This $149 Alarm Clock Was a Disappointment — Here’s What To Buy Instead
I was super excited to try out the Loftie Alarm Clock. It looked like a trendy, well-designed millennial gadget that would hopefully pry my smartphone out of my hands in the morning by replacing my alarm routine with a better gadget. I know waking up and immediately flooding my brain with notifications, headlines, texts and other urgent pings is bad for me, and I was really hoping I would like the Loftie enough to leave all of that behind.
Long story short: I didn’t.
Buy: Loftie Alarm Clock $159.00
The Loftie is an alarm clock theoretically built to make your wake-up and wind-down routines smoother and more relaxing. You can set alarms via your smartphone, set mood lighting and play calming sounds like sound baths, guided breathwork and stories. You can set a sleep timer that fades content out over time, lulling you to sleep, and it’s made to help you sleep soundly with a blackout mode, a night light if need be and a backup battery.
What I Liked
I’ll explain this more below, but I couldn’t get the key features of the alarm clock to work for me. The lights on the bottom are soothing, and the app did work pretty seamlessly when it came to turning them on and off, and setting an alarm. It has a nice and compact design, and doesn’t take up too much space on your nightstand.
What I Didn’t Like
When the Loftie first arrived, I struggled with the initial app setup you need to program the entire clock. The process stalled halfway through and I had to go back and try a few times before I could get it to work. Then, I set an alarm via my phone and not once, but twice, woke up after the set time when the clock was supposed to go off to find it dead on my nightstand. Bummer.
Needless to say, I’m not recommending this product to Spy readers. Instead, I say, you save your money and purchase another alarm clock with simple features that work, like the ones below.
If you want to go fancy, I’ve heard great things about the Hatch Restore alarm clock and think it’s also a great alternative.
What to Buy Instead
SHARP Digital Alarm Clock
This digital alarm clock from SHARP is designed to be simple to operate. It’s got a high-speed USB charge port built-in and offers a choice between a loud and soft alarm volume as well. It uses two AAA batteries for backup in case there’s a power outage and the red LED numerals are easy to read.
Buy: SHARP Digital Alarm Clock $23.27
Hatch Restore Smart Alarm Clock
If you want to go fancy, go with Hatch. It has many of the same features as the Loftie, works, and is still $20 cheaper. It comes with the ability to personalize a sleep routine so you fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up peacefully. The sunrise alarm clock is designed to help maintain healthy cortisol levels, and it’s got a library of soothing sounds to calm your mind any time of day. You can control the clock via an app or touch buttons, and it can serve as a great reading light as well.
Buy: Hatch Restore Alarm Clock $129.99
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