iHome iC50 FM Stereo Alarm Clock review

What’s the last thing you do before you fall asleep at night?  Assuming you make it to bed and have the presence of mind, you generally do the same thing each night.  Chances are good that you plug your phone in and/or set your phone alarm.  Why not do both, and more, with iHome’s iC50 FM Stereo Alarm Clock?

We’ve spent the last few nights falling asleep next to the iC50 and have come to like having it on the nightstand.  Designed to work with any Android handset with a headphone jack and microUSB port, the device charges you up and plays your music at the same time.  The SmartSlide dock lets you plug in your phone in landscape or portrait mode and fits everything we threw at it.  The lip of the stand could be a little bigger but we’re happy nonetheless.

Thanks to built-in speakers with ‘Reson8 speaker chambers and EXB bass enhancement”, you’ll be drifting off to sleep with a Slacker Radio lullaby that sounds louder and clearer than your phone. Prefer to listen to some local radio instead?  The iHome iC50 has you covered there, too.

How big is the iC50?  Picture one of those square tissue boxes that you send to school and you’ve got a good reference point. It’s compact and clean with responsive buttons and a cord long enough to reach behind the table or bed.  While the sound is not loud enough to fill a room, it’s plenty for a sleeping environment or…ahem, you know.

Like any other alarm clock, the iC50 lets you wake up to music or notification tones, however there’s a bit more play with a physical device.  The clock face has a couple of dimmer options to choose from and looks great from a distance.  For an added experience you can also download the iHome app from Google Play and set up some custom alarms.

Normally priced at $59.99, we were able to find the iHome iC50 ten bucks cheaper at Amazon. Seeing that it falls under $50, this would make a good gift for that Android lover headed off to college this fall.