The best alarm clock for 2020

Alarm clocks remind me of referees -- they're necessary, but I frequently get annoyed at them for doing their jobs. You want an alarm clock to reliably wake you up from sleep on time, but that doesn't make it any less aggravating when a repeated buzzing sound rouses you from a restful night's sleep and prompts you to wake up and get ready for work.

Fortunately, finding the right alarm clock for you can make the process of waking up easier. As with other smart home products, search any major US electronics retailer and you'll find dozens of options from a wide variety of brands, at prices ranging from $10 to over $100. Given that they all mainly serve a single purpose, sorting through the crowd can feel like splitting hairs.

Best alarm clocks

Complicating matters further, you likely have a smartphone alarm clock app and possibly a smart speaker or smart display, which can wake you up and render a separate alarm clock redundant. Nevertheless, alarm clocks still have their place and I understand the appeal over an app -- I like turning my smartphone off at night and having a clock I can check at a glance if I wake up from sleep and it's still dark.

In pursuit of a more refreshing morning, I tested 10 alarms over a couple of months to find the best alarm clock on the market. I checked the recommended products on other sites, and looked at top sellers and top-rated models on Amazon, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Walmart. I compiled the common denominators into my list and bought them for testing.

I let each alarm wake me up for at least two nights, making notes about the experience as I went, and I was surprised to find big differences in usability even at such a simple task. Extras and customizability were nice, especially at higher prices, but I generally preferred those that got the basics right for an affordable price. That said, I recently reviewed the Lenovo Smart Clock and the Amazon Echo Show 5, which are smart alarms that feel like worthwhile upgrades. I've added entries for both to the recommended picks of the best alarm clock below. I'll continue to update this list as I test more products.

Other options

The following alarm clocks do some things well but have flaws that make them tougher to recommend.

Not recommended

I don't recommend the following alarms to anyone.

Sharp LCD Digital Alarm Clock: This compact, $15 digital clock takes two AA batteries and is fully portable, but you can't see the time in a darkened room without turning on a backlight that will hurt your eyes because you're in a darkened room. The snooze button and the backlight button are the same. When the alarm sounds, that backlight turns on automatically, but turns off again after a couple of seconds. If you take a moment to wake up you won't be able to check the time when deciding whether or not to snooze. If you need an alarm for your home, use a different one. If you need a portable alarm, you're better off using your phone.

Brandstand BPECT CubieTime: This ugly $59 alarm costs too much, has a clock face that glows, lacks any meaningful feature and gets a lot of the basics wrong. It's hard to find snooze in the dark. Setting the alarm is relatively tedious, and the alarm resets to 6 a.m. every time you turn it off, so you'll need to put it back to your preferred time every day if you happen to wake up at any other time.

What to look for in an alarm clock

If you're out shopping and don't see any of the above, you can find a good option for your nightstand by keeping a couple of things in mind.

Red and orange numbers are less likely to cast a glow. That might not matter to you if a glow won't bother you or if you actually want a glow, but if you don't like a bright sleeping environment, the color of the numbers is a bigger deal than you'd expect. That's one thing you can learn about the alarm just by looking at the display.

Focus on the basics. Alarms that perform a bunch of extra tricks are nice, but you probably have something else in your house that's better at playing music or that has a charging port for your phone. Look for an alarm that's easy to set, easy to check, has an indicator so you can see that it's armed and has a big snooze button that you can find when you're half asleep.

Get the extras you want. After you find a couple of options that get the basics right, find the one with extras that appeal to you. Do you want a nightlight? Do you want several alarms? Do you want to customize the length of the timer? Do you want a radio? The great thing about the breadth of the alarm category is that you can find a model that fits all of your desired criteria. And yes, if you really want to go crazy with a charging port or even wireless phone charging built in, those models exist too.

Gentle wakeups are great. If you don't know what features to prioritize, look for an alarm that gradually increases in volume or slowly raises the light level to ease you out of your sleep. That was my favorite feature of the bunch and I generally felt less grumpy with alarms that didn't shock me awake.

"Smart" alarm clocks are here. Finally, keep in mind that if you want an alarm with smarts -- something that's compatible with Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant or Apple's Siri -- you have options other than the Lenovo Smart Clock and the Echo Show 5. iHome offers smart alarms with either Alexa or Google Assistant. And Insignia's Google-compatible alarm clock is a good option if you can snag it when it's periodically marked down to $25.