I’m going to try buying this refurb again, just $5 more than last time it was on sale and hope it doesn’t get lost/stolen while in transit again.
I’m kinda concerned about the reviews stating that the contacts on the charger go bad but I’m willing to gamble at this price
I’ve been using my initial refurb for the past few months and it’s been great. There are two potential problems I can see with the base, however: first, it’s not waterproof, which is an issue with something that’s designed like a saucer/coaster! Second, it uses pogo pins (instead of something more appropriate like a flat/leaf spring) which could get bent/damaged if you twist the cup on the base. Other than that, since I’ve been careful not to spill liquid on the base or twist the cup on it, everything’s still working well.
You can buy new bases separately, if need be, so you’d still save money that way by buying a refurb over the cost of a new mug in the first place.
That’s a great point that they sell replacement bases but the pins on the cup are what should be taken care of.
I’ll chime in that in nearly 3 years of daily use (several times per day) the only issues I had were needing to make sure I kept the contacts clean and dry - no issue with damage or bending etc, and the inside being impossible to fully clean of coffee residue. The inside surface became stained and rough despite my best efforts to clean it. Maybe this wouldn’t happen with more daily diligence. I bought mine at a large warehouse store for $100 and was actually to return it.
This deal is pretty good especially with the square trade type warranty for like $7 for 3 years.
Will add that the app is also an issue (it is a huge hassle to have to reconnect the cup every time) and doesn’t work a lot of the time. I just don’t use it other than to set the temp and check battery level rarely.
Got the mug, yay. Not very refurbished, boo. One contact stays retracted. Mug inner contact ring damaged. No light, no heat, won’t pair. Trying to get Ember to fix it via the 30-day manufacturer’s warranty.
Good news (?) the app just updated, deleted both my mugs, completely different UI. You can’t reduce the LED intensity now.
I had a couple of issues with the travel mug, I just arranged exchanges via Woot until I got a good one.
The deletion of the existing mugs was annoying. I wasn’t aware you could change LED intensity, though; I just knew you could change the color.
Yep, there was a slider on the mug details page.
The new app now has trouble connecting to the mugs … remembering preset temps,… and no more Apple Watch support. C’mon, Ember, really?
On the bright side I discovered that my Asobu sealed vacuum mug’s unused plastic lid (as seen on Star Trek Strange New Worlds) fits the 14oz Ember2 perfectly. \o/