Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I purchased this clock for a soft, muted way of telling time in the wee hours of the morning. Brightness was a big factor for me. I can't sleep with a bright clock. One of the great things about this one is that the brightness is adjustable: high, low, or completely turned off. Low is PERFECT for a light sensitive sleeper like me. Others would probably get along just fine with the high setting. I should note that this clock was not placed directly beside my bed. Instead, it is about 6 feet away, and I can read it flawlessly without eyestrain--daytime or night.
I couldn't find any information on what exactly the nature sounds are, which was disappointing. Even more disappointing were the actual sounds themselves. The first one is supposed to sound like a babbling brook; the second is a meadow with birds; and the third is a kind of waterfall sounding noise. The "babbling brook" sounds more like someone blowing bubbles in a water glass. It's very annoying, so for those who like annoying alarms, perhaps this one's for you. The meadow birds are actually not bad at all--kind of soothing. The waterfall just plain hurts my ears. I blame this on the inability to turn the nature sounds down--you cannot adjust the volume of these at all.
Radio reception is acceptable. It comes with a wire antenna, which is adequately long. It's also coated white to hide on white walls easily. The tuner is the ridged wheel style. Mine might be a little funky. One of my favorite local radio stations is 98.9 FM. It won't come in on this clock radio unless it's set at 98.8. Not a huge deal; just something to consider. The solo speaker is as to be expected. I was neither disappointed nor impressed with it. No presets or anything fancy for the radio; just AM and FM functions. I wanted to use the alarm function without any sound playing (which I will get to in a second). The radio alarm option was perfect for this. I turned the alarm on radio and just turned the volume all the way down (the radio is the only alarm function that can be volume controlled).
Why would I want the alarm function without the actual alarm? The pretty lights! One of the major selling points for me on this clock radio was the rainbow and sunrise simulated lights. The pictures do not do them justice. For the rainbow setting (which can be turned on at whim via a switch--it's not just for the alarm), it will turn on when it's time for the alarm to go off. It rotates through myriad colors (red, blue, green, orange, purple, yellow) beautifully. For the sunrise setting, approximately 30 minutes before the alarm is to go off, the dome lights up with a deep red. As alarm time draws closer, the dome changes to a lighter red, an orange, an orange yellow, and then a brighter yellow, simulating a sunrise. THIS is the effect I wanted to use without the sound of an alarm. I can look at my clock across the room and see that if a color is present, it's time to get up soon, and depending on what color is displayed, I can guess how much longer I can doze. This eases me awake, as opposed to a jarring, blaring alarm.
First-time users might have to glance through the (short) user manual before utilizing all the features. I couldn't figure out how to test the nature sounds (you have to go through the alarm and have the alarm switch on the nature sound option). User manual is easy to read, gets to the point, and covers all the bases without being annoying. Once you've browsed this guide, the clock radio is pretty intuitive.
My only complaint (other than the two disappointing nature sounds) is that my device's battery back-up function does not work. I'm guessing that it was returned once already, as there was no protective cover on the clock display, and one of the stickers was placed awkwardly on the bag packaging. There's something loose inside the clock--something pretty small--and I am guessing this is why the battery back-up does not work. Because I did not buy this clock as my main alarm and we don't have power outages often, I'm overlooking this issue and keeping the clock. If it weren't for these two items of disappointment, this item would have received 5 stars.
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Crane USA CRW-2 Wellness RadioProduct Description: Wellness Radio
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