Ember Mug vs Yeti: Which Should You Buy?

The Ember Heated Coffee Mug and the Yeti Rambler insulated tumbler are both high-end cups that are able to keep your drinks hot for hours at a time, but they do it in very different ways.

When you compare the Ember Mug vs Yeti you realise that while they aim to do a similar thing they are very different products with different pros and cons, different features and different pricepoints.

So in this article I want to compare them side by side and help you decide which is going to be best suited to your needs.

In short:

When its comes to the Ember Mug vs Yeti tumbler they are different mugs for different use cases. The Ember Mug uses a battery to run a heating element to keep drinks hot for 1-3. Yeti uses vacuum insulation to keep drinks hot or cold. Ember can control the temperature, Yeti cannot. Yeti has more sizes and Ember is more expensive.

Ultimately it comes down to personal preference and use cases.

Each of these mugs do things extremely well, you need to work out which use case is most important to you and then get the mug that best suits you.

Ember: Keep Coffee or Tea at The Perfect Temperature

We all know of the experience where we go to drink out delicious cup of coffee but find that it is too hot to drink so we put it aside.

By the time we come back to it the coffee is now cold and we missed that perfect window where it was exactly the right temperature.

While the Yeti is great at stopping drinks from heating up or cooling down it has no temperature control and thus you can't get it so they Yeti holds your tea or coffee at the just right temperature.

This is where Ember excels and the Ember is ideal for you if you want your coffee or tea to be held at that perfect temperature. It's one of the best heated coffee mugs for the car.

It does this through a heating element in the bottom of the cup that heats up your drink.

The Ember Mug is smart so it detects when there is liquid in the cup and you are able to set the temperature anywhere from 120-145ºF (49-63ºC).

It will keep your coffee at that temperature as long as it has power left in the battery or as long as it is connected to the charging dock (which looks like a normal coffee coaster/saucer).

When off the charging dock the smaller 10 oz Ember Mug can hold temperature for 1.5 hours and the larger 12 oz Ember Travel Mug can hold temperature for up to 3 hours at a time.

Ember Is Not Vacuum Insulated

The Ember Mug is NOT vacuum insulated like the Yeti. This means that when it isn't powered on and actively working to warm up your beverages you'll find that your drink cools down pretty quickly.

So it's only really valuable as long as it has power to run the heating element.

Price: It's Expensive

When comparing the Ember Mug vs Yeti one of the big differences you will notice is the price.

The Ember is much more expensive than the Yeti.

The 10 oz (at the time of writing) starts at around $100 and the 12 oz is around $180.

Compare that to a Yeti 10 oz tumbler which only costs $20 or the most expensive Yeti 30 oz tumbler that costs $40 and you can see a huge price gap.

But the Ember has a batter pack, heating element, internal computer and charging dock whereas the Yeti is just an insulating metal cup.

See the latest price of the Ember Travel Mug at Amazon

Who Is The Ember For

The Ember is specifically designed for the coffee snob or the tea lover who spends a lot of money every year on their favorite beverage.

If you're going to spend $5 a day ($1,825 per year) on a barista made coffee then it makes sense to invest $100-$180 so you can enjoy that coffee at exactly the right temperature.

It's also ceramic plated so you won't have stainless steel imparting a metallic taste into your tea of coffee. My girlfriend refuses to drink coffee out of my Yeti for this very reason.

The Ember Travel Mug is great for commuters or people who want to take their coffee with them while the smaller Ember Mug is ideal for people using it at home or at the office.

If you're a coffee snob or tea addict and you hate drinks that are too hot or too cold then this is the perfect cup for you.

See the latest prices of Ember Mugs at Amazon

Yeti: Keeps Drinks Hot or Cold For Hours or Days

Yeti isn't powered like the Ember Mug but it is vacuum insulated whereas the Ember is not.

Vacuum insulation is the best form of insulation and allows the Yeti to keep ice for days at a time or to keep drinks hot for 6-12 hours.

The way it works is the Yeti is made from 18/8 kitchen grade stainless steel and it has an inner and outer wall. In between these two walls in a vacuum with stops most heat from passing through it.

This means when your Yeti cup is filled with hot coffee or tea (or whatever you drink) the heat can't escape and becomes trapped inside.

But it will just keep your drink at whatever temperature it is at until it slowly moves towards room temperature.

If you pour in boiling water it will keep it near boiling temperature until it slowly cools down. If it is iced water it will stay iced until it slowly warms up.

The Yeti isn't smart and it can't maintain your coffee at that perfect drinking temperature like Ember does.

It just keeps it warm for longer.

Ability To Keep Drinks Cold

Because the Yeti is vacuum insulated it's much better at keeping drinks cold when compared to the Ember.

The Ember doesn't have a cooling element and it's insulation isn't that good so it's not great for keeping iced water all day long.

The Yeti on the other hand can hold ice for 24+ hours at a time so you can have cool drinking water all day.

Lots of Sizes and Colors

While the Ember only comes in 2 sizes and 2 colors the Yeti comes in 5 different sizes and loads of different colors.

So you can really pick the cup that best suits your needs and your personality.

Price

While Yeti doesn't have the heating ability of the Ember it still works really well to keep drinks hot and the price between the Yeti and the Ember is significant.

The Yeti is much much cheaper than the Ember coming in at around $20-$40 instead of the whopping $100-$180 you'll pay for an Ember.

So if you're on a budget but you still want to keep your coffee hot all day then the Yeti is a good option for you.

See the latest sizes and prices of Yeti Tumblers at Yeti.com
(or compare to prices of Yeti Tumblers at Amazon)

Cauldryn: Like Yeti and Ember Had a Baby

What if you could get the best of both worlds and have a coffee mug that is vacuum insulated like the Yeti and can keep drinks hot or cold for hours plus you had the heat maintenance ability of the Ember.

The Cauldryn is another brand that I personally rank as the best battery heated coffee mug on the market.

The main body of the mug is vacuum insulated just like the Yeti. So you can keep ice in in for hours or keep water hot for hours without any power required.

But then it has a heating element and battery pack that allows you to set any temperature and it will hold it there for up to 10 hours!

It is even powerful enough to be able to take cold or room temperature water and bring it to boil! You can also change out the heating element with a blender and you've got a smoothie or cocktail maker on the go.

It's honestly like combining the best features of the Yeti and the Ember and mixing it together into one product. The price is also in between Yeti and Ember too so it's not even too expensive.

See the latest price of the Cauldryn Heated Mug at Amazon

Other Features That May Make Up Your Mind

There are a few other things to consider that may sway you one way or the other when considering an Ember Mug vs Yeti.

Sizes

Ember mugs are small. They comes in 10 oz or 12 oz which is good for a small or standard cup of coffee.

But if you're looking for something with more drinking volume then Yeti tumblers start at 10 oz and go up to 30 oz in size.

Leak Proof

Yeti Tumblers are NOT leak proof. The MagSlider lid is splash proof but if tipped over your drink will leak out.

The lid is just pushed on and held on by the friction of a rubber gasket. If dropped the lid can pop off and drink can go everywhere.

The Ember on the other hand has a screw on lid that is leak proof. It does have some problems and isn't perfect but it won't spill in your bag or spill when you drop it.

See the latest prices of Ember Travel Mugs at Amazon

Dishwasher Safe

Yeti Tumblers are completely dishwasher safe so you can use them then throw them in the dishwasher to give them a good wash.

I rate them as the best dishwasher safe tumblers on the market.

Ember cup on the other hand can only be hand washed and you need to make sure you dry them thoroughly before trying to charge them or charging won't work properly and you can damaging the charging coaster.

Durability

Yeti doesn't have any computers or electronics in them and so inherently they are more durable than the Ember which can be prone to breaking.

Yeti's are also built to be extremely tough and come with a 5 year limited warranty in case anything happens.

Lithium Ion batteries also degrade over time so the battery in your Ember Mug will get worse as time goes on.

I would be shocked to see people in 5+ years with a Ember Mug that works just as well on the day they bought it, but this is commonplace for Yeti products.

I have tumblers that are 4-5 years old and a cooler that is going on it's 5th year that still works just as good as the day I bought it.

See the latest sizes and prices of Yeti Tumblers at Yeti.com
(or compare to prices of Yeti Tumblers at Amazon)