Digital radio alarm clocks are a combination of two of the most well-known devices in human history. It can tell the time, and it lets you listen to your favorite radio stations. For many simple digital radio alarm clocks, these are the features that are commonly being sought out by many. However, technology has already been kind to such a device as many new features have been added to add to its value.
It is even safe to say that the days of having a standalone radio and alarm clock are gone. Now you don’t need separate devices to know if it’s time for lunch and to listen to your favorite tunes on the radio.
However, there is still an existing challenge that plagues buyers as the market is now littered with digital radio clocks. We have listed the top 10 best digital radio alarm clocks of 2017 to help you in arriving at a sound decision for your next purchase.
Contents
- #1. Mesqool AM/FM Digital Dimmable Projection Alarm Clock Radio
- #2. Electrohome 1.8″ Jumbo LED Alarm Clock Radio
- #3. Electrohome EAAC601 Projection Alarm Clock with AM/FM Radio
- #4. Sony ICFC1 Alarm Clock Radio
- #5. Philips AJ3116M/37 Digital Tuning Clock Radio
- #6. Emerson CKS1708 Smart Set Radio Alarm Clock
- #7. Peakeep Little Digital FM Alarm Clock Radio
- #8. Electrohome Digital AM/FM Clock Radio
- #9. Electrohome Alarm Clock Radio with USB Charging
- #10. Sylvania AM/FM Clock Radio with Dual Alarm Clock
#1. Mesqool AM/FM Digital Dimmable Projection Alarm Clock Radio
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The design of the Mesqool Digital Alarm Clock Radio is future-proofed. One look at it and you might think that it did come from the future. It is equipped with a projection feature that can display the time on its screen to a wall or the ceiling. Its projector can even swivel 180 degrees to give you a bit of flexibility as to where you want the time to be displayed inside your room.
It even has a USB charging port for your mobile devices. Still, the snooze button could be a bit larger than it already is, and the clock can fall over due to its narrow base.
Conclusion: The Mesqool Digital Alarm Clock Radio can be a fun device to have in your room. Its projection feature does decently well, which is a hit-or-miss functionality for other similar devices. However, the snooze button might be a bit too small, which means you might fondle around a bit with it while you’re still half asleep just to find it.
- Displays the correct time
- Projection feature can be swiveled 180 degrees
- Automatically sets time, even when transferring to different time zones
- Narrow base means it can fall over
- Snooze button is too small
#2. Electrohome 1.8″ Jumbo LED Alarm Clock Radio
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The Electrohome Jumbo LED Alarm Clock Radio has an easy-to-read 1.8 inch LED display, and it even has four dimming options so you don’t have to be accidentally blinded in the wee hours of the morning by what would otherwise be a very bright light. It also has an advanced SelfSet technology feature that will automatically set the correct time and date without you having to input it manually.
There’s also a few other features included in this particular device, but you might want to discover them for yourself because the accompanying manual is not the most helpful you’ve seen.
Conclusion: Even though the LED display on the Electrohome Jumbo LED Alarm Clock Radio is large and bright, the buttons to control the features are not as quite. Furthermore, you might have to do a bit of tinkering with the buttons here-and-there if you want to know which button controls what feature because the manual can become confusing.
- Automatic setting of time and date.
- Temperature readouts.
- Long battery life right at the onset.
- Extra date function feature.
- Speakers are decently sounding.
- The manual could be better.
- Buttons are not clearly displayed.
#3. Electrohome EAAC601 Projection Alarm Clock with AM/FM Radio
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The Electrohome EAAC601 can project whatever it is on its display to your walls. It can give time, date, and temperature readouts, and they can all be read clearly across the wall of your room, but only if the room is dimly lit or pitch dark.
It also can adjust if it’s daylight savings automatically, and you can even listen to the music from a wired connected device as opposed to just listening to its built-in radio.
Conclusion: The Electrohome EAAC601 is a capable digital alarm clock and radio, but you might want to purchase it for its ability to tell time and temperature, as well as its radio, and just forget about its projector. Letting its users play music from another source is a nifty idea, however.
- Radio speakers are decent.
- It can play music from another device connected to its 3.5mm audio port.
- Time and temperature readings are displayed clearly on its screen.
- Room needs to be dimly lit or completely dark to use the projection feature properly.
#4. Sony ICFC1 Alarm Clock Radio
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If there’s one word to describe the Sony ICFC1, it’s “tiny.” This little black cube with 4 x 4-inch dimensions has features like an adjustable brightness control, battery backup (for a longer life span), and a programmable sleep timer.
There’s not much to say about this particular digital alarm clock radio, but it did get the basics down right, but with its price tag, there’s very little room to complain.
Conclusion: The Sony ICFC1 is a simple digital alarm clock radio without the extra bells and whistles, which is what you might be looking for in such a device. It has a 4×4 inch design which means you can place it practically anywhere without it intruding too much on shelf space. However, the display can be a bit too bright and can momentarily blind you if you suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, and this is the first thing you see.
- Clean and simple design.
- Gets the basics right.
- Speakers are decent but not astounding.
- 4 x 4-inch design means you can practically place it anywhere.
- Backup battery option for a longer lifespan.
- The display can be too bright.
#5. Philips AJ3116M/37 Digital Tuning Clock Radio
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The Philips AJ3116M is a digital alarm clock radio that has a reasonably price tag with features that you would expect from such a device. It has a feature that lets you select if you want to use the standard alarm sound when waking you up or change it to a preferred radio station. One thing that is quite likable about this device is that the display is large, so viewing what’s on it is easy even from across the room.
One caveat for this device, however, is that the volume of the alarm could not be set, and it can be too loud to wake up other people within the immediate vicinity if you’re not too careful.
Conclusion: If you’re living alone, then perhaps the Philips AJ3116M is the digital alarm clock radio for you. However, if other people are sleeping in the same room, and they wake up at a different time of the day than you, then perhaps you might turn your sights (and your wallet) somewhere else because the alarm volume could not be set. To give you an idea, the alarm sound will always be set at the highest level.
- Large and clear display.
- Reasonably small footprint.
- Relatively reasonably price tag.
- It has the option to choose from the radio or a buzzing sound as the alarm.
- Alarm volume can be too loud.
#6. Emerson CKS1708 Smart Set Radio Alarm Clock
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The Emerson CKS1708 gives you plenty of features making it an excellent value for your hard-earned cash. To start, it can remember many stations for easy access later on, and it also has a dimmer control for its display (with 3-levels of dimming).
It also has a dual alarm with Sure Alarm to help you wake up constantly at the same time so that you won’t be late for work. It can even set itself automatically for the correct month, date, day, time, and year right after plugging it in.
Conclusion: The Emerson CKS1708 is an accomplished digital alarm clock radio, but it is more alarm clock than radio. It has the features that you would be looking for in an alarm clock, plus its Sure Alarm feature assures you that you won’t be late for work or school. While the alarm clock part is easy, the opposite can be said when setting up the radio.
- Setting the month, date, day, time, and year requires no manual input
- Three levels of dimming for the display
- Speakers sound nice
- It can memorize many different stations
- Sure Alarm makes you wake up at the right time of the day, always
- Setting up the radio can be a bit difficult
#7. Peakeep Little Digital FM Alarm Clock Radio
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The Peakeep Little Digital Alarm Clock Radio helps you “start a wonderful day.” It can memorize up to 10 radio stations for easy access in the future, and there’s also a digital scrolling tuner that allows it to scan for radio stations automatically. A neat feature is that you can manually adjust a station if it encounters a weak signal.
The display on this particular digital alarm clock radio is large, and the contents are easy to read. However, you might want to spend a bit of time in learning how this device works because the manual might not be the best one to deal with.
Conclusion: While the Peakeep Little Alarm Clock Radio gets most of the things right if you’re looking for a capable digital alarm clock radio, it is recommended to spend some time tinkering with the features due to its confusing instruction manual. It does have a small footprint, so you can place it just about anywhere you want inside your room.
- It can memorize ten radio stations
- You can manually set the frequency for better signal
- Display is large and bright enough
- Footprint is decent
- Instructions in the manual can be confusing
- Setting it all up can be clunky
#8. Electrohome Digital AM/FM Clock Radio
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The Electrohome Digital AM/FM Clock Radio is a competent digital alarm clock radio with an amount of features that fit its price point. For its radio, it can memorize up to 20 stations, and one station can even be set as the alarm instead of the standard buzzer. For the alarm clock portion of the device, it has a dual alarm functionality, which is excellent for couples who wake up at different times of the day.
Even though this is still classified as one of the best digital alarm clock radios of 2017, it would be helpful if the package contained an instruction manual.
Conclusion: The Electrohome Digital AM/FM Clock Radio is a great device to have, especially if you’re sleeping with another person in the same room because the dual alarm feature works like a charm. The device would be better, however, if the package included an instruction manual. As such, you will find yourself tinkering with it for a bit before you can properly set it all up.
- No need to change batteries as it needs to be plugged into a wall socket
- It does have a battery backup in case of power outage
- Dual Alarm feature works like a charm
- No instruction manual
- No option to change to 24-hour display
- All the buttons look the same
#9. Electrohome Alarm Clock Radio with USB Charging
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If there’s one thing that’s very likable about the this Electrohome Alarm Clock Radio, it is its USB charging feature. It has a USB port to help you charge your mobile devices, so you don’t have to waste precious space from your wall outlets.
Aside from its USB port, it also comes with a brightly lit 1.2 inch LED display that has four dimming options. It would even become a better digital alarm clock radio if there were an external speaker jack.
Conclusion: The Electrohome Alarm Clock Radio gains high marks with its included USB port, but it doesn’t mean that it’s the perfect digital alarm clock on the market. There are some caveats, such as its display being a bit too bright even at the lowest level, and there’s no included USB charging cable in the package (which means you have to supply your own).
- USB port for charging mobile devices
- Speaker for the AM/FM radio is decent
- It can be set to display 12 hours or 24 hour time
- The display can be too bright, even at the lowest level
- No external speaker jack
- USB charging cable not included in the package
#10. Sylvania AM/FM Clock Radio with Dual Alarm Clock
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The Sylvania AM/FM Clock Radio has a brightly lit display which you can clearly see even if you place the device across the room. What’s easily likable about this particular digital alarm clock radio is its reasonably large snooze button, so you don’t have to fondle the top of the device just to let it sleep for a few more minutes.
However, the digital display can be a bit difficult to read when it is exposed to bright light, especially when it’s coming from the sun.
Conclusion: If you’re picky about your digital alarm clock radios, then consider purchasing the Sylvania AM/FM Clock Radio, especially if you like multi-functional buttons. However, if you don’t want buttons that do more than one functionality, then this device might be a bit annoying to set up. But once you do get to set it up, then everything becomes a breeze.
- Compact footprint
- Stylish design
- Display is readable in favorable lighting conditions
- Has a battery backup option
- Display can be difficult to read when exposed to bright light
- Buttons have multiple functions, which can become annoying
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