RCR-5BK AM/FM Digital Tuning Clock Radio

Wonderful overall size to sit on a nightstand or dresser edge next to your bed. Quality overall is better than I expected. Fit and Finish is perfect. Buttons depress with a fairly solid click-feel. Little rubber feet underneath keep it nicely planted on any hard surface (wood, glass, stone, countertop,...). Display is crystal clear. Display brightness is easily adjusted with a dial peg underneath the unit (I don't know how the lowest setting could be too bright for anyone.....the highest brightness setting still doesn't pass for a night lite in my opinion). The Display can be read perfectly clearly viewing at wide angles from left and right, or when looking down at it from above. The Display fades from sight pretty quickly when viewing up from a head position below the unit. The manual is more than adequate. As others have noted, some words are poorly chosen. That said, it is not that bad to get through. When I saw the owners manual for the 1st time before opening it I kind of cringed a little since it was fairly thick, and I thought I was going to have a lot of reading for what seemed like should be a fairly simple alarm clock/radio. But after opening it I realized it was actually minimal reading and straight forward. 13 of the 70 pages make up the English language portion. Plus it's all in Giant easy to read print and well spaced. Of those 13 pages, most will only care about 9 pages, unless you really need to be told not to take a bath with it or other stuff relating to other countries. The alarm is not super loud. That said, for any light-normal sleeper it will be more than adequate. Even for most heavier sleepers I think it's probably adequate since if it jives with you you can set one alarm for the buzzer and the other to go off on radio set to MAX volume. If you only prefer to use the buzzer for an alarm setting, then even for regular heavier sleepers you'll probably want to pass on this unit. For pretty much all SUPER heavy sleepers out there, you will more than likely need a louder alarm. General FYI; The buzzer setting for the alarm(s) does not really "buzz" at all, but rather "beeps". Many will appreciate the HWS (Human Wake System) for the buzzer alarm setting (does not work for the radio alarm setting). With HWS, the alarm buzzer starts out almost inaudible and progressively gets louder during the course of a minute, as which point it begins again and continues for another minute, and repeats the process for an hour (I didn't test it for an hour, so I am relying on their word, though if you are still sleeping after an hour from the time you set the alarm to go off I'm guessing you're day is pretty much ruined anyway). When using the radio as your alarm setting, whatever volume you have the volume control for the radio set at is the volume it's going to wake you up with. Here's the potential problem with that for some; If you choose to use the radio as an alarm, BUT you want to use the radio Sleep Timer to fall asleep, whatever volume you set the radio Sleep Timer at is the volume your radio alarm will sound off at. In other words, if you set the radio sleep timer volume really low, that's the same volume the radio alarm will sound off at which may not be loud enough for you to reliably wake up when you need to. Hope that made sense. The snooze function (nonadjustable 5 minute interval for buzzer alarm) does NOT work for an alarm set to radio. For an alarm set to sound with the radio station you have it set to, you must use the radio power button to turn it off. Ultimately what's going on is the alarm set to go off using the radio simply automatically turns on your radio without you pushing the radio power button to turn it on yourself. Therefore to turn off the alarm that sounded via the radio, you're simply pushing the radio power button to turn it off, just as you would turn it off when generally listening to the radio. The manual is WRONG on how to shut off either or both of the alarms set on buzzer. The manual says to press the appropriate alarm button (Alarm 1 or Alarm 2 buttons) and hold it down for 2 seconds at which time you'll hear a beep and the alarm should be deactivated. At least on my unit this is NOT true. On my unit when an alarm buzzer goes off, neither the alarm 1 or 2 buttons will beep or deactivate the alarm. The only button on my unit that will turn off any alarm on any setting (buzzer or radio) is the general radio Power On/Off button. I have no issue with this in general. Radio Usage; sound is good virtually all the way up to MAX volume. I'm not saying it sounds like a Bose system but that's not what it is, and only a fraction of the cost. Overall it has more than adequate sound quality. I'll give radio reception a 4 out of 5, not because I really find issue with it as it pulled in all 3 stations (2 local, 1 not local) perfectly that I cared about, but that I've never owned a radio that I didn't want to have better reception for outlying areas (can't get the out of town AM station I was hoping for, but even my car will only pick it up sometimes). MAX volume is enough for general radio listening throughout an attached kitchen/living room area. In a garage where you may also be doing some banging around and whatnot, you may want something with higher volume than this unit is capable. For the vast majority that aren't interested in cranking up the music extra loud, volume levels will be more than acceptable in the home or out on the patio. Little Things: Love that it always shows the day of the week. Wish it also always showed the date, but rather you have to push the display button twice, once for the year and a second time for the month/day of the month. General FYI, the radio power button is nicely backlit when the radio is OFF, no other button is, but when the radio is ON (generally or as an alarm) it is not backlit. It does have a plug in space for headphones. It does have an AUX IN plug-in space like for to plug in a portable CD player where you can then use the units speaker for sound. It does not have any AUX OUT plug-in space which I wish it did to be able to plug in better right left speakers for those who want a little more sound, and that you could then aim directionally. The unit is NOT stark white like the pictures imply (in my opinion) but is rather an off-white. The gray on the rest of the unit is exactly as the pictures imply. It came nicely packaged. It has a built in battery backup that's good for 10 minutes of power outage. I wish it had either a longer lasting (3 hour) built in battery or a space to put accessory batteries that would last much longer regardless (I live in Arizona where during the monsoon season it's not unusual for the power to be out for an hour or two a couple times a year or so). Bottom line: I feel this clock/double-alarm/radio is worth more than the money asked for. I would highly recommend it for anyone to themselves or given as a gift, unless whoever is going to use it mainly as a wake-up alarm is a very heavy sleeper (where there's a good chance the alarm isn't loud enough) or simply needs a louder radio (for areas with lots of ambient sound or very large areas overall like a small warehouse environment...). For anyone still sitting on the fence toward making the decision to buy or not, outside of possible given limitations I've noted, I would add a couple things; 1) I could not find another product that remotely compared for the price (other than similar but different units from the same manufacturer), and 2) It is not as difficult to initially set up as some make it out to be. One last comment on turning off the alarms. As noted earlier; At least on my unit you do have to use the radio Power On/Off button (a single quick press) to turn off either alarm, whether they are set to go off on Buzzer or Radio. What I don't like when an alarm uses the radio to wake you up is that when the radio is on, the radio main Power On/Off button backlight goes out. So if it's still dark in the room at the time the radio alarm comes on you may have to search for the button till you get used to it's location to shut the alarm off. It would be nice if it always stayed lit up whether the radio was on or off so it could still be clearly seen in the dark. Also, some reviewers complained that they accidently pressed the main Radio On/Off power button twice to turn off an alarm which on the 1st press turns off their alarm, and on the second press turns on the radio just as if you wanted to listen to it, which they didn't. I don't see what the big deal is, as one more press of the same button turns the radio right back off again. And, you have to press the button with firm pressure to completely depress it at all which makes it surprising to me that anyone is having issues double pressing it in the first place. Sincerely hope this review helps you make an informed buying decision!

It's a good, basic alarm clock radio with a digital tuner. Pros: - Does everything it is supposed to - Beep alarm starts softly and increases in volume - Digital tuner - Radio is good as long as antenna cord is dangled or raised from radio, station is strong or moderate strength, and the desired volume is moderate for same room use. Cons: - Alarm volume could be louder towards the end of the loudness increasing cycle. - Interface is non-obvious enough that you'll have to read the short manual (10 small pages with big type and some pictures). It is simple enough that you'll probably only need to read the manual once. - Radio reception is poor is the antenna cord isn't either dangled down or raised up. Radio reception experiences bleed over from neighboring stations on weakest stations. Radio max volume is fine for same room use, but don't expect to blare the radio. - Battery backup only lasts 10 minutes Now some lesser published info: - The brightness on the display is adjustable from extremely dim to pretty bright. At the dimmest setting it puts out enough light to just see your thumb in a dark room at 6 inches from the display. In other words, you'll definitely see it if looking at it in a dark room but it will be very dim. At the brightest setting, the display is very bright if you look at it, but not so bright that it lights up the room that much. Basically, it will cast a pale light in the vicinity of the clock (within ~ 3'), but I couldn't even see the effect on the far wall of the room (~ 12' away). The power light in the upper right of the top is also lit red, but it is dim at all times. The brightness of the display goes to max after hitting a button for about 3 seconds and then returns to the set brightness. The brightness setting knob is analog and on the bottom of the unit. - The radio reception works ok for me. It is very sensitive to the antenna position. For the faintest stations it seems to only work well if I am touching the antenna. The strong and moderate stations work fine with the antenna cord either hanging down from the unit or raised up from the unit. - The snooze is fixed at 5 minutes and not adjustable. If the alarm goes off and you hit the snooze twice, it still goes off in 5 minutes. (Just what I wanted) - The human wake system feature starts with a quiet beep and goes to more frequent and louder beeps. It starts off inaudible and goes up to about the loudness of a typical alarm clock over the course of 1 minute. If that fails to wake you, it will be silent for 1 minute, then repeat the 1 minute on, 1 minute off cycle for 1 hour before giving up. The second cycle also starts quiet and builds over the minute. The increasing volume only applies to the buzzer; the radio volume is controlled only by the analog wheel on the side of the unit. - There is a nap feature on the unit that lets you set an alarm for 10-120 minutes from now in 10 minute increments. - There is a sleep timer feature that will shut off the radio after 15, 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes. - When you set the alarm, you can chose between triggering every day, every weekday, every weekend day, or only once. The unit keeps track of the year, date, and time. It knows about the days of the week. You cannot set the alarm for any other collection of days, those are the only options, so if you want an alarm for M-W-F then you'll need to look elsewhere. - The display usually displays AM/PM HH:MM:ss, day of week, and which alarms are set. There is an icon for snooze active. The display shows band, frequency, and preset memory slot when radio is on for about 5 seconds then switches to time display as "HH:MM on". You hit a button to see year and hit again to see MM-DD. - The sound quality on the radio is good but not powerful. The audio starts clipping at around 1/2 volume on the knob which is a moderate volume (good in same room only, won't be able to blast your ears at all). - There is an AUX in socket on the radio. It is for playing only, not for alarm. - There is a headphone jack. When headphones are plugged in, the speaker is muted. - The battery backup is only good for keeping the time and settings for 10 minutes. - The display can be switched between 12 hour display and 24 hour display. - There are 5 preset stations per band. The are 2 bands: FM and AM. - The FM tuning step can be switched between 0.2MHz and 0.1MHz for the US version. - The AM tuning step is 9KHz for the US version from 520-1710KHz. - The power adapter is 120V/60Hz only for US version which converts to 6V/0.5A with a standard coax plug into the back of the unit.

This is the best alarm clock I have ever owned. It has all the features I absolutely needed in an alarm clock -- and it offers others that I always fantasized about but assumed would never exist in an alarm clock. This is truly my dream alarm clock come true, and I can't emphasize that enough. It's as if someone who lived my life designed this. I am in my 40s and have used plug-in alarm clocks all my life. I still prefer them over digital devices. I'll just talk about the features that I love most: 1. It has an AM tuner, which strangely many alarm clocks today do not offer -- they only do FM, if anything at all. I need AM in order to wake up to my local 24-hr AM news radio. Music, buzzes, anything else just doesn't work for me. 2. It has a countdown sleep timer that allows me to fall asleep to the radio white noise of my choice, in increments of 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes. Falling asleep to the radio has been a part of my nightly routine for decades. What is new to me in this clock, and what I absolutely love, is the preset increments. In my old (now dead) alarm clock I still had to manually set a time, from 0 to 60 minutes, and sometimes I'd cycle through the minutes several times because the numbers zip by so quickly, and the buttons only go in one direction. I know that's so anal but these preset times make it so simple: just one or two touches, and you're set! Also if you're extremely near-sighted like I am, when the glasses are off and you lean over to set the timer, you don't have to stare closely at the display to make sure you stopped at the right number -- you don't even have to look at all, because all the buttons are positioned distinctly enough, there is no confusion about hitting the right one. 3. That brings me to the buttons. They are all so well positioned and designed. Again, if you're really near-sighted like me and in bed without glasses, you don't think about how useful a thoughtful button design can be until you realize you can figure out everything by touch after a few repeated uses. 4. There is one alarm setting for weekdays, and an optional second alarm setting for one-time-only days. THIS is an amazing feature. I know that you can do this on your smartphone already, but I don't use smartphones for alarms, and no plug-in alarm clock of mine had ever had this. I never knew life could be this much easier. Seriously. I used to have to remind myself to turn off my alarm switch on the side of the clock on Friday nights so it wouldn't wake me up super early Saturday morning. And then I'd carry the burden of remembering to turn it back on Sunday nights so I wouldn't sleep in and miss work. This was stressful but eventually became a habit, but when I bought this alarm clock and found this feature, I nearly died and went to heaven. 5. When you set your alarms and your sleep timers, you can customize each of them not only for a specific radio station, you can choose the volume! This is mindblowing to me. Okay maybe I'm just old and out of touch. But I always hated that the volume was a manual knob that was stuck there when you went to sleep. So if I turned the volume down lower at night to fall asleep to, the alarm in the morning would be a bit too quiet. So I would be forced to choose my waking volume to fall asleep to, which was too loud, but better than nothing. Now I don't have to choose. Who knew this kind of attention to detail could be so wonderful and amazing. Every night and every morning I silently thank the designers of this alarm clock. Last amazing detail on this: it also has a fade-in volume for the alarm!! So when the radio comes on, it begins quietly, then ramps up to your chosen alarm volume. Just incredible. I can't think of anything else right now, but it's partly because I've been using this alarm clock for many months now and while it is still stupendous and I love it to death, it is now the new normal, so it's harder to remember all the amazing characteristics I was excited about during the first few months that I'm completely used to now. But I love this alarm clock SO MUCH and think back over the years to how much nicer my nights and mornings could have been with it. I have it now, though, and I can't be more thrilled and pleased.

I agree with the other reviewers who rate this highly: excellent sound quality and reception. I did have to try different antenna placement for optimal reception as it is near a lamp with a CFL that interferes; but once I found the right place for the antenna (which is a very thin white wire that I don't find bothersome being visible), the reception was much better than any other radio (even less CFL interference than my Bose!) I saw few other comments about the compact size: it's quite small and that's nice in a bedside radio. I could wish the power button was a slightly different size so easier to find when sleepy... but that's easy to learn. Another nice feature is this can be adjusted to a *very* soft volume (and still be heard clearly due to fidelity): nice to be able to use as alarm or late listening without disturbing others. This is the first clock radio I've had with preset buttons: this is a nice feature: very easy to sleepily change stations if the pre-set one is not what you want to wake to... or need some "white noise" to cancel out sleep-disrupting noise. I'm not as fond of having the time (numbers) backlit instead of the numbers being the lit area: so much more area that glows... and I'd prefer a softer color than the orange, but being able to change the intensity level allows it to be not too intrusive to sleeping. The numbers are also really big (helpful for the vision-impaired, like me who take off glasses and have to squint in bed). Somehow, the photo doesn't do the actual small size but readable numbers, and the overall appearance justice (the white plastic is quite glossy, which you can't tell in the photo, so it looks "higher end" and "techier" than I expected): it just looks and "works" much better than I had visualized even seeing the photo, once on the bedside table. Altogether an excellent bedside clock radio. UPDATE: after a month or so, I have to say the brightness of the orange backlit panel has become a problem: it actually seems to wake me up if I roll over and face right into it. I keep ending up putting a paperback book in front of it to block the light, so I no longer can just look over to see the time. I really wish this had just lighted numbers not a big bright panel of orange light: really bad design flaw. Nonetheless, the rest of the radio functions remain excellent. UPDATE #2: now after living with this for several months, I do have two large complaints: the light has become bothersome enough that I've ended up blocking it out with a paperback, which means to read the time I really have to wake up enough to navigate rearranging the bedside table: not what you want from a bedside clock! And several times I've inadvertently hit the "band" button which is stupidly placed right in front of the off/on button and the same size: clock radios should be designed for use when semi-conscious... Two rather serious design flaws have made me reduce my rating. Still: lovely fidelity as seems a hallmark of this brand.

I own both this model and the Sangean K-200 (and this review is cross-posted). The K-200 has superior sound quality and a smaller footprint on a bedside table, but this model is better in nearly every other way that's important to me; it's so much better that the K-200 got demoted to our office/sewing room and I now use this one as my daily alarm clock and go-to radio. Here's my take on why the RCR-5 is much easier to use... (1) Physical raised buttons for on & off and preset-changes. The RCR-5's buttons are easy to feel in the dark and work great. The K-200 has those flush under-the-skin membrane buttons and they do NOT work well; to the point that I have to press the on & off button several times to get it to work. So frustrating, especially when trying to turn off an alarm quickly -- I just gave up on snoozing it entirely. (2) Amber backlit display. This is SO critical for a good night's sleep if this alarm clock is going in your bedroom. Blue light triggers the "awake time" chemicals in our brains and amber light triggers the "sleepytime" ones; I found the K-200's blue glow to be difficult to fall asleep next to. I have a much easier time falling asleep with the RCR-5's amber light by my bed instead. (3) Weekday alarm. Both Sangean models offer this awesome feature (set an alarm to ring at the same time only on weekdays), but the RCR-5 is much easier to set. The K-200 makes you use the tuning dial to set the alarms (turn, then push to set), and it's hard to advance to the next thing without throwing your current setting off with an accidental twist of the dial as you push. (4) Fade-in alarm. Love this feature, both for the easy wake-up for myself and because it makes it easier for me to snooze or turn off the alarm before waking my husband earlier than necessary. RCR-5 has it, K-200 does not. (5) Volume set for alarms. One of the things you can set per alarm on the RCR-5 is the volume it will turn on to -- this is FABULOUS!! With the K-200, you have to physically turn the volume knob to the level you want the radio to turn on to in the morning; this is a pain if you also listen to the radio at a louder volume during the day. Or if you have a toddler...see below... (6) Volume control is a wheel on the side of the RCR-5, not a big glowy dial on the front (as it is on the K-200). This is particularly important if you have a toddler in the house! With the K-200, my daughter would wander by and randomly crank the volume all the way up while the unit was off, just to play with the big fun dial...so the next time I turned it on, BLASTING SOUND! Ouch. I finally learned to turn down the volume before turning the K-200 on, but it was a hard-won lesson. The much more subtlety-placed wheel on the RCR-5 doesn't look like a shiny toy, so she hasn't messed with it yet. Hooray. All in all, the RCR-5 has the best functions & features of any clock radio I've ever had. I wish it had the nicer sound of the K-200, but the RCR-5 just works better for me in every other way.

After about one month, the power pack on the electrical cord started to buzz and hum. Since it was still under warranty, I sent the bad power pack and $8 to Sangean for replacement. It took a couple of months to receive the replacement. The new power pack was DOA; probably from being damaged in the mail due to Sangean mailing it in a flimsy paper envelope. So, I contacted Sangean and they wanted another $8 for another cord replacement. In my mind, I thought it would be better to return the whole unit to Amazon, get a full refund and then re order the unit again from Amazon. The reason for wanting to reorder the same unit was because despite some major engineering flaws in this radio, this little radio has the best radio reception I have ever come across! I could pull in far away stations really well, and the sound was great! My plan didn't work very well on the return to Amazon. The first roadblock was that it was past the time that Amazon would accept a return on the item. But, when I told Amazon the story of the 3 month warranty return etc, Amazon let me return the unit for credit. Next problem here was that Amazon charged an $8 restocking fee!!!!! I am really not happy with this. Also, if this unit was restocked, the future buyer of this is in for a surprise, because the power unit is dead! If you are planning on buying this little clock radio here are some more negatives to think on. There are a lot of buttons on the top of the radio, but only the power on button is lit. This makes it hard to figure out what button to push at night. Also, the backlit display has a dimmer and brightener knob, but it is on the underside of the unit and is hard to adjust. Plus, holding the unit up to dim or brighten the display invariably you will hit one of the top buttons. Here are the positive things about this unit: 1. Great radio reception. 2. Easy to understand set up. 3. good instruction manual. 3. Has all the sleep, and timer functions you would want on a radio....Had high hopes for this unit, but manufacturer really messed up on the warranty repair!!! Also really unhappy with Amazon's restocking fee.

I really like this petite-sized alarm radio clock. The radio quality is excellent providing good sound and reception quality. The LED light can be dimmed to almost non-visible so it doesn't interrupt your sleep. The radio alarm has humane feature so it will gradually increase your radio station volume at the time you set. It's very lightweight and takes little footprint on your nightstand. And it looks very sleek and modern. Of course if you prefer old-fashioned style then go with the wood material. Sangean is basically the Apple brand in the radio industry. So if you want quality and excellent user experience, then go with this brand. Lastly, I had some questions about their products, so I called their office in California. But the technician Jimmy was very rude and seemed to be irritated. Since I didn't get the help I needed, I called their headquarter office instead in Taiwan, and the staff there were very polite and patient. They helped to answer all of my questions and gave me insightful tips. So thanks to those staff in the Taiwan office.

My first review was very good however after 2 months short of one year's usage, the side volumn control stinks. It almost always slips without changing the sound and feels like it will fail shortly. I have found to just leave it at one position although the sound varies greatly from FM to AM. Beware of this problem; if you do purchase this radio, keep the original box for any returns if this feature also fails for you. Also, the Nap button is next to the number 5 station preset. Several times, reaching over in the dark at bedtime, I have pushed the NAP button by mistake when changing stations. This activated the Awake alarm and started beeping after a few minutes which required pushing the Off button to stop the beep which interrupts the sleep pattern for sure. Other than that this is a good radio if you are looking for digital station presets at this price. This is a great value considering that this radio gives you digital tuning and 10 presets; five FM and five AM stations. I was shopping for those features all over the internet and radio presets cost double what Amazon has here. The FM reception is very good but I found problems with the AM reception. Most of the AM stations have static which prohibits clear listening. I called customer service and was forwarded to their tech department. I was told to unplug the radio for five hours and let it re-boot since I had it programmed after its factory defaults. That did improve the AM reception somewhat but the clarity still was poor. The FM uses an attached wire antenna but the antenna for the AM is built in the radio. Turning it and moving it to different positions and locations did help but I want the radio to be where I wanted it. I would have given this radio five stars except for the AM problem.

As per many of the other reviews, this radio, purchased 3 months ago, is great. Best features: It has an external lengthy antennae, which can be moved freely and pick up stations from a far away distance. Very important for distant rural consumers. It has an earphone jack, allowing me to listen to the radio & allow others (especially wife) to sleep. It has (and so should all radios) have digital tuning, not dial analog, and thus making it VERY easy to tune exactly (and quickly) tune to your desired station. And finally I'm quite amazed the the sound quality. Very clear with a good balance of bass and treble (but not too much of either). I can't speak for the alarm system as I always wake up on my own at 6AM, and therefore never set the alarm. I was concerned that it is more expensive than average, but I'll be happy for years. So, go to bed, set the time for 60 minutes, listen to CBC (As it happens - midnight edition), and likely fall asleep, radio turns off. Wake in the morning, catch the news & weather for 20 minutes, and then start my day. A clock-radio? Yes, always one of my better investments in the house.

This is the second one of these I purchased. I love the fact that it has an earphone jack so you can listen to it in bed without disturbing your partner. Very easy to use and set channels and alarms, etc., I like the fact that the display can be bright or dim. I bought this for my husband.

Excellent clock radio about 2" high and 7" wide. The radio speaker is good sounding Mono. The Orange glowing LCD clock is nice change from typical red or blue leds. And its fully adjustable brightness, that adds an orange glow at night. Pros: Perfect size: 7"W, 2"H, 6"D. (1 LB) Good weight with rubber feet, stays put. Variable brightness, from None to very bright. (1"x4") I found the programming intuitive, but some will need the manual. Digital Radio reception is good. "Smart Wake" is Excellent !! Starts out very softly. Cons: "Snooze" is non-adjustable 5 min each push. Display contrast could be better or adjustable. And day of week is tiny. Date needs you to push "display" button to cycle. No USB charge port Battery backup in only 10 min (just for moving to new wall plug) Very solid build. Overall its a 4/5 for features. Perfect for the price and function. Excellent Alarm !!

Realmente estoy sorprendido por la calidad que tiene este radio. Muy buenos materiales, fácil de programar, y el sonido es bastante bueno. El producto llegó mucho antes de la fecha esperada.