ivee Flex: Voice-Activated Clock Radio (FM), White

The title says it all. The novelty was very interesting for the first few months. After that wore off, it's been nothing but a regretful purchase. Here's what I've found over the past nearly two years of owning this product, in no particular order:1) It doesn't keep time well. I've found the clock loses roughly 1-2 minutes per month.2) It has low and high settings for both the audio and clock face luminosity. I have both set to low, and would consider them both on the higher end of the loudness scale and brightness scale. I even went a step further and placed two sheets of low E window treatment cling to the front just to make it bearable at night. That causes a bit of a problem when viewing the clock during the day due to the reflective properties of the low E sheeting, but otherwise the light at night would blow me out of bed. I have to wonder if the "high" settings are for the hearing and visually impaired. (I've often thought with a bit of mirror magic I could reflect the time off the clouds at night, much like a cool blue Bat signal. But then the neighbors would complain about light pollution and I just don't want to go down that road.)3) Ivee talks randomly during the night. Despite having turned off the "IVR" (Ivee Voice Recognition -- where she responds to voice commands in a pretty awesome female English accent, if you're into that sort of thing), she wakes me up once or twice a week to tell me that 'Daylight savings time is off. Daylight savings time is on." Or that she's now using Celsius versus Fahrenheit. These wonderful tidbits tend to come around 1:30am.5) Although she has a battery backup, it doesn't guarantee she'll keep her settings, including the correct time and date, when the power goes out. This is incredibly troubling because I have the alarm specifically set to an audible alert versus the radio. I don't get very good radio reception where I live, so Ivee picks up a wonderfully muted hissing sound only. And if the alarm setting changes from an audible alert to the radio, I tend to snuggle in deeper as I'm now listening to a subtle white noise machine.6) Speaking of Celsius versus Fahrenheit, her thermometric skills leave something to be desired. For some unknown reason, she has decided to tell us the time, date and temperature after I turn off the alarm. (I had turned this option off, but Ivee really likes to hear herself talk. And I don't blame her, with that sexy accent. Cheeky lass.) This morning, she decreed that it was 51 degrees Fahrenheit in our bedroom. Funny, since the thermometer that actually works said it was 61 degrees. Better luck next time.And of course I've performed a factory reset, I've flashed her firmware, all for nothing. Now I'm back on Amazon looking for a simple, no-frills alarm clock. Frankly, I'd suggest staying away from this product.

I have now eliminated my original review giving Ivee 4 stars. After using this poor excuse for a clock radio for three months, I found there is nothing good about it. The stupid thing can't keep time, it loses a couple of minutes a month. There is no AM tuner and the FM tuner is a joke. Half the time it no longer responds to voice commands. I have done a system reset and that makes no difference at all in it not deciphering voice commands. When I first got it, the rate of getting the commands right was about 90 percent and I thought that rate would improve instead of deteriorate into uselessness. In 1999, my IBM computer came with a free program to operate it completely by voice commands and it worked flawlessly. My 4 year old HTC phone can be operated by voice too and it always understands me. Yet, this device that only needs to acknowledge and then execute a few simple commands, way less than the computer or phone, can't get the commands right half the time.My PS3 still is within a few seconds of my atomic clock after not being adjusted for over 2 years while this alleged clock can't keep accurate time for a month. Ivee can only pick up a couple of stations and only on FM when the other radios in the house pick up 22. This pretty much proves it's not a clock and not a radio just a useless piece of junk with a pretty blue display that listens to me even less than my ex-wife.

This is a great gift item for the person that has everything. And I can see it being wonderful for those unable to manipulate buttons and switches. It actually does a pretty good job of understanding the commands. In fact, it does a better job of understanding the commands than I do remembering them! Fortunately it comes with a cheat-sheet I keep in the nightstand.The display is large and very easy to see from across the room. The display also has a light sensing mode that dims it at night and brightens it during the day. However, even in dim night mode, it lights up the entire room. It really needs a multiple level dimmer. I just keep a picture on my headboard in front of it.Although there is a specific phrase that brings it to "life" and ready to take commands, occasionally in the night I will cough or make a noise in such a way that it thinks I want to command it, and it wakes me up shouting "I DID NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR COMMAND!". And if my wife goes to bed before I do, and I need to change the alarm or some other setting, having a somewhat loud conversation with the clock is certain to awaken her. It could use more selections for voice level, too, maybe a "whisper" mode.It has 6 sleep sounds that work pretty well. White noise, outdoors, and soft music. The white noise sound, though, I am sure has a subliminal message embedded in it. It has about a 28 second loop and in the last 4 seconds I swear I can barely hear some guy yelling "NOW ITS TIME TO GO TO SLEEP!". not that I mind, but it kept me awake the first 4 weeks just trying to figure out what he was saying!It also has 6 alarm sounds ranging from a gentle sound that slowly increases in volume to an absolutely obnoxious RED ALERT alarm that, I guess, some heavy sleepers need. The alarm stops every 6 seconds or so to 'listen' to see if you scream "CANCEL ALARM" at it. Or, like I do, you can tap any of the buttons along the front edge. To set the 9 minute snooze, just touch the top of the display, tilting it slightly back.There is also a less expensive model of this clock, but I went with the Flex because of the added features and the blue display.The bottom line is, in spite of the features I would like to see on it, I like the clock. It is a wonderful bit of technology, stylish, well designed and reasonably priced. I like the large display, the sleep sounds, and it has a pleasant voice.