Bush radio alarm clock 917/3196

Are you tired of hearing your phone's alarm clock every morning? Does the WEEEEE WOOOOOO WEEEE WOOOOOO of your smart phone alarm make you contemplate death? Does hearing your alarm tune as someone else's ringtone make you shiver and shake in fear? Then, dear reader, a radio alarm clock might be your solution. 

The BUSH 917/3196 radio alarm clock is a small device that can fit next to your bed no matter the available space. Its wire antenna means it doesn't need to be exposed on a top shelf or near a window, as you can hang the antenna in whatever position reaches the best signal without having to openly display the clock. 

The clock has a plug that needs to be connected to a mains socket to work. Despite having space for two AAA batteries, the clock won't turn on without its mains cable.

Screen 

The clock features an always-on LCD screen set at a comfortable brightness: clear during the day, but not too bright during the night. The red light will likely not bother you even if you prefer to sleep in total darkness (like myself). On-screen indicators show whether the time is AM or PM, as well as whether your alarm will ring as a tune or radio, or if you don't have an alarm set at all. 

Alarm

The clock allows you to set two alarms within a span of 24 hours. Alarms will activate daily unless manually disabled. The radio alarm will play the channel and volume you last had playing. There is no way to set a specific station as the alarm outside of playing it as the last channel before going to sleep. 

Radio

You can toggle between radio stations, or long-press the toggle button to let the clock automatically search for available signals, saving you testing each station.

 

Overall, this is a simple, compact radio alarm clock that does the job. I'm not sure when this model was released, but I got it for £1 off someone at a carboot sale, so I got good value for money.

Nokia 100

The Nokia 100 was released in 2011. This compact phone hosts a variety of features, most notably its customization options. Almost everything, from the color theme to the sound profiles and haptics, can be customized individually.

Hardware

 

	The phone's black T9 keypad contrasts nicely with its grey shell. This simple two-tone color scheme gives the device a sleek look.
	The phone also features a torch at the top. It isn't very powerful during the daytime, but it could come in handy in really dark spaces.

Applications

	The Nokia 100 comes with 3 games pre-installed: Forbidden Treasures, Solitaire, and Sudoku.
		Aside from the regular apps like calculator, calendar, etc., the phone has a unit converter for a range of units, including temperature, distance, and currency. There's also a spreadsheet app, allowing you to log your daily and/or monthly expenditure in pre-made categories.

Customization

The Nokia 100 is packed with 20 pre-made system color themes to pick from, with colors all around the color wheel. But if those aren't to your liking, you can choose an even more precise color from this color slider. You're also able to mix and match the system color and the wallpaper color if you like more than one hue.

Screen

The screen is very bright and vibrant, displaying an impressive 65k colors. One downside, however, is the inability to lower the brightness. In dark rooms, the Nokia 100's bright screen is often painful to look at.

Sound

Unfortunately, this phone has no volume locker on its exterior, so you have to enter the sound profile settings to adjust the volume manually. But that aside, the sound profiles come with plenty of pre-set ones to choose from, as well as the ability to personalize them, or even create your own combination of sound and haptics.

Personal thoughts

This phone feels light and smooth to the touch, and it is packed full with customization options. I like its simplicity despite its shortcomings in some aspects. The cell service works good with my tester Vodafone sim, but I have yet to try it with my actual everyday sim (Smarty) which doesn't always work on older devices. If I can get it to work, I might consider using this as my everyday phone.