Some of the mugs could not be adjusted at all, hovering on or around the 135°F marker no matter what. Unlike the other smart mug, the VSIToo, you could also set the Ember to exactly the temperature you want (along with its app constantly disconnecting every time I entered a different room, the VSIToo only allows you to tweak the temperature in nine-degree increments). The app even includes recipes like "Chai Spiced White Hot Chocolate" and "Beet Latte" if you want to expand your warm beverage repertoire.

I feel like with articles like this, the natural reaction is to bristle at the recommendations and make a comment like, “I’d never pay X amount of money for that. The app is decent, and there are presets for different beverages like 135 degrees for coffee, and 131 degrees for a latte. I'm not sure I have a great explanation, but it's a nice-to-have add-on for a product that's positioned as a small luxury. Howell is the godfather of coffee: he’s one of the inventors of the Frappuccino, creator of the prestigious Cup of Excellence competition, and now runs an eponymous coffee roastery outside of Boston, MA.We looked for mugs that delivered on their stated promise: did they keep coffee at a pleasant temperature over an extended period of time? The Ember Travel Mug also has a sleep mode, which can sense when it isn’t in use, and it will turn off on its own, extending the battery life.

The Ember app will allow you to adjust your preferred temperature, add preset temperatures, and notify you when your beverage has hit your perfect drinking temperature. Preheating a double-wall insulated stainless steel mug keeps coffee hot/warm for more than the 3 hours of this expensive device that by definition reheats and ruins the flavor. The built-in battery maintains your chosen drinking temperature for up to 3 hours, or all day with the included charging coaster. ounces is on the smaller side for a travel cup and I do wish that it held more, but it needs to fit in a cup holder and have space for the battery, heating elements, and other hardware. I was concerned that ‌Find My‌ would stop working when the battery was exhausted, but there seems to be a window of time where you can locate the cup with a low battery.Because the Ember Travel is designed to go into sleep mode after a certain period of inactivity, it was difficult to “remind” the mug I was still using it. Along with a digital thermometer that gives temperature readings in real time, the Ember Travel Mug can also be controlled using the brand’s easy-to-use app. However, it seems like coffee loses about 40 degrees in the first 10 minutes, 25 more degrees after 20 minutes, and so on (see above).