Little surprise for the end of 2024 while everyone is waiting for the next console, the Alarmo is an alarm clock designed by Nintendo and using the manufacturer’s various licenses. But can it really wake up players despite its XXL price?
Everyone was waiting for the Switch 2, Nintendo finally unveiled an alarm clock. His name? Alarm. Behind this device, which appears to be a toy, hides an alarm clock but which uses the manufacturer’s various licenses to convince fans and the curious to spend no less than 100 euros.
Tech&Co was able to test it, and the result is not as interesting as Nintendo promises. Especially when we look at its main functionality: motion detection, which is not as precise as we would have liked, and which is also not suitable for life as a couple.
We love
A very cute rounded design
When you open the cardboard cube that contains the Alarmo, you discover a round device with a white button on the top, two buttons to expand certain menus, and a round screen, also, to display different information.
All in a “Mario red” color, which turns out to be rather cute, and which especially seeks to please children who like to have this type of toy object on their bedside table. Once plugged in, the device turns on and reveals a good quality LCD panel displaying the time with several themes.
Also note that the alarm clock does not have a battery. In other words, you will have to constantly plug it into an electrical outlet with an adapter (not included) and the USB-C cable present in the box.
Nintendo licenses available
Nintendo obliges, its various licenses are there. At launch, we can thus have several themes belonging to the manufacturer’s video games, including Pikmin, Super Mariobut also Splatoon et The Legend of Zelda. Others are planned in the future if you connect the device to the internet and to your Nintendo account, with Animal Crossing et Mario Kart 8.
Depending on the theme, the alarm clock therefore adopts sounds and an interface reflecting the desired game universe. On Pikminwe will therefore have noises of Pikmin and creatures from the game will appear depending on the day and possible actions. There’s definitely a lot to do, and Nintendo has secured its main licenses for an immediate fan-service effect.
A simple and accessible interface
The button on the top of the object is rotatable and can also be operated. It’s very easy to move through the different menus available. You can turn the knob to go from left to right and vice versa, or change the bedtime or wake-up time.
However, we can find it a shame that the number of menus and sub-menus is sometimes excessive, which perhaps prevents the Alarmo from being completely accessible for children. A parent will therefore have to configure it, otherwise there will be a few surprises – and an alarm clock failure in the process.
No data sharing
If the Alarmo offers to give you daily reports on your sleeping prowess and it can connect to the internet, your data however remains in the local alarm clock. You cannot import them to your smartphone (for example on the iOS health application). The internet connection is only used to import new themes.
We don’t like
A speaker to improve
The small size of the Alarmo inevitably causes some problems, notably the speaker, whose sound quality is clearly not up to par. The sound seems musty, which makes it unpleasant on certain more acute effects.
A screen too bright
Although it is important to properly configure the alarm clock by specifying the distance between the mattress and it, the LCD screen sometimes turns out to be too bright, especially as it reacts to your movements. It knows if the light goes out, and will therefore lower the brightness to the maximum, but it also very often happens that the screen turns back on because it has sensed a movement on your part, regardless of the distance you were from configured.
The brightness can therefore be unpleasant when going to bed, even if it will not wake us up once we are deeply asleep.
A motion detector… painful
We may find it quite funny to have an alarm clock making the sounds of Nintendo games to wake you up or to ring every hour, or even to have soft sounds to fall asleep to, but from the first alarm clock, we hit more or less quickly at the limits of the system.
Everything is configurable, but basic, the alarm clock is set to see the sound increase if you do not get up. It will also react, at the time you want, to your movements to motivate you to get up. In the case of the theme Pikminthe Alarm will be triggered according to your movements at the appointed time with sound effects where you launch Pikmin. At the moment, it’s funny, but after a few seconds, it’s annoying and we end up stopping this functionality.
An alarm clock not suitable for life as a couple
For the Alarmo to work, it must be placed at an angle. In fact, you cannot put it in front of your face since it must be able to capture the movements of your body. It must therefore aim at the center of the bed.
But the real problem with the Alarmo is that it is not made for life as a couple. If your other half gets up later, they will first have to put up with the noises made by the alarm clock, and will also cause problems with the sensor which will have difficulty discerning whether it is you or the person who shares your bed.
The sensor is also not efficient enough, since it will not systematically stop if you end up getting up.
A useless and unreliable health part
As mentioned above, the Alarmo has the advantage of almost only working locally. For health data, which is really just a report on your sleep, this is pretty good news. But compared to a connected watch or ring, the Alarmo’s sensor is not precise enough, and the software package is unreliable.
The alarm clock assumes that you are in bed when you turn off the light and can therefore enter sleep mode. While it sometimes takes much longer to fall asleep. It remains a device placed on a piece of furniture next to you which ultimately cannot detect much, other than a few movements.
Conclusion
The Alarmo is an interesting note of intent for a console manufacturer that initially started in the toy sector. But if Nintendo’s vision on alarm clocks is interesting, the final product is not up to the expense necessary to afford it. At 100 euros all the same, we would have hoped for something more advanced and reliable, particularly regarding health data. If you’re not a huge fan of Nintendo licensing, you should probably look into products specifically designed with that in mind.
Note: the Alarmo is a MyNintendoStore exclusive until January 25, 2025.
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