Brandstand CubieWink - Charging Alarm Clock with USB Ports

I'm giving it five stars because I LOVE the usability and simplicity of the design, which is EXACTLY what I wanted. Someone put in some really serious thought into making this usable. Have you ever woken your partner because you thought you'd turned the alarm clock off, but you'd accidentally hit snooze instead--and the alarm went off again while you were downstairs making coffee? Have you ever overshot the time setting holding down the + button, because you weren't ready when it switched from snail speed to warp speed--and then overshot the other way going back? Have you ever missed an alarm because you carefully set the ALARM for 5 am, but didn't notice that you had the wrong am/pm setting on the TIME? Does it drive you crazy that you need to fuss with daylight savings time on your alarm clock when every other clock in your life adjusts automatically? Do you have trouble finding the button that shuts off the alarm, in among the eight buttons that control the tinny radio you never use? If none of those things ever happens to you, then you will not understand why I love this clock. Here is what is so good about it: --it shows both the time, in big numbers, AND the ALARM setting, in smaller numbers. You can always see both at a glance. You can always see how it's set and what it is going to do. --If the alarm is off, it displays the word "OFF." No surprises when you thought it was off but it was only snoozing. --Both the time and alarm settings show the AM or PM setting by showing the illuminated letters "AM" or "PM." No twelve-hour-off mistakes! No wondering if a little red dot means "AM, as in radio" or "AM, as in time." --In the morning, I usually want to shut the alarm off, and that's what the big raised button on top does. I don't have to remember which button is the "alarm off" or feel around for it. --the big button on top is also the knob for setting the alarm (and, if needed, time and date) and works very nicely. No "warp-speed overshoot" problem. Turning a knob is infinitely better than "+/-" buttons. It has a battery backup, which, bless them, uses two AAA batteries (not a hard-to-find button cell, and not an expensive 9V battery). It arrived with alkaline batteries installed. The product is apparently designed for hotels so it ought to be durable. That's hard to judge, but I noticed immediately the retaining screw for the battery cover screws into a threaded metal bushing, not plastic. Nitpick #1: the product I received came with no instructions at all. That's wrong. It didn't even give a URL for downloading them. Instructions for the similar CubieTime can be downloaded from the Brandstand website, under "Alarm clocks; CubieTime; Specs." Basic instructions are given on the bottom of the clock, and they're well written, but they aren't enough. Nitpick #2: to automatically adjust for daylight saving, you need to tell it the date. the instructions on the bottom on how to do it are clear enough. But the way the display shows "month" is puzzling, and I actually thought for an instant that the display had some dead segments. The display for the day looks like a "d," but the display for the month looks like "ni." It does don't look like an "m."" When I found and downloaded the manual I realized it's supposed to be that way and stopped worrying. It's not a big thing once you know. Nitpick #3: three little switches are hidden inside the battery compartment. Two are obvious: daylight savings on/off (preset "on") and 12- or 24-hour display (preset "12"). The third is a little weird and you probably need to know it's there because you'll probably want to change it. The third is called "single-day alarm" and is preset to "on." "On" means that the alarm time automatically resets to 6 a.m. after every activation of the alarm; "off" means it stays at the last setting. I haven't lived with it long enough to see it adjust for daylight time. I don't know yet how well it keeps time while it is on battery backup. I don't know how long the batteries last. the instruction manual doesn't say anything about any "low battery" warning and I don't know if there is one. I don't plan to use the two USB charging ports and can't tell you anything about them. the manual for the CubieTime model says that that model provides "5V/2400mA shared" Observation: Unlike the CubieTime, the CubieWink does not have AC outlets, and it has a regular plug which thus uses up one wall socket.

Expensive for an alarm- but its value is its simplicity and ease of use. It is a good alarm if you need one!

This is the best small footprint alarm clock available with 2 USB charging ports. It is designed for hotel use, so it's solid & thoughtfully designed. Has internal switches that allow you select 12 or 24 hour clock, automatic adjustment for daylight savings time & enable/disable same alarm setting each day (for when you set the alarm). The display has 3 levels of brightness + display off. Display (when turned off) automatically comes on when the alarm sounds. Battery backup comes with 2 AAA batteries installed. Great for not taking up a lot of space + getting 2 USB ports for charging your electronics. The only negative I saw online is that the battery backup does not hold the alarm setting in power failure; only holds the time...but have not had that tested yet.

I wanted to own this alarm clock the first time I set a wake up time on a business trip; it was like the first time I saw an iPod or iPhone. I just wanted it because it was better than every other alarm clock. It's brilliance is it's simplicity. Click the wheel to turn on the alarm, click again to turn it off, spin to set the time. Two USB ports and that's it: no dual alarms, no radio, no speaker, no temperature, not toaster -- just a good durable clock that makes it easy to see what time the alarm is set for (when set, the alarm time is always displayed in small print). This is the first clock with the auto-time-set feature, where this feature actually worked.(in other words, just plug it in and the clock automatically sets the time based on satellite reception). Installation tip: Remove the battery cover to find a switch that allows you to set your own own default alarm time. I typically prefer alarms with amber numbers to avoid blue light that might disrupt circadian rhythms -- but the dimmer in this clock works so well, that there probably isn't enough light energy to energize our ipRGC photo sensors (Google it). While the dimmest setting is great, I wish the brightest setting was MUCH brighter -- so bright that the light would help wake me up. This is not a feature I've seen on any alarm clock (where the numbers themselves provide sufficient energy to activate ipRGC cells in the morning) -- I'm just hoping that someone read this who makes clocks. A super bright alarm light feature would also make this clock more useful for the hearing impaired. My only complaint it's a little hard to see the time without my glasses -- the thinness of the large font blurs the numbers with my already blurry vision (one star deduction). I set my alarm with my glasses on so it's not a problem seeing the much smaller alarm numbers.

This device is small but easy to set up, easy to change brightness, and reasonably priced. The capacity to charge your phone overnight is an added bonus.

Me encanta este reloj. Es tan facil de usar

Very good quality

Perfect size and simplicity door bedside table.

Easy to use , every thing it was advertised to be no complaints here Nice that you can dim the clock