Customer Reviews

Seiko Bedside Alarm Clock Silver-Tone Metallic Case

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm always looking for the Nirvana product...best briefcase, cellphone, carry-on bag, toiletries container...and that's just for travel. I'm obsessive about my golf clubs, cars, televisions, etc. So when I stayed in a luxury hotel in Palo Alto, CA, this somewhat normal looking clock was on the nightstand. I looked at it, no cord, but a very large and readable face. And what was this little dial on the lower right? I spun it and it was the most effective and easy to use alarm setting dial I had ever seen...on the front of the clock!!!! I noticed it had a simple alarm on/off on the right and a large snooze button on top. Also, on the lower left was what looked like some kind of sensor. So I set the alarm and a placed a backup wakeup call as I usually do to the front desk. When I turned the light off, I noticed that the clock face was glowing green from a small LED in the lower part of the dial! Turned the light back on and it went off. Turned the alarm off and the light off and the face glowed orange! So, turned the alarm back on, face glows green again!!!! So, if you're an idiot like me, then you get "reassurance" that the alarm is on if it's green. And if you want it even brighter, you press the snooze on top. The alarm is escalating, and incredibly effective. This thing should be in the MOMA for a design award. One of the best and most fairly priced items I've ever purchased on Amazon. I regularly give them for gifts to my team and friends. Only problem, it's a little large to travel with. BTW, I asked the front desk if I could keep the clock and they could charge it to my room and they said "sure, people ask to keep that clock all the time!" Might want to order some LiIon batteries, 3 AAs to go along with it. I think the silver one is cooler looking than the black one.

This is the first alarm clock I've had that I like looking at, working with, and waking to. It's the first one I've not want to put through the wall when it goes off. It strikes me as a peculiarly friendly alarm clock.

The alarm starts simple and rather quiet, then smoothly but quickly gets more complex and louder. A brisk waking, not a jarring one. Generous snooze. At least four repetitions of about 10 minutes each. There may be more. The index marks for the alarm hand are for every 10 minutes. The alarm set wheel is large, serrated, and one-way. It also "ratchets". Every "tic" is 5 minutes, there's marks every 10. The most precise and user-friendly alarm setting I've seen in an analog clock. The switch to arm and disarm the alarm is not exactly hidden, but not exactly exposed. This makes it easy to deliberately operate, but very hard to accidentally move. Perfect for us "brain not in gear till caffeine" types. Fairly large, but not obnoxiously so, that switch.

I'm sure they had in mind people who find it difficult to operate fiddly things when they designed the entire clock. All the controls are easy to operate easily, but hard or even impossible to accidentally move. Battery door is huge, and hinged, and looks quite strong. Behind it are 3 AA battery slots, the time-setting stem, and the switch for the ambient light sensor which drives the LED night light -- more on that later.

The dial is two-piece, a white background, with a transparent foreground about 2mm in front of it. The numbers and index marks are on the transparency. The result: A luminous dial with shadows, the likes of a fine old porcelain-dialed clock or pocket watch. The hands received equal attention, the second hand, which glides along quietly without a sound or jerk, is long and thin, a very shiny perfect cylinder which reflects light in a most delicious dance. Then, very few clock and watchmakers understand light the way Seiko does. I own a 1968 Seiko wristwatch, and it also plays delightfully with light. I own two more seiko clocks, and they also are very good at playing with light.

The build is good, the plastics chosen are more than adequate, the lens is also plastic, but beautifully domed and faceted, as is Japanese watch and clock tradition. More gorgeous light trickery, that domed lens reduces big lights to mere pinpricks.. with a christmas tree in the room, it's downright dream-like. Once you load the batteries in, it's a nice hefty piece. Takes 3 AA's: The bottom one runs the movement, the other the two LEDs just to either side of the 6 o'clock. The LED's are amber for no alarm, green for alarm armed. A switchable light sensor can activate the correct LED and glow it very, very low. Low enough that it won't bother even in the darkest of rooms, but due to the luminous nature and shape of that magnificent dial, you can easily read it by that faint light alone. But if you hit the top button (the snooze button) that LED will go full-intensity.. but I rarely use that. Just for effect ^.^ The barely-there LED is enough to read it. I imagine running it for 8-12 hrs a day on that faint light alone will probably stretch the batteries to a year? Maybe more? We'll see when a year passes.. but I do know LEDs require very little juice to run. Especially when run so conservatively as in this application. However you run them, they're beautiful. They illuminate upwards, from 6 to 12. They're narrow, like a car's headlight, and shine directly on that beautifully detailed dial. Being between the transparent portion with the numbers and marks, and the white background behind, the light actually results in a very sharp contrasty dial, even with the ghost-like night light described above. This dial is at it's best when lit from the sides or directly above or below.

Oh yeah. Did I mention? This clock is tomb-quiet. It doesn't make a sound. No tic-tic-tic. It won't drive you bonkers.

I have never reviewed on any products that I purchased from Amazon.com before, but have an urge to write about this clock.
I am an ER physician and have the following criteria for an alarm clock because I have had one that I liked (a small digital Casio alarm clock for 19 years) very much: simple design, easy to set up, easy access to set-up buttons preferably in the front, easy access to alarm stop button (I do not need to snooze again and again), clear and moderately loud alarm sound, and no clicking sound (silent clock).
This clock fits all the criteria and I placed an order. I was excited opening the box yesterday and quickly inserted three batteries. I tested the alarm and liked the sound. The set up process was very easy without even referring to instructions. I then tested the alarm indicator light and realized that my clock was defective in this aspect. The light lit up for the first few times and then became very inconsistent. Sometimes it lights up but most of time it does not. I think the alarm indicator light sensor is malfunctioning. I have decided to keep the clock because I do not really need this indicator light since it is confusing anyway (Green for alarm? Does orange suggest an alarm in common sense as other reviewers pointed out?). I will establish a habit of checking the alarm turning-on button which is located on the right side of the clock. By the way, this clock's snooze button also functions as a clock reading light button. I can still read time in the dark if I desire.
Anyway, I wrote this review to tell other potential buyers that this is a very good looking, easy to operate, alarming sounding pleasant, but indeed cheaply made (in China of course) SEIKO alarm clock (a SEIKO should not have such a poor quality). To show you that I am objective, I'd better tell you that I am a Chinese American. I hope some of the readers who are USA based entrepreneurs see the opportunities here and continue to build their solid businesses within the United States and I will buy your products!

I've been using this as my primary alarm clock for the last couple of weeks. Here are my findings:

Pros:
* Large face. Extremely easy to see the hand positions and numbers in the middle of the night.
* Dead silent. As other have mentioned here, there's no "tick."
* Night light is decent. The colored LEDs along with the white face make
a nice background to see the hands in the dark.
* Auto-light feature is nice. There's a photo-sensor on the front of the clock that will dimly light the clock face when the room light level becomes sufficiently dim. I find that this is bright enough to see in the dark without having to turn on the clock light fully (by pressing the snooze button).
* Alarm sound is not jarring. It's as pleasant of an alarm sound that I've ever heard, and it wakes me up with no problem (even when I'm wearing ear plugs).
* Very easy and accessible alarm setting knob. The black wheel on the front of the clock rotates counter clockwise to set the alarm time. The wheel has a clicking feel to it when you rotate it, which corresponds to 30-seconds. Now you can finally wake up at 7:30.5 AM.
* Looks good. I consider this a handsome clock.
* Seems accurate. As stated, I've only had this clock for a couple of weeks, and it hasn't lost or gain any noticeable time.

Cons:
* Cheaply made. It feels cheap when held also. It's all plastic. I don't have a lot of confidence in this clock surviving many falls off of the nightstand if the floor is non carpeted.
* Finish is not what was expected. The picture on the detail page makes it to look more chrome-like, and shiny than it actually is. It's more of a matte finish. I'm referring to the silver-tone model of course.
* The red to green alarm indicator is a minor annoyance. It's a neat gimmick, but I find it a little irritating that for 5 nights out of the week I see a green lit clock, and on the weekends an orange lit one. This is an unnecessary reminder for me to set my alarm.
* Uses 3 AAA batteries. Only one is for the time. That's a lot of battery power to power a couple of LEDs.
* Dead silent. Yes, this is a con to some of us. I find that a soft steady tick helps me fall asleep quicker.

Overall, I'm happy with this clock. For me the pros outweigh the cons by a big margin. I would recommend this to anyone wanting a battery powered analog bedside alarm clock that doesn't plan to travel with it.

I was surprised to see upon opening the box that the case and the clock mechanism are both made in China. Inside the rear door of the clock the case seems rather crudely finished and the alarm on/off switch does not give confidence it will last years. However the clock is nicely designed. When the alarm is on and you hit the snooze button the clock glows green. If you've forgotten to turn on the alarm and you hit the snooze button the clock glows yellow. The alarm tone is loud enough without being jarring. Also there's a switch in the back with which you can turn/off a soft glowing constant light. I do have a sense that the clock is making effecient use of the batteries and that they will last a long time. I guess I just expected it to be Seiko jewel-like and it simply isn't.

The is a really good alarm clock, but it's by no means perfect or "Ultimate." I bought it to replace a perfectly functional Braun alarm clock whose annoyingly loud ticking sound finally drove me to get a new clock. The Seiko is a bedside clock rather than a travel alarm clock because it's huge, measuring 5" tall and 4.5" wide.

What I like:

1. It's smartly illuminated. There is an optional button to enable/disable background illumination. When enabled, the illumination turns on by a photo-sensor. It's lit by a faint orange LED if the alarm function is not set and by a noticeably dimmer green LED if the alarm is set. By glancing at the color you'll know instantly whether you have set the alarm or not, although I'm a bit perplexed by this reversed color scheme because I tend to associate the color orange with "alarm" and green with "no alarm."

2. Not only no loud ticking sound, but no ticking sound at all! It's totally silent, perfect for light sleepers and those who have trouble falling asleep. I think the reason it doesn't have any ticking sound is it's not quartz-based, but I could be wrong on this. At least nowhere on the box, the clock, or the instruction does it mention the word "quartz." The lack of quartz could mean it might be less accurate.

3. It has a 5-minute snooze feature.

What really annoys me:

1. The alarm is supposed to be soft-start to get progressively louder so as not to shock you out of your deep slumber and give you a heart attack with the first note. But there are several problems. One is it's not soft to start with. Even the first note is still far too loud and jarring. Putting a tape on the outside of the alarm port or stuffing crumbled paper towel over the outlet port did not attenuate the sound. To do the job right, I had to open up the back case by unscrewing four screws to get at the piezo alarm chime. (Take out the batteries first to get access to the screws). I then put a tape on the chime's port and then stuff the paper towel on the INSIDE of the case to muffle the loud alarm noise. Now it's perfect for me.

2. The soft-start alarm progresses from soft to loud too quickly. The volume progression should take much longer and rise much more gently. I also fault the design for it's lack of a dial to adjust the alarm volume. Some Seiko travel alarm clocks have this feature, but this "Ultimate" clock doesn't! The loudness is probably there to accommodate sound sleepers, but light sleepers, as many adults are, will almost invariably find the first note too loud. A truly "Ultimate" alarm clock should have the capability to adjust the volume.

3. It's large. This may sound funny, but it's true. When placed on my night stand with it facing me, its large face creates the strange sensation of someone looking at me when I'm lying in bed trying to be intimate with my lady. I always have to turn the large clock face away when we're engaged in romantic activity.

Overall, I love this clock, but those several things I noted really annoy me and so I give it only 4 stars.

DITTO T. Warren's review. This IS the greatest alarm clock. Perfectly functional. Easy to use. Has a light. AA battery operated. Different color light for when the alarm IS set and for when the alarm ISN'T set.

I have this now in BOTH colors - black and silver. I wanted a spare in case anything happened to my beloved clock.

I am the original clock fanatic. I have searched far and wide for the perfect alarm clock. Believe it or not, for all the reviews that say it is cheaply made - which ALL clocks are now compared to 15 years ago - this is still the best thing going.

Maybe I am just used to the black color, but after I received the silver in the mail today, I think I prefer the black. The numbers are bolder and more to the center. On the silver, however, around the outside of the dial, outside of where the big numbers are 1-12 for the hours, there are corresponding tiny numbers 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. for the minutes. Small difference.

In any case, I would use black or silver because it is the same GREAT clock.

BTW - Muffin said: "and it has a push light to see it in the dark, but it doesn't stay lit all night whether you want it to or not." This is not true. On the inside where the batteries are, there is a switch for "auto-light". If you choose "on" then a dim light goes on when it gets dark, although pressing the snooze button makes the light brighter for seeing the dial better.

A few reviews said it was too bright or too loud, but I didn't find either to be the case. I guess everybody has different expectations from an alarm clock. What I really like is the simple human interface. I hate alarm clocks which have so many buttons that it requires me to turn on a light and put on my glasses to operate it. This is elegant in its simplicity. Unless you take off the back, you have only 3 controls, alarm on/off, snooze and alarm time setting. each are on a completely different side of the clock. No fumbling around in the dark. The light is bright enough to see the time, but not so bright that it shines in your face. The alarm is pleasant and not too intrusive. If I had to suggest any improvement, I might ask for a longer snooze time. Five minutes is not enough to work up any real guilt about not getting up on the first alarm. I do like the idea that a power outage will not cause me to oversleep. A little pricey, but worth it.

Bought a second one for my wife.

We've had this for just over a year and have found it to be an excellent clock. We bought it as a backup alarm because we live in an area with a lot of power outages; and our primary, a clock radio, has no backup battery feature. It has an alarm that is so soothing to wake up to, we can use it for our primary. The 4-inch diameter of the face is a nice large size. It works just exactly like the old-fashioned wind-up alarm clock, but without the annoying tick, tick, tick. To set the alarm, you just rotate the alarm hand to the time you want, and then throw the alarm switch to the "ON" position. The next time the clock comes around to that time, the alarm will sound - no need to worry about the (also) annoying am/pm setting. It also has a sweep second hand that we have no need for, but nice for those who do.

This is a great clock radio. It has a soft light which comes on automatically in the dark, and is just bright enough to illuminate the dial for nighttime reading, but not bright enough to cast a light on anything else or be annoying. The light is orange when alarm is off, and green when it's armed... making it simple to check to see if it's working. Operation is very simple, and the clock is accurate. My only complaint -- the cat knocked it off the nightstand onto the floor (perhaps a fall of 18 inches), and all the hands flew off the clock! They're still contained behind the clear plastic face. I'll see if I can get them back on or not, but unfortunately it doesn't seem very well suited to hard knocks.