14 DAY TRIAL // It's a well known fact that quite a lot of people - especially those working in an office - start their working days with a good mug of hot coffee, which they savor either together with their colleagues, or within their own office, while reading the latest news in front of their computer. However, by the time they're done reading and they really want to start working, their coffee is already cold. Well, there are several solutions available to the displeased office worker, and one of them, which we'll proudly review today, is the USB Coffee Warmer.
This particular type of USB-powered device is quite widespread and is manufactured by several companies (mostly China based, go figure!), the one we've tested coming from a company called Reflects - Konda (never heard of it, probably will never hear from it again). Since there are so many models available out there, it must be quite popular, although this device is nothing more than an office gadget with a limited functionality (by that meaning that it's capable of carrying out just out one function, although it's pretty good at it). It can be used for keeping warm a variety of beverages, from coffee to tea to whatever you might think of, as you will see later on.
So, what is there to say about such a device? First of all, let's have a look at its....
Design and overall look
The USB Coffee Warmer looks OK, the colors of the plastic body and USB cable matching the metallic gray of the hotplate. The thing that I really liked about this device is that it doesn't look cheap (well, except for the On/Off button, which is not particularly appealing), mainly due to the quality of the plastic and of the finishing. Moreover, it has quite a smart design, from the point of view of usability, featuring 2 lateral grip areas, as well as 4 rubber legs, which allow it to be quite stable on any flat surface. Well, enough about the design, let's take a look at the....
This will be quite a short paragraph, since there aren't that many components to look at. In any case, here they are:
- 1 metal hot plate; - 1 plastic enclosure for the hotplate and heating mechanism; - 2 LEDs (1 red, 1 green); - 1 On/Off button; - 1 USB Power cable; - 4 rubber legs.
Told you it was a short list. OK, enough with the components, let's take a look at the list of....
Specifications and features presented by the manufacturers:
- diameter: aprox. 10 cm; - USB cable length: 150 cm; - keeps the drinks warm at 40 ? 60 Celsius degrees; - completely plug and play, no drivers required; - rated power: 2.5 W ? 5 W DC; - hotplate is very well-insulated, in order to prevent burns; - USB powered.
This is what the flimsy (literally) User's Manual tells us. Nothing much here, so I went ahead and tested it for myself.
Softpedia tested the USB Coffee Warmer and all it got was....
After looking at it and measuring it, I've decided that is was about time to really see what this baby can do. So...I plugged it in the USB port on my PC and pressed the On/Off switch. First observation. The Plug and Play feature is confirmed. Moving right along, I've decided to test some of the most popular office beverages and went for the following combos: hot coffee + metal cup, hot coffee + normal coffee mug, hot tea + glass mug. What I got was....well, within the temperature limits provided in the manual. In any case, it's worth mentioning that throughout the tests, the hotplate itself had a nominal temperature of around 58 Celsius Degrees, quite a lot for a device drawing power solely from the USB port.
Test 1: Hot Coffee + Metal Cup
Initial temperature: Cup: 59 Celsius degrees; Coffee: 59 Celsius degrees;
Temperature after 10 minutes: Cup: 50 Celsius degrees; Coffee: 52 Celsius degrees;
Temperature after 20 minutes: Cup: 42 Celsius degrees; Coffee: 44 Celsius degrees;
Feeling: Even after 20 minutes, the coffee was relatively warm and OK to drink.
Test 2: Hot Coffee + Normal Coffee Mug
Initial temperature: Mug: 55 Celsius degrees; Coffee: 55 Celsius degrees;
Temperature after 10 minutes: Mug: 50 Celsius degrees; Coffee: 51 Celsius degrees;
Temperature after 20 minutes: Mug: 42 Celsius degrees; Coffee: 48 Celsius degrees;
Feeling: Works a lot better with a normal coffee mug. The coffee was at exactly the right temperature (well, for my taste, anyhow) after 20 or so minutes.
Test 3: Hot Tea + Glass Mug
Initial temperature: Mug: 54 Celsius degrees; Tea: 58 Celsius degrees;
Temperature after 10 minutes: Mug: 48 Celsius degrees; Tea: 51 Celsius degrees;
Temperature after 20 minutes: Mug: 42 Celsius degrees; Tea: 48 Celsius degrees;
Feeling: Best results here. Pretty damn good tea, great temperature.
After carrying out all of these tests (which made me a little twitchy from all that coffee), I kinda made up my mind on what's cool or not quite so about this device, so here's the....
USB Coffee Warmer Roundup
What's Cool: Really keeps the beverages warm, so it does its thing quite OK. Moreover, you can't get burned unless you keep your finger pressed against the hotplate on purpose. Major plus for safety. Looks good on any office desk, has a tech-like and modern look, and is quite useful, especially for those people who live most of their lives near a computer.
What's not so Cool: The surface of the hotplate scratches quite easily, and gets filled with fingertip marks quite fast. The On/Off switch, also little, is rather ugly. And its most important minus, the lack of extra-features. It would have been way cooler if it included an USB Hub, for example.
Conclusions
This little device could represent a very good gift in any occasion, especially if the person you're offering it to is fond of computers and hot drinks, as it does quite a good job of keeping your beverages warm in the close vicinity of a computer. The USB Coffee Warmer is available in Romania at Fungift.ro for around 15 dollars (40 RON), and you can get it here.
Still Images from the USB Coffee Warmer review.
Photo: Tudor Raiciu
