- Wake or sleep to iPhone, iPod or FM radio; charges and plays iPhone or iPod while docked;
- Translucent cabinet changes color at the touch of a button with five color change modesthat let you set the mood
- Works with FREE iHome+Sleep app or paid iHome+Radio app to get the most out of your iA17 with exclusive apps from iHome.
- Reson8 speaker chamber technology with passive subwoofer gives you big, bold stereo sound
- Also includes remote control, line-in jack, battery backup, Daylight Saving Time switch, 6 FM radio station memory presets, universal dock and universal 100/240VAC voltage AC adaptor
The colors are fun, but I was a little disappointed. I was hoping that the colors would go off with the alarm, but it is all or nothing with the flashy lights. They are pretty, but I like sleeping in darkness. There are three levels of brightness and off, and the lowest level probably is fine to sleep to, I just didn't see the point of leaving the colors flashing all night. But if you are just using the clock more as a speaker, then the colors are really fun to see with music. There are a couple different settings for the lights, such as one that pulses to the beat of the music and another that just switches the colors. The clock face also changes color.
The iHome can function without a device plugged in, but the app makes this device so much more fun to use. I love the app :) The iHome app allows you to add additional alarms (the clock has one, turned off by default), check the weather forecast, check sleep stats, + some more stuff. The alarms are fully customizable, allowing you to set a flexible repeating schedule, listen to music as you fall asleep or wake up, set the volume for the alarms, choose a nap or alarm type of alarm, set reminders, and post your sleeping habits to social media sites (I don't know why you'd use that, but it's there if you want it). The app is free so you could download it right now and give it a shot before committing to the device.
I do have four complaints thus far:
-One, the docking for the iPhone is a pain. (The dock is too close to the curve.) It isn't built to accommodate cases, and even has a warning against leaving the device in its case. I don't take my phone out of its case (it's a hardshell case that's not easy to remove). It still fits into the clock, but it is a little difficult to get in and I worry about damaging the phone. The phone even without a case isn't so easy to slide on.
-Two, when you set music to play while you go to sleep, it reduces the volume slightly every few minutes (actually, probably a percentage of the sleep timer). Which is kind of cool except that it gets too quiet. Right when I should be falling asleep I find myself straining to hear the last few minutes of music.
-Three, the remote is handy but not that easy to use in the dark. The buttons are all basically the same size and feel, and hitting 'mode' when you are trying to reduce the volume is not pleasant.
-Finally there has to be some way to fix this the snooze button (on the device) also doubles as the play button. Fine, except when I am trying to hit snooze and instead of blessed silence I find Hayley Westenra singing in my ear. More annoyingly, sometimes this DOESN'T happen. I don't really understand it.
But the pros far outweigh the cons with this clock and I find myself really loving it! iHome seems to produce really great products that look nice and are fun to use. They are kind of expensive, but worth the price I think.
Buy iHome iA17WZC Color Changing 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Alarm Clock Speaker Dock Now
The iHome iA17WZC is a nifty gadget that puts a smile on my face. Poor sound quality proves to be the Achilles' heal of this otherwise promising product.PROs
+ Interesting round shapefits great in a corner of a countertop.
+ Colorful built-in LED lights up the entire body of the clock in millions of colors.
+ Remote control.
+ Great integration with the iPhone/iPod. Syncs time with the push of a button.
+ Has a free iPhone/iPod app that could develop into something really neat.
+ iPhone 4 fits great on dock, even with iPhone bumper installed.
CONs
Has an ugly DC power converter brick attached to the plug.
Muddy, mediocre sound quality from the built-in speaker.
Not terribly loud.
iPhone 4
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My iPhone 4 docked beautifully, even with the bumper installed. The phone charged while in the dock and any music I played through the iPhone played to the clock-radio's speaker.
I played local MP3 music and also ran both the Pandora and SiriusXM apps on my phone. Everything worked great and played as expected. Overall, I think this product integrates beautifully with the iPhone/iPod.
iPod Touch
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My iPod Touch worked perfectly with the iHome iA17WZC. The iHome app installed and worked the same as it did with my iPhone. Charging works great. Basically it is the same as the behavior of the iPhone 4 described above.
iPad 2
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This dock does not support the iPad. It doesn't claim to so that isn't really a problem.
Speakers
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The speakers on this clock are fairly mediocre. I'm not impressed with the muddy sound. Also, when you crank them up, they don't get very loud. In my opinion, I think only a young kid or someone listening to talk radio would be pleased with the quality of the speaker. Speakers alone make this a 3-star product. With better sound quality, this would be 5 stars.
Clock
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The clock display on the iHome iA17WZC is bright and easy to read from any viewing angle. Even better, the color of the clock changes to exactly match the LED inside the "orb" of the clock. Everything changes in perfect sync.
Miscellaneous
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The absolute coolest feature of this product is the infinite color display of the internal light. This color glows through the body of the clock and can be configured to be a solid color, to slowly transition through the entire spectrum of colors, or to pulse to the beat of the music you have playing. This feature brings such a big grin to my face and if the unit only had decent sound, this would be a slam-dunk 5 star product.
Summary
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I really wish there was a way to upgrade the speaker quality of this product. The ability to control the clock from an iPhone/iPod app gives a world of possibilities and the colorful LED backlight adds a lot of character to any room. I think this is a great product for a 1-14 year old (because I don't think they'll be as discriminating on sound quality).
Read Best Reviews of iHome iA17WZC Color Changing 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Alarm Clock Speaker Dock Here
I have several iHome radios and have been reasonably happy with all of them.The iA17's gimmick is the changing lights. I found this more enjoyable than I had expected. The lights can be set to slowly change through the spectrum, change quickly, change according to the beat of the music, stay at a particular color, or (most importantly) be turned off.
The dock connecter is of iHome's newer spring-loaded design that does not use adapter inserts (thankfully). My iPhone 4 attaches securely even in its case.
The iA17 is an app aware device and works well with iSleep. This allows you to control the device from the phone and set multiple custom alarms.
The sleep to music option is nice. This turns off the sound after a preset time,
FM reception is good.
The sound is mediocre considering the price point. The bass is anemic and the highs are muted. There is no equalization on the device. Stereo separation is poor.
The footprint is small. One additional problem I had was the plug. The transformer is part of the plug. I had planned to use this in my toddler's room, but the power strips are child safe and the plug does not fit. At least it is oriented so it only covers one outlet when plugged in.
In summary, the color-changing feature is nice, the sound is mediocre, and the price point is too high.
Want iHome iA17WZC Color Changing 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Alarm Clock Speaker Dock Discount?
Okay, I really love the iHome series of products. However they all have one flaw, including this one, (with one exception). All the ones I have tried are not capable of charging my iphone 4 with my Otterbox Defender case still on. It doesnt matter though, even if the case was one of those cheap silicone cases. I would still have to remove it. This is the reason for the 4 stars.Now, with that out of the way, this is what I like about it. For such a small unit, it has a very good bold sound. Its not Bose Wave Radio sound, but it is also not $400 eigher. I am also impressed with the clarity of the sound coming from such a little system.
My kids really love the color changing light inside. They are mesmerized by it and constantly try to guess what color will be next. This usually causes an argument over who was right but then, they are only 6 and 3 years old.
Another feature I like is how it syncs the time with your ipod device for easy setting (you can do it manually too but why would you want to). This feature is almost too easy to use. Just put in the ipod and press the button to sync. Done.
The design of the iHome is not something I find attractive, it seems a little too Jetson's for my taste, but my wife likes it and so do the kids, so on this point, I get over ruled.
Lastly, the numbers are real easy to read which is nice when you are waking up and eyes are hard to focus. But the buttons on top are a little tough to navigate by touch alone. So it is easy to hit the wrong button when the alarm goes off then causes you to want to chuck the whole thing across the room. Oh well, guess that works too since it seems to work to get me out of bed.
So, overall this is a real nice solid unit. If it left room for the case on the phone it would be a 5 star product.
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