Side by Side Comparison of: Marathon vs Ambient Weather

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!