AcuRite Intelli-Time Digital Alarm Clock for Bedroom with USB Charger, Indoor Temperature and Humidity for Heavy Sleepers (13040CA)

There are a lot of reasons to like this AcuRite 13040 Clock, and I’d recommend it to anyone. It’s almost, but not quite, perfect. And it’s a lot better than the dozens of clocks I looked at before I found this one.LIMITED VIEWING ANGLE: The clock does have one significant issue: the viewing angle is very limited if you’re not looking down at the clock. (This is due to it using LCD rather than LED technology.) So if you want to place the clock on a shelf rather than a bedside table, you might not be able to see it very well unless you make arrangements to tip it forward. We use the clock in our children’s room, on a shelf that’s about 50 inches off the ground, so I’ll have to come up with a way to tilt it forward. It would be great if they made a version of this clock with an adjustable angle, that let it be tilted to suit the placement so it could be used on a shelf. The side-to-side viewing angle seems somewhat better.Now some of the many things I like about this clock:LOOKS GREAT: The clock looks great, with readable letters. The colors are nice. It’s not as harsh as the LED lights in other clocks. The numbers are about 1-1/4 inches high, which is readable up to about 6-8 feet away.ADJUSTABLE, SUITABLE BRIGHTNESS: There are six brightness levels, and the brightness is easily adjusted by using the up and down arrows. The lowest level works well without lighting up the room more than necessary. Having white/colored numbers on a black background also helps reduce the unnecessary light.AcuRite has put some real effort into this important feature. It seems so few other clock makers have a usable brightness adjustment – lots of people using other clocks say that even at the lowest setting they are much too bright. That’s certainly the case for the clock that this AcuRite clock replaced.AUTO DIM: The auto dim feature will switch the clock to the lowest brightness level from 9 pm to 7 am, then back to the highest brightness level. The time and level is not adjustable, which is a bit of a shame, but those times and brightness levels work for us. (I had wondered if this feature adjusted to the room’s brightness – it does not, it’s fixed to that time and level.) You are not required to use this feature – you can easily set the levels and adjust it as needed.THOUGHTFUL DESIGN: Clearly they spent time thinking about and refining the design and other features as well. Using the functions is straightforward.GOOD INSTRUCTIONS: It comes with a well-written instruction booklet. And in a nice touch, the French and English versions are separate booklets, so you can just keep the one you need.TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY: It’s useful to know the temperature and humidity, and this clock makes it easy to keep track. Just note that the height and location will affect the readings. For example, the temperature at the height of the bedside table will probably be a little lower than a thermostat on the wall.GOOD QUALITY: The quality seems good, given the price of the clock. It doesn’t seem overly cheap, like so many product these days.BATTERIES: The clock has a button-cell battery installed, and arrives with the time set. (You may have to adjust the time zone.) It will operate using two AAA batteries, but it seems you have to press the snooze button to see the time – the display is off by default when on battery.We don’t use it as an alarm clock, so I haven’t tested the alarm. [...]