ER100202

(1) I bought this because the digital clock I had was not bright enough to see the time from across the room (from bed) when I woke up during the night and in the morning. This clock is so much better that way: big, bright numbers with a brightness that can be adjusted. I don't keep it by my bed because I don't need to use it for an alarm clock. (2) I also was tired of having to reset the clock I had when the power went off here (which it does from time to time during storms) and reset twice a year for daylight savings. I was dee-lighted at the fact that this sets itself as soon as it's plugged in and has a long-lasting battery back up. (3) I also wanted a clock radio, and as it's not a primary source for listening to music, I didn't need a super-premium quality for that. This radio gives me a nice, clear sound. (4) The cordless charger on top has worked flawlessly for me, and the USB cable is a bonus. (5) I like that the unit is a compact size with all these features. It's not a design-y looking unit (not that there's anything wrong with those) and I think that keeps the cost down. Still, it's a sleek and attractive design. ~~ I looked at a lot of clocks and clock radios online before settling on this, and it was a good purchase.

I've had an Emerson SmartSet clock for several years now. I love it because it sets itself if the power goes out or I need to move the clock. Call me lazy, I guess. Anyway. that one sits in my bedroom, but I wanted one for my living room. So I got the Emerson I'm reviewing. And it's been a good purchase thus far. Worked right out of the box; think the only thing I did was set the correct timezone. Since this new clock sits on a display shelf, I didn't test any of the other features like the wireless phone charging, or Bluetooth, or the radio. I didn't need any of that; simply a self-setting clock. So read other reviews if you need those features. Anyway, the soft, teal font is bright enough and large enough I can read the time from distance, day or night. Always hated that "angry" red that most digital clocks use. The only weird part is that it's about 2min behind my original Emerson (which itself is 30sec behind my cell phone and computers, which I assume are my most accurate clocks). It's not a huge deal since I'm not timing anything with it. But still strange, given that the two clocks are only about 30-40ft apart. I assume they're getting the same radio signal. Even unplugging/plugging it back in doesn't get it caught-up. Oh well. If you want an inexpensive, set-setting clock, and don't need to-the-minute accuracy, then I totally recommend this one.

I will start this review by saying I am a long-time user of Emerson Smart-Set alarm clocks. I discovered them in about 2002 and have used them ever since. I buy them as gifts for people. I recommend them to anyone who mentions needing a new clock radio to me. My original Smart-Set is on my desk at work, because I upgraded to a wake-to-CD model for home in 2005. Both still work perfectly well, except that they are programmed for the old daylight saving time schedule. It's easy enough to change the time zone 4 times a year when it changes, or doesn't change, on the wrong DST schedule, but I thought a new clock would be nice. I wish I could write a 5-star review that said everything was an improvement over my old Emerson's, but unfortunately, I can't do that. This will be long, but I am going to outline the differences, in case anyone else is a previous owner and is wondering how the newer models stack up. I mostly started looking for a new model with the digital tuning, because my old clocks have the dial-tuners, and it is nearly impossible to hone in on my favorite radio station with it, and also easy to bump the dial and move it off the station. Because of that, it would often go fuzzy and quiet, and wasn't doing the job of waking me up, even though I had "customized" it by watching a YouTube video on adding an external antenna to get better reception than the "the cord is the antenna" nonsense. The digital tuner in this model works great, and is right on the station, even without needing to use any other antenna than the cord. As a few reviews said, the sound is a bit tinny, probably because the speakers are a lot smaller than my old cd-player model, but it isn't horrible. IMO slightly tinny, but crisp on the station is an improvement on better speakers, but static-y because it can't find the station. I really like the green numbers much better than my old models red numbers, and I love that this one has more dimming levels, because all the Smart-Sets I have ever purchased could be used for landing lights at the airport in a pinch. This one can be dimmed WAY down, which is GREAT. This new clock has 3 main "fails" for me vs the older models. First, I absolutely hate the "crescendo wakeup", and there is no way to turn that off. I need that jolt of noise to wake me up, and this "feature" makes it come up so gradually that I am able to ignore it if I am really tired. My old clock only did that if you set it to wake to alarm instead of wake to music, or if you used the "nap alarm". The second fail, is that the nap alarm is not part of this model. The nap alarm could be set from 1-99 minutes, and when you hit it, it would wake you up in that amount of time, without having to reset your regular alarms. It had a lot of useful purposes. Mostly that if I meant to hit snooze, and accidentally turned off the alarm, I could hit a 20 minute nap alarm and still get up on time. The third fail is the snooze alarm. It says in the description that it's still a 1-hour, but it doesn't work the same way it used to. This one, if the alarm is set for 6:30, and if you keep hitting the snooze, it will shut off at 7:30. If you hit the snooze within 9 minutes of 7:30, it won't turn the radio on again, it just turns the alarm off, and potentially lets you fall back asleep. The old one PLAYED for 1 hour. If it played for a few minutes, and you hit the snooze, it would potentially keep turning the radio back on at 9 minute intervals for a couple of hours if you kept hitting it until it played for a hour. Besides as a normal snooze, I used it as a way to track my time while getting ready for the day after I got up... and I admit I am not a morning person... I am a multiple-snooze-button smacker :) Other comments that might help new as well as long-time users. The Amazon description says the power source is battery. That is inaccurate, because it does plug in. The BACKUP is battery powered, which is what allows it to set to the correct date and time after a power failure. The clock comes set for US Eastern time. If you are in another time zone, change the time zone, not the time itself. I haven't used the wireless charger, because it is also the snooze button, but it does seem to work, at least on mine. That button is also the volume up and down button, which is annoying, because you can't turn it up or down while it's in wake-to-music-alarm mode, it just snoozes it instead of changing the volume. The programming of this one was a little more challenging than my old ones, but it does have more features (digital tuning and saved stations), which they have crammed into as few buttons as they can, but it isn't impossible. All in all, still a good product, but still not perfect :)

Two weeks before I purchased this product I purchased Amazon's Choice (Soundance FM Radio Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Alarm Clock - $29.99). The reviews mentioned that the bass frequencies were dominant. That was indeed the case. Because I was aware of those reviews and ordered it anyhow, I was reluctant to return it. The two main features I wanted was a bedside clock and good FM reception. When I tried to set the time it would not respond to the inputs as instructed. I returned it and ordered this Emerson product. Wow! This is ten bucks more in price and thirty bucks more in value. It automatically sets the time, date and month with DST and leap year function. The sound is balanced and clear, FM reception is great, footprint is small, controls are intelligently designed and LED dimming has four settings - with the lowest just readable. I highly recommend this product and congratulate Emerson on their excellent design!

The sound stopped working after a week. The icon flashes to show the alarm timer is going off but the sound quit working after only a week of use. 1st UPDATE: I got it working again by unplugging it and reconnecting. I read another review where this same thing has happened multiple times. So right now I am still setting my phone as a backup to see if it happens again. The main feature I bought this for was the ascending alarm. I like that feature because it allows me to wake up without disturbing my wife. My last alarm clock had that feature as well, but it is hard to find one with an ascending volume. So far this clock has what I want but is unreliable. The charger is a nice feature, but not very practical when your phone is covering all the buttons. The radio sound: SUCKS. Sounds like an old transistor radio. But I don’t care about the radio at all because I don’t use an alarm clock for that. I wake to buzzer. I just don’t like being jolted awake which is why I need the ascending volume. This clock is just unreliable so far. The ability to set the alarm to only go off on weekdays without having to turn it on and off is a home run idea. But that feature may have something to do with the alarm sound failing. I used it the first week and it was great. The weekend came and it did what it is supposed to. Which was great. But then Monday is when the sound failed. This is the second weekend. We’ll see what happens on Monday. Stay tuned. UPDATE #2: Yup. Second time the sound stopped working. Had to unplug it so it will work again. I ordered a different clock. This is the most unreliable alarm clock I’ve ever owned. I started the return process on this until I realized the original packaging got thrown away. So instead I will enjoy smashing this alarm clock into pieces when my new one arrives. I give this clock a NEGATIVE 5 star review. The worse part about Amazon is you can’t trust the reviews. They lump reviews from different products into a shared review file. So unless the reviewer provides a photo of their product, you don’t know for sure if they are talking about the same product you want to order.

I wanted to love this clock. I really did. It listed out all the features I wanted. Dimmable display, check. Qi phone charger, check. Wake to FM radio, check. Battery backup for power failure, check. However, as time went on, I noticed several issues that made me NOT love it. First, let me say that having the clock automatically set itself when you plug it in is a GREAT feature! Beats having to do it manually. And the sound from the speakers is pretty good for an item like this. I've had clock/radios that had much worse sound quality. Plus, all of the items I mentioned above (with some exceptions noted below). So the biggest drawbacks I encountered were these. Periodically the sound would just not work. No matter the input, no matter the volume level I attempted to set, there was suddenly no sound. When using the FM radio to wake up, this is a problem. The only way I was able to rectify the problem was by "rebooting" the clock by unplugging it for 10 seconds or so, then plugging it back in. Then the sound would work for a random amount of time (usually at least a week or two) before it would disappear again. Like I said, very bad when you rely on the sound to wake you up! Another issue I had was with the controls on the top of the unit. That's also where the Qi charger is, so when your phone is sitting on top of the clock, charging overnight, it covers all of the controls. The only way to hit Snooze is to push your phone off the clock or just push down on the phone and actuate the snooze button. One big problem with this is that there are two elevated buttons toward the front of the clock that you might accidentally press when pushing down on the phone. One is the power button that will just turn the alarm off, and the other is the input button, which might change your FM input to bluetooth, silencing the alarm. Both are NOT what you want to do if your intent is to snooze for a few minutes before getting up. I'm hopeful that the issue with the sound needing rebooted was just a glitch with my unit, and not a 'feature' endemic to the entire line! Not sure how the control/charging location could be fixed on this design, except for a total scrapping of it and moving the controls elsewhere on the unit. At any rate, I decided to go with another clock/radio that would avoid the controls/charging issue but getting one that charges on the front of the unit with the controls on the top of the unit. Hope this review can help some of you decide if it's what you want.

Updated to add…Amazon refunded my money but had no stock to reorder. Contacted the manufacturer and received a free working click and charger. The alarm clock has two alarms that you can set for weekday only, weekend only or everyday. Great for someone that has different wake up times on the weekend or for two people that wake up at different times on the same day. The dimmer function gets REALLY low. No one should be complaining about how bright this model is if they set it all the way to the lowest setting. The time sets itself as long as your initial set up is for the correct time zone. The person complaining that this function is worthless in Arizona (or other places that dont participate in DST) may not realize that there is a "zone" for them and the automatic time setting feature is still useful if the electricity goes out and back on while you are sleeping. The clock will set itself back to the correct time AND your alarm times are saved by the backup battery (included). Sound great right? well I can get all of these features in another clock, what I really wanted was dual alarm, automatic time AND WIRELESS charging. The wireless charger stops charging anywhere from 5 second to 5 minutes after placing the phone in the correct area. The indicator will blink slowly if it is charging and quickly if there is some kind of problem. It starts blinking quickly soon after being placed on the charger. I have tried all of the trouble shooting options and used more than one phone with the same results

Very easy set up with clock automatically setting itself (albeit one time zone off) when plugged in. Battery backup kept it on during power outage with no need to reset and I was able to set the alarm to weekdays only with ease. The display can be set so dim it is visible but does not noticeably illuminate the area around it (perfect bedside clock) and the blue tooth synced well with my Samsung phone, playing my music clearly. I like the simple charger/snooze button and have had no problems with wireless charging after over a month of daily use. Big selling feature for me was the sleep timer (fall asleep and it shuts itself off) and the gentle alarm (starts quiet and gradually increases volume) so I feel calm falling asleep and waking up. Takes up almost exactly the same amount of space as my phone so I don't feel like it's adding any clutter to the nightstand and I like the simple asthetic (buttons covered when phone resting on top).

Item was easy to set up however it does not have any antenna hence all the radio stations sounded distorted. Note that once the 2nd alarm is activated, it will replace the 1st alarm ie., If your 1st alarm is radio, it will stop playing once your 2nd beeping alarm is activated.

Buena calidad, se siente muy plástico, funciona excelente, cumple con toda su descripción, la carga inalámbrica muy bien (aun usando un case en el celular) así como la usb, el radio Fm, la entrada auxiliar y el bluetooth, regulación del brillo muy bien… excelente producto… Si quieres potencia de sonido busca algo más, este tiene lo necesario para su propósito y no está nada mal

It did not even work for 15 days. One of the LEDs stopped working after 15 days From then on I am unable to use the product Can you please help me by servicing the same The vendor Colour Papers is even more horrible. The person in the reception does not understand or speak English properly. When I mentioned to her that I am unable to understand due to her poor English as she just ended the conversation. Did not even provide the e-mail id where I am supposed to send my complaint.

**** EDIT March 2022 **** I now have a Google Pixel 6 with the big camera bump on the back, and this clock/charger still works perfectly with it!!! **** END EDIT **** I bought this clock to replace an aging IPod dock clock AND a separate wireless charger. BTW my phone is a Samsung, with a thin rubber-like case.... So got it to replace 2 devices on my night stand. What I like : - Wireless charging : Yes, just as with ANY OTHER wireless charger, you need to carefully place your phone, or it won't charge. But I just don't understand people saying that the phone "slips" off.... The charging pad is perfectly flat, and the clock should also be placed on a flat surface..... The phone cannot magically slip off!! - Bluetooth : Pairing with the phone is simple enough. Did not test the range because I use it when going to bed only, so always on the charger. - Sleep timer : yeah, well, this one's not new... but hey, works great with the phone playing Spotify over BT. - Time sets itself : I don't know how it works, but the time is automatic. You can change the timezone to adjust it, and you can also manually set it, but I did not need to. - When dimmed all the way down, it's perfect for the night on a night stand, 2ft from my face. What I don't like : - Once the phone is on the charger, some buttons are not accessible. BUT, I still can skip tracks and change the volume by pressing the phone at the right place, because the phone sits on the multi-function button that is also the wireless charger. Really good overall. It's not a boombox, but I don't think it was meant to be neither. Would buy again and I recommend.

If you want a decent alarm clock for lower money than competitors, that is also easy to use, has QI charging, and basically sets it self up, this is for you! My previous alarm clock died, so I was using my phone as an alarm, until one morning I had forgotten to plug the phone in and it died over night. So, to kill two birds with one stone, I wanted an alarm clock that would also charge my phone. Success! This unit is small, easy to use, and easy to read. It has an extensive list of options including two different programmable alarm times, set by day, week days, weekends or full week. It has Bluetooth capability, I haven’t used this feature, so I don’t know how any of this works. I use it with local radio (FM) and it works awesome! - one major thing that I love is the gradually increasing volume at alarm time, not just turn on and blow your ears off. This is a great alarm clock for anybody!