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- Verified Buyer
Wonderful overall size to sit on a nightstand or dresser edge next to your bed.Quality overall is better than I expected. Fit and Finish is perfect. Buttons depress with a fairly solid click-feel. Little rubber feet underneath keep it nicely planted on any hard surface (wood, glass, stone, countertop,...). Display is crystal clear. Display brightness is easily adjusted with a dial peg underneath the unit (I don't know how the lowest setting could be too bright for anyone.....the highest brightness setting still doesn't pass for a night lite in my opinion). The Display can be read perfectly clearly viewing at wide angles from left and right, or when looking down at it from above. The Display fades from sight pretty quickly when viewing up from a head position below the unit.The manual is more than adequate. As others have noted, some words are poorly chosen. That said, it is not that bad to get through. When I saw the owners manual for the 1st time before opening it I kind of cringed a little since it was fairly thick, and I thought I was going to have a lot of reading for what seemed like should be a fairly simple alarm clock/radio. But after opening it I realized it was actually minimal reading and straight forward. 13 of the 70 pages make up the English language portion. Plus it's all in Giant easy to read print and well spaced. Of those 13 pages, most will only care about 9 pages, unless you really need to be told not to take a bath with it or other stuff relating to other countries.The alarm is not super loud. That said, for any light-normal sleeper it will be more than adequate. Even for most heavier sleepers I think it's probably adequate since if it jives with you you can set one alarm for the buzzer and the other to go off on radio set to MAX volume. If you only prefer to use the buzzer for an alarm setting, then even for regular heavier sleepers you'll probably want to pass on this unit. For pretty much all SUPER heavy sleepers out there, you will more than likely need a louder alarm. General FYI; The buzzer setting for the alarm(s) does not really "buzz" at all, but rather "beeps". Many will appreciate the HWS (Human Wake System) for the buzzer alarm setting (does not work for the radio alarm setting). With HWS, the alarm buzzer starts out almost inaudible and progressively gets louder during the course of a minute, as which point it begins again and continues for another minute, and repeats the process for an hour (I didn't test it for an hour, so I am relying on their word, though if you are still sleeping after an hour from the time you set the alarm to go off I'm guessing you're day is pretty much ruined anyway).When using the radio as your alarm setting, whatever volume you have the volume control for the radio set at is the volume it's going to wake you up with. Here's the potential problem with that for some; If you choose to use the radio as an alarm, BUT you want to use the radio Sleep Timer to fall asleep, whatever volume you set the radio Sleep Timer at is the volume your radio alarm will sound off at. In other words, if you set the radio sleep timer volume really low, that's the same volume the radio alarm will sound off at which may not be loud enough for you to reliably wake up when you need to. Hope that made sense. The snooze function (nonadjustable 5 minute interval for buzzer alarm) does NOT work for an alarm set to radio. For an alarm set to sound with the radio station you have it set to, you must use the radio power button to turn it off. Ultimately what's going on is the alarm set to go off using the radio simply automatically turns on your radio without you pushing the radio power button to turn it on yourself. Therefore to turn off the alarm that sounded via the radio, you're simply pushing the radio power button to turn it off, just as you would turn it off when generally listening to the radio.The manual is WRONG on how to shut off either or both of the alarms set on buzzer. The manual says to press the appropriate alarm button (Alarm 1 or Alarm 2 buttons) and hold it down for 2 seconds at which time you'll hear a beep and the alarm should be deactivated. At least on my unit this is NOT true. On my unit when an alarm buzzer goes off, neither the alarm 1 or 2 buttons will beep or deactivate the alarm. The only button on my unit that will turn off any alarm on any setting (buzzer or radio) is the general radio Power On/Off button. I have no issue with this in general.Radio Usage; sound is good virtually all the way up to MAX volume. I'm not saying it sounds like a Bose system but that's not what it is, and only a fraction of the cost. Overall it has more than adequate sound quality. I'll give radio reception a 4 out of 5, not because I really find issue with it as it pulled in all 3 stations (2 local, 1 not local) perfectly that I cared about, but that I've never owned a radio that I didn't want to have better reception for outlying areas (can't get the out of town AM station I was hoping for, but even my car will only pick it up sometimes). MAX volume is enough for general radio listening throughout an attached kitchen/living room area. In a garage where you may also be doing some banging around and whatnot, you may want something with higher volume than this unit is capable. For the vast majority that aren't interested in cranking up the music extra loud, volume levels will be more than acceptable in the home or out on the patio.Little Things: Love that it always shows the day of the week. Wish it also always showed the date, but rather you have to push the display button twice, once for the year and a second time for the month/day of the month. General FYI, the radio power button is nicely backlit when the radio is OFF, no other button is, but when the radio is ON (generally or as an alarm) it is not backlit. It does have a plug in space for headphones. It does have an AUX IN plug-in space like for to plug in a portable CD player where you can then use the units speaker for sound. It does not have any AUX OUT plug-in space which I wish it did to be able to plug in better right left speakers for those who want a little more sound, and that you could then aim directionally. The unit is NOT stark white like the pictures imply (in my opinion) but is rather an off-white. The gray on the rest of the unit is exactly as the pictures imply. It came nicely packaged. It has a built in battery backup that's good for 10 minutes of power outage. I wish it had either a longer lasting (3 hour) built in battery or a space to put accessory batteries that would last much longer regardless (I live in Arizona where during the monsoon season it's not unusual for the power to be out for an hour or two a couple times a year or so).Bottom line: I feel this clock/double-alarm/radio is worth more than the money asked for. I would highly recommend it for anyone to themselves or given as a gift, unless whoever is going to use it mainly as a wake-up alarm is a very heavy sleeper (where there's a good chance the alarm isn't loud enough) or simply needs a louder radio (for areas with lots of ambient sound or very large areas overall like a small warehouse environment...). For anyone still sitting on the fence toward making the decision to buy or not, outside of possible given limitations I've noted, I would add a couple things; 1) I could not find another product that remotely compared for the price (other than similar but different units from the same manufacturer), and 2) It is not as difficult to initially set up as some make it out to be.One last comment on turning off the alarms. As noted earlier; At least on my unit you do have to use the radio Power On/Off button (a single quick press) to turn off either alarm, whether they are set to go off on Buzzer or Radio. What I don't like when an alarm uses the radio to wake you up is that when the radio is on, the radio main Power On/Off button backlight goes out. So if it's still dark in the room at the time the radio alarm comes on you may have to search for the button till you get used to it's location to shut the alarm off. It would be nice if it always stayed lit up whether the radio was on or off so it could still be clearly seen in the dark. Also, some reviewers complained that they accidently pressed the main Radio On/Off power button twice to turn off an alarm which on the 1st press turns off their alarm, and on the second press turns on the radio just as if you wanted to listen to it, which they didn't. I don't see what the big deal is, as one more press of the same button turns the radio right back off again. And, you have to press the button with firm pressure to completely depress it at all which makes it surprising to me that anyone is having issues double pressing it in the first place.Sincerely hope this review helps you make an informed buying decision!I was looking for a decent sound and easy-to-program settings. For a nightstand radio it works just fine, clear and with good volume control. The criticism is that you must memorize the buttons on top because, unless you wear your glasses while in bed, they're hard to read. I pushed the wrong button a few times and got into a nap mode that was not easy to get out of. Like a lot of clock radios setting the time and alarms take more effort than needs be IMO; one must go through a long cycle of pushing past numbers to get the setting. I do like the slowly-increasing alarm feature; it doesn't JOLT you awake. But it's affordable and good value.This is the best alarm clock I have ever owned. It has all the features I absolutely needed in an alarm clock -- and it offers others that I always fantasized about but assumed would never exist in an alarm clock. This is truly my dream alarm clock come true, and I can't emphasize that enough. It's as if someone who lived my life designed this. I am in my 40s and have used plug-in alarm clocks all my life. I still prefer them over digital devices.I'll just talk about the features that I love most:1. It has an AM tuner, which strangely many alarm clocks today do not offer -- they only do FM, if anything at all. I need AM in order to wake up to my local 24-hr AM news radio. Music, buzzes, anything else just doesn't work for me.2. It has a countdown sleep timer that allows me to fall asleep to the radio white noise of my choice, in increments of 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes. Falling asleep to the radio has been a part of my nightly routine for decades. What is new to me in this clock, and what I absolutely love, is the preset increments. In my old (now dead) alarm clock I still had to manually set a time, from 0 to 60 minutes, and sometimes I'd cycle through the minutes several times because the numbers zip by so quickly, and the buttons only go in one direction. I know that's so anal but these preset times make it so simple: just one or two touches, and you're set! Also if you're extremely near-sighted like I am, when the glasses are off and you lean over to set the timer, you don't have to stare closely at the display to make sure you stopped at the right number -- you don't even have to look at all, because all the buttons are positioned distinctly enough, there is no confusion about hitting the right one.3. That brings me to the buttons. They are all so well positioned and designed. Again, if you're really near-sighted like me and in bed without glasses, you don't think about how useful a thoughtful button design can be until you realize you can figure out everything by touch after a few repeated uses.4. There is one alarm setting for weekdays, and an optional second alarm setting for one-time-only days. THIS is an amazing feature. I know that you can do this on your smartphone already, but I don't use smartphones for alarms, and no plug-in alarm clock of mine had ever had this. I never knew life could be this much easier. Seriously. I used to have to remind myself to turn off my alarm switch on the side of the clock on Friday nights so it wouldn't wake me up super early Saturday morning. And then I'd carry the burden of remembering to turn it back on Sunday nights so I wouldn't sleep in and miss work. This was stressful but eventually became a habit, but when I bought this alarm clock and found this feature, I nearly died and went to heaven.5. When you set your alarms and your sleep timers, you can customize each of them not only for a specific radio station, you can choose the volume! This is mindblowing to me. Okay maybe I'm just old and out of touch. But I always hated that the volume was a manual knob that was stuck there when you went to sleep. So if I turned the volume down lower at night to fall asleep to, the alarm in the morning would be a bit too quiet. So I would be forced to choose my waking volume to fall asleep to, which was too loud, but better than nothing. Now I don't have to choose. Who knew this kind of attention to detail could be so wonderful and amazing. Every night and every morning I silently thank the designers of this alarm clock. Last amazing detail on this: it also has a fade-in volume for the alarm!! So when the radio comes on, it begins quietly, then ramps up to your chosen alarm volume. Just incredible.I can't think of anything else right now, but it's partly because I've been using this alarm clock for many months now and while it is still stupendous and I love it to death, it is now the new normal, so it's harder to remember all the amazing characteristics I was excited about during the first few months that I'm completely used to now. But I love this alarm clock SO MUCH and think back over the years to how much nicer my nights and mornings could have been with it. I have it now, though, and I can't be more thrilled and pleased.The clock radio is very attractive, perfect size and very good sound. But I wish it were easier to set the alarm for different days of the week. It seems very confusing to make exceptions. Consequently, I have the alarm set for the same time every day. If I want to differ in the time, I need to set a second portable alarm clock. Is there any help out there???Works quite well for my AM radio reception. This is my second Sangean radio (my first is a different model), and I will keep buying this brand. I listen to AM talk radio, and it is very difficult to find a radio that has decent enough reception. The audio from Sangean also seems to be very pleasing to my ears. Many radios can sound very tinny and fatigue the ears. I do not find that with this radio, or my other Sangean radio. I did lots of research on the best radio for AM sound, and felt this would be a good bang for the buck without spending a huge amount of money on the radio I listen to as I get ready in the morning. I am *not* an audiophile by any means, but I was not disappointed. I do not use any of the alarm features so I cannot comment on those.Worst product I’ve ever bought on Amazon! Setting the time was impossible. Presets were ok to set but the time we never figured it out. Sound quality is poor but it was the frustration I went through trying to set the time on the radio that just finished me for the product. Also, the instructions are too small print!This has finished me for buying any other clock radio on Amazon, although the customer service was okay when I wanted to return it. Took bit of arguing but finally got credit for this crappy product.Thing is I really needed a clock radio so really needed this thing to work but setup was frustrating at best. Stay clear of this product!Very difficult to find a clock radio that can get the AM station I want. Although the station comes through, there is still a little too much static. FM sound is OK, but a bit "tinny". The buttons are small and close together; so at night, a little difficult to figure out which button I am touching. The volume is on the side so easy to locate. The button to put radio on for certain length of time is the same button as on and off. So, during the night difficult to set it to the 30 minutes that I like. Radio will have to do, as I have been unable to find a radio that receives my AM station.This radio replaces a Sony which was disappointing for several reasons. Unlike Sony which has radios as a sideline, Sangean only makes radios. There is attention to detail in the usabilty and features. However, it sounds like there is a pillow sitting on top. No treble, no tone controls. When someone is speaking on the radio, letters like "s" and "f" are missing, or muffled. Good bass though. I contacted Sangean and a week later still no response. Not sure if all sound muffled or just mine.If videos in reviews have sound I can attach a side by side comparison. Does anyone know?As per some other reviews, yes it is a bit complicated to set up etc, but once you know you know. Sound is excellent for the small size and one speaker.... Problem, big problem is that we ordered 2 of these for our kids and one does not work on radio alarm, and defaults back to beeper alarm every time we set it. We have tried over and over with the one defective one at it shows Radio Symbol when setting, but when the alarm activates it goes straight back to beeping mode. Very frustrating and disappointing that this glitch should happen with one of the 2 we purchased. Returning is always a pain.Well, upon further reading I found a factory reset option which corrected the problem. Seems to be working properly now.
