The IT Nerd

I needed a new clock radio. The old one that I had has become flaky, and I decided that I’d jump out on a limb and get something that would be in line with the fact that I am a nerd. So I got this Phillips Clock Radio Charging Station With Bluetooth at my local Best Buy. Here’s a look at what comes in the box:

Besides the radio, you get a power adapter as well as different cradles. One is a Micro USB cradle for non Apple devices. The others are for Apple 30-Pin connectors and Apple Lightning connectors and they need cables for them to work. But neither of those cables are included in the package. Given that there’s no MFI logo on it to say that it was certified for use with Apple’s suite of iDevices, and that costs a company who wants to be MFI certified money, which in turn would make this clock radio more expensive, I am guessing that this is the reason behind the lack of Apple cables.

On the back near the bottom is a USB port. All it does is charge the device that you plant on the top. No data is sent through this port. As you can see here, you wrap the cable around the back and feed it up through the top. There’s also a 1/8″ jack if you want feed audio from an audio source that doesn’t have Bluetooth.

You push the Lightning connector through the cradle. The key point here that this system only works with Apple branded cables. If you use any other Lighting cable, it will not snap into and stay in place. To make matters worse, this is not stated anywhere in the instructions that come with the clock radio. Thus when I was having troubles with the cables that I had on hand, I made a guess as to the reason why and I guessed right. Now I didn’t have an Apple Lightning cable lying around because as frequent readers of this blog will know, I find the quality of Apple Lightning cables to be horrific. So I had to drop $30 at the Apple Store to grab one to make the clock radio work. My advice to Phillips would be to include cables that work, say that you need an Apple Lightning cable, or get your product MFI certified which would allow you to build the cradles with both Lightning and 30-pin connectors. It would make it way more consumer friendly.

Here’s the net result with my iPhone 6 on top.

Once you assemble everything, and pop in a pair of AA batteries to keep the settings intact in the event of a power outage, you can set the time, alarms (you have two of them) and preset the FM stations that you like (up to 10 of them). There’s no AM tuner. You can also pair your iDevice or Android device via Bluetooth to stream music. The pairing process is painless. So is the setup for the most part.

So, how well does it work? Here’s a quick rundown:

• The audio quality is very good. There’s no stereo separation. But all the audio is rich and well defined. You will have no complaints on that front.
• If someone phones you, and you have Bluetooth turned on, you can answer the phone using the phone button on the top and use the phone as a clock radio. It does work, but I have to admit in the middle of the night when my iPhone rings, I simply pick it up and answer it as that is the natural reaction to being woken up by a ringing phone. One other thing, Bluetooth has to be enabled for this to work. If you have Bluetooth turned off, you’re picking up the phone to answer it as pressing the phone button will do nothing.
• The alarm starts out gentle and gets louder until you turn it off. That way you wake up gently as opposed to being shocked out of bed.

Gripes? If your phone has a case, you’ll have to take it out of the case to use the cradle. And then there’s the aforementioned lack of Apple cables in the box. If Phillips did something about the latter, it might have gotten more of an endorsement from me. But as it is, you have to factor in the $70 CDN for the clock radio and the $30 CDN for the genuine Apple cable of your choice if you have an iDevice. That’s $100 for the clock radio in total. That’s kind of pricey. But considering that companies like iHome sell clock radios at the $130 CDN and up price point with everything in the box, I guess it’s in line. And if you’re not using an iDevice, it’s a bit of a deal. The bottom line is that the sound quality is good, and it is easy to set up. If you need a clock radio that works with your smartphone, the Phillips Clock Radio Charging Station With Bluetooth is worth a look.

This entry was posted on October 26, 2015 at 8:00 am and is filed under Products with tags Phillips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.