Side by Side Comparison of: Ambient Weather vs hito vs Marathon vs Amazon

Nice sized little travel alarm clock. I found it easy to set and really like that it shows both the current time and the time the alarm is set for. The temperature reading is accurate to within a degree or two of the actual. The listing photo shows pretty much what it looks like when you turn on the back light temporarily, although there is a bright spot where I assume the bulb lies. Good price, good product.UPDATE: After 5 months, the batteries I installed are still going strong. I don't have the persistent backlight turned on. I'm going to order a couple of more for the RV and to keep in a travel go-bag.

Love this little clock. Worked perfectly for a trip to Bhutan. US trips would be easier with the auto time change setting-I needed. to manually change time and alarm​. But it is quick, easy and well made. Very small and easy to pack! Other clocks I looked at were huge compared, taking up to much valuable space.

Got this to use as a travel alarm, and liked it so much, I started to it as my regular alarm clock when I got back. Been using it happily for 6 months now. Compact size, easy to use, nice clear display, doesn't tip over easily. When I'm sleepily reaching for it in the dark, its low profile makes it easy for my fumbling hand to hit the snooze button on the top. When I was using it for travel to a state in another time zone, I really appreciated the automatic time zone adjustment ... both there, and then back home again.

Best alarm clock EVER. Had it almost a year, dropped from extreme heights many times and tough. Always wakes me up regardless

Small, well made, works like a charm. Connected in about 4 minutes to Colorado and showed correct time after I selected my time zone. Alarm is easy to set and slowly ramps louder for 1 minute after it alarms. All the negative reviews I read are minimalistic or negated by the fact that it's a $15 travel clock with ease of use, rock solid, and many extras you would find only in a $30 clock. Just buy it ....you won'the be be dissapointed

I like this little clock. I have a small bathroom, but I like to have the time and temp readily available. I LOVE that the time stays accurate, unlike most of the tiny travel alarm types I have used in the past that get slow or fast pretty quickly. It is a bit hard to read at an angle, but other than that, it suits my needs perfectly.

This is the perfect bedside clock. I love the month/date and separate day readouts plus the indoor temp. The month/date give way to the alarm time when the alarm is set. The backlight is just bright enough to tell the time and you can make it stay on all the time if desired. Touching the snooze bar on top simply makes the backlight brighter for a few seconds. Haven't had it long enough to see how it works switching to DST automatically. I liked this clock so much I bought another one the next day :-) The only negative is setting it to all of the correct readings out of the box but after maybe half an hour I figured it out. The instructions are just OK. If you buy one just remember. Put batteries in first (duh) then wait until the correct time zone appears on a little U.S. logo top right. It defaults to pacific time but you press a button (forgot which one, check instructions) to toggle to you time zone....THEN....press CLOCK button until the YEAR flashes...press the up or down arrows to the correct year and the correct DAY will appear automatically. The secret is to press clock again after the year you live in is displayed (for instance, I'm in 2017 though I'd rather be in, say, 1965) and everything else will fall into place. This is a great clock that I chose after looking at what seemed to be hundreds. Love it.

Clock in service now in service for 6 trouble free months running on the same Lithium Ultimate battery. For two months left the backlight set to auto, but for the last 4 months have set it to off (does illuminate if actuated). I found my viewing position for the dimly lit at night display not the best, so turned the backlight off. When the backlight is actuated by touching the top bar, the brightness is good, and since you're now standing up or sitting up, there is no problem with viewing angle to the LCD display.Keeps great time... no issues with power-failures... this is why I prefer a battery-powered alarm (and use Lithium to prevent leaky Alkaline's from ruining a good thing.Alarm is good - it starts with a not-too-loud 'beep', then after a few of these, begins to give out 'beep-beep' with pauses between, then 'beep-beep-beep' .... this idea seems to work (for me) quite well. No jarring alarm that wakes the house, no disturbing, shrill tone that fully wakes your spouse.... and if you respond to the 'beep' before it decides you need more, you may leave the house with a happy, still sleeping spouse.

Pros:Excellent, easy to read display.Being an atomic clock it is dead on accurate.Display of Signal strength, alarm and time zones is easy to see.Fairly Light weight for its size.Easy to set.Night light is at a perfect brightness for a darken hotel room to see at night, especially given most hotel clocks are inaccurate and take too long to reset (if it can be reset at all).The night light switch is under the battery cover [see photo below - it is the right side on/off switch], easy to find and set, stays on all night.Night light turns off automatically when the room light (or sunlight) brightens the room.Light sensor is on the top at the snooze/5 second display bar.5 second display light is twice as bright as the night light.Alarm is loud enough, but won't throw you out of bed. It begins beeping slowly to wake you easily - then increases beep amount - not volume.Alarm runs for one minute and cuts off, on/off switch on the clocks face with red background when in "on" position.Wide base is very stable, the clock won't easily fall over when trying to turn on the display light or find the snooze delay bar.Case seems tough enough to take a light beating.Cons:Clock is 2 to 3 times as thick as most other travel clocks.No case or face protection, so display face can be damaged in transit. Suggest find soft case to cover or keep shipping box and bubble pocket the clock came in.The 4 inch wide, 3 1/4 high, 1 deep (1 1/4 deep at the base) and 6.5 oz weight is hefty for a travel clock and seems to take some space in smaller luggage.In General: it's almost perfect for travel, once you get use to the size, which isn't hard.

I really like this little clock! It has an amber display which is not too bright, and only lights up when I push the top button and is easy to read. I like it dark when I sleep, and most clocks seem to have either bright blue or bright green displays which are too bright for my eyes. This one is just right, and the time and temperature seem to be accurate and are easy to read. It was very easy to set up, and I feel confident that I won't miss the owners manual when I lose it in my filing system.The only drawback that I see is that it doesn't have a cover for its display and so will likely get scratched up if you throw it in your luggage for a trip. But, I just keep it by my bedside at home and so that doesn't matter to me.Over all, I'm very satisfied with this product.

I have been searching for type of clock for 2 years and tried out (and returned) about 6. I was looking for a small bedside clock with an audible and non-annoying alarm and this was perfect....It gives you all the info you need to start your day. The display is large enough to easily read. The battery insures that your alarm gores off, in the event of a power shortage. You can hear the alarm from 2 rooms away but it is not jarring. This would also be handy for a boat or camping trip.Having been so pleased with the first one, we purchased another as a travel clock. My only suggestion would be to offer it in a lighter color case, e.g. white or light gray. I have used it daily for 2 months and it is perfect.

Easy to set up. Can read the numbers without my glasses. Only lights up when the button at the top is depressed--a plus when you want a dark room.

After my old travel clock died I bought a new one, which was worthless because the buttons were on the outside when folded and got pressed by contact with my luggage. It seems that nearly all the travel clocks have that inexcusable design flaw!But this Marathon Atomic Travel Alarm Clock has the buttons on the front, making it much easier to reach them if needed, and when folded the display is still visible but the buttons are covered.When I first got it I pressed the button to get it to set itself, and nothing happened. So I read the instructions (I needed powerful magnifying glasses as the little leaflet is printed in teeny tiny print) and it said the automatic set can take a day, so I put it on a windowsill overnight, as suggested, and this morning it's got the right time and date! Apparently the auto-set feature, which uses a radio signal, will not work outside the U.S. & Canada, but it can be set manually. The backlight can be turned on or off, and it uses two AAA batteries (included) so there's no searching for just the right button battery.I think it's silly to call it an "Atomic" clock. There's nothing atomic about it. But as Juliette said, "What's in a name?"

This may very well be the best travel alarm clock available. It's small (but not too small to see and operate easily), compact and loaded with features. The auto illuminate should be required in all alarm clocks. Just two caveats: 1. The DST indicator does not show unless the clock is auto synced with the "RC" beacon. This is true even after manually setting the clock for the time of year that would include Daylight Savings Time. The instructions do not mention this. Secondly, even when auto-synced with RC, it is necessary to set the time zone manually. Once this is done, however, you're all set until you next change the batteries or press the reset button. Not exactly clear in the instructions either. Note that both of these criticisms/caveats have more to do with the instructions than the product itself.

I normally like to spend a little time with a product before posting a review but, upon opening the box, I am so impressed with this little jewel that I can't wait. If time proves me wrong, I will come back and update.I do a lot of travelling. Hotel clocks are a source of frustration for me that goes something like this:1) Figure out how to set the time.2) Set the time.3) Figure out how to set the alarm time.4) Set the alarm time.5) Figure out how to set the alarm mode (buzzer, radio, volume, etc)6) Set the alarm mode.7) Figure out how to arm the alarm.8) Arm the alarm.9) Reattach power cord which came loose while setting up the clock. Clock now flashing "12:00".10) Repeat steps 1 - 8. (should go faster this time).11) Choose between clock and lamp since I need to charge my phone.12) Accidentally unplug clock.13) Repeat steps 1 - 8.14) Unplug lamp and realize clock time display is unlit. Live without it.15) Wake up to my watch alarm only. Reason: clock's lack of AM/PM indication meant the opposite assumed.Thinking there might be a better way, I started looking around for a small, light, simple, battery powered clock with, and this is the tough part, a display that can stay lit at night.In addition to meeting my requirements, I like that the CL030036 syncs to atomic time. This makes the clock a little more expensive but it's worth it to me.Two minor criticisms:1) The location of the display OFF/AUTO light switch. It's in the battery compartment. Since I don't want the light wasting the batteries while the clock rides around in the darkness of my overnight bag, I'll be switching it from AUTO to OFF whenever it's not sitting on a hotel nightstand. Having to open the battery compartment for such a frequently changed setting just doesn't make sense. Incorporating it into the foldout stand, switching the light off whenever closed, would have been the slickest way to do it. At the very least the switch should be easily accessible somewhere on the outside of the clock.2) I agree with what others have said about the hole in the stand/cover. I really don't need to see the display through the cover and would rather have it fully protected. That said, if it's really a concern, a piece of tape over the hole should easily solve that problem.Other than that, it should be perfect for my needs and I couldn't see withholding a star for such small items.Now when I get to my room, I'll unplug the room clock and set it aside. I'll then plug my phone charger into the now-vacant 110 receptacle. Last, I'll pull out my CL030036, quickly and confidently set/arm the alarm, and place it on the nightstand. Ahhhh, life just got a little easier. Good night :)

It's the perfect clock for travel. Time is always correct, doesn't have any buttons sticking out to be activated in your luggage, gives ambient room temp, day and date with and easy to read display. Alarm is easy to set also. I wish I had had one of these when I was flying 75K to 5K air miles a year.

Perfect size and lightweight. The stand flips forward to cover the function buttons below the clock display and make the clock flat for packing. I like the "atomic" feature - that I know the time is always accurate. I had no trouble at all setting it. Read the directions. Follow the directions. The backlight can be set to always on or only on when you press the snooze button. The alarm is effective but not annoying. Great purchase!

I have used many alarm clocks in the past and in my opinion this is the best of them all. Right size for travel, easy to setup and use. Specifically I like the auto night light feature. I have seen this feature in many table clocks that are plugged in but this is my first battery operated alarm clock that has the auto night feature. I am very happy with the purchase and it's worth every penny I spent.

Took a day or so for the time to set itself correctly. Even then, the minutes were correct but the hour was for the wrong time zone. The instructions didn't say that the time zone will always need to be manually set. I can handle that. The alarm is fine for me. Glad for the little room thermometer.

I'd give it five stars except it can't receive the time signals, even when it is on the windowsill. Easy to work, read, and set though. Nicely loud without being a killer.

Handy little alarm clock works fine. Be patient, it does take a while to sync up with the atomic clock, mine took several hours.Cons; you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny icons on the right side!

It's about the size to fit in your palm and the digital time display is plenty big enough to see from several feet away. I bought it because it seems the electricity blinks and throws off most of my other clocks in the house, plus I like to have completely accurate time. The atomic clock feature is great. The thing this clock does that things like my phone won't do is tell me the temperature in the room where I am. I hate it when the central heat and air thermostat on the wall says it's 70, but the room I am in feels like 80. Now I have a second way of knowing. I thought from the picture that the display stayed lit up, but it does not, so that is the only reason I don't give it 5 stars.

Nice clock for the camper by my bedside. Easy to use and set up, time zones are easy to pick. Snooze works great and also lights it up or you can turn on the light permanently and it will go off in day light, nice feature. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that it is hard to read from an angle. Too high, too low or too far to the side and the time is almost unreadable. Still, I would recommend this clock for someone that needs an easy to use travel clock.

I mostly downgraded the rating because of the really small size of this clock. The clock works fine and had the correct time loaded soon after I put in the batteries....impressive right out of the box. Clock is relatively easy and intuitive to set up and update date, time zone, alarm times etc. Only complaint is that it is TOO SMALL to be able to read easily since LED screen is very dim when not lit. The clock would be better at least 1 to 2 inches larger because of dim screen. This will likely be a good travel clock as noted by others because it weighs almost nothing but will not be useful for anything else

Decently loud and annoying enough to get you out of bed. Fairly small and lightweight. The screen display is a decent size for my liking, but I would recommend looking closely at the alarm clock's dimensions prior to purchasing so that you don't end up with something smaller than you anticipated. I do wish it had the option to plug it into a power source instead of solely using batteries and it would be nice to have the option to read the temperature in Fahrenheit rather than just Celsius. However, I do like that you are able to change the brightness of the screen reading to suit your preferences. It is also small enough that you could throw it in your suitcase if you are traveling.

The clock has been working great since I purchased it in Aug. 2015- still on the original battery. I didn't think it was picking up the signal, but perhaps I didn't give it enough time to set itself initially since it does adjust itself for daylight savings and keep perfect time. I wish I had the option to use a plug so I could run the background light at night- even during the day I usually have to really focus my eyes on the numbers to tell the time from across the room. I didn't really want an LED clock for aesthetic reasons and because I didn't want to *have* to use a plug at all times, so I opted for this battery run LCD clock.I rarely have use for an alarm, but it has been adequate for that purpose the few times I've needed it. All in all, it was a solid purchase, but I'll be getting a wall clock with high contrast face so I can see the time at a glance from anywhere in the room. Good clock, all working as expected. Perhaps I shouldn't be docking a star for iffy visibility since that's just the nature of LCD, but it is what it is.

Very nice travel alarm clock. It has a solid feel and seems to be well made. The night time backlight is bright enough to read the clock from close up but not so bright it should keep you awake. I had one from a different maker that on its dimmest setting was like a spotlight, literally casting shadows on the wall. No such problem with this clock. Setting the alarm is straightforward and doesn't require three hands or a high level of manual dexterity. The button that turns on the alarm requires a bit of muscle to activate so it should never turn itself on when bouncing around in your luggage.My one criticism is that the display is rather busy. It's all useful information, but when I'm trying to read the time in the middle of the night I really don't need to know the temperature or the date or my time zone or that it has received the time signal recently. It would be nice if these things could be turned off so you can quickly focus on just the relevant parts. But this is a minor issue since the time is so much bigger than any of the other items.This clock has been on my bedside table for almost four months now and I'm very satisfied with it. I would also point out that it has been running all that time on a single set of rechargeable batteries. So no issues with NiMH batteries and Eneloops last for quite a while. I don't often use the alarm so the batteries might not last as long if you have the alarm go off every day.

Does it receive the time signal. Yes and No as it depends where you live and where you put it. The signal transmitted from the Denver Atomic Clock center is weak to begin with and is easily affected by weather and other atmospheric conditions. Which, is why they said the best reception time is at night because the Sun has gone down and generally unless you are having bad weather there is less atmospheric issues. If you live in a deep valley, your home has reflective windows, your home is made of something that complete blocks the signal, your surrounded by steel buildings etc then yes you probably will not receive the signal. If you are having issues with receiving it then here is what I suggest. Place the clock in a window that faces towards Denver or better yet outside (if possible). It took mine about 10 minutes to sync. After that I placed it in my bedroom. Since I have had it I lost sync once due to really bad weather. However, I really do not care at that point. Its not like the clock over several months would loose that much time if I did not notice it was in sync. If I need to re-sync I simply do what I did before and its back in sync. With that said if yours will not keep sync which mine does the only bad thing I can think of is when the switch to Daylight savings time occurs your clock would be off. So for the pros and consPROS:1. Nice little clock that has a nice backlight and best yet stays in sync with the atomic clock in Denver.2. Fair priceCONS:1. Yes its true that whoever developed this put in a lousy light sensor. Unless the lighting is directly above it the backlight does not turn off. I keep mine in the off mode and when I wake up I roll over and press the bar on the top which lights it for about 4 seconds. It is a bit bright but then again once it goes off I could care less.2. Runs on batteries but a buddy of mine has one and his has been running for 1.5 months and it is still going strong.3. I do fine the button for turning on and off the alarm a bit of a pain. I wish instead of the slide switch (where the red spot is on the clock) that they would have made it a toggle switch so it was easier to turn on and off. I then realized this is a travel alarm clock as well and if it was to easy to turn on it might constantly be going off in your luggage. I use mine at home only so with the intended use of the clock I guess I can not really complain about this.Would I buy another. YES I actually bought two but one had a defective backlight. So I will be ordering another. I did not see any other complaints about a failed backlight (unless I missed it) so I am assuming this is a one time issue.

I am very happy with the clock, but it only has radio controlled time zones for the continental U.S. I would not have assumed that since it offers the days of the week in French, Italian, English, etc. It works just fine overseas from the U.S. where I live but I'm glad that I do not have to use the automatic time feature. It has a good sized self-adjusting light display (dimly lit when room is dark) and I really like that it has the temperature in either Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Great clock. The only downer is that the internal light is not real bright. But, I suppose that is a trade off to obtain a longer battery life.

Seems to be exceptionally good quality for this type of product, but I'd like it better with: higher contrast, a wider viewing angle, more of the surface given to the face so the numerals would be bigger, the option to set the auto-backlight a bit brighter, and easier setup. While the atomic clock feature means it is supposed to auto-setup, I waited hours before I gave up on that working. I set it manually, and then the next morning, it must have done the atomic thing because it was off by an hour. I fixed that and it seems okay now. I am willing to believe this reflects error on my part, but that just brings me back to saying setup should be easier.

This is a good clock for my purposes (setting a wake-up time for my afternoon naps); however, the display's contrast is poor unless you look at it at a specific angle...then it's great. Same with the snooze light. The ideal angle seems to be about 30 degrees above the display; looking at it head on is difficult, and from 30 degrees below, it's pretty terrible. I do like the snooze light, though, partly because of its amber color and partly because of its brightness...and also because it only stays on for 5 seconds unlike many other clocks where it stays on 20 seconds. The one annoying thing is that the stand folds down from the back and up over the face, covering the snooze light. Also, the stand is some sort of plastic that I don't think will hold up to lots of folding/unfolding; however, since I've had it less than a week, I could be totally wrong about that.

I bought two of these for use on a long road trip. One for us and one for the couple that we were traveling with. They seemed to work well except the automatic time updates from the Navy Atomic clock didn't seem to work. Otherwise I would have rated this with 5 stars. I like the nice glow in the dark feature and I also like the ability to easily change the time zone, e.g. PST to MST, etc. It is pretty rugged and the batteries seem to last a long time. For me the alarm was loud enough to be effective but for some it might not be enough to wake you. Given the small size though, this is understandable. The glow in the dark feature is nice but not too bright.

Great little travel clock. The numbers are clearly readable, although as is the case with a lot of LCD displays of this type, it is at its clearest when viewed from a higher point (so looking down at it).It has a light you can bring up by pressing the snooze button but it also has a light that can turn on automatically whenever the room is dark (this option can be turned off to conserve battery life). I got the atomic signal quickly and the clock set the correct time with no issues.Make sure you read the manual though because if you set the time zone manually it can cause the automatic sync to be disabled. If you already did that just push the button on the back to reinitialize the sync process.The ringer starts off slowly and then builds up. It is not super loud but it works. The only thing that I would say appears to be pretty flimsy is the cover, which must be flipped and becomes the stand. That is my reason for the 4 stars for what is otherwise an excellent clock. As long as you are very careful with it, I can see it lasting but I would prefer a more sturdier material or design. The good parts about the cover is that when it is closed, you can see the clock display but not press any buttons by accident. This is great if the clock is in your luggage.

I was looking for an digital clock that meets two criteria: It had to be "atomic" and it had to be readable at night without the need to push any light button. Turns out that there actually aren't many available that meet both of these criteria. So I was happy to find this one.Pros:- "Atomic" feature works great- Night light feature works great- Small and slim- Reasonably pricedCon:My main issue with this clock is that if you look at the display from below it becomes unreadable. If your nightstand is at the same level or above the level of your eyes, you will need to raise your head in order to decipher the display at night.Other minor cons:- No holes for wall mounting- Overall design and materials leave a bit to be desired. Particularly, the big and rather ugly company logo is a bummer.- Setup and instructions can be a bit confusingThe pros clearly outweigh the cons as far as my expectations are concerned, so overall this was a good purchase.

I like this clock. It has all the features that you would expect from a portable atomic alarm clock. The two bad sides are that this does not take rechargeable batteries, and that the screen is difficult to see from some angles.The alarm is progressive so that it doe snot wake you with an annoying blasting blaring sound. I will be using this on my cross country backpacking trip next year, so the weight of it is perfect for what I need.

It's OK as a clock, but I got it for the "atomic" function, but that has never worked. By contrast, I also got the Hito clock (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00R64PG9S/ref=psdc_108321011_t1_B00Z3TLI2M) and it works like a dream. Looks better, too.

Wish that alarm was louder. Otherwise, this alarm has nice features.

I use this clock on cruise ships. I wasn't aware of its ability to correct and update its time from the US Bureau of Standards, It is designed for use only in the US. The clock does not receive a signal inside the ship, so I manually set the time and there's no problem. There was a problem when touring Europe. The clock was periodically able to pick up a signal and reset itself to its US time zone setting. This would be a great clock if it had international time zones or a function to disable the RCC function.

I have two of these and I have been rather pleased with them. But on November 6, neither one of them changed the time. I had to manually set them. I bought this in September 2015, and it changed before this.

It is compact, light, illuminates well, however it was unable to automatically obtain the date and other Atomic clock information (perhaps because I live in a big city). It is still usable because you can set it manually.

This clock would be great if you live on the mainland USA or far enough away to never receive the RCC signal. I live in Hawaii and thought I could just manually set the clock, but in the middle of the night, it receives a signal and switches to Pacific time, so when i wake up it shows 3 hours later. Doesn't work for Hawaii.

OK, wish it didn't take too many times to push it down to see the time but I like the fact that the light is not too bright to bother sleeping.

the display is low-contrast and not crisp like another atomic clock that we own. so it is often hard to read the time without turning on the backlight or making a concerted effort to look at the display in good light.

Great little clock, but no DST enable/disable. I live in Arizona and we don't do dumb stuff like Daylight savings time. So clock is wrong

I wanted to like this clock because of the solid build and easy to read numbers. Unfortunately when I tested the alarm it was not nearly loud enough to wake our teenager. An equally important issue was that the clock does not have a manual way of setting the current time for your timezone. The clock is supposed to receive a signal from Colorado to calibrate the time and mine never set the proper time.

This atomic bedside alarm clock displays much useful information. It is not the smallest clock. Once temporarily set in the window "facing Colorado" overnight, it caught the atomic radio transmission and has maintained that while on the bedside dresser ever since. This clock serves the 4 continental USA time zones. Directions come with this, and should be maintained for setting all the displays. The clock is given 3 stars instead of 5, because of the display being a little pale to read due to the clock sitting on a dresser higher than the bed. Also the snooze alarm can only be repeated a limited number of times before quitting. One needs to wake up and get up promptly, or risk oversleeping. There is no included travel case. Two AA batteries must be purchased and inserted. Otherwise, this seems to be a good enough bedside clock.

I gave the clock the benefit of the doubt, but noticed a week after daylight saving time changed that it was showing the wrong time.I understand that it needs a signal to set with atomic time, but my $10 plastic watch from walmart changes for DST automatically I expected the same from this.The clock beeps for 1 minute and then resets to the next day. If you are a heavy sleeper get something else.Otherwise it's a nice display and a decent clock.

This is the same shape and product description as my trusty, but old, Radio Shack travel alarm so I purchased it as a replacement. It took days before connecting with the atomic clock, using it isn't intuitive (I'm still travelling with the directions), and the display saying which time zone you've selected is really tiny. As a result, I've spent the last couple of months carrying both alarms because I still don't trust this one.

I wanted a clock with a night light for the bathroom counter which actually gives enough light to read the time and light up the bathroom. This one has it but it isn't bright enough to easily read the time. I think the manufacturer is trying to preserve the battery life. If you pick it up and press the top bar the light will brighten for a moment but resume to normal when you let go. The size is good and would be perfect for traveling. Today's shopper

Mostly functional, but I really hate the design (unless I'm missing something) that the only way to turn off the alarm is to shut the switch off and then you have to remember to switch back on. In just a few weeks of owning it had several days of no alarm because I didn't switch it back on. I'm used to an alarm where you can just hit a button to turn off the alarm for the day, but the alarm is still functional, so I find this alarm design strange. Maybe it's nitpicking but when I'm half asleep, the last thing I'm good at is turning a hard switch button off and back on. Otherwise, it's functional, backlight works well, no huge issues getting the radio sync to work, but having an alarm that I have trouble consistently getting to work means I'll likely be looking elsewhere soon for a different alarm.

Although the clock works fine, the frame that holds the clock in a upright position broke within 2 weeks. It is flimsy. Additionally, the temperature display is not even close to accurate so that feature is totally worthless. It does what I need it to, which is keep time to the second but I am irritated that the flimsy frame to hold up the clock broke so quickly.

This is a very nice clock ... I liked the first one that I bought so much that I bought two more, so I now have one for each of two home locations and one that resides permanently in my travel kit. HOWEVER I rated it only "okay" because radio-synchronization has stopped working on all of three clocks. I suspect the receiver is of a marginal design that uses a short-lived component, or maybe there has been a small change in the transmitted signal coding that proved big enough to confuse the receiver's decoder. Also there is an undocumented feature: a settable number of offset hours, which can be very useful when on-the-move, but unfortunately there is no display icon to indicate that an offset has been set; its absence is a design oversight that I can imagine could be dangerous.

This may be, in part, my fault for not doing better research but this alarm clock has one huge fault. It is the alarm OFF switch. Every previous travel alarm I have owned, and they were virtually all from Radio Shack, allowed you to press the top of the clock to silence the alarm. This clock has a slider switch. In the light of day and fully awake it is a no brainer. Sound asleep, waking up in the dark without all your cognitive functions it is a pain in the neck. I have struggled with this since I purchased the clock, and I get up during the work week at 4:20 am. That is my only knock on this clock, otherwise I have been reasonably pleased.

This appears to be the only small self-setting battery operated clock available, and it performs this function well. However, I really dislike the illuminated display: it's highly non-uniform, with a 'large ball of fire' on the right side, apparently a single bulb lights up everything. I contacted Ambient customer service and even sent them a photo of my clock in the dark, asking whether this was normal. They told me my clock appeared defective, so I ordered a 2nd clock to replace the first one -- but it looked exactly the same! When I again contacted ambient customer service, they changed their story on me: NOW they said no one else has complained about the display, implying that I'm hypersensitive about it. I've posted a photo here of the two clocks I have side by side in the dark; and if you don't mind how this looks, it's otherwise a fine clock. But because of the way I was treated by Ambient, I've decided NEVER to purchase anything from them ever again (and I'm in the market for a weather station). There are other choices. For those like me who care about a good clock display, I recommend Zhpuat clocks -- even their battery operated ones have beautiful easy-on-the-eyes uniformly illuminated displays-- so it CAN be done. But to my knowledge, Zhpuat doesn't yet have a small self-setting battery operated one, otherwise I'd leap to grab it instead.

Loved this alarm clock until recently. I'm having problems with the display - sections of the letters and numbers on the bottom no longer show. This creates challenges when trying to set the alarm. The current time displays fine, but all of the smaller displays (seconds hand, date/time, temps, and alarm are all missing sections on the display which makes it difficult to read. Contacted the company but only a 1 year warranty. Of course this issue began 13 months after I purchased the product. So for the first year, I really liked the product. Now, I'm disappointed in the quality and will have to shop for a replacement.

Worth buying only if you don't care about atomic synchronization - simply terrible. Same desktop where an Oregon Scientific worked fine, this clock can't get a signal. Instructions suggest waiting a week before declaring it doesn't work. On flip side the clock seems decently made but the whole point of an atomic travel clock is that it can synchronize. BTW - look at all the similar clock with same display - I would venture to guess they are all the same inside

The alarm stopped working after 5 months of use.

This alarm clock is not quite what I expected-The built quality is far from being good, buttons pressing mechanism feels extremely cheap.-Alarm sound is very annoying, not the crescendo I expected it to have.-Viewing angle is quite limited.-Snooze option is only for 4 or 5 snoozes, which is a weird choice of design.Overall I really regret purchasing two of this, It could be an OK clock for the occasional use, but for everyday use it is very disappointing.

After I received the clock I absolutely loved it. Kept great time and glowed at time so I could keep track of time. After we returned home it was kept in the suitcase to be ready to use the next week. On that trip I noticed the time was 2 hours off. Had difficulty resetting, but was able to get it to 4:07 p.m. The next morning it read 5:44 when really the time was 8:44. When I tried to reset it, the only hour numbers that would show up was 2, 3, 4, and 5. No other numbers hour numbers would display and, in addition, it would not move out of the "am" format. I reset the clock twice, but no change. I replaced the batteries, but still no change. I was really disappointed after loving it so much on the previous trip. I guess it is now garbage.

The letters and numbers in the display are not in full contrast to the background and are thus not as easy to read as they should be. The low contrast is particularly a problem at night, even with the night light is turned on with the switch in the battery compartment. The most significant problem that I found was that the alarm volume is quite soft. It failed to wake me up, and I am not that deep a sleeper.

Hated it. Couldn't read it at night, which was really important to us. Plus it couldn't figure out where we lived. It was an hour off.

Yes, it works well as a clock, was easy to program and synched into the radio time feed overnight. It's daytime display has excellent contrast and is very easy to read. Why then do I not like it? The back light turns the clock from one with a wide viewing angle to one with limited vertical viewing. This makes it nearly impossible to see from straight on, made worse by having the display tilted back, a design "feature" of the case. Viewing has to be at least 20 degrees above the clock for it to be readable at night. This makes it terrible for a bed stand or on a shelf that is not lower then your seating or resting position. It probably will work well as a desk clock. As a travel clock, it will probably be unreadable, as most hotels have the night stand a little higher than the bed, making it unreadable, unless you tilt it down when you want to see more than a solid orange screen. I am likely to return it before my return window ends.

This clock fails to adjust for DST. It has now been 33 hours since the time change and no change to the time on the clock. Perhaps it's not receiving the time signal, but it gives no indication of that. VERY DISAPPOINTING. I was hoping for an accurate clock I would not have to constantly adjust. This isn't it.

I bought this clock to replace a 15-year old model from Oregon Scientific on which the Electroluminescent Backlight has died. I like all the features built into this clock. The display is designed with larger numbers than my old Oregon Scientific model, making it easier to read at night with my eyeglasses off. The nightlight is useful in a darkened room, and the built-in thermometer is an added bonus.Now onto the reason I'm returning this clock: The radio in it is "weak as water", to use a British phrase I'm quite fond of. Sitting in the exact same location next to my bed where my Oregon Scientific Atomic Time Desk Clock was always able to get a usable signal for synchronizing, this clock's radio is unable to pick-up anything. Granted, I'm on the East Coast, where the signal is weaker due to distance from the transmitter, but I have 2 other Radio-Controlled Atomic Time Clocks AND a Casio G-Shock Waveceptor Atomic Time Watch that are all able to get a usable signal in my home with no trouble. A Radio-Controlled Atomic Time Clock that can't synchronize is absolutely USELESS, so I'll be sending it back this week and trying a different model from a different brand. Hopefully it will have a better radio in it.

It is difficult to get this clock to sync with the atomic time. You have to set it right next to a window. Even if it is just a few feet away from the window, it seems unable to lock onto the signal. Other atomic clocks I've owned in the past have never had this problem. Also the temperature function always give a higher than actual reading. I have two other thermometers in the room, and this is the only one that is inaccurate. It always displays temperatures 3-4 degrees above the correct temperature.

Big problem with this clock is the display. In the dark with illumination on, you can only read it standing over the clock, looking down on it. As you start looking at the display directly at eye level, it becomes very dim, and if you look at the display even slightly from the below the clock, the display vanishes and becomes blank. NOT clear and sharp in the dark in its own illumination as the picture suggests. So if you're in bed looking at the clock on your nightstand (where it is close to eye level) it will be close to illegible unless you have 20/20 razor sharp night time vision. It also seems to me that the display area could have been made larger -- notice how much wasted plastic there is in this design, and it's already small to begin with. That being said, clock works well otherwise, in the particular the 'auto-set' feature using the radio -- although in my area the signal is only strong enough after dark to use it. I may return the clock, I've ordered another from a different manufacturer to see if anyone makes a better display on a small self-setting alarm clock.

Real pain to set the time manually; not intuitive at all. Sub-par instructions. Had it in a tropical climate for 3 months, batteries started leaking in the compartment; fortunately saved it on time. Disappointed. It's ok if you use it in the Western hemisphere, in temperate climates, and where there is always access to WiFi so it can automatically set the time. Not applicable to my situation.

I am on my second one. The first one never could receive the radio signal no matter where I placed it. I took it to several cities on the east coast and Cabo in western Mexico. Nada. However it keeps time reasonably well and I needed a travel clock. I recently purchased another one for my office. This one can't receive a radio signal either. On top of that, DST can't be set. The choices are "off" or some unintelligible word. Bottom line if you want an atomic clock don't waste your money. If you want a travel clock, there are cheaper alternatives.

Returned it because lighted numbers can be seen at eye level or from above but not from below and my bed is lower than the nightstand on which I have my clock. The clock itself seemed to be a satisfactory product in other respects although setting it up was cumbersome and a bit of a bother.

Really wanted to like it, given all the research I did before making the purchase. However, the temperature was off by more than 10 degrees and the clock was not able to connect to the signal. I took these as signs that these tiny micro buttons were destined to fail as well. I will go for something with fewer features.

For seven months this clock was great. Easy to set, alarm loud enough, lightweight, glowed in the dark when button pressed, accurate, folded up flat, etc. While it was in my travel kit between trips, the batteries went dead. Replaced the batteries but now when folded for travel the back light stays on thus running the batteries down. When sitting upright on the bureau sometime the light is on and sometimes it's not. Weird. I could just remove the batteries and put them in at night on my trips, but I'd need to take a mini Phillips screwdriver with me because screws keep the batteries in place. I thought this product would last longer than it did.

Bought in March, not working 5 months later. Don't waste your money.

Changed batteries twice in first month, still dead. Display too dark to read on night table in front of lamp. Yellow backlight is very weak - believe me, it wil NEVER look like the listing photo you see. I'm just going to toss it in the trash.

Bought two clocks. One went bad after 6 months. First the alarm switch on the back would only work intermittently. Then the clock stopped receiving the atomic clock transmission. Finally, all the time and date set up buttons would only work intermittently, making it impossible to even manually set the time. I know this is not due to any operator error as the other clock so far seems to be working fine.Update: Now the other clock doesn't work anymore either, after about a year of use. While I have no problem setting the time with this one, the screen goes completely blank every couple of days. The only way to get it back is to remove the batteries and reinsert them. I checked the batteries with a battery tester and they were fully charged. This last time I removed and reinserted the batteries I still got the blank screen. Now I really know these are pieces of junk. I bought another brand to replace the first clock and so far it is working fine.

Very, very disappointed. Definitely not an atomic travel clock. Simply does not pick up the signal anywhere in my house. I've had other atomic clocks that worked perfectly from the get go. This is a waste of money.

This clock's buttons failed after about three months of minimal use. Now it's impossible to set the alarm. Please save your money!

Way over-priced. It's junky and doesn't seem to receive the atomic clock signal from anywhere; even outside. Also, face is not back-lit. The light comes form the right front side and is very dim. Display is difficult to see from more than 6 feet away. Kicking myself for this purchase!

Can't tell if it's dark. Has to activated for the screen to light. Makes it useless when trying to find out time in the night.

Barely lasted 8 months, now it's not working at all.

I live in Hawaii and in the middle of the night - it will adjust the time to Pacific Time Zone (no matter what I do). Set the alarm for 5 am in the evening and it wakes me at 2 am - because it has adjusted to Pacific Time in the middle of the night.

The alarm doesn't go off for long enough. I think it's only a minute or two. I can sleep through it. I don't understand an alarm clock that stops after a minute or two.

This item never worked. It was broken from the start. By the time I used it, it was past the window for returning it. Now I'm stuck with this piece of junk!!! How convenient for the seller....BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!!!

The Alarm on the clock I purchased is not reliable. It failed to sound after set. This has happened three times now and I have only used it a dozen times.

This was returned product that end up with me. I was going to send back, I don't want somebody else to suffer. I will use it for target.

ONLY WORKS NEAR A WINDOW NOT WORTH THE MONEY.

Haven't even put batteries in yet-plastic case is still outgassing a perfumy smell after a week-smell still on its enclosed papers, too. Odor was not on other items in shipping box, so can't claim anything spilled on it. Cheap enough to keep as a backup, but will be used across the room instead of next to me on nightstand.

It doesn't work. I took it on a 3 week trip & it never worked. I would return it, but I must have thrown away the box. I was in a hurry to pack and just assumed it would work. Will still try to return.

the clock would not stay on the hour. it would gain or loose an hour over night. would not stay connected to the radio wave to reset at 2am. It was a piece of junk..

Did not work. I returned it