Bauhn Wake Up Clock

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Joshua also contributed to this post.

Humans have been measuring time for … well, a long time. We know for certain that Egyptians were measuring the passage of time with sundials some 3,500 years ago. It’s possible humans were measuring it before that, too, except that if they did, their devices are lost to time.

Modern society has elevated the measurement of time to the point where it’s just about impossible to conceive of a world without it. Every single person reading this post is doing so using an electronic device — be it a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone — with a time display synced to the atomic clock. Our lives are wrapped around that clock, whether it means getting to work on time or catching a sporting event on TV.

For some people, the old-school clock — you know, the one that sits on your nightstand — has been replaced by a smartphone. But many people still use a traditional clock, and while they haven’t changed all that much over the years, we’ve seen some innovations.

One of the more intriguing options is a sunrise clock. This kind of clock simulates the sunrise by, quite literally, glowing you awake. Humans are wired to wake up with the sun, so a clock that acts like gradually-increasing sunlight should, in theory, make waking up less brutal than enduring a blast of noise that hits you like cold water. And in fact, there is some evidence that sunlight clocks may help people wake up better.

I was admittedly excited to see that Aldi was selling a sunrise clock … but that enthusiasm was tempered by the fact that Aldi clocks have generally ranged from meh to bad to buggy to terrible. Despite our apprehensions, we decided to take a chance on this one.

Overview:

The Bauhn Wake Up Clock (Product Code: 712536) is a limited time Aldi Find. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you won’t be able to get it again until it comes back in stock, assuming it does come back.

At the time of publication, this clock cost $12.99. I can’t find any sunrise clocks on Amazon for under $20, and that includes ones that look a whole lot like this one.

As with all of our reviews, we purchased this clock ourselves and spent some time putting it through the paces to see how well it worked.

Unboxing:

There isn’t much in the box: a clock, a wall adapter, and a manual. There is no warranty, although the manual notes that there is after-sales support through 801service.net, a common Aldi service provider. The manual also notes that the clock is made in China, but it doesn’t say anything more about the manufacturer.

The box notes that it “requires” 2 AAA batteries, which are not included. Technically, that’s not quite accurate — it only operates when plugged in — but if you don’t want to lose your time when the power goes out, you’ll want those batteries.

As with most clocks, reading the manual is a good idea, as it explains the ins and outs of using this thing. There’s nothing worse than trying to fight an alarm clock in the middle of the night.

Right off the bat, I was struck by how small and lightweight the clock is. It measures just under 6 inches long, a little less than 2 inches deep, and about 4 inches tall. It also doesn’t feel especially solid — I’m not saying it’s fragile, exactly, but it doesn’t have the sort of heft I’ve seen from some of my older alarm clocks. Make of that what you will.

Some of the previous Aldi clocks we’ve seen either have suffered from too many buttons or too few. This one seems to thread the needle better. It has five face buttons: time / dimmer, alarm, alarm on / off, up, and down. It also technically has two buttons on the bottom that activate when you press down on the clock. 

Most of the directions are intuitive enough — to change the time, for example, you hold down the time button for a second, which brings you to the first of a few time settings you can cycle through. The same is true of the alarm. The dimmer button can change the brightness of the display. The buttons on the bottom can either toggle the light on and off or act as a snooze bar when the alarm goes off.

Trying it Out:

The way the alarm works is straightforward … at least on paper. About 30 minutes before the alarm time, the light is supposed to gradually light up, and once the alarm time hits, the light is supposed hit full brightness as the alarm goes off. As the manual claims, “30 minutes before your set alarm time, the wake-up light will simulate a sunrise by gradually increasing the brightness.”

That’s not exactly what happened. Instead, in our multiple tests, the light flared on with 30 minutes to go, and it stayed on at nearly the same brightness right until the alarm went off. Rather than a gradual sunrise, it felt more like someone pulling back the curtain promptly at 9 a.m.

The alarm, at least, worked according to design. It’s a simple beeping alarm that starts with a single beep, then after a few seconds goes to a double beep, then a triple beep, and finally a full-on succession of staccato beeps. It’s annoying, but in the kind of way alarm clocks are expected to be.

The light, incidentally, can operate independently of the alarm. By pushing down on the clock, it will create what the manual calls a night light, and the light’s brightness can be adjusted by using the up or down buttons while the light is on. (Notably, the lowest brightness setting is far lower than what the sunrise alarm starts out at.)

According to the manual, the wake-up light also operates even if the alarm is off. It says: “When the alarm is turned off, the wake-up light will light up at the set alarm time, but the alarm will not sound.”

Depending on how you look at it, this can be a blessing or a curse, but for us it was moot — it didn’t happen. I tried multiple times to set the alarm time without the alarm on, and each time the appointed time came and went with no light.

The Verdict:

There are definitely some things to like about the Bauhn Wake Up Clock. In contrast to some of the other Aldi clocks we’ve used, it’s easy to set up and has an intuitive button setup that covers most of what you need an alarm clock to do. The best compliment I can give it is that I would probably be able to figure out most, if not all, of the settings without consulting the manual. That’s good.

Unfortunately, the biggest draw of this clock — the light — didn’t work as the manual claimed it did. The light is supposed to gradually brighten at the appointed alarm time regardless of whether the alarm is on or not. Instead, when the alarm was on, the light popped on, and when the alarm was off, the light never came on at all.

We love the premise and general design of this clock. However, we found the execution to be a letdown, since it doesn’t do what it promises to. It’s not the worst Aldi clock we’ve used, but that’s not saying a lot — this one still ends up falling into the meh category.