Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo Review | One Month w/ Nintendo's Alarm Clock

Nintendo’s announcement of their alarm clock, Alarmo, in October 2024 was a surprise to many. Being touted as a new way to wake up, does this new product deliver? I’ve spent about a month with Nintendo’s alarm clock and am here to tell give you my thoughts. Let’s get into it. 

Background & Alarm Thoughts

At this point, you are likely well aware of what Alarmo is. Just in case you’re not, Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo is Nintendo’s take on the alarm clock. Using special sensors, the device detects movement and presence in bed. Using this motion sensing technology, Alarmo will try to wake you up and will turn itself off once it detects that you are no longer in bed. Several Nintendo titles are supported and 35 themes were included with the device at launch. More are on the way, too, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons themes coming at some point in the future. It is great to see various Nintendo characters on the screen, but the displayed characters are based on the alarm that you choose. In addition, Nintendo has severely underestimated the popularity of their clock, making it a bit difficult to purchase at the moment. Various pre-purchase registrations are taking place worldwide for Nintendo Switch Online members, but Alarmo is scheduled to go on sale to the general public at some point in 2025. 

While I do think Nintendo’s clock does a pretty good job of making getting up a little bit more enjoyable, it’s definitely not perfect. The alarm has several different alarm types, with Steady Mode, Moderate, Gentle and Button mode. Since I don’t like to feel rushed into getting up for the day, I typically used Gentle Mode for my alarm. Depending on the theme, I found this the best way for me to wake up. Steady and Moderate kick up in the intensity over time in an effort to get you out of bed, which might be good for some. While all of this is going on, Alarmo is using its sensors to see if you are still in bed. Moving around a little bit or waving your hand in front of it will kick the clock into snooze. 

Sleeping with a partner or pet confuses Alarmo a little it. Getting up will initiate fanfare from the title of your choosing - regardless of who gets up. After that goes off, Alarmo checks to see if someone is still in bed and will continue the snooze cycle for up to an hour. The duration of the snooze is also quite short - just three minutes versus the typical nine found on most alarms. This took some getting used to for me. It should be noted that the clock is compatible with Twin to King-sized beds.

Since I take so long to wake up in the morning, I typically opt to go with Gentle Mode for my wake ups. The other options just seemed a bit too aggressive for me, but you are able to try out whichever mode that you like. I didn’t find Button Mode too useful either. This mode disables the motion sensor and relies solely on the large button on the top of the device. It also, as far as I know, does not give an option for snooze as the large button is used to stop the alarm only. In addition to this, another thing that I found a little bit annoying was not having the ability to test out the alarms easily. Sure, you could set an alarm for a minute or so later, but there really should be a way to check this.

Sleep Tracking, Chimes & Sleep Sounds

Alarmo features the ability to track users’ sleep thanks to the sensors located in the device. The implementation of this works, but there are some caveats. If you share a bed with a partner or a pet, Alarmo might get a little bit confused as it initiates this function as soon as someone (or something, in the case of a pet) is in your bed. It will still show this in detail, but will be based on who gets in bed first. If you’re looking for a deep, accurate device to track your sleep cycles, you are in for disappointment as I’m sure there are more viable options on the market.

Just like the good cuckoo of old, several chimes are available that go off on the hour. It’s a neat feature, but I really didn’t get to enjoy this very often as my Alarmo is upstairs and I can’t even hear it when the chimes go off. Sounds to assist with sleeping, aptly dubbed Sleepy Sounds, can be played to help you wind down before bed. Sleep Sounds only lasts for ten minutes, which is nowhere near enough time for me to even be useful. Of course, everyone is different, but having the ability to adjust this would be a welcome addition. 

Display

Alarmo sports a 2.8 inch screen which shows you the time, Nintendo characters and other tidbits of information. Generally speaking, this is pretty great. There is even a dimming feature that initiates when movement isn’t detected, which is perfect when you’re trying to catch some z’s. The characters look nice on the small screen and the time is clearly displayed. There’s not really much more you could ask for in that respect.

Although it’s mostly fine, the screen is quite small for checking your sleep tracking and wake up data. With the device being connected to the internet, I kind of wish Nintendo would have added some kind of functionality to give users this information on their other devices, perhaps through health related apps on smartphones, like Apple’s health app. On the other hand, one of the reasons for NOT doing that is to let owners know that users’ data is not being seen by Nintendo.

This may be nitpicking, but when cycling through options quickly on Alarmo, the operating system (for lack of a better word) occasionally chugs. Again, this is only apparent if you are blasting through options and this isn’t going to be a big deal to most people out there.

Conclusion

Nintendo’s attempt at making a non-gaming device for the bedroom definitely came out of nowhere, but the company has made an interesting product. While there are definitely some drawbacks to using the device if you share a bed, it does mostly function as advertised. Still, it seems to be better suited for those that are single or even better for younger Nintendo fans. When it boils down to it, your phone probably already provides a better alarm clock experience than Alarmo. On the other hand, Nintendo Sound Clock offers that Nintendo flair that other devices just don’t have. I like the device, but I can’t fully recommend it, especially when considering the retail price at launch (which honestly could come down over time). It’s a superfluous novelty that only some will enjoy. 

But let’s turn things over to you. Did you pick up Alarmo? Are you planning to? Be sure to sound off in the comments down below. We’d love to hear from you.