Ember Has a Problem... PSA

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Ember Mugs are fantastic. In my Ember Mug review, I glowed about how they improve the coffee and tea drinking experience SO much for those who like to take their time enjoying their drink. I have gifted countless Ember Mugs, and they're some of the best received gifts every single time. However... as a YouTuber I often get a unique perspective into market feedback on certain products. And when I see a trend of issues that still isn't resolved after MANY years, I feel compelled to alert my audience and potential buyers. So Ember, please address these problems so that I can begin supporting your products again

#coffee #barista #lifestylelab

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[LifestyleLab_]

(As an Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases)

[theledman]

As someone who designs and engineers mass produced consumer electronics that include charging pins, this is a well known issue with pogo pins. Any amount of corrosion, which can be accelerated by the presence of liquid, will cause the pins to bind and eventually fail. Keeping the base and bottom of the mug dry during charging will greatly prolong the life of the pogo pin.

edit: also the Decent tablet looks like it's got a swelling battery -- worth warrantying through Decent if you can! New firmware allows you to keep charge at 50% for reduced swell over time.

[pravusnex]

I've owned three ember mugs in the last 7 years.

Two of them are still working

All of them have had both of these problems.

Thank you for the PSA. It is well deserved by Ember. Also thank you for the other mug recommendation.

[mentallydisturbedscience]

Thanks for this video. I received the Ember 16 oz tumbler as a Christmas gift from my boss. It was the extravagant luxury item I never knew I needed, and I was over the moon to have it! For a month.

After that month was up, my mug uncoupled from my app, and wants to me register my mug as if it is brand new again. I don’t know if that will void my warranty or cause me any other trouble down the line. They have articles to address what might be going on, but my middle aged butt doesn’t know what the correct answer to my problem is.

I filled out the “contact us” form on their app to get some help 24 days ago, and I received an automated email with three articles attached that might answer my question. I have followed up weekly since then asking for additional guidance with absolutely no response.

In the meantime, my mug is heating my coffee to a temperature that burns my face off. At this point, it’s a lovely, $100 paperweight. I’ve been looking for somewhere to leave a review, but wouldn’t you know it? There’s no place to do that. I’m so disappointed in the this product, which is especially sad because I loved it so much a month ago.

[gmbestmac]

Such good timing. I bought my first Ember 3years ago. Never knew the paint could come off with a metal spoon and 1.5years later decided this was not a healthy approach. I had the issues with the charge pad - bought a replacement and then bought a replacement mug and silicone spoons. now 1.5yrs later that mug won't stay connected and won't keep the temp. I did message Ember support but no response. So now i've ordered the Nextmug to try this out. Thanks

[brayden_schaan]

I’ve found the base issue can be entirely prevented by making sure the mug is completely dry before charging! Admittedly it is still a design flaw to not be able to charge the mug immediately after cleaning and drying it, but if you leave the mug sit for a few hours (even after drying it off with a towel as some water seems to always remain on the bottom of the mug) it doesn’t leave any condensation on the base and the pins don’t corrode/jam up.

Edit: Ember mugs also seem to have an issue with the paint peeling/chipping off inside. This issue can be prevented by rinsing the mug immediately after finishing your drink instead of letting it dry up in the residual heat. I’ve had my Ember for 5 years with no issues following these care tips whereas several family/friends have had to replace their mugs/bases multiple times in the same period.

[eberlined]

Never had issues with the charging base or the app, but another common issue is the coating flaking off the inside of the cup. Loved my Ember for about 1.5 years on the lowest temp preset then this problem came up, and I’d rather not have flakes of whatever that coating is in my gut so it’s sitting waiting until I think of how to dispose of it..

[specialktt]

I’ve suggested this to the company without change but I’ll repeat it here: would like a notification when the battery hits 20% or 80% for battery longevity.

[romeshprakashpalan]

Love my mug, have had it about 2 years now. No significant issues with the mug or base, but I am always wiping the bottom of it after making a drink to make sure no liquids touch the pins. When I had my Android phone, the app was super flaky, would never even do a firmware update. The iOS app seems better FWIW. It actually did the firmware update. But it is inexcusable for the Android app to be so blatantly broken as that when so many use that OS. Some of these companies do not care. Glad there are alternatives to the Ember these days and glad you are encouraging them to improve.

[justinsugay]

I watched your videos on the ember mug months ago. I just bought one like literally yesterday. This is not good to hear. That said, you earned both another like and now I am subscribing. Thank you for your diligence to be helpful in your content creation!

[tpawlicki]

Appreciate you bringing this up! Definitely important to call out companies like this.

[RossHasAdrone]

I can’t tell you how much I HATE having to LOGIN to a freaking mug app. I hate hate hate it 😂

[AM.D]

About the pins, I used electrical contact cleaner and worked perfectly for months so far. Use the type that leave a greasy residue and works like waterproofing

[tyleroleary]

I've had 3 coasters with the pin issue. I ended up buying replacement pins and fixing them myself, saved some money

[HansProbs]

Literally had this same conversation w/ the fam on black friday. Multiple family members all experienced the same thing. They are unreliable! And break too often after multiple replacements. Nextmug all the way

[mohank]

I’ve had two coasters have jammed pins… but they do replace them. The app is buggy too, with the Bluetooth connection, but I still love the mugs when they work

[mrowlbert]

If you own an Ember mug, make sure the contact area is thoroughly dry before charging! If it's not, you'll get water vapor condensing around the contact area and pins. No need to accelerate the potential degradation of an already weak point!

As for the app, had no issue with it prior to the latest update with the UI redesign. Now, I have to always hit "Retry" in order for the mug to connect.

[craig]

THANK YOU!! I was debating between the two…..you just made it so easy. Thank you again. NextMug for me.

[Susan-ipl]

Thank you for creating this video. I received my Ember as a present from my son. I thought it extravagant but went ahead and fired it up! Holy Cow! I loved it. so hooked on the thing i carried back and forth to work in bubble wrap as to no injure the prongs (knowing that was the key to charging) :) One day out of the blue my phone did not support the app any longer. - bummer - there goes app features cause i wasn't going to get a new phone just to run my mug! any way i contacted customer service about changing my email on the account and that was 4 months and 5 emails ago. since then (just today as a matter of fact) the prong broke or got stuck or something. I am sad! but even worse when i started reading reviews from others I decided to just be thankful i had it for two years which sounds luckier than most.

[spanman]

Thanks for this video. We've experienced the charging coaster failure twice in less than a year, despite diligently drying the base of the mug prior to charging it. It appears that moisture in the air will condense on the coaster due to it warming slightly during charging, and this moisture can compromise one or both charging pins over time. In other words, there's no way the user can prevent this occurrence. Clearly, a re-design of the charging coaster is needed.