Ember earlier this year introduced a new version of its electric Travel Mug, adding a key Apple feature - Find My support. You might be wondering, why does a mug need ‌Find My‌? 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.

Ember Mug
The Ember Travel Mug 2 is $200, and the reason it's so expensive is because it's self-heating. It can keep a beverage at your desired temperature for three hours while on the go, or all day when on the included charging coaster. The temperature can be set from 120°F to 145°F, which is hot, but not likely to cause burns.

I have no insight into coffee temperatures as a non-coffee drinker, but some internet research suggests that's an ideal coffee temperature range. I know there are some people out there who like coffee really hot, but if on the higher end of warm works for you, this cup will get coffee to a level you like.

ember mug led
While I don't drink coffee, I do drink tea, and because I drink green, oolong, and white varieties, I'm fairly well-versed on beverage temperatures. 150 to 160 degrees is in the burn your tongue range. For me, 145 is uncomfortably warm, and 138 is just about right. By default, the Ember Mug is set to 135, but you can turn it up to 145 or down on the cup itself or in the app.

Design wise, the Ember Mug looks like your average travel cup. It has a soft touch silicone exterior in black and a stainless steel interior that holds 12 ounces of liquid. 12 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.

ember mug charger
There's a logo at the top of the Ember Mug that can be interacted with to control the mug, and a series of LEDs at the bottom that let you know the status of the cup, the temperature, whether the cup is empty, and whether the battery has died. The Ember Mug knows when liquid is inside, and it immediately detects the temperature of what's poured in.

You can swipe to change the temperature of the Ember on the mug itself, or in the app. It's easiest to adjust the temperature on the cup if you like to make regular changes, but if you just need to set it on your favorite temperature, it's quick to do within the app. The app is decent, and there are presets for different beverages like 135 degrees for coffee, and 131 degrees for a latte. Some of the temperature choices feel a little arbitrary, but all of the presets are editable.

ember mug app
There's a tea timer in case you want to brew tea in the mug, and a recipes section that has a handful of drink options. There is a health integration feature that can estimate the amount of caffeine that you're consuming per day by how often you refill the Ember Mug.

Since this is a travel cup, it works with a battery. The battery lasts for approximately three hours, give or take about 20 minutes. My testing was primarily at 138 degrees, and the cup was able to keep it at that exact temperature until the battery ran down. It charges via a charging base that needs to be plugged in, and if the cup is on the base, it can keep a drink warm all day.

ember mug temperature
If you're using it at a desk, it's handy to have it on the charger for all-day heat, and the option to grab it and go when necessary is useful. I'm a slow drinker so I can exhaust that three hour battery life, and I appreciate the always-on charger option. The Ember Mug's charger is unfortunately not USB so I have to have a separate cable plugged in to an outlet, which I'm not a fan of. I'd prefer being able to power it through a dock/my computer but that is not an option.

The Ember Mug is not double walled and when the battery runs out, it's not going to keep a drink warm for long. Compared to a much cheaper tumbler with insulation, like a Yeti, the Ember Mug has pros and cons. It doesn't keep a drink warm without power and it's expensive, but it can keep a drink at a specific temperature for an extended length of time, which can't be replicated by an insulated cup.

ember mug battery
If I pour 175 degree tea into a Yeti, I have to open the lid and wait for it to cool down, or wait for a long time for it to be drinkable. With the Ember Mug, it gets to my preferred temperature much quicker, and stays there. The Ember Mug is also able to heat up a beverage that has cooled down, so you can pour lukewarm coffee in it to heat it back up, though this takes a lot of time and doesn't seem to be the best use case.

In terms of functionality, there are some things to be aware of. The Ember Mug uses a press down lid, which I like because it doesn't seem to leak at all, but is easy to drink from. If I toss the Ember Mug in a bag, it doesn't drip, which isn't always the case with travel cups. You do need to make sure not to fill it fuller than the line at the interior of the cup, but it seems to work well when filled properly.

If the Ember Mug has been upside down or moved around a lot, there can be some pressure build up and some tiny droplets of liquid can fly upward a bit when you press down on the lid. Ember warns about this and suggests holding it away from your face when you press the lid, but it hasn't been a huge issue over the time that I've been using the cup. There is no hole for a straw, which I do miss. I like to use a glass straw for tea and similar hot beverages to avoid teeth staining, but the no-leak lid design doesn't accommodate that feature.

ember mug lid fill line
Unsurprisingly, you cannot microwave the Ember Mug 2, nor can you put it in the dishwasher. The lid can go in the dishwasher, but the mug itself needs to be hand washed. The charging base needs to be kept dry, and before you put the cup on the base, you need to make sure the bottom is dry.

Beyond keeping a drink warm, the Ember Mug 2 has ‌Find My‌ integration as a new selling point. You can add the Ember Mug to the Items tab in the ‌Find My‌ app, where it can be tracked just like an AirTag. The ‌Find My‌ network that the Ember Mug uses takes advantage of any nearby iPhone to relay the mug's position, so if it gets lost, you can track it down.

ember mug find my
Misplacing a travel mug seems a lot more uncommon than losing keys or a wallet, but I guess it does happen, especially if you're taking the Ember to multiple locations on a regular basis. I let the Ember Mug's battery die and then I waited a full 48 hours to see how long the ‌Find My‌ feature would work, and ‌Find My‌ was still functional at that point.

ember mug in hand
The Ember Mug is designed with some power reserve, so even when the cup is no longer heating up because of a low battery, it's still locatable with ‌Find My‌. It also goes into a sleep mode when there's no liquid inside to heat up, which preserves battery. 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.

I don't think ‌Find My‌ is an essential feature for a drinking vessel, but it is absolutely nice to have on a cup that costs $200. It's also not a feature you'd expect to see in a mug, so if you have it in a bag that's then stolen or misplaced, you can track it all down with no one being the wiser.

Bottom Line

It's hard to justify a $200 smart travel cup because there are "dumb" travel cups that do almost as much for a fraction of the price, but I do think the Ember Mug is worth $200 price that it sells for.

The actual design of the mug is solid - it fits well in a cup holder, it has a sleek look, and the lid is easy to drink from and doesn't seem to leak. It holds temperature for long enough to drink a cup of coffee or all day if you have it on the charging base, it supports touch control, and it has a ton of LEDs for status updates. Who doesn't want a cup that says Hello in the morning, lets you know the specific temperature of your beverage and adjusts with a swipe? It also won't be easy to lose with the ‌Find My‌ integration.

My biggest complaint about the Ember Mug is probably the size. It would be nice to have an XL version that holds more liquid, because while I do like to enjoy a hot beverage for many hours, I'd like to not have to refill as frequently. Aside from that, the Ember Mug has so many bells and whistles that it's hard to complain about anything but the price.

If you often lose cups, either at work or in the car, ‌Find My‌ will has the potential to be a useful feature addition. You'll either be able to track the Ember Mug or it will show its last known location so you can figure out where it's at.

The Ember Mug is not a device that anyone needs, but I think hot beverage enjoyers will get a lot out of it. It's also the type of product that you can buy for someone who has everything, and I would not hesitate to give it as a gift. I do want to point out that the desktop version of the Ember Mug is $150, so $50 less, plus it holds more. On the downside, it only works for 80 minutes off of the charger, but it is a good alternative if you plan to use the Ember primarily at a desk.

How to Buy

The Ember Mug 2 can be purchased from the Ember website for $199.99.

Note: Ember provided MacRumors with an Ember Travel Mug 2 for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Top Rated Comments

sw1tcher Avatar
29 months ago

But for office and home use, I like Ember's 14 oz. Mug 2. Yes, it is a bit spendy (I purchased it when it was on sale at $95), but it does keep my cappuccino/macchiato at ideal temperature for hours. Reheating coffee with the microwave takes away much of the flavor.
I just place my mug on my Intel-based Mac. Keeps the coffe nice and warm. And the office too.



Attachment Image
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ForkHandles Avatar
29 months ago
One born every minute I guess
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
christarp Avatar
29 months ago
Such an odd product, it has 3 hours of portable heat, but a regular thermos will last much longer. Perhaps the idea is that it can stay hot forever when it's on the coaster, but then again who needs to have a hot beverage stay hot for a whole day or more? Would you not just drink the drink by then?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheGhostWalker Avatar
29 months ago
I was initially skeptical of the Ember mug (not the flask version) at the time and laughed it off when I saw it in my local Starbucks.

My initial skepticism slowly turned to intrigue when I noticed how much coffee I would drink in a day because I would forget about it, it gets cold, drink it quickly, make a new coffee, rinse and repeat. I'd always miss the Goldilocks zone where it wasn't too hot or too cold.

After getting my hands on one, I couldn't go back to not having a perfect-temperature coffee on my desk at any time. I can make a single coffee last hours. I can take it into a meeting and still have it hot by the end of the meeting.

I've also recently started setting it slightly too hot to drink at a reasonable pace so that I'm keeping my caffeine consumption in check.

It really is one of those products that look stupid to people who don't own them, but is beloved by those who do.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
29 months ago

The Ember Travel Mug 2 is $200, and the reason it's so expensive is because it's self-heating. It can keep a beverage at your desired temperature for three hours while on the go, or all day when on the included charging coaster.
wow, $200, hey, good for all of you who want to keep a coffee hot for 3 hours ... me, fresh is better ...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Return Zero Avatar
29 months ago

Just Wow. I understand the tea-drinking author failing to get it about coffee, even if it does beg the question of why a tea drinker is writing an article about an apparently primarily coffee mug. But any coffee drinker who cares enough to be drinking fresh ground & brewed coffee should be aware that reheating coffee wrecks the flavor.

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. And a quality ss mug often tolerates the bounce off the top of the car (my contigo mug from Peet's Coffee has survived several such adventures) and also the dishwasher.

Some tea drinkers may like a device like this one. I drink (green) tea as well as (black) coffee and unlike with coffee find the flavor change of reheating tea to be totally unobjectionable.

Edit: That Burnout mug referenced by jimothyGator does not add heat, and is a design that I have wanted for years. I will order one.
You write very authoritatively (and literally boldly) for not actually being very correct. This isn't meant for reheating cooled coffee. It's meant for maintaining temperature. Yes, technically it is actively adding heat into the system, but it's at such a slow/gentle rate that it does not noticeably diminish the flavor. It is nothing like a burner plate on a cheap coffee machine, or the microwave. James Hoffman has an interesting and informative video ('https://youtu.be/yqgKlqAUM9g') on this subject, if you don't believe me.

I'm about as big a coffee snob as they come, and I daily drive an ember mug. I can say for a fact it does not wreck the flavor. In fact, because it keeps the temp in just the right range, it actually enhances the overall flavor profile over my drinking duration (usually around 15-20 minutes).
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, and Safari. More features and changes will follow in future versions,...
john ternus on stage

Gurman: Major Apple Leadership Shakeup Impending With John Ternus as Next CEO

Monday October 6, 2025 6:21 am PDT by
Apple is entering its most significant leadership transition in more than a decade as multiple senior executives prepare to depart and CEO Tim Cook begins to shape the company's next generation of leaders, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that Jeff Williams, who was viewed as Cook's potential successor for several...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

Apple Fixes Alarms in iOS 26.1

Monday October 6, 2025 11:56 am PDT by
With the second beta of iOS 26.1, Apple updated the design of alarms set on the iPhone, making them harder to dismiss than before. Stopping an alarm in iOS 26.1 beta 2 requires a new Slide to Stop gesture rather than a simple tap. You can continue to tap to snooze an alarm, but if you want to turn it off entirely, you need to use a swipe. Transitioning from a tap to a slide gesture to...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Tuesday October 7, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, prior-generation AirPods Pro 2, and the AirPods 4 models. The firmware has a build number of 8A358, up from 8A356. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the prior 8A356 update added iOS 26 features to the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4 with ANC. The software introduced better audio quality ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

iPad Mini 8 on the Way: Expected Features and Release Timeline

Monday October 6, 2025 5:05 am PDT by
A new iPad mini is "absolutely" on the way, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released a year ago? Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in code that Apple mistakenly shared in...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26 Adds These 200 New Features and Changes to Your iPhone

Saturday October 4, 2025 8:19 am PDT by
Apple's website offers a list of nearly 200 new features and changes (PDF file) included in the software update, released last month. Apple also shared equivalent lists for iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe. iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 and newer. To install the update, open the Settings app on your iPhone, tap on General, and tap on Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight ...
iCloud iPhone 17 Pro

Apple Highlights Five Perks for iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage

Monday October 6, 2025 6:29 am PDT by
After launching new iPhones last month, Apple is promoting iCloud+ with a prominent banner on its home page, in a bid to boost its services revenue. In addition to more storage, all iCloud+ plans include five perks for iPhone users. As a refresher, iCloud includes 5GB of storage for free. If you want extra storage, you need to subscribe to an iCloud+ plan. In the United States, prices range...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 2

Monday October 6, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, introducing useful changes to alarms, multitasking on the iPad, and more. There are also subtle tweaks to some of the Liquid Glass design elements as Apple continues to refine iOS 26. Alarms and Timers Alarms set using the Clock app now have a slide to stop button rather than a tap to stop button on the Lock Screen. To snooze an...
macbook pro pink

M5 MacBook Pro Could Launch in October as M4 Model Faces Supply Constraints

Monday October 6, 2025 3:23 pm PDT by
Supplies of the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro model appear to be constrained amid rumors that an upgraded M5 model could launch as soon as this year. As noted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, custom configurations of the M4 MacBook Pro model have a delayed shipping date and will not be delivered to customers until October 23 to 28. The restricted supply could be an indication that Apple is planning to...