Soundfreaq Sound Rise II, SFQ-16: Bedside Alarm Clock Radio & Bluetooth Speaker, with Large Display Screen, FM Radio, Fast USB Charging, and Nature Sound

Really fantastic, modern alarm clock. The design looks great, I have a wood bed frame with shelves that it sits on and it looks right at home. It is also very light weight which is nice. The display is great. It is easy on the eyes and the various dimmable settings are perfect. If you turn the screen off it does come on when the alarm sounds but goes off again from there. If you are a terrible waker upper like me you want that back on in the morning. Otherwise you can see the display across the room but it can be dim enough for light sleepers too. Great sound. It is not going to compete with Bose...but it is an alarm clock so why would it. Happy with the radio and bluetooth quality. Yes, the bluetooth alarm option works! It will play whatever was most recently playing but it absolutely wakes up your phone and reconnects. If for any reason this does not work (phone battery dies, you accidentally set it to airplane mode, etc) it will simply default to the regular alarm so you still get up. The regular alarm sound is very standard. I find I have to turn the volume all the way to max but it does get very loud when all the way up. Nice long power cord if that is important. Seemingly good back up battery. I have only had it a few weeks but it certainly has stayed powered as I moved it from one shelf to another a couple of times. Here is my one real issue, the buttons are difficult to deal with in the morning. It has not stopped me from enjoying this and I am certainly not returning it but it is difficult to feel around for Alarm 1 vs. Alarm 2. It actually makes it harder for me to keep hitting the snooze button so it has worked in my favor reasonably well. A little bump on each button so you can feel it without having to see would be perfect. Again, a small complaint, but throwing out the info. I wouldn't let this stop you from purchasing it though. You can easily add a little piece of tape or something to help with this, I have certainly not found anything else as nice as this during all my searching.

I'm not a technophile by any stretch, but once I saw a preview of the revised Sound Rise, I had to have it. The radio fulfills all expectations and is unexpectedly lovely to see and use. What distinguishes this clock radio from competing products? In the first place, many tabletop radios (think Tivoli) seem purpose-built to entice fans of Mad Men's mid-century modern aesthetic, which these days seems impossible to avoid. Within our culture, radio exists in a nostalgic opposition to television and the internet, so any clock radio has a halo of vintage appeal. Radio is an old medium, audio companies suggest, so radios should look old. What looks good on Don Draper, however, does not necessarily work for an alarm clock with many modern features. Several other radios have analogue dials for tuners and alarms, which look great but are annoying to use. Do you want to risk waking up late because you sleepily wound your slender alarm dial? Of course you don't. The Sound Rise is above all easy to use, and it performs its duties as a radio, alarm and speaker brilliantly. The accompanying owner's manual is almost unnecessary; you'll master the device's controls within two minutes of plugging it in. Because of this ease, the Rise's unadorned simplicity is lovely to behold. The wood-and-taupe model looks particularly striking, the dense grain contrasting nicely with the muted fabric that shields the speaker. The display is large and clear, the buttons have a satisfying heft and, although the Rise is lighter than I expected, it feels well built. What could be better than an object that doesn't pretend to be more complex than it is? In a pinch, the Rise could deputize as a ghetto blaster and be heard above the din of a crowded room, but this is obviously not its life purpose. This is a radio to clean your house with. The bass is resonant but doesn't obscure the warm midrange, though the treble sometimes lacks punch. Overall, the sound is clean and bright, an enormous improvement if, like me, you listen to music primarily on a laptop. The Rise's feature set contains almost everything you want and very little you don't, a virtue that might be unique in the world of music players. It has two alarms that slowly crest in volume to ease your morning anguish. Adjustable snooze and nap timers, but not too many. Bluetooth pairing and line-in for when you worry about your phone's charge. USB charging if you're really worried and want to do something about it. The screen dims, which should be a federal mandate in all alarm clock radios but somehow isn't. It's small enough to fit on almost any nightstand. And best of all, it didn't cost so much that I become wracked with guilt every time I look at it, which is several times a day (thinking of you again, Tivoli). What's not to like? I wish it had an AM tuner, even though I never listen to AM radio. It just seems like something that should be included. I think that's it. It's a really great clock radio, and if you're using your phone as an alarm or thinking of buying a clock radio, you should buy this one.

I bought 5 clock radios this year, from cheap to very expensive. None of my previous purchases have been an icon for truth in advertising, that is to say, they didn't work as advertised. If they had good sound, the clock didn't work. If the clock worked, the radio sounded like crap. All had unacceptable shortcomings. I was about to give up on the idea of buying a decent clock radio when I decided to try the Soundfreaq Sound Rise II. I can happily that it works exactly as advertised. The sound quality is pretty good for a speaker of that size. The clock is perfectly reliable and the alarm offer several choices of wake up sounds. The bluetooth connected instantly to my phone and has been completely dependable, every time. The unit has a number of bells and whistles. (Sleep timer, nature sounds, USB charging, large display screen with dimmable settings, and more). Unlike other radios the set up is relatively easy and the instructions are better than any others that I have used. I consider this radio an excellent product, particularly in comparison the all the other radios that recently purchased and returned. I have found no equal even in the $200 models. Update: After using this clock radio for several weeks I can enthusiastically say this is a great radio. It does everything well, it's easy to operate, sounds good, all with good operating instructions. You can't beat it.

I am writing this review after the company contacted me and asked me to write them a five star review - unfortunately this is not a five star product. The alarm is nicely featured and provides the necessary features that one would need in radio/alarm: Pros: -Dual Alarms you can set at different times and days, wake to alarm, buzzer, radio or Bluetooth. -It offers a gradual increase in the sound as the alarm activates (an absolute must!) -Legible display that isn't overly bright. -Attractive design with a very small footprint -Bluetooth -Backup battery Cons: -The sound quality is that of a $29.95 radio - with decent highs, below average mid range and absolutely no bass at lower volumes. It produces produces bright unpleasant sound that isn't meaningfully affected by the tone switch on the back of the speaker. For a $29.95, basic radio this wouldn't be an issue, but this alarm radio is marketed as though it offers breakthrough sound quality. It doesn't. I own two small Bluetooth speakers that produce excellent sound (TDK A33, Logitech S715) and used the Boston acoustics solo alarm radio (which I only stopped using because the built in backup battery stopped holding a charge) and this radio in no way compares to any of them. The sound quality of this radio does not compete with a nice (not necessarily expensive) Bluetooth speaker. -Buttons are small and invisible at night - I now have to turn on a light to change the alarm - frustrating. -The display doesn't automatically dim -Price (only an issue because of below average sound quality) Overall: This is not a great Bluetooth speaker with alarm functions, it is an above average alarm with a basic speaker. For people that want a radio alarm there really aren't a lot of options at this price point as most are using their phones and tablets for this function. I'm not going to return mine, not because I'm thrilled with the product, but because my wife threw away the box. I seriously considered buying the Yamaha TSX-B72 (and still am). Obviously the price difference between the two is significant but it may be worth it for the improved sound quality alone.

After our warhorse of a clock radio bit the dust, finding a replacement was like going down a rabbit hole. Bought several in the $30+ range; they did not keep time (how is that even possible?), the phone charging connection (the one upgrade I was excited about) stopped working almost immediately, and the clock radios themselves died with a whimper within several months. Delighted to find the Sound Rise. Pros: Beautifully crafted clock radio. Excellent sound; balanced, rich and fills the room, with a few helpful options to adjust balance. Radio connection works well with antennae and Bluetooth sound quality is excellent. Phone charging connection is a lovely perk Has helpful options to dim the time display. It's also a beautiful looking clock radio. Has an elegant design and does not take up a lot of room. Unsure if the taupe/wood version would be drab, but it is stylish and attractive. Easy to operate and well-designed and the instructions were clear and helpful. And it keeps time! This is the clock radio I was searching for. Cons: These were out of stock for months. Don't know what the supply issues are with the company, but it's frustrating that their website is never updated to reflect when items may be back in stock. Signed up for their mailing list to be notified, but never heard back. Might have waited for some of the other designs, but no way to know; when I emailed, I heard back after several days that they would not be available in the foreseeable future. For a company that puts so much care into their product, the failure to update the website is baffling. However, after pondering the rating, while this was frustrating, none of this takes away from this high quality product.

Bought this for it's good reviews, small footprint, and many features for the money. Sound is great. Keep your instructions handy as settings are complicated and not at all intuitive. I defy anyone to figure it out without the instructions. Also, the dial readout is overly busy and hard to read. For one thing, there is too much information on the dial. For another, the beginning "1's" are MUCH too close to the next number when dealing with 10, 11, and 12 o'clock. The dial is plenty bright (and adjustable), but it often looks like Chinese to me during the night (due to the too-close numbers and superflous information presented). So much so that I am thinking of moving it to another room and finding something else for my bedroom alarm. I've had it over a month and thought I would get adjusted to it, but I have not. Another minor issue is the ridiculously large plug...wonder why it's so darn large for such a small device?

One word: WOW. I hesitated on purchasing this for over a year - I mean - 80$ for an alarm clock (going price when I purchased) is a TON of money for somethiing that you can use your cell phone to do (which I've been doing for the last 5 years). But I have to say, you really get what you pay for - this is totally worth it and then some. In a nutshell: If you're looking for the perfect gift, esp for brothers, husbands, whatever - this is definitely it. This is one of those "You never knew how much you were missing out until you switched from dial up to cable modem" purchases -- and whoever you buy this for might be skeptical at first, but, they will appreciate it 5 minutes after plugging it in. This is both an elegant, and simple product - nerds, geeks, minimalists, fashionistas, guys who buy scarves (there's a word for that) - will love it. Think if Apple made an alarm clock. All the controls are wonderfully intuitive, and every "I expect it to do this" - this alarm clock fulfills. If you're on the fence, just go for it, you won't regret it! I wish I had bought last year! ---- Details Alright, I'm not great at reviews (the above is largely a gushy BUY NOW sign) but here's a couple of key things: 1. SOUND As others mention, the sound quality is SUPERB, given the fact that it's over bluetooth and not stereo. The sound can FILL a 350 square foot room, and is as loud as my bluetooth wireless Logitech UE Boom speakers. 2. CONTROLS In one word: intuitive. To the reviewer earlier - re: dimming controls on back - yes that is true, but in fact, you can use the -/+ sign to dim the alarm clock as well! Brilliant! 3. BRIGHTNESS GREAT control over dimming (you can even turn off the display ENTIRELY if you must sleep in the dark) 4. BUILD QUALITY Yes, it's not real wood, and it's rather light. But it looks good, and FEELS good - even if it's not all real wood. 5. OTHER Just from packaging, instructions, everything you can tell a lot of care and thought has gone into this product. I've only written 5 Amazon reviews in like 15 years, so it says something that this product impressed me enough to write one!

I was looking for a clock radio/bluetooth/alarm/iphone charger and this product has it all, plus some! First of all, it has great sound, especially since it's not all that big. When it arrived, I was eager to plug it in and see if it worked. The last product (Panasonic piece of junk) that I bought did not work at all, and I just wanted to see if it was going to turn on. The settings were easy to understand and it took probably 10 minutes to figure out (without using the instructions). I did read the instructions on how to set the alarms and radio pre-sets , but it was very easily explained. The display is nice and there are plenty of brightness levels to choose from as well as a tone setting. My nightstand is fairly close to my bed, so I don't like a bright display; I was able to adjust the display after going to bed and realizing it was brighter than I liked. My previous iHome alarm clock had a bright backlit display with black digits, so I do appreciate the fact that this is the opposite. However, you can't really see the display from the side unless it's a dark room and the brightness is turned up. The bluetooth pairing was also very easy with my iphone 5s. I've yet to try the bluetooth/itunes with the alarm. The good thing is that if your phone has trouble pairing when the alarm goes off, it will use the default alarm instead. I also like that both alarms can be set to different devices and you can chose which days, such as weekends, weekdays, or a specific day of the week. That was a very pleasant surprise. Overall, it's a really great product and looks really nice on my bedstand.