Hale Dreamer Alarm Clock Speaker Dock for Android Phones with SmartSilence

This is an updated review. 4/25/14 (I have kept my first review intact for comparison)When I first received this product, it didn't work with my phone. After leaving my first review, Hale contacted me and let me know some Motorola phones had an impedance that wasn't compatible with the Hale device. They shipped(free of charge)an adapter(also free) to solve the problem. I got that adapter today, and I'm ready to give the Hale Dreamer a second chance. After using the unit for a couple of days, I've found it often turns my Motorola Droid Mini off when I plug into the charger.I'm sick of troubleshooting this product. When I buy something, I expect it to work. I was willing to give it a shot, only because Hale's customer service seemed to be on the ball. I'll help a company that tries to help itself. But even after all of that, it doesn't work with my device. I have gotten it to work before, and if it worked consistently, I'd be singing it's praises. But the sad reality is that something in this device is faulty and not even Hale seems to know what it is.Keep in mind, with my "Pros" that they only matter if you can get the device to work.Pros:-Great sound from a small unit-Physical Snooze Button-Brightness and Volume knobs-Play/Pause, Next, and Previous physical buttons-Alarm clock software has been reliable (been using it for months)-Alarm fade-in that actually starts at a low volume-Customer Service tries to be on the ballCons:-Doesn't work. Turns phone off when plugging into the charging portion of the dock.-Alarm can't work, because the phone has shut off.-Docking "tabs" that can be seen in the picture in front of the device do block some buttons on the screen of my Droid Mini, but since my first review, they updated the location of the buttons.------- ------------- ---------------- -------------- ---------------- --------------[The review below is no longer relevant to my experiences with this device or the company]I bought this alarm clock for its functional buttons and integration with an app that lets me sleep, but still take emergency calls.I opened the box which contained the speaker unit (all one piece), a power adapter, and a quick start guide. So far, so good. I downloaded the app and followed the instructions on the quick start guide, then plugged in my Droid Mini and set it down on the speaker unit as directed by the quick start guide. The first thing I noticed was that the tabs in front of the phone partially block the "music" button and the "settings" button on my touch screen. Thumbs down. Then I noticed my touch screen wasn't working at all. When I unplugged my phone from the speaker unit, my phone shut off. One star review. I tried again, just to be sure it wasn't a fluke, and my phone shut off again as soon as it was unplugged from the unit.While trying to troubleshoot this expensive paperweight, I got the unit to work once. I have no idea how or why it started working, but my phone worked (while still having the two buttons partially blocked), the knobs controlled the volume and brightness well, and the snooze, 'next song', pause/play, and smart silence toggle performed their function. I unplugged my phone and it stayed on.The reason I'm writing a one star review? Because I have yet to get it to work again. It won't even just play music when plugged into the 3.5mm jack. It's a speaker, right? My touch screen has frozen several times while I've been troubleshooting, and only begins working again when the USB plug is disconnected from my device. I've even tried uninstalling and reinstalling the required apps.Pros: NoneCons: It doesn't work. At all.Summary: I know it CAN work, it did once - but for a company that spouts, "Get More Sleep." on their box, they sure do enjoy filling your waking hours with regret on purchasing their product.

Okay I have to admit it works pretty well it's not worth 50 bucks it's worth twenty bucks and I hate the idea you have no choice but to use a 3.5 millimeter audio cable and the one measly amp to charge your phone wow it's acting as your alarm clock that's stupid I don't like that make it so you can add a USB port to it you can plug in your own cable and it needs to be a Quick Charge 2.0 or 2.4 amps at the very least and please make it Bluetooth I like the option that you have for a 3.5 millimeter audio cable that's fine but make it Bluetooth people needs Wireless people don't want to be tied down to the wire cuz I check my phone all the time I hate having to disconnect and reconnect I got an extension cord for the three-and-a-half millimeter audio cable but still it's annoying and I don't use the one amp provided to charge the phone I use my old charger and it's just really really really annoying the software is pretty good actually it needs a little more friendly to use other apps like another alarm app if you choose to and be able to use the snooze button with that other alarm app that would be extremely helpful however several times more than once it has not shown the alarm has not gone off until I hit snooze button to check the time and then it randomly went off and it was several hours after luckily I have a backup alarm clock so I was already up but it could be a phone issue could be the app itself I don't know but it really pissed me off it is an alarm clock people you have to make alarm clocks reliable this is a must and people always use their phones don't make it tied down to the device it's stupid people need freedom is it worth $50 now don't even waste your time as it was $20 absolutely you get the best bang for your buck 20 bucks I got this for twenty bucks as far as the buzzing noise people have experienced so far I don't believe I have experienced it yet and the silence button on this thing for your notifications pretty awesome actually I'll admit it's pretty awesome you plug a 3. 5millimeter Jack into your phone it auto launches the app as an option and it it also remembers that you put it in silence so you don't have to I like it I just wish it was Bluetooth so I can not use a cable that would be nice and the app which I think the latest update lets you do this but the app won't let you keep the phone on the whole time even though it's charging because of the burning but I think the latest update they change that a little bit off to investigate and play with it some other than that it's pretty nice