Voco Clock review

The answer to waking you up gracefully or just another gimmick?

10 April 2007 0:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

If the buzz buzz buzz of your alarm clock is slightly grating in the morning, then one alarm clock is hoping to a new solution for waking you from your slumber. But should you just sleep through? We go to bed to find out.

The Voco clock takes tp waking you up in a rather untraditional way with the dolcet tones of Stephen Fry rather than an anxious beep.

Phrases like "Good morning, Sir. The prime minister phoned again. I told him you were not available. We shan't be treated like THAT again!" and "A gentleman from Berkeley Hathaway is waiting to see you, Sir. He is offering a job in the Bahamas with a salary of seventy-two million dollars a year". Are designed to bring you around as if you were a Lord or Prince with a butler.

There are plenty of phrases and there is even a relaxation mode, which promises to drop you off to sleep (which it didn't with us).

In practice and the concept is a greater than the reality and this is 5-minute wonder stuff that will have you chortling away by day, but not when you get up of a morning. What doesn't help either is that the clock is cheaply made and rather plasticky.

Verdict

Will this have the power to wake you from your slumber? Not unless you are a light sleeper. That bleet might be annoying at 6 in the morning but that's the point.

It will provide 5 minutes of fun at the start, but little after that.

Score

Review Recap

Price as reviewed: £25.95
The good: Plenty of phrases, Stephen Fry's doclet tones, wake up and to go sleep modes
The bad: Not very loud, cheap and tacky
Quick verdict: Good 5 minutes of fun but not something that you'll want to hear everyday
Score