Most parents, especially those with toddlers, look at traditional night table alarm clocks and laugh. Alarms? We don’t need no stinkin’ alarms. No, we typically rely on our tiny humans, with their high energy and low tolerance for “sleeping in,” to rouse us out of REM in the AM. But our friends at Soundfreaq are way ahead of you.
Introducing the Soundfreaq Sound Rise, a wireless Bluetooth speaker and dual alarm clock radio coming out soon in one sleek, compact package. And with a USB power port at the back, it’s also a phone charger. Pretty much anything one could want in a bedside sound system.
The new Sound Rise is actually an updated version of the original Soundfreaq Sound Rise (remember those beautiful little Novogratz-designed editions?) only now with the smart alarm clock functionality. This mean you can wake up to your current jam streamed straight from your Android or iPhone, or during non-early-morning hours, pair the Bluetooth speaker to your device to put a little umph into the sound quality of your apps, like YouTube or Netflix. Or, if you prefer to rise and shine to a chime or FM radio (what’s that?), you have those options too.
For night time, if you require some mellow tunes to send you off to sleep, program the sleep timer to turn off the music after you’ve boarded the ZZZ Express. (Man, we love sleep timers.)
I found set-up to be easy and totally user-friendly. But the thing I like most about Sound Rise is the display light dimmer settings. It’s basic, yes, but so important to me since I like my bedroom to be as close to pitch darkness as possible. If you’re in blackout mode, the light still comes on when the alarm goes off. And if you need to check the time in the middle of the night, just hit any button at all on the top of Sound Rise and it will light up for seven seconds.
The custom font and upright design are meant to optimize your view of the clock’s display without filling a room with excess light. Basically, your partner won’t wake up (rightfully annoyed) every time you check the time.
Soundfreaq Sound Rise Bluetooth Speaker + Alarm Clock is available now in select stores including Target. The black version is $69, and the wood version is $79. Thanks to Soundfreaq for providing an advance unit for review.
