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These Alarm Clocks Double as Charging Stations to Power Up Your Devices While You Sleep

Save outlet space by using a digital alarm clock with USB ports for built-in charging

August 11, 2020

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If you like waking up the (semi) old-fashioned way with a bedside alarm clock, there’s a good chance you’ll have to sacrifice a wall outlet to plug it in, leaving no room to charge your phone or other devices overnight. Luckily, thanks to the magic of 21st century technology, plenty of the beset digital alarm clocks now come with a USB port attached, opening up device-charging space. Some even take it a step further by including AC outlets as well as USB ports, creating an all-in-one power bank and alarm system.

The best digital alarm clocks come with plenty of adjustable settings and features so you can customize your wakeup system to your exact specifications. Other small design details can also make a big difference, like the placement of the alarm’s buttons and how intuitive it is to set up straight out of the box.

What Are the Best Alarm Clocks With Charging Ports?

The best digital alarm clocks with charging ports don’t differ drastically from what you’d look for in any alarm clock, such as volume controls and big, easy-to-read displays. Where they take it a step further is with the addition of handy USB ports, which provide easy ways to charge your phone, smartwatch or other devices while you sleep. Here’s what else to keep in mind.

Settings: Our favorite digital alarm clocks have multiple settings for display brightness, alarm volume and type, snooze settings, and other features like nightlights.

Display: It should be easy to read the time on your clock no matter where you are in the room, so (in general) the bigger the display the better. While red is classic, we are particularly drawn to softer colors like blue, which can be less irritating to the eyes, especially at night.

Design: We’re not just talking about looks, though appearance certainly counts as well. We look for intuitive control placement, such as a big snooze button in the middle of the device, which make it easy to both use and figure out. When it comes to USB ports, most are located in the back of the clock, which tends to preserve a sleek, attractive front surface. However, practically speaking, many find that USB ports located in the front or top of the clock are less awkward to use.

1. Rocam Home LED Digital Alarm Clock

Everyone’s wake-up style is a little different, which is why we appreciate the variety of adjustable settings on this handy alarm clock. You can adjust the brightness of the display, the alarm volume, and the colors of the built-in nightlight (handy when you wake up in the middle of the night but don’t want to wake a sleeping partner by turning on the lamp). You can even choose between 12-hour and 24-hour formats if you like.

Buy Rocam Home LED Digital Alarm Clock $19.99

2. Yostyle Alarm Clock Charger

This brick of an alarm clock actually doubles as a charging station, and on the top you’ll find two AC outlets in addition to three USB ports. That means no more groping blindly behind the bed frame for an outlet to plug in the lamp or charge your laptop or Kindle. People note that this clock is particularly sturdy and heavy, with protective rubber feet to keep it from moving around on your nightstand or causing damage, and the AC cord, while quite thick, is long enough to reach even far away wall outlets.

3. DreamSky Decent Alarm Clock Radio

This alarm clock is smaller than expected, which is actually a good thing, because this means it fits tidily in small spaces (say a bookshelf or bedside table). Even with its relatively small size, the display is large enough to read easily from across the room. Another thing we like about the display, in addition to the dimming function and cool blue LED light, is that it shows the room temperature, alarm time, and whether or not the alarm is set to buzzer or radio, which we find particularly handy.

Buy DreamSky Decent Alarm Clock Radio $24.99

4. HOUSBAY Digital Alarm Clock With Dual USB Charger

This straightforward model doesn’t come with a bunch of extra features, which, to be honest, we often don’t use much anyway. It is instead designed to be as simple and convenient to operate as possible, including the placement of the USB ports in the front of the clock rather than the back. This makes the feature much less awkward to actually use.