# What's a good gentle-noise alarm clock?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-gentle-noise-alarm-clock/832910>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 22, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-gentle-noise-alarm-clock/832910 "2019-04-22T21:42:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-gentle-noise-alarm-clock/832910/41 "2019-06-21T16:22:39Z")

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Those using a smartphone as an alarm clock, what happens in the middle of the night when you want to check the time? With an old-fashioned LED alarm clock, you can just roll over and glance at it. With a smartphone, do you have to pick it up and look at the screen? Because that sounds less convenient.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-gentle-noise-alarm-clock/832910/42 "2019-06-21T16:24:07Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Those using a smartphone as an alarm clock, what happens in the middle of the night when you want to check the time? With an old-fashioned LED alarm clock, you can just roll over and glance at it. With a smartphone, do you have to pick it up and look at the screen? Because that sounds less convenient.

It is, but you trade that mild inconvenience for darkness when you _don’t_ want to know what time it is.

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**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-gentle-noise-alarm-clock/832910/43 "2019-06-21T16:28:49Z")

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> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> Wait—I thought that was where the sun \*doesn’t \*shine.

That’s what I get for posting in a hurry right before bed time.

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-gentle-noise-alarm-clock/832910/44 "2019-06-21T16:39:52Z")

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> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> That one was aimed at scr4, who clearly had not understood my suggestion of having a second old phone, not the primary one. And yes, refusing to reuse an old piece of electronics that has a deep catalog of software for doing _exactly what the OP wants_ because one other option for it is communications is just an eye-rollingly pointless silly shooting yourself in the foot.

Not everyone has old phones. I either use electronics till they break, or sell them on eBay. My last phone sold for enough money to buy a fancy alarm light/clock. For any application I could use an old phone for, I could instead buy a specialized device that does the job much better, for less money than I get from selling the old phone.

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