This week, Nintendo shocked the world with its latest hardware announcement. No, it wasn’t the Switch 2; it was an alarm clock.
Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo is perhaps the wackiest product Nintendo has put out in years. It’s a $100 motion-sensing clock that wakes fans up with scenes from different Nintendo games, from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to Ring Fit Adventure. We here at Digital Trends were curious to see more as soon as it was announced, and we didn’t have to wait long. Nintendo quickly sent over an Alarmo to Digital Trends for testing purposes, which has given us a much closer look at the device.
Before even taking it out of the box, the packaging highlights several key features of the Alarmo. It comes preinstalled with five game-themed alarms, but there are 35 in total. Players can only get the rest by linking a Nintendo account. It also notes that the alarm will get louder the longer you stay in bed, but you can move your arms to quiet it down or get out of bed to stop it entirely. It’s compatible with twin to king size beds, but can’t be placed more than 8 inches higher than the bed if you’re planning to use its motion features.
The device itself is classically Nintendo in its design. It features a bright-red, plastic shell that matches Mario’s aesthetic. There are a few slits on the sides that presumably act as speakers, and Nintendo’s logo is plastered on its butt. Black nubs on its underside, as well as a thin rubber strip, help balance it out, but also serve an extra purpose. There’s a USB-C cable on the underside of the device. The legs elevate the clock just enough to make sure a cable can get there and neatly feed out the backside. That’s key, because there doesn’t seem to be an internal battery in the Alarmo. It shuts off the moment I unplug it. The package does come with a USB-C to USB-A cable, but it doesn’t include a power brick.
All in all, it’s a fairly compact gadget. If you were to fill in its rounded design, you’d basically have a perfect 4x4x4 inch cube. I can palm its backside in one hand, and it’s light enough to easily chuck it across the room if you’re an aggressive alarm snoozer (I do not recommend this).
While the Alarmo is motion-controlled, it does have a few buttons on its top. The main one is a big knob that sits on the clock like a crown. This can be pressed in to click, which opens a sleep records page, and dialed left and right. In the setup, I’d use it to set my time zone, the date, and the current time. When I signed into to my Wi-Fi network, I actually had to dial in my password character by character, which is a bit cumbersome. Thankfully, signing into my Switch account was accomplished via a QR code scan. It also lights up with a variety of pastel colors, making it look a bit like the plastic ball on PlayStation’s old Move controllers. Right next to that, there’s a back button and another with a mail icon. The latter opens the Alarmo’s main menu, where users can set their alarm, download more styles, and more.
The most important piece of the puzzle is the round display, though its shape is a little deceptive. It’s a little tough to tell in photos, but the display itself is actually rectangular. The clocks I’ve toyed with have black edges, which mask the fact that nothing actually appears on the rounded edges. It’s a bit of an odd design decision, but I get the sense that Nintendo was aiming to keep its price tag low. This isn’t a high-end screen by any means; it’s fairly low-resolution, not too dissimilar from Nintendo’s recent Game and Watch revivals.
I still have plenty of testing to do. I’m skeptical of how well its motion sensor works based on a tricky setup, but it’s a charming little device that seems great for kids. Stay tuned to find out if its gamified alarm system can get me into some healthier morning habits.
Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo will widely launch in 2025, but Nintendo Switch Online members can purchase it early right now.
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