection. The Ember Mug 2 also includes a matching ceramic saucer with a 4.4-inch diameter that fits the base of the Mug 2 snugly.
The Ember Mug 2 saucer doubles as charging dock station to recharge the Ember Mug 2. The Ember Mug 2 saucer has two small gold-plated charging prongs on top with a rubberized base that prevents the saucer from sliding off.
The Ember Mug 2 charging saucer features a DC barrel port on the backside for connecting the saucer to an electrical wall socket with voltage between 100VAC and 240VAC; hence you can take the Ember Mug 2 traveling with you and recharge it anywhere in the world. A power adapter with 1.25 meter long lead is included, as well as two plugs for US and UK plug sockets.
Being DC operated and requiring 19V/2.1A to operate, the Ember Mug 2 charging saucer cannot be recharged via a regular power bank or computer USB port. The Ember Mug 2 is made of two sections with the bottom section, housing the electronic components, including a long, narrow led status indicator, bluetooth radio and heating coil.
The top section houses the beverage and can hold approximately 300ml (10oz), which is the standard cup size of a coffee cup and, 50ml smaller than the 350ml (12oz) size of a disposable coffee cup you get from coffee-shops.
The Ember Mug 2 has a 3-3-inch diameter, measuring 4.2 inches tall and 4.3 inches wide (including the grab handle). When empty, the Ember Mug 2 weighs 410 grams so, it's approximately 100 grams heavier than the standard 12oz 340 gram ceramic mug.
The status led light on the bottom front of the mug is designed to feedback when the drink is reaching target temperature and when target temperature has reached. The led indicator also lights up when recharging the internal dual lithium-ion batteries inside the mug. Full charge takes approximately 2 hours and can power the Ember Mug 2 for 1.5 hours at a target temperature of 57 degrees Celsius.
The Ember Mug 2 is able to hold charge very well when not in use so, it has a long standby time of few months before the internal batteries completely discharge. That said, you cannot charge the Ember Mug 2 while it is in operation unless the mug is actually empty or powered off.
To preserve battery, the Ember Mug 2 has been integrated with an accelerometer timer that automatically turns off, after counting down 2 hours of inactivity. This means, if the accelerometer doesn't detect or sense any movement during 2 hours, it will power off the mug so, you will have to pair the mug again. You can reset the accelerometer timer by simply moving the mug periodically.
The Ember Mug 2 works in conjunction with the Ember Temperature Matters mobile app, which is available for both Android devices (Android 4.4+) and iOS devices (iOS 10.0+).
The Ember app acts as the remote control for controlling the functionality of the mug, which is to keep drinks warmed up at a specific temperature between 50 degrees Celsius and 62.5 degrees Celsius. By default, the Ember Mug 2 is set to keep the drink at 57 C degrees Celsius.
The Ember Mug 2 can technically heat a cold drink but it takes longer than you would want to wait. The colder the drink, the longer it takes. The Ember Mug 2 works best as intended and that is with hot drinks, which need to be above 37.8 degrees Celsius (lukewarm temperature).
The reason why the drink needs to be above 37.8 degrees Celsius is for the internal temperature sensor to automatically recognize the drink. If you pour a drink below 37.8 degrees Celsius, the Ember Mug 2 won't automatically recognize it, unless you manually do it from the Ember app.
The Ember app is easy to use and navigate. After downloading the app, you simply follow the prompts for pairing the mug to the app via bluetooth connection and then, register an Ember account. You can also sign in with a Google or Facebook account, instead.
Once signed up, you will have access to several menus, including the RGB Slider where you can change and adjust the color of the led light indicator of the Ember Mug 2, as well as the Temperature Slider, which makes a quirky sound when sliding from left to right.
The Ember app also shows the percentage of battery left in the Ember Mug 2, as well as firmware and notifications, which you can enable and disable if you want to see messages popup on your phone about drink temperature and battery.
The Ember app also contains handy recipes, as well as temperature presets and a tea timer for green tea, black tea and herbal tea.
There are two safety warnings on the user guide that say do not microwave Ember or put it inside a dishwasher; hence the Ember Mug 2 is not microwaveable nor dishwasher safe. The again, being an electronic device, it is not surprising.
The Ember Mug 2 can be hand washed though, using warm, soapy water and a soft sponge but, it must be allowed to dry off completely before placing it on the saucer. You also want to make sure to use a soft sponge, not a scourer which will scratch the ceramic coating that has been applied to the stainless steel body of the Ember Mug 2.
It would interesting to know what exactly would happen if the Ember Mug 2 would find its way inside a microwave. Most likely, the electronics inside the Ember Mug 2 would fry and/or the mug become too hot to handle, spark or crack, which is the case with dishes that aren't safe to microwave. Aside from a short start guide, you also get Ember stickers included.