Home CasaVerdeSmart ,,,,, We recently tried the Holife clock radio, a valid alternative to the smartphone alarm clock mainly due to the analog controls and the built-in projector. Models of this kind have existed for years but this has an eye also for our public: a USB socket in fact allows you to recharge a smartphone during the night, thus eliminating the phone charger in favor of a single solution on the bedside table.
How it's made
It is made of very light but sturdy polycarbonate: completely black, the front is shiny while the feet are accompanied by a rubber cover which has proved to be a magnet for dirt and dust. On the back there is the speaker for radio and alarm clock, flanked by a cover that houses a CR2032 button battery necessary to maintain the settings in the absence (even temporarily) of current and at the microUSB input for power supply (it can therefore also work with a powerbank). The antenna cable also protrudes, useful for ensuring excellent reception of the built-in FM radio.
On the upper side there are the buttons for controlling the settings: specifically, from left to right we find the “Down” and “Up” keys, the latter also used to switch on the projector; then follows the “Set” button, the “Snooze” button and then again the “Sleep / Radio”, “Volume” and “Alarm” buttons.
The display is very large and the time shown covers most of the available surface. In our case it is blue, but the same model is also on sale with the display in the red color variant. The USB output located on the right edge of the clock radio completes the circle of functions.
How does it work
First you need to remove the tab that keeps the button battery deactivated: in this way the settings, including the time and the alarms, will be maintained even if the power supply is disconnected or if the power fails momentarily.
To adjust the time, simply hold down the SET key and use the arrows to set the hours and minutes. For the radio it is necessary to press the relative button and search for the desired station using the directional arrows. You can store up to 10 favorite radio stations and you can also use one of them as an alarm clock station.
You can set up to two alarms (A1 and A2), useful if you use the device to wake up two different people at different times. To turn off the alarm (by setting BU you will be woken up with an acoustic signal that repeats for one minute), by selecting RD the radio will start instead) simply press the Snooze button which, according to the previous configuration, can also postpone the alarm. 5-10-20-30-40-50-60 minutes.
Adjusting the settings is really intuitive, in case the clock radio is intended for an elderly person or an impractical user there is still the user manual that explains the various configurations in three pages also available in Italian.
How is it going
We liked several things about the clock radio. First of all, being able to wake up to a radio station instead of the usual ringtone or the classic BIP allowed us to listen to the main news by staying in bed for a few minutes before putting our feet out of bed. Especially for iPhone users this is an interesting opportunity since the phone lacks the ability to listen to the radio (unless you opt for one of those apps that however require an Internet connection to work) and you will not need to open immediately your eyes to look at the screen and search for the desired app.
With this in mind, we also liked being able to adjust the brightness of the display and the projector: there are four different levels of brightness for the time shown on the screen and it is also possible to turn it off completely to stay in complete darkness, perhaps by projecting the time. only on the ceiling. For the latter there are two different levels of light intensity, the higher is optimally readable especially in the dark and is faintly visible even in broad daylight. In the past we have had similar clock radios but they were weak right in the projector, unable to ensure excellent visibility of the time projected on the ceiling or on a wall.
Conclusions
The smartphone has now replaced the alarm clock for many users, however this clock radio can paradoxically be a step forward for all those who want to wake up in a different way thanks to the FM radio. The USB socket keeps an eye on the technology allowing you to recharge even a smartphone (in fact it delivers up to 1.2A) and the classic button to turn off the alarm can actually be better than the interaction with the touchscreen, especially because it can be easily found even when groping. in the dark and does not require you to open your eyes immediately to quickly turn off the alarm.
The advantage over other similar devices also resides in the built-in button battery: in fact, it allows you to keep time and alarms in memory even if the power fails or if you temporarily disconnect the power supply.
Retail price
The Holife clock radio is on sale on Amazon for 29.98 euros. These days you can buy it at a discount of 25.98 euros by entering the code DD7IASRW in the cart.
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