Alarm clock that plays the music I choose

February 27, 2020 5:22 AM

I'm looking for an alarm clock that a) shows the time large enough to be seen from across a room and b) plays music that I choose. Google just turns up "use your phone as an alarm!" hits. Help?

We already have an alarm clock that does this, but the music source is an aging iPod nano. We don't even have the cable anymore to add more music to it, and we're ready for an upgrade anyway. Recommendations for specific clocks and search terms that works help are all welcome.

posted by Tehhund to Technology (12 answers total)

"mp3 alarm clock" appears to be what you're looking for w.r.t. the music function.
posted by Stoneshop at 5:59 AM on February 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

thrift stores near me are full of ihome an iluv clock radios like this, with a 30 pin connector for an iPod.. if you have an old ipod , or can get one, any of these would be a cheap solution..
posted by elgee at 6:17 AM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

I haven't tried this, but I think a smart home device may do the trick. You could probably even set it up once, then disable the microphone.
posted by rdn at 6:48 AM on February 27, 2020

I use an Echo Spot as my alarm clock and like it a lot. The screen is nice and it dims at night to just-bright-enough setting. Assuming you have a music service, you can choose the song you want to wake up to.

(Well, crap: apparently they don't make an Echo Spot anymore and it's now an Echo Show.)
posted by AgentRocket at 6:49 AM on February 27, 2020

I cant check until I get home, but I'm pretty sure I can do this with my Levono Smart Clock with Google Assistant. You'll need to be hooked up to a streaming music account, but then it's something like "Hey google set alarm for [whenever] and play [song name]".

Oh, these clocks go on sale quite frequently, I got mine for $50 CAD. I see they're $70 USD retail, dont pay that unless you really want it right now.
posted by cgg at 7:22 AM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

Make a cd,use it as the alarm.
posted by theora55 at 7:29 AM on February 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

One thing you might want to add to your criteria: how large would you need the numbers to be for them to be visible across a room?

The Wirecutter's alarm clock reviews don't have anything for this category. Every time I consider replacing my ancient clock radio I despair at the options. Who the hell thinks an alarm clock ought to have an easily detachable power cord? Apparently at least two manufacturers of large-number alarm clocks.

Anyway, totally bonkers suggestion: clock radio plus FM transmitter plugged into the music source of your choice. I kinda think this option would require you to transmit music all the time if you wanted to feel confident it'd actually be broadcasting when the alarm goes off. There might be a way to set [music source] with a timer as well, but I don't want extra fail points when I'm trying to wake up.

Another option is: new cable for the iPod nano and reload the thing with fresh tunes. I've got a spare if you can't find a cheap one, so MeMail me if you want it.
posted by asperity at 9:36 AM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

A Google Nest Hub
a) has no camera
b) can display a full-screen clock in. the default mode
c) can play music from your streaming music service of choice for an alarm

This is the same setup as the Lenovo device mentioned by cgg but with a bigger screen.
posted by GuyZero at 10:05 AM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

In addition to the Echo Show mentioned above, you could also consider an Echo Dot with a clock. Not sure if that clock would be big enough for your needs, though.
posted by Betelgeuse at 10:06 AM on February 27, 2020

I have a crunchy old Grace Digital networked alarm clock that can play a playlist from a USB stick as an alarm. Maybe look into that class of device ("Internet radio")?
posted by praemunire at 10:25 AM on February 27, 2020

Does it have to be one device? I had been using an old iHome alarm clock with an aging IPod Classic docked on it for years. It had a readable clock, and would use a playlist on the iPod to wake me. But after I switched to a subscription music service, I couldn't really change that playlist much because the iPod Classic has no internet, it can only play songs I purchase and sync the files.

In order to get better music options, I got a Sonos speaker. The Sonos doesn't have a clock, but it has all the music and alarm features I want. (I can edit the "wake up " playlist with anything in my Apple Music library; it has better sound; in theory I should be able to include it in Siri shortcuts automation using AirPlay2 though that hasn't worked consistently yet.) I haven't yet got a replacement clock, but honestly haven't missed it that much yet.
posted by dnash at 1:09 PM on February 27, 2020

Yeah a Google Home does this as others have said. Also I have a Google pixel and in my alarm clock one of the sound options is Spotify. Don't know if that's available with whatever phone you have
posted by crapples at 5:40 PM on February 27, 2020