Like many others, I’ve been trying to cut back on my phone use in the morning. The advice everyone gives is to put your phone in a different room and just get a traditional alarm clock.
So I’ve been using quite a few of them over the last couple of years, and today I’m looking at the newest release from a company called Habity.
It’s pretty similar to others on the market, but its design is a little friendlier. The color is a nice, subtle off-white that should fit into any bedroom.
It also doesn’t need an app to run, and it has a couple of cool features that are growing on me the more I use them.
Lights
It has a couple of different lights. There’s a screen light behind the display with adjustable brightness, but I think the defining feature of this product is the light bar below the display.
The light bar is great because it doesn’t blast my partner with light in the middle of the night. It’s also handy when I’m reaching for lip balm or earplugs, or making sure my phone is plugged in.
The only downside is the angle. When I’m lying down, I’m often at eye level with the light bar, and it’s tilted just enough that it hits me right in the eyes instead of shining down on the nightstand.
So I’d consider it more of a light for when you’re standing up before bed, not something you want to turn on while you’re lying next to it.
Controls and Sounds
It has three simple controls. On top, there’s a big, bright yellow button that turns the light on and off, with a large snooze panel beside it. On the right side is a clickable wheel that doubles as the select button.
There are a bunch of different alarm sounds to pick from, and they’re all pretty nice. My favorite is Better Marimba, but there are six to choose from if that one isn’t for you.
There’s a bit of a learning curve, but I think you’ll pick it up pretty quickly. You turn the wheel to move up and down through the menu, then press it in to select.
Once you’ve picked an alarm, though, you change its volume with the large button on top, so there’s a little back and forth between the two.
Alarms and Wind-Down
Like most of its competitors, it has a wake-up light that gradually brightens in time with your alarm. You can set the alarm for weekends, have it repeat daily, or give it a custom schedule, which is great if you work irregular hours.
There’s also a wind-down setting, where you choose a wind-down time and a sound to play. The wind-down sounds are different from the alarm sounds and a bit more ambient, with options like brown noise, a dishwasher, and a campfire.
I like the flexibility here, with some sounds meant to relax you and others meant to wake you up.
Display
The clock faces are charming, too. You can use a plain clock, which really helps at night since I need glasses to see, or switch to a friendly little face that reminds me of the old-school Mac icon if you don’t want the time to be as prominent.
It uses an e-ink display, which has its pros and cons. The big pro is battery life: it charges via USB and lasts about two weeks, so I don’t have to plug it in very often.
The downside is a little lag when you navigate the menus. If you’ve ever used an e-reader like a Kobo or a Kindle, you know exactly what to expect; it’s just a byproduct of the technology, and you get used to it over time.
One Critique
My one critique is the selection wheel on the side. I wish it had a little more friction, because between how easily it turns and the screen’s slow refresh rate, I tend to overshoot quite a bit in the menus.
The tension is also so low that I sometimes turn the wheel while pressing it in, so I often end up on a menu item I didn’t mean to pick.
Closing Thoughts
Other than that, it’s a cool little product. I really like the design; it’s charming and almost reminds me of a little robot that would fit right into a Stanley Kubrick movie.
If you’re looking for something fairly minimal, with long battery life and a really simple design, it’s a strong contender.
