Philips AJ3231

My radio alarm clock was playing up more and more and I was getting a bit frustrated with it when I realised that it was 16 years old and my parents had bought it for me as a present when I got straight A's (the one and only time!) for grades at school. It has served me well over the years, only occasionally letting me down (generally due to human error) but it was definitely time for an upgrade! It took me a surprisingly wide search to find an alarm clock within my budget that looked decent, the cheap ones looked, well, cheap, and the only ones that I liked the style of were ridiculously expensive but then I came across the Philips AJ3231 Radio alarm clock and I decided that it would be the right choice.

The Philips AJ3231 looks very sleek and stylish. It has a mirrored 13.5cm squared screen which acts as a useful mirror - I have utilised it several times in the night if I have got something in my eye or likewise. The bottom few centimetres of the front panel is brushed silver plastic with the word "Philips" on the front, so from first look it is very contemporary and simple. When it is plugged in, the number display is in the centre of the mirrored screen and is orange, there is a button on the side to enable you do have it brighter or dimmer - I have mine dimmed as I feel that it is sufficient and the brighter setting is not as easy on the eye in the darkness. The back and sides of the alarm clock are black plastic, but if you angle it in the correct position, you cannot see this at all from the front. The base is only 6cm wide so it has a tendency to be slightly unstable and does easily knock if you are too heavy handed.

This alarm has a dual alarm which means that you can set it for two times, and flick between the two - I find this really useful because sometimes I can have an extra half hour sleep if I'm not doing the school run and this function means that I don't have to mess around with different times every day. Setting the clock and the alarms is an easy process - there are up and down buttons on the side of the unit which are self explanatory - the numbers move quickly through the 24 hour clock if you press and hold so setting takes no time at all. I also like that it is a 24 hour display - one too many times on my old alarm I have been caught out by having it on pm when it should have been am, but I cannot make this mistake with this clock,

The wake-up call is either in the form of the beeping, or you can have the radio coming on. The buzz is quite a pleasant sound - it is loud enough that it wakes you up, but it isn't so loud that it scares the life out of you! The radio tunes easily with a dial on the side (FM and MW) and it is very good at picking up a reception. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the sound, this is helped by the unit having a good sized speaker on the back - there is a jack on the back also so an MP3 player or other audio device can be played via the unit. It is far too easy to adjust the radio volume in my opinion, it is on a rolling dial which could easily be accidently turned down to mute and so your alarm would not be heard - this is the sort of thing that I would do so I generally have my alarm on buzz where the volume cannot be altered.

When the alarm goes off, you can press the "repeat alarm" button on the top and this switches of the alarm and repeats six minutes later - always a necessary function in my opinion! The button is easy to locate as it is right at the front on the top of the unit and is a generous size, it has a satisfying click when pressed and does not require too much pressure which is a good feature if you wake up with a dead hand! To turn the alarm off and reset it for tomorrow, press "alarm reset "which is not so easy to find if you are sleepy as it is virtually flat to the unit and in between two other buttons both of which mean you could easily have the radio blaring out unintentionally with a slight slip of the hand.

If you want to listen to the radio whilst you drift off to sleep, it is possible to press the "sleep" button and the radio will turn off by itself up to a maximum of 59 minutes later, I use this regularly and think that it is a useful feature and I also use it if I am upstairs during the day and want to listen to the radio.

A battery back-up is essential for me living in the countryside where the power supply is often interrupted intermittently. The 9v battery which is inserted into the bottom of the clock will maintain the setting for up to a day if the power fails, otherwise as soon as the unit is unplugged all data is lost. The power cable is 150cm long which I think is a generous amount and even if you haven't got a plug directly by your bedside table (big hint to my electrician husband) it should be enough to reach something.

The instruction manual that comes with the alarm clock is well laid out and easy to understand; it gives you all the information that you will need and also a few trouble shooting tips that are fairly self-explanatory but might be useful to a consumer all the same. The clock comes with minimum packaging which is mostly recyclable apart from the polythene which I know has kept the display free of scratches whilst in transportation.

I bought my Philips alarm clock from Comet for £19.99 but after a quick internet search, I have found that it can be purchased widely both on the internet and the high street for £15 - £25. I am very pleased with my purchase; I know that it isn't an all singing and dancing digital model but I trust it, it fulfils my basic needs well and looks very good in the process.

Also published on Dooyoo under my username emmachilcott