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Comment by free_bip | Hacker News Reader

I remember trying an Ember mug at some point in the past (I don't remember which specific model - it wasn't the travel mug)...

It was awful. Only thing it could realistically do is keep an already hot drink hot - which by itself isn't bad if it didn't advertise itself as being able to make a not hot drink become hot.

Worse still, getting it to work with the app was a CONSTANT struggle. If you even managed to get it connected in the first place (only worked one out of 5-10 tries in my experience, usually requiring a full factory reset of the mug each time), it would automatically disconnect itself after a couple hours, requiring you to do the whole song and dance again.

Left a seriously bad taste in my mouth about Bluetooth devices as a whole.

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The app sucks, but there's a Home Assistant integration that works much better: https://github.com/sopelj/hass-ember-mug-component

FWIW, my fiancée loves hers. She apparently drinks her coffee much more slowly than I do; having her coffee stay warm all morning is a big improvement over a standard ceramic mug.

I like mine. I prefer to drink coffee out of an open top cup rather than a travel mug little opening. Don't know why, just do. I also like to savor it over 30 to 40 minutes. The Ember mug keeps it at the ideal temperature over the amount of time I prefer to drink it.

It might be a bad option for other use cases. But for my two criteria, I love the little thing.

Oh, but I turn the heating off when it gets to the final 10-15% of the liquid left or I get a sort of burnt taste.

The connection worked reliably for me, and it kept my drinks hot for a while as promised, but ultimately it was left catching dust as it always needed special treatment so - being a lazy ass - I just went with the normal mugs and re-heating when necessary.

If it could be thrown in a dishwasher with the rest of the utensils, I suppose I would've used it more.

Only thing it could realistically do is keep an already hot drink hot - which by itself isn't bad if it didn't advertise itself as being able to make a not hot drink become hot.

It is designed and advertised to keep a hot drink hot, which as you say, it does well!

They don't advertise it as a heater, and explicitly say that it won't work.

https://support.ember.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002625471-Emb...

Maybe they could be more clear to avoid misunderstanding. But it works great it keeping a cup of coffee warm, and I've never even installed the app.

Having used HM-10 modules for personal projects and not facing the kinds of weird issues I have with many commercial Bluetooth devices, I really don't understand why said devices are so shitty in the majority of cases. Staying paired and sending tiny amounts of data to request status or change settings shouldn't be that hard.

Of course it certainly doesn't help that most mobile apps are extremely crummy.

I bought their first product .. funny that I had the same impression with the original product as you have with the latest version.

I bought it because .. why not. I discovered that the problem it was solving didn't exist and disposed of it. :)

So many "smart devices" in general are solving non-existent problems, and my wallet has suffered from it.

I have one, and I can corroborate your experience that its Bluetooth connection was atrocious. However, after a number of (nail-biting, fritzy) firmware updates, it's pretty good now.

It helps that the default behavior is pretty much what you expect, and so it's not necessary to go into the app except when I want to "force" a reheat of a room-temperature beverage.

I expected to hate it, would never have bought one, but having received this as a gift from my partner -- it's actually grown on me, and I like it now.

One other side note, the pogo pins on the charging pad are a wear item and will eventually fail. You can get them from DigiKey (952-3127-1-ND) and they're easy to replace with a little basic soldering.

Firmware updates on a coffee mug.

I totally understand why but still. Firmware updates on a coffee mug.

I had the Travel Mug 2, same exact experience, with the added benefit of it turning on all by itself overnight while it was empty, and then hitting some sort of temperature limit and refusing to work without a factory reset. The factory reset itself was also buggy, and it would sometimes take 5+ attempts to get it to actually reset.

Hot garbage, which is a shame because the idea is good.

Nowadays I just use a good thermos, and pour my hot drink into a standard cup when I want a refill. Problem solved, zero electronics required.

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