When one thinks about the Mr. Coffee line up of coffee makers, visions of basic machines that do little more than brew coffee come to mind. You usually find them in vacation rentals and also sometimes hotel rooms. It is a range of models that has seen little innovation since the brand first surfaced in 1972. That is, until now. Enter the smartphone controllable Mr. Coffee Smart Coffee Maker enabled with WeMo.
WeMo is a home automation technology and brand from Belkin, a manufacturer of consumer electronics products. The company teamed up with Sunbeam Products, owners of the Mr. Coffee line, to put the connected features into a 10-cup machine which will cost consumers around $150. It is the third such product stemming from the partnership between the two centered around gizmos for the smart home.
The basic thrust of this 21st century coffee maker, as mentioned earlier, is that you control most functions of it through a free app you download to your Apple iOS or Android-enabled mobile device. This is not unlike the Arist coffee machine in some ways, but the latter home appliance is much more advanced in both form and features. It is also though significantly more expensive.
Through the app and an Internet connection you can, for example, schedule the Mr. Coffee to have a fresh pot of coffee waiting for you when you get home. You can also remotely tinker with the brew time or turn off the coffee maker if you will not be needing it.
Also via your smartphone you can schedule brewing plans days in advance, check things like water level in the machine’s built-in tank, set reminders for alerts on things such as when the Mr. Coffee needs to be cleaned and see when the coffee is actually brewed so you don’t need to get out of bed ahead of time.
As this is a coffee maker in addition to an Internet-enabled appliance, it has its own list of features designed to make a better cup. These include brewing technology to get to what’s said to be the ideal water temperature for more flavorful coffee and a slightly faster brewing time compared to select other machines.
The Mr. Coffee as well sports a manual brew button should you not be able to connect to it wirelessly. When you are working with it a backlit indicator panel tells you the status of things such as WeMo connectivity.