Ember Tumbler Heated Smart Mug Review
design
While there’s a range of funky colours and finishes available for the Ember Mug 2, things are much more simple with the design of the Ember Tumbler. I’d even go as far as to say they’re a little too simple because your choices are matte black, matte black or matte black. I’m sure there’s a logistical reason for it, but it feels like a bizarre step backward to go from such a plethora of stylistic choice to something so simple.
It leaves the Ember Tumbler feeling less personal and more utility than the Mug 2 but it’s a sleek enough look overall. The ceramic coating of the Mug is replaced here by a gently textured stainless steel finish that offers nice grip and is considerably more fingerprint resistant, something I noticed the Mug 2 suffered badly from. The base of the Ember Tumbler features a familiar rounded bottom and the same contact-based charging pad as the Mug 2.
I’d have preferred a wireless system rather than relying on moving parts and tiny pins that seem destined to eventually fail, but the upside is the Ember Tumbler is fully compatible with the Ember Mug 2’s charging puck where it sat just as neatly as on the one that’s included in the box. The Tumbler’s included puck is actually slightly smaller overall but both feature the same central recess.
Also included in the box with the Ember Tumbler are a pair of lids to let you take things on the go. Ember calls these a ‘leakproof Handle Lid or spillproof Sliding Lid’ but I imagine most people will keep the latter firmly installed most of the time. Strangely only the Handle Lid securely screws onto the Ember Tumbler with the Sliding Lid going with snug push fit instead. Given the threads are already inside the tumbler I’d have thought the screw fit would have been a little more secure, though admittedly I never noticed a leak from the seam.
Closing the Sliding Lid and tipping it upside down it performed admirably, while I did get a little dribble this took a decent shake to extract so it should survive a basic topple relatively mess free. Both lids are glossy plastic and are dishwasher safe, while you’ll understandably need to hand wash the Ember Tumbler itself but it’s fully submersible up to one meter.
performance
I’ll own up to coming into this review a little biased, I’ve been a fan of what Ember do since I roadtested the Mug 2 at the beginning of 2024 and so I expected good things from the Ember Tumbler as a result. I take great joy in showing off my space age coffee mug to anyone that will listen and my feedback to them is always the same; it’s great at what it does, it works incredibly well – it’s just a high price to pay to keep your tea warm. The same is true of the Ember Tumbler.
Arguably the Ember Tumbler is even better at what it does than the Mug 2 is and was. The capacity is greatly increased here, up from 295ml/414ml to 473ml and it makes a huge difference. At 295ml the Ember Mug never really needed to work that hard, if I was focused on a tea it was gone before the risk of it going cold kicked in.
At 473ml I can nurse a cuppa while working and slowly chip away at it over an hour or more. In fact, I could give it as long as three hours according to Ember and in my testing that number rings pretty true, particularly with the Sliding Lid in place. While I wouldn’t suggest keeping the same cup of coffee hot for three hours, what this extra battery life does do is take away the urgent need to get the Ember straight back on the charger when you’re finished. There’s realistically two home drinks worth of charge here and that’s a nice quality of life bump.
The app is simple to use and does a nice job of separating multiple devices. Changing your preferred temperature to anything between 50 and 62.5°C is just a swipe away though there’s a handful of presets and the ability to add your own custom options too. The beauty though is not really needing the app once you’ve first set it up. The Ember Tumbler will sense when it’s full and revert to your last set temperature and turn itself off again when it detects it’s empty. It’s exactly the experience you’d want to see from gear like this, this smart tech is smart enough to look after itself.
There is one strange quirk however and that comes when you try to use the Ember Tumbler as, well, a tumbler. It’s ever-so-slightly larger than a car’s cup holder which is irritating. Yes, Ember does sell a specific Travel Mug that is designed specifically for that purpose, but it almost feels as though it’s been deliberately sized not to fit. It means I’ve never actually taken the Ember Tumbler out of the house and don’t really plan to. If I’m going out I don’t want to pack the Handle Lid and find somewhere to store the Tumbler on the go, likewise I can’t just fit the Sliding Lid and lay the Ember Tumbler down on my passenger seat because I’ll inevitably end up with a puddle. It feels like such a simple use case that should be supported by a £180 mug, but instead I’m left using a ‘dumb’ vacuum insulated travel mug that realistically does a good enough job downing a coffee on the way somewhere.
summed up
In a weird way, the Ember Tumbler’s biggest drawback is how it’s pitched to you rather than how it is. Fundamentally it works just as brilliantly well as other Ember gear, it flawlessly holds hot drinks at the exact temperature you want them and in the Tumbler’s case it’ll do so for a wonderfully long time. The problem however is Ember’s marketing suggesting the Tumbler is great for taking out and about, when I’m not sure it really is.
If this smart mug was instead called the Ember Mug XL or something similar and pitched as the big boy version of Ember’s home range then my biggest gripe would be overcome. But as it is this is an on-the-go option that’s slightly too big to take on-the-go day to day with a practical lid that’s slightly impractical. In specific situations like a long hike where you can use the handle top and stop to take in a scenic view, great – the Ember Tumbler is good to go. Likewise, if you just want to keep a large coffee at the right temperature at home, treat yourself – the Ember Tumbler is a great (albeit expensive) choice. If you’re looking for an easy way to enjoy a hot drink on the move across the next three hours however, you’ll need to look to the Ember Travel Mug 2+ or a very good insulated tumbler instead.
