I love this alarm clock! It's easy to use and sounds great. I listen to music to fall asleep and like to wake up to the radio in the morning and the sound on this little guy is fantastic! The gradual alarm feature is great!! It doesn't come on full blast and scare you to death first thing in the morning. Also, you can set the alarm to only go off 5 days of the week so you don't have to worry about shutting it off before you go to bed on Friday night or try to remember to set it Sunday night. This alarm clock is small and doesn't take up much room on my nightstand at all. It has several settings depending on how bright you want the display you could guide ships with the brightest level. You can also turn off the display completely if you like it really dark in your room. The dock head pivots so even with my Otterbox Defender case I can dock my iphone 4s.
I was really excited about this iHome, because it is a nice, compact size, which wasn't much bigger than my other alarm clock. The sound is fantastic in my opinion, and I like the fact that I can charge my iPhone as well as play music. It also has the capability to play the alarms on the iHome+Sleep app on your iPhone. This feature is nice, but I was mostly looking for an alarm clock that would charge my iPhone and also play music. I am the type who just wants a buzzer alarm to wake me up. This alarm clock offers the options to play radio, music on iPod/iPhone/iPad, playlist, or a defaulted buzzer alarm if there is no device detected.
They claim that it is a "buzzer" alarm, but they could not be more wrong. It is a very weak, quiet beeping sound that starts off slow and gets faster and a tiny bit louder over a few seconds. I have been keeping back-up alarms in case this one does not wake me up, which in many cases, it has not. If you are one to need a loud alarm noise to wake you up, I do not recommend this product.
Something else that bothered me was the display. Not the layout, or the way it is set up, that is all very simple and easy to read and use. What I didn't like was the light-up screen display. It is not like a regular alarm clock where just the numbers are illuminated. The whole back of the screen is lit, and is extremely bright even on the lowest setting. This bothers me because I want to be able to see what time it is at night, but not so much light that it makes it hard to sleep.
Lastly, the otter-box case I have on my phone made it difficult to place on the dock. It takes a little while to maneuver it onto the device, but once it is on, it's nice and snug. I tried putting my iPhone on without the case, and it was much easier, but the phone wobbled back and forth and seemed to be too loose. I recommend just being gentle with the dock as it may be delicate. I did like rubbery/grippy wall that is behind the dock on the iHome in order to support the device.
I personally did not want this item to use as an alarm with my iPhone. I just wanted a buzzer alarm with the capability to charge and play music through my iPhone. This would do the trick, if you are happy with charging your phone or iPad all night and using the iHome alarm app. I was not entirely impressed with this product, I just need to find something that will fit my needs more. I would say in general it is a very nice item if you aren't too picky.
Pros
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Not too large or too small, fits nicely on a nightstand
Layout of buttons are simple and easy to use/figure out
Great sound through the two speaker on the front
Able to play music from iPhone or (iPad)
Charges iPhone or other device (iPad)
FM Radio
Dock features a grippy/rubbery supportive wall for docked device
Price isn't too bad for what you get
Cons
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Buzzer alarm is weak and too quiet for me personally (and I suspect others as well)
Difficulty placing device on dock with Otter-Box type phone cases
Seemed too loose on dock without a case as well
Display is too bright even on lowest dimmer setting
Alarm on iHome app was not very well projected through the speakers (surprised at this, there is even a setting to raise volume but did not help much)
Although there may be more good things listed than bad, the bad out-weigh the good for me. I was looking for more specific things and this product did not meet my expectations. This product has a lot of bells and whistles that seem to overpower the practical use of the alarm clock. However, Good product if you are not too picky.Didn't get this from Amazon as I got it as a gift, but decided to write a review. I had heard complaints about the display, but I didn't notice any issues with lighting being distracted when the room is dark; as you can dim the background light. Only problem I had was it was kind of hard to read the time during the day when it was bright as I had it dimmed well. The only other problem I had was there is not a buzzer sound when the phone or an ipod is docked in. When the alarm sounds it will play either the radio or iPhone/iPod music on the device. This is ok if you got a decent song setup to get out of the bed. Other than those two issues, I found the alarm to be very good. I love the the gradual volume increase for the alarm, as it gently wakes you up vs. a jarring noise right away. I also like the sleep feature to play music; I use this sometimes when I need some music to lull me to sleep. The best part is how you can just customize the use of the clock via the iHome app. I like the sound that comes from the clock radio and it is nice to be able to recharge my phone direction from the unit. I have a number of iHome products which work great with my older iPhone but which can only work with the new iPhone 5 if you have a converter. The sound from the radio is good and while the alarm isn't very loud, it is loud enough to wake both my husband and me.
The only thing I think could be improved is that the unit should come with the remote rather than with an add which suggests you buy it for another $19.99. At the price of this unit, it should have been included.
I do recommend it but note that it does not come with the remote. This was my fifth iHome alarm (the first one being the iHome iD84BZ Alarm Clock Radio for iPad/iPhone/iPod with AM/FM Presets and the second being the iHome iA17WZC Color Changing Stereo FM Alarm Clock Radio for iPhone/iPod, third iHome iD37GZC 30-Pin iPod/iPhone/iPad Alarm Clock Speaker Dock, and fourth iHome iP92BZ Dual-Alarm Clock Radio for iPod (Black)). This was the second smallest of the five, a nice compact size. The clock is a nice oval shape with all of the buttons on the top. It has all of the standard iHome options: iPhone dock, power button, snooze/dimmer button, sleep button, music controls, radio presets, time sync (you can also do this through the iHome app), and an EQ button. The back of the alarm only has the Aux-In Jack (you can use this for other MP3 players besides the iOS stuff) and the FM antenna. There is no DST switch.
The iHome can function without a device plugged in, but with an iOS device plugged in, you have access to the iHome 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 really liked it at first, but an update broke it and I haven't gone back to using it since then.
I really liked the design for this device, it is a great size, the buttons seem well laid out, it is easy to dock my iPhone (I can leave the case on!), the sound is as good as my other two iHomes, and it is easy to operate. However, I have three complaints:
1) No remote. Every other iHome device I've gotten has had a remote. This one comes with a advertisement to buy a remote for $19.99. Considering the price of the device, it should come with a remote.
2) The display is too bright. I might be a little more sensitive to light than most people, so it might not be that big a deal. But the background of the clock face is a light color and the numbers are dark, which is the inverse of my other clocks. Even on the dimmest setting the light bothers me.
3) The back of the dock makes it harder to dock iPhones with cases on.
When I pulled this device out of the box, I felt like our relationship would be a long and joyous one. But the flaws just were too much for me. However, I won't let my peculiarities stand in the way of my recommending this clock. If you aren't bothered by a bright display and don't mind not having a remote, then this clock is a great one to get.
