Need a new Alarm clock - Amazon Echo?

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Need a new Alarm clock - Amazon Echo?

OnceBitten

545 posts

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#322648 8-Sep-2025 13:31

A few years ago I got a new alarm clock - has a USB port...etc... and it was all good

now it has started playing up and sometimes tries to reset the time when you are pressing the button to reset the alarm... And sometimes the alarm doesn't go off and I need to have my iPhone set up as a backup alarm in case it doesn't go off.

I've been looking at Alarm clock radios online for the main stores like JB HiFi, Harvey norman, Noel Leeming and Briscoes and most of the ones they sell have pretty bad reviews.

Went into Noel Leeming yesterday and saw an Amazon echo for $149.... looks very nice, plays music and you can set alarms...etc...

I liked how small it is and it looks prety cool.

I'm considering buying one instead of an old alarm clock

Does anyone have one?

Can you set the alarm to come on with the radio instead of an alarm sound?

if anyone has any advice on Amazon echo or a decent alarm clock that would be much appreciated

scuwp

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#3412488 8-Sep-2025 13:50

We have an echo. Yes its easy to set an alarm (or multiple), sorry haven't tried asking to play a radio station instead of an alarm sound.

Decent alarm clock? Your phone or smart watch. I like using my watch as it can vibrate to wake me up, but is silent for everyone else.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

richms

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#3412610 8-Sep-2025 15:20

The echo as an alarm clock has let me down 3 times.

Once was because of a power cut - my old alarm clock took a 9v to protect against that.

Another was that it tried to update over night and was just spinning its blue light all the time till I power cycled it.

Another was the alexa service was down.

not as bad as my phone which would decide to do a software update overnight and some Einstein at google made it so that android would not launch any apps till you unlocked it without asking if I wanted that or not.

Richard rich.ms

wellygary

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#3412619 8-Sep-2025 15:33

JBL have a new Horizon 3 just out, that seems to do everything...

I'm in the market for one ATM, but are waiting on a few proper reviews,- the previous version ( Horizon 2) had a problem in that if you chose a radio station to wake up to, it would only play for 3 minutes and then the snooze would kick in.... [ pretty glaring design issue IYAM]

mattwnz

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#3412678 8-Sep-2025 21:11

richms:

The echo as an alarm clock has let me down 3 times.

Once was because of a power cut - my old alarm clock took a 9v to protect against that.

Another was that it tried to update over night and was just spinning its blue light all the time till I power cycled it.

Another was the alexa service was down.

not as bad as my phone which would decide to do a software update overnight and some Einstein at google made it so that android would not launch any apps till you unlocked it without asking if I wanted that or not.

My iPhone has never let me down and I turn on airplane mode at night so it can’t do updates, and have it manually set anyway. Think it worst has a nightstand mode but don’t use that

davidcole

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#3412689 8-Sep-2025 22:04

If the echo is anything like my Google assistant Lenovo smart clock. Yes it should enable to play radio. Mine has a routine for good morning that tells me the weather then “play Zm wellington”. Which are the keywords for playing Zm off iheart radio. I believe a similar phrase is used by an echo.

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fe31nz

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#3412706 8-Sep-2025 23:50

After my old alarm clock died earlier this year, I am now just using my old Samsung A3 (2017) phone running an app called Night Clock so the OLED display will not burn in. I just do alarms though - I do not need radio to wake up to. I did not see any point in paying more money for a new alarm clock when I already had the old phone lurking in a drawer. I run it in "Do not disturb" mode, so it does not beep at me when it does things, and I only allow manual updates for the apps. In "Do not disturb" mode in Android, alarms will still sound.

One thing to check with new alarm/radio clocks is that they keep good time. Anything with an Internet connection and does NTP to syncronise its clock to the Internet time severs is good, as is any old style mains operated clock that has a zero crossing strobe circuit to syncronise its time to the mains frequency. And, of course, cell phones syncronise with the cellphone networks, or can run an NTP app. But most other clocks I looked at had no means of maintaining an accurate time and would inevitably drift and need resetting, which I would find a big pain, as I do with all our heat pump remotes.

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davidcole

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#3412765 9-Sep-2025 07:10

What none of these smart clocks have figured out though, is public holidays.