Table of Contents
- Robern vs. Electric Mirror: Quick Comparison
- Is Robern the Same as Electric Mirror?
- What is the Difference Between Robern and Electric Mirror?
- Is Robern Better Than Electric Mirror?
- Is Electric Mirror Better Than Robern?
- Robern: Pros and Considerations
- Electric Mirror: Pros and Considerations
- Robern vs. Electric Mirror: Lighting and Technology
- What is a Smart Mirror?
- What is a Mirror TV?
- Robern vs. Electric Mirror: Storage and Product Range
- Best Uses for Robern vs. Electric Mirror
- What Should You Compare Before Choosing Robern or Electric Mirror?
- Should You Choose Robern or Electric Mirror?
- Where Can You Learn More About Robern and Electric Mirror?
- Robern vs. Electric Mirror FAQs
Robern and Electric Mirror are both well-known names in lighted mirrors and mirrored storage, and homeowners, designers, and contractors planning a Chicagoland bathroom remodel sometimes compare the two before deciding on a direction. Both brands build a bathroom mirror with lights, offering features like defogging and dimmable LED lighting, but they come from different backgrounds and lean into different strengths.
Robern, a Kohler brand, has built its reputation around medicine cabinets, storage-forward mirrors, and coordinated vanity and lighting collections. Electric Mirror got its start supplying lighted and smart mirrors to the hospitality industry and has become known for mirror technology, including Smart Mirrors and Mirror TVs, alongside its residential lighted mirror lines. Neither brand is a universal “better” choice. The right fit depends on whether you’re prioritizing built-in storage, mirror technology, or a specific look for your bathroom.
Planning a remodel? Banner Plumbing can help you explore Robern products in our Buffalo Grove kitchen and bath showroom and discuss ordering options for Electric Mirror products. Get directions to our showroom, and visit us today for expert guidance.
Robern vs. Electric Mirror: Quick Comparison
| Category | Robern | Electric Mirror |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Background | Kohler-owned brand built around medicine cabinets and storage | Started in hospitality/hotel mirrors, now residential and commercial |
| Core Product Focus | Medicine cabinets, lighted mirrors, vanities, linen cabinets, lighting | Lighted mirrors, Smart Mirrors, Mirror TVs, mirrored cabinets, now vanities |
| Storage | Strong focus on built-in medicine cabinet storage | Primarily mirror-focused, with some mirrored cabinet options |
| Lighting Technology | Dimmable LED task lighting, tunable warm-to-cool lighting on newer collections | Dimmable LED lighting, touch-dimming controls on several collections |
| Defogging | Wall-switch defogging available on select collections | Fog-free/defogging technology available on select collections |
| Smart Features | USB charging, electrical outlets, night lights on medicine cabinets | Smart Mirror and Mirror TV technology on select collections |
| Best For | Homeowners prioritizing built-in storage alongside lighting | Homeowners prioritizing mirror technology and screen integration |
Is Robern the Same as Electric Mirror?
No. Robern and Electric Mirror are separate companies with different histories and different product focuses. Robern is a Kohler brand built around medicine cabinets and coordinated bathroom storage. Electric Mirror is an independent company that built its name in the hospitality industry before expanding into residential lighted mirrors, smart mirrors, and mirror TVs.
What is the Difference Between Robern and Electric Mirror?
The main difference between Robern and Electric Mirror is where each brand puts its focus. Robern is best known for its medicine cabinets, collections like M Series, PL Portray, Uplift Tech, and Vitality combine a lighted vanity mirror with built-in storage, electrical outlets, USB charging, and night lights. Robern’s product range also spans Robern vanities, Robern cabinets, lighting, and linen cabinets, so it’s often chosen when homeowners want a coordinated bathroom storage system.
Electric Mirror is best known for mirror technology itself. The brand originally built a mirror with lights for hotels and now offers Smart Mirrors, Mirror TVs, and fog-free lighted mirrors for residential bathrooms, alongside a newer line of vanities. Electric Mirror’s collections, including Fusion, Silhouette, Integrity, and Eyla, tend to emphasize the mirror and its lighting or display technology rather than built-in cabinet storage.
In short, Robern leans toward storage-forward medicine cabinets with lighting built in, while Electric Mirror leans toward mirror-forward technology with storage as a secondary feature.
Is Robern Better Than Electric Mirror?
Robern may be a better fit if built-in storage is a priority, since its medicine cabinet collections combine mirrors with cabinet space, electrical outlets, and organizational features. Robern’s broader product range, spanning vanities, lighting, and linen cabinets, also makes it a strong option for homeowners who want a coordinated look across the bathroom.
Robern is not automatically the better choice for every bathroom. Electric Mirror may still be the stronger direction if mirror technology, like a Smart Mirror or Mirror TV, is what you’re after.
Is Electric Mirror Better Than Robern?
Electric Mirror may be a better fit if you’re drawn to its mirror technology, including Smart Mirrors, Mirror TVs, or its touch-dimming lighted mirror collections. The brand’s roots in hospitality design also show up in its focus on clean, design-forward mirror aesthetics.
Electric Mirror is not automatically the better choice for every bathroom. Robern may still be the stronger direction if built-in medicine cabinet storage or a coordinated vanity-and-lighting system is the priority.
Robern: Pros and Considerations
Robern is often selected by homeowners who want lighted mirrors combined with functional, built-in bathroom storage.
Robern Pros
- Strong medicine cabinet lineup combining mirrors with built-in storage
- Features like USB charging, electrical outlets, and night lights available on select collections
- Dimmable LED lighting, with tunable warm-to-cool options on newer collections
- Broader product range including vanities, linen cabinets, and lighting for a coordinated look
- Backed by Kohler as part of a larger, established bathroom products portfolio
Robern Considerations
- Storage-forward design may be more cabinet than some homeowners want if a simple mirror is the goal
- Advanced features like tunable lighting are typically limited to select collections
- Coordinating cabinet depth and mirror placement takes some planning during layout
Electric Mirror: Pros and Considerations
Electric Mirror is often selected by homeowners who want a design-forward mirror with advanced lighting or display technology.
Electric Mirror Pros
- Strong focus on mirror technology, including Smart Mirrors and Mirror TVs
- Touch-dimming and fog-free technology available on several collections
- Design-forward collections with a range of frame and lighting styles
- Made in the USA with a long history serving both hospitality and residential projects
Electric Mirror Considerations
- Historically more mirror-focused than storage-focused, with fewer built-in cabinet options than Robern
- Vanities are a newer addition to the product line compared to Robern’s longer-established vanity offerings
- Some Electric Mirror products may need to be special-ordered rather than viewed in Banner’s showroom
Robern vs. Electric Mirror: Lighting and Technology
Both brands build their reputation on lighted mirrors, but the technology emphasis differs. Robern’s lighting is built around dimmable LED task lighting, with some newer collections offering tunable lighting that shifts between warmer and cooler color temperatures for different grooming tasks. Defogging is available on select Robern collections through a standard wall switch.
Electric Mirror’s lighting technology includes dimmable LED lighting and touch-dimming controls on several collections, along with fog-free technology. Where Electric Mirror stands apart is its broader mirror technology lineup, including Smart Mirrors with digital displays and Mirror TVs that integrate a television directly behind the mirror glass, options Robern’s lineup does not emphasize in the same way.
What is a Smart Mirror?
A Smart Mirror is a lighted mirror with added digital features, such as a built-in display, beyond standard task lighting. This is one of the technologies Electric Mirror is known for, and it’s a key differentiator from Robern’s more storage-focused medicine cabinet lineup.
What is a Mirror TV?
A Mirror TV integrates a television directly behind the mirror glass, so the screen is visible when the TV is in use and the surface reads as a normal mirror when it’s off. This is a specialty product category Electric Mirror is known for, particularly from its roots supplying the hospitality industry.
Robern vs. Electric Mirror: Storage and Product Range
Storage is one of the clearest differences between the two brands. Robern’s medicine cabinet collections are built around combining a bathroom mirror cabinet with usable interior storage, along with features like electrical outlets, USB charging, and night lights. Robern’s product range also includes vanities, linen cabinets, and coordinated lighting, giving homeowners a way to outfit an entire bathroom from one brand.
Electric Mirror’s product range has historically centered on the mirror itself, including lighted mirrors, Smart Mirrors, and Mirror TVs, with a mirrored cabinet as a secondary storage option. The brand has more recently added vanities to its lineup, but its core identity remains built around mirror technology rather than cabinet storage.
Best Uses for Robern vs. Electric Mirror
| Bathroom Goal | Better Starting Point | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Maximizing built-in medicine cabinet storage | Robern | Medicine cabinet collections combine mirrors with usable interior storage |
| Coordinating vanity, lighting, and mirror as one system | Robern | Broader established product range across vanities, lighting, and cabinets |
| A mirror with Smart Mirror or display technology | Electric Mirror | Stronger focus on mirror technology, including Smart Mirrors and Mirror TVs |
| A design-forward lighted mirror as a standalone feature | Electric Mirror | Historically mirror-focused rather than storage-focused |
| Bathroom remodel prioritizing outlets, USB charging, and night lights | Robern | These features are commonly built into Robern’s medicine cabinet collections |
| Hospitality-inspired bathroom design | Electric Mirror | Brand’s design language originated in hotel and hospitality projects |
What Should You Compare Before Choosing Robern or Electric Mirror?
Because product availability and lead times can vary between these two brands, it’s worth comparing a few things before deciding:
- Storage needs: Whether you want a mirror with built-in cabinet storage or a standalone lighted mirror.
- Lighting features: Dimmable versus tunable lighting, and whether defogging matters for your bathroom.
- Technology priorities: Whether Smart Mirror or Mirror TV features are part of your vision.
- Coordinated design: Whether you want the vanity, lighting, and mirror to come from one product ecosystem.
- Availability and lead time: Confirm current availability and ordering timelines for either brand with Banner Plumbing before finalizing your selection.
Should You Choose Robern or Electric Mirror?
Choose Robern if built-in medicine cabinet storage is a priority, or if you want a coordinated vanity, lighting, and mirror system from one established bathroom products brand.
Choose Electric Mirror if you’re drawn to mirror technology, like a Smart Mirror or Mirror TV, or a design-forward lighted mirror with a strong hospitality-inspired aesthetic.
Neither brand is universally better. The right choice depends on how much you value built-in storage versus mirror technology, and which product range fits your overall bathroom plan.
Where Can You Learn More About Robern and Electric Mirror?
Robern products, including medicine cabinets, lighted mirrors, and vanities, can be explored at Banner Plumbing’s Buffalo Grove kitchen and bath showroom, and Banner’s Robern catalog includes a wide range of collections to browse.
Electric Mirror is a well-established brand in lighted mirrors and mirror technology. If you’re interested in Electric Mirror products for your project, contact Banner Plumbing to discuss current availability and ordering options.
Visiting the showroom or reaching out directly is especially useful if you are:
- Comparing storage-forward medicine cabinets against a standalone lighted mirror
- Deciding whether Smart Mirror or Mirror TV technology fits your bathroom
- Coordinating a vanity, lighting, and mirror as one system
- Working with a designer, builder, or contractor on bathroom layout and electrical planning
You can also get directions to the showroom, or learn more about the benefits of visiting a kitchen and bath showroom before you go.
Robern vs. Electric Mirror FAQs
- Is Robern the same as Electric Mirror?
No. Robern and Electric Mirror are separate companies. Robern is a Kohler brand built around medicine cabinets and storage. Electric Mirror is an independent brand known for mirror technology, including Smart Mirrors and Mirror TVs.
- What is the difference between Robern and Electric Mirror?
Robern focuses on medicine cabinets and storage-forward lighted mirrors, along with a broader range of vanities, linen cabinets, and lighting. Electric Mirror focuses on mirror technology itself, including Smart Mirrors, Mirror TVs, and design-forward lighted mirrors, with vanities as a newer addition.
- Which brand is better, Robern or Electric Mirror?
Neither brand is better for every bathroom. Robern is often better if built-in storage is a priority. Electric Mirror is often better if mirror technology, like a Smart Mirror or Mirror TV, is the priority.
- Does Robern make medicine cabinets?
Yes. Medicine cabinets are one of Robern’s core product categories, with collections like M Series, PL Portray, Uplift Tech, and Vitality combining mirrors with built-in storage.
- Does Electric Mirror make medicine cabinets?
Electric Mirror offers some mirrored cabinet options, but the brand’s core focus has historically been lighted mirrors and mirror technology rather than storage-forward medicine cabinets.
- Do Robern mirrors have a defogger?
Defogging is available on select Robern collections, typically operated through a standard wall switch.
- Do Electric Mirror mirrors have a defogger?
Fog-free technology is available on select Electric Mirror collections as well.
- What is a Smart Mirror?
A Smart Mirror is a lighted mirror with added digital features, such as a built-in display, which is one of the technologies Electric Mirror is known for.
- What is a Mirror TV?
A Mirror TV integrates a television directly behind the mirror glass, so the screen is visible when in use and the surface reads as a mirror when it’s off. This is a specialty product category Electric Mirror is known for.
- Is Robern owned by Kohler?
Yes. Robern is a Kohler-owned brand.
- Where can I see Robern products in person in Chicagoland?
Robern products, including medicine cabinets, lighted mirrors, and vanities, are available to view at Banner Plumbing’s Buffalo Grove kitchen and bath showroom.
- Can I order Electric Mirror products through Banner Plumbing?
Contact Banner Plumbing directly to discuss current availability and ordering options for Electric Mirror products.
