Sony ICFC1TBLACK Alarm Clock Radio, Black

I've had this clock for about 4 years now, and I bought it for the gradual alarm feature. I had a wonderful alarm clock for all of my teen/college years that had a soothing gradual alarm, but alas, it stopped working after almost 15 years. It was ridiculously hard to find another one, and this seemed like the best of the maybe 2 other options I found.I'll start with the positives: I really appreciate the 3 different levels of brightness and the color of the numbers. It seems that all clocks these days either want to have a blue screen or blue numbers. Studies have shown that blue light disrupts sleep, which is why we're not supposed to watch TV or use phones/tablets/laptops in bed. So why having big, bright, blue numbers illuminating the room seems like a good idea is beyond me. The yellow-orange numbers on this clock are unique. And personally I need my room super dark in order to sleep, so having the option to dim the numbers so that they're not jarring but are still readable is a definite bonus. I do wish they could go even dimmer, but at least it's something.From there, this clock goes downhill for me. I was disappointed when I discovered that though the alarm starts very quietly then slowly gets louder, the alarm noise itself is irritating as hell, nothing like my old alarm clock. It's a super high-pitched, short, sharp, rhythmic beeping ("bee-bee-bee-beep!... bee-bee-bee-beep!...") that starts slow then becomes faster/double time. Not a pleasant pitch to wake up to at all. But it's better than being jarred awake by the standard continuous, loud alarms out there, so I've settled for it.The thing I find most irritating, though, is that when I set the clock manually rather than on automatic daylight savings, the clock seems to reset its own time. Let me explain: I like to set my clocks to 5 minutes earlier than the actual time - I love to hit that snooze button at least 3 times, and since I tend to be a chronically late person, I like looking at the clock and knowing I am not actually late, I've just given myself a 5-minute grace period. However, even with the automatic daylight savings time feature disabled, my clock still resets itself gradually after maybe a month or so. Gradually as in it will eventually be 3 minutes behind, then 2 minutes, then 1 until it is the ACTUAL time. This is a problem because I don't realize it's happening until I get up and look at my phone and realize my 5-minute grace period has been reduced, and now I AM running late. I did not realize this was a "smart" clock that I don't have any control over. I thought turning off the daylight savings feature would turn off all auto-time-set functions, but apparently not. It's a pain to turn the clock around on my nightstand and fiddle with the tiny buttons to reset the time (having to cycle through the year, month, and day until I get to the hour & minute setting), otherwise I wouldn't be complaining quite so much. If you like to have a clock that you set once and don't have to bother with it again forever, hey, good for you. But I wish this allowed me to have manual control.Other cons: The snooze button is long, stretching almost the full length of the clock, which is good because my clock is arm's length away on my nightstand, BUT it shares its function with the number dimming feature, which takes up the majority of the button. So to hit snooze, I have to reach for the far left 1/3 of the snooze button; the whole right 2/3 is for setting the dimness. Since my nightstand is on the right side of my bed, this is a backwards setup - I have to reach farther and fumble with the button, often resetting the brightness without realizing it. A larger/neutral placement for the snooze button and a smaller, separate placement of the dimmer button would have been a better design so that it doesn't matter what side of the bed you have your clock on.As other reviewers have said, the button to reset the alarm is tiny, smaller than the size of my pinky nail (and I have small hands). To have three different positions for Off, Buzz, and Radio is kind of ridiculous. Turning the alarm off by sliding it all the way over is easy, but turning it back to buzz before I go to bed involves a delicate touch or else I accidentally slide it to radio if I'm not astutely feeling or watching what I'm doing. This means I sometimes wake up to radio static (because I never use the radio, so it's not set to any station), and since it's not the beeping I'm used to, I don't always wake up right away.All in all, this clock is OK - could be better, could be worse.

I have been buying the Sony ICF series alarm/radio clocks for years and I really like them. This latest model has some interesting features and improvements, but also some weird design choices. The Cons are minor details and far outweighed by the Pros.ProsI like the small, compact design that takes up less nightstand space The dual alarms work well. Unlike some I don't seem to have any issues tuning to major radio stations.The LEDs are really great. The Amazon picture makes them look red. They are NOT RED. They are a very nice sunset orange. It is a soothing color and an excellent choice.I also like how the face clearly shows which alarms are on with a bold "A" or "B". This is a very nice feature and unlike other clocks which only have little LED dots that are hard to tell if the alarm is on or not. Also AM/PM is shown as an LED text not just dots next to "AM/PM" printed on the face. It's a little thing but MUCH better then having to remember if the dot means AM or PM : )I am surprised by how small numbers are given the large face of the clock, but that's not a big deal.ConsThe mirror face is a strange design choice. I'm not so narcissistic that want to see my half-conscious, blurry-eyed face first thing when I wake up, but you can face clock at an angle so this is not a big dealThe daylight savings time function is another strange option. It is a nice idea but we are surrounded by computers and phones telling us when daylight savings occurs. If you don't program the clock completely right, you won't realize the mistake until DLS happens. At least the designers were smart enough to allow option to turn this function off. They get an 'A' for effort but in the next model they can get rid of feature and add something else.I am disappointed there is no Dimmer dial like previous ICF series clocks had. Now there are just three different dimmer settings and that works. The LEDs are not annoyingly bright in the first place, but I still I miss the dial.Programming this clock is not intuitive at all. You have to enter the year/month/day which is just silly since they never show up on the clock and you wouldn't need to do this except for the pointless Daylight Saving function.Also you enter the month. then the day and then you have to scan through all 24 hours to set the time? Why not separate entries for hours and then minutes and then AM/PM? This would be faster than having to scan through the hours.You also have to program in the time zones when you get the clock. And the programmed time apparently CHANGES when you alter the time zone? This is a completely useless feature from what I can see. I can see someone thinking time zones was really cool feature and automatically changing the time based on a new time zone would be useful, but it is just ridiculous. I am not packing this clock and traveling into different time zones with it. We all have cell phones which we use alarm clocks when we travel, we are not packing the clock from our nightstand. Sony doesn't need this feature on the future ICF clocks at all.Changing the battery is also not intuitive, but once you figure it out it is easy. (Gently push the larger lip in the opposite direction you would think then pull. Don't pull first).Another weird thing is you turn on the radio button by pressing the 'Radio' button but then turn it off by pressing the 'Alarm Reset'? What the heck lol? It's not a big deal but this is silly. You should turn the Radio on and off by hitting the 'Radio' button.Also some have complained the Alarm reset is too small and recessed. It doesn't bother me but I can see how it would irritate others. The ideal Alarm Off switch should be big and obvious and easy to hit even if you are throwing a slipper across the room.As I've said all these cons are minor and most can either be ignored (time zones) or turned off (Daylight savings) so overall the designers did an excellent job with this clock. I am happy I purchased it and would recommend it for anyone who is looking for a new radio alarm clock.

Excelente iluminación por las noches. La función de despertador dual es muy buena para fines de semana. Me gustaría que volumen de la radio se incrementara de poco en poco al accionarse la alarma. Me gustaría que el radio se sintonizara de manera digital. Precio justo.

The product is not workingBad

El radio es incluso más pequeño de lo que esperaba pero se ve bien, me encanta que no ocupe espacio y quien más lo usa es mi tía quien aprendió a usarlo bastante rápido, recomendable

Sony es sinónimo de calidad, no hay mucho que decir. Lo recomiendo ampliamente.

Cannot set it up useless product