Ipod Docking Station and Clock Radio review

This is a beast among radio alarm clocks! It’s not just a radio, not even just a clock radio – but an Ipod docking clock radio! That’s right, dock you Ipod and blast out tunes to your hearts content, then fall asleep, and wake up to the tunes of your choice.

This Ipod docking station clock radio has another amazing feature that will have you, er… amazed! – a ‘touchless’ snooze! That’s right, you don’t even need to hit the snooze button, just wave your hand in front of it, and you’ll get those extra vital minutes of sleep.

Sonic Grenade review

This is not strictly an alarm clock, and it’s definitely not a radio, but we thought it was worthy of a mention. The sonic grenade is ideal for parents who struggle morning after morning to get the kids out of bed.

It may not be in the “Good Parenting Handbook”, but all you need to do is pull the pin, lob in the grenade, and just wait for them to crawl out of bed. The grenade will continue to make a noise until the pin is re-inserted, so they won’t be able to stop the noise until they find you, and the pin, at the breakfast table.

Undoubtedly, the best thing about this novelty grenade is the cool factor. You can pretend you are your favourite Hollywood actor, as you pull the pin and shout “Fire in the hole”, before lobbing the grenade under your sleepy child’s bed.

It has three volume levels, so it can be adjusted according to the persistence of the child, and the noise is just plain annoying.

Star Wars Darth Vader Radio Alarm Clock review

“Luke, I am your father” – If that line means nothing to you, you needn’t read any further. This is a radio alarm clock for Star Wars fans.

Shaped like Darth Vader, this radio alarm clock gives you the option of being awoken by a buzzer, the radio or by a Star Wars demo song. It features a digital clock on an LCD screen, which also shows the date and/or the radio station you are listening to.

This radio alarm clock requires 2 batteries, but these are included, so you don’t need to worry about any additional costs, and can be found on several e-commerce websites. We would recommend Amazon, as it is competitively priced, includes free delivery and is a highly reputable company.

Talking Dalek Alarm Clock review

Another alarm clock that doesn’t strictly fit into the “radio alarm clock” bracket, but it proved so popular with our team of testers that we had to give it a mention.

Firstly, we need to mention a couple of small flaws with this alarm clock – the first of those is the clock. It is smaller than on most standard radio alarm clocks, and isn’t particularly easy to see. Also, it requires 4 x AA batteries, which unhelpfully, are not included.

So, onto the upsides, and the biggest plus – it looks like a Dalek! What better way to wake up for a Doctor Who fan than to be “Exterminated!” When the alarm goes off, the head and laser light up and it bellows out one of three catchphrases:

“Exterminate!”

“You would make a good Dalek”

and “You are an enemy of the Daleks, you must be destroyed!”

All in all, this is one for the Doctor Who fans. Not the most functional, but great fun.

Philips AJ3600 Projection Radio Alarm Clock review

This radio alarm clock has a large clear digital clock, with an illuminating background, which varies dependent on the light in the room, so you can always read the time easily. In addition to this, when the alarm goes off in the morning, the time is projected onto a ceiling or wall – just to make sure you know it’s time to get up.

For the price, the speakers for the radio are excellent, delivering clear, crisp sound and it also has all the usual radio alarm clock features: sleep, snooze and am/fm radio. One other useful feature is that it can be powered just by batteries, which is handy when going away, or by using an adaptor, which is more practical for use at home.

The Philips AJ3600 Projection Radio Alarm Clock is available at Amazon. At the time of writing the price is £23.00.

Pure Siesta DAB Radio Alarm Clock review

Pure is a renowned manufacturer of high quality DAB digital radios - the Siesta product brings the same high quality, but at an affordable price.

This radio alarm clock has 8 DAB and FM station pre-sets – so you don’t need to worry about hunting around for your favourite stations and 3 independent alarm options. It has the standard sleep and snooze functions and a light sensitive display – which is a great feature.

If you are looking for a high quality digital radio alarm clock, without breaking the bank, then the Siesat is definitely worth considering. See the Pure Siesta DAB Radio Alarm Clock at Marks and Spencer.

Sony ICFC218S review - a great cheap alarm clock radio

We have looked at some weird and wonderful radio alarm clocks, but what about a normal, bog standard, “tell me the time and wake me up in the morning” radio alarm clock? Well, here’s one for you – the snappily named ICFC218S.

So, what’s it got? Well, it tells you the time on a large LED display, it has a single, easy to set alarm and an FM/AM tuner. For an incredibly cheap alarm clock, a couple of noteworthy features are that it comes with a back up battery included (some of the more expensive ones make you buy a battery separately) and it features auto time setting – so it will adjust the time for you in March and October, meaning you can forget everything you learned about “Spring forward, Fall back” etc.

So, if it is a cheap and simple radio alarm clock you need then take a look at the Sony ICFC218S at Amazon

Tangent Quattro WiFi Alarm Radio review

Could this be the future of radio alarm clocks? The Tangent Quattro WiFi wireless alarm radio hooks up to the internet via your wireless router and gives you access to over 6000 radio channels from across the globe!

It doesn’t end there – you can wirelessly stream audio files from your computer, or plug in your ipod and use this top of the range alarm clock as a speaker – magic!

Don’t forget, if you manage to tear yourself away from playing with all of the great features and go to sleep – it will wake you up as well, with all the standard alarm clock functions…

Click here for the Firebox website.

Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock review

This alarm clock has everything! It is ideal for a couple who need to wake up at different times. You can set alarms for 2 people at different times every day of the week – so if you need to get up at 7am on a Monday, 10am on a Tuesday and 6am on Wednesday, that’s no problem, just program in the different times and away you go.

In fact, pretty much every function of this alarm clock can be tailored to your needs – the alarm duration, the snooze duration and the brightness of the backlight can all be set to your individual requirements.

Another great feature of this alarm clock is the gradual wake up mode, where the radio gets louder and louder the longer you leave it on. Descending snooze is another great feature, every time you press snooze it gets shorter and shorter, so you have to get up in the end!

Add to this the USB port to plug in your ipod (or other generic MP3 player!) and the 20 preset radio stations and you have a great all round alarm clock.

Why not find out more on the Firebox website?

I Want One Of Those

I Want One Of Those (sometimes called IWOOT for ease) specialises in the weird and wonderful. If it’s gifty and gadgety you want, then IWOOT is a great place to start looking. In amongst all the gifts and gadgets, they sell a great range of radio alarm clocks. As you come to expect from IWOOT though – they are not just any radio alarm clocks, they are the latest innovative alarm clock ideas, all with their own special unique selling point.

The I Want One Of Those website is very easy to use and the customer service levels are excellent. Product pages have pictures, videos and customer reviews and provide you with all the confidence you need to go ahead and make that purchase.

Take a look at the I Want One Of Those website to see the alarm clocks they have on offer.