Emerson SmartSet Dual Alarm Clock Radio with AM/FM Radio, Dimmer, Sleep Timer and .9" LED Display, CKS1900

Love this item, it sets itself when you plug it in. The sound of the music is great and you can just lay your phone on top to charge it while you are doing something else. It has alarms you can set readily and the price was most reasonable. It is very easy to tell the time as the numbers are easily readable. It's length is about the size of my hand (small woman size) and the width is about 1/2 my hand size, so very compact on my night stand. I also bought one for my office. Love it!

It gets the job done. It wakes me up on time, It has FM radio. Does it have the best sounding buzzer? No. Does it have the best audio quality and antenna? No. For the price though and for what it is, It works. I will leave 5 stars for that and to make up for this: I was skeptical about how it would be because of the lack of reviews, but I think that most of the people that have bought this before just never thought about leaving a review. After all, it is just an alarm clock. I like a lot of stuff that I have bought on here and very rarely do I write a review, so I understand.

Alarm clock has large numbers and are very easy to see. Clock is automatically set for the eastern time zone and daylight savings time. for EST. If you live on the east coast, you are set. If not, I recommend disabling the automatic daylight savings feature. The buttons are dark and hard to see. Would have been better if the letters were white. It's been 8 days and I still haven't figured it out. It is a smart clock which means it has a chip in it to pick up certain information automatically, e.g. date, time zone, etc.

I've learned the hard way that almost nothing is made with quality anymore, so I had reasonable expectations regarding a replacement clock radio. I chose this Emerson brand because about 5 years ago, I had purchased a different model Emerson Smart Set clock radio for a different room, and the quality, design, and the features of that model were excellent. That one looks, feels, sounds, and functions like a premium, high ticket item. It had exceeded my expectations. Since that model is no longer made, this time I decided to try this Emerson model. This newer model is pure JUNK, JUNK, JUNK!!!! There is zero comparison to their previous product, or any clock radio I've ever owned, except that they are all technically clocks radios.First of all, this thing is so lightweight that a strong breeze from an adjacent window would blow it off its surface. Just walking by it, it's incredibly easy to knock it to the floor just by accidentally brushing against it. As for sound, it sounds like you'd expect a cheap radio to sound. It has adequate sound quality to wake you up and the volume can be made loud, but the louder it gets, the more marginal the sound quality becomes. But, since I bought this solely for the purpose of waking up on time, the radio sound quality was not a big problem for me.The cheap, textured, black matte plastic that it's made of is a dust magnate vs what a slick, smooth, shiny plastic would be, and it's tacky looking. Still, I could have lived with it if had to, though I know it would require constant dusting. Since I hate returning things, I tried to convince myself that this item would be okay for short term use, maybe longer.HOWEVER, the absolute deal breaker for me is the black buttons with the black writing on this black clock. What complete idiot designed this???!!!! I was willing to accept this clock's cheap quality and design for temporary use to avoid having to do a return, but the black writing on the black buttons on the black clock case is downright abusive!!! Especially given that this item is normally used/set at night in dim lighting. No one wants to have to turn on a bright overhead light or stick their face and this clock next to a bright lightbulb at bedtime just to try and read the settings when they're winding down and ready for bed. How are people supposed to set an alarm when the settings are unreadable??? Even in full daylight, you have to pick up the clock and try to angle it in the right light to read the control buttons, and I have excellent vision. Even in the daytime, I have to bring this to a sunny window and angle it 45 degrees in the sunlight just to read the controls. NO! An alarm clock should be able to be easily and quickly set. It should not be a nightly ordeal!This clock was designed with only making the cheapest possible product in mind. There was no attempt to offer the customer reasonable features, and there was no consideration of the customer in mind. Seriously, black buttons with black writing on a black background???!!!! Beyond idiotic! Can't wait to send this hunk of junk back!!!!

A bit of background before I discuss the Emerson CKS1900 clock/radio.I've had two red LED clock/radio's for some decades. A few months ago I replaced one (buttons failing) with a true RC (Radio controlled--aka "atomic") LCD unit. It keeps itself synchronized with the US official time standard in Boulder, CO via the WWVB radio signal. I have four other RC wall clocks that do the same. I purchased the CKS1900 to replace my other clock/radio, which although still working, is nearing the end of its life.My unit did NOT come with a printed manual. I therefore downloaded the electronic (PDF) version from the Emerson website. I prefer manuals in PDF format anyway (can always print them). The manual is quite basic and omits various details (given below). I suggest trying stuff and/or doing web searches.The CKS1900, having green dimmable LED's, is preferable to my old non-dimmable red LED unit. Easier on my eyes. I keep it on the lowest setting (for nighttime viewing).Although NOT an RC clock it does automatically change time at daylight saving changes (twice per year). In my area (YMMV) non-RC mains powered clocks (e.g. the ones in my Microwave & Oven) are accurate to about 30s. That is "good enough" given that my other (RC) units are within a second.Although not stated in the manual the DST start/end dates CAN be changed. Search for "SmartSet Technology" on the web to find the details on the Emerson website. Note that the dates on their page are for 2007 (the last change in the US). Use dates for the current year instead.DST changes cannot be turned off (the newer CKS1521 allows this but the method doesn't work on my CKS1900) so if you live in an area that doesn't have it you'll have to change the timezone/time twice a year. Not an issue in my case.While the CKS1900 has two alarms I don't need or use them. That said having two could be useful at times.As for the radio I don't use it but I've set up the local station presets anyway. The manual states that there are ten (P 01 to P 10) presets but in fact there are twenty--10 for AM and 10 for FM. Recalling a preset does NOT change the band (AM/FM). You have to do that manually via the BAND button. Also during tuning if you hold the TUNE + or - button down the unit will scan until finding the next station. Quick presses increase/decrease the frequency.In my case the radio has very low volume (I've seen other reports on the web about this). Others say it's "loud". I tried a full unit reset (removed the backup battery and AC power for 10 mins) but no change. Since I don't use the alarms/radio this is not an issue to me. Again YMMV. BTW the volume has (17) steps from U 00 to U 16.Unfortunately this model doesn't display the time in 24hr (aka military) format which I prefer. I did find, in the Q&A section of the CKS1800 page on Amazon, that it may be possible but the method given there doesn't work on my CKS1900. I may yet find a trick to do this.The bottom line: for the price (I got mine at a steep discount) this is a good all round clock/radio--at least for my purpose (bedside time display).PS: Most clock/radio's can't/won't show seconds (I've had some that did through undocumented button combinations). If the CKS1900 can I haven't yet discovered how. That said if you manually set the time, using the TIME and + - buttons, the seconds are set to zero (i.e. the minute will advance at the next 59/00 second transition). I've confirmed this multiple times. If your clock is "off" and you have an accurate time source this will make it right. BTW manually changing the date/time resets the internal standard (i.e. "SmartSet") per the manual.

Love that I don’t have to worry about setting this every night it is set for the weekThe phone charger it a plus

This is cool because the time just sets itself. No radio. Very readable across the room