How do you choose an alarm clock?
Choose alarm clock
How you want to be woken up depends on your preferences. When choosing an alarm clock, ask yourself the following questions:
- How do you want to be woken up?
- Do you want to charge your phone at night?
- Do you want an alarm clock that's extra user-friendly?
- Do you want to take your alarm clock on the go?
How do you want to be woken up?
Classic alarm
The standard alarm that you can find on every alarm clock is the beep or the buzzer. Many alarm clocks also have a function to adjust the volume of the alarm, or to increase it gradually. If the alarm clock only has the classic alarm, we call it a basic alarm clock.
Radio
If you prefer to be woken up with your favorite radio program, the clock radio is the best choice for you. The clock radios work with different connections. FM is the regular radio frequency, where the radio looks for the station via the frequency. You might have poor reception sometimes. DAB and DAB+ are digital connections. These connections are interference-free with clear audio. With DAB, you have more stations than with FM.
Light
If you want to wake up naturally, you do so with a light alarm clock. This is also known as a wake-up light. These alarm clocks wake you up with a light, or a combination or light and sound. The light starts shining at a set time and becomes brighter and brighter. Want a realistic simulation of a sunrise? Choose an alarm clock with white, yellow, orange, and red light. With most wake-up lights, you can also choose from a number of natural sounds like chirping birds or rippling water.
Want to charge your phone at night?
Some alarm clocks have a USB port you can connect your phone to. That's useful, because you can go to sleep with an empty phone and wake up with a fully charged one. For extra user-friendliness, choose an alarm clock with a charging pad. These alarm clocks charge your phone wirelessly if you place it on the alarm clock. Keep in mind that your smartphone needs to have the QI technology for this.
Want an extra user-friendly alarm clock?
Night light
Don't want to sleep in a completely dark room? Choose an alarm clock with night lighting. In addition to the backlit display, these alarm clocks also have an extra light. With some alarm clocks, you can even change the color of the night light to your preference. This allows you to create ambiance in the room.
Bluetooth
You can connect your phone to your alarm clock via Bluetooth and play your music. So you can use the alarm clock as a speaker as well, without having a lot of cables on your nightstand. This way, you can fall asleep to your favorite song or wake up relaxed with a mellow playlist.
Multiple alarm times
An alarm clock has one or multiple alarm times. You can use it to have the alarm clock go off at different times. The advantage of multiple alarm times is that you only need one alarm clock for both you and your partner, for example. Your partner can set an early alarm time and you can set one an hour later, for example. Certain alarm clocks also have the week/weekend function. With this, you can set different alarm times for weekdays and weekend days.
Projection
A projection alarm clock projects the time on the wall or your ceiling. This comes in handy in the dark, because you can see what time it is from every angle in the room. So you don't have to leave your comfy bed or turn the alarm clock to check what time it is.
Do you want to take your alarm clock on the go?
Relaxing on vacation is great, but a travel alarm clock is essential if you still have to get out of bed on time. As you don't always have a socket near when you're travelling, it's smart to choose an alarm clock that runs on batteries. A small size and light weight are also nice, so you can easily take the alarm clock in your bad or suitcase.
