The Alarmó is a quintessential Nintendo product: it’s a fun and quirky bedside alarm clock (with a motion sensor!) that sparks your love for everything Nintendo. It’s a $100 device built entirely to surprise and delight you. But it also has usability issues that I suspect the company’s engineers haven’t encountered with any modern gadget in the past decade (which is why they spent so much time developing the Alarmó).
Here’s an example: there’s no easy way to input your Wi-Fi password if you ever want to download new themes. Instead you have to patiently rotate its bulbous top button until you get to the character you need, then press it like Mario crushes a Goomba.
This might not seem like a huge problem, especially when you might only need to do it once, but it’s needlessly frustrating if you have a complex password with multiple letters, numbers, and symbols. Thankfully, my password is in all lowercase letters, but it still took me three minutes to enter it. Instead of getting some rest, it forced me to throw Alarmoo out my window (-o).
Sound Clock: Alarmoo
Alarmoo brings a dose of Nintendo fun to your bedroom, including sleep sounds of classic Nintendo characters and a motion-sensing alarm. It’s expensive, though, and its sleep tracking is mostly useless.
But then I put it to sleep with the sounds of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At 6:30 a.m., the evil Koroks woke me from my slumber and made their noises as I moved around on my bed. And when I woke up, they did the traditional festive dance of Hestu, much to the annoyance of my sleeping cats. All was forgiven.
So, what is Alarmoo?
Nobody needs the Alarmó (officially called the “Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmó”), but its appeal to Nintendo fans is obvious. It wouldn’t be out of place as a prop in Mario Odyssey, with its cartoonishly round, red case, nubby feet, and prominent control knob (which glows, naturally).
Its 2.8-inch screen is surprisingly small and square, not round like some of Nintendo’s promotional videos, and its speakers are loud enough to fill even large bedrooms with nostalgia bombs without distortion.
Controlling it is relatively simple: twist and press the knob, or use the back button to return to the previous screen. You can also see notifications like updates on your sleep cycle by tapping the Message button.
I admit my bias: I practically grew up on Nintendo consoles, so it feels like the Alarmó was made specifically for someone like me. I don’t mind that the Alarmó’s big red case doesn’t fit in with the clean aesthetic of my bedroom. But I’m sure it’ll be a tough sell if you’re sharing a bed with someone who’s less Nintendo-obsessed. (More on that below.)
While the Alarmó is pitched mostly as a Nintendo-themed alarm clock — at launch, it features sounds and characters from Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4, and (oddly) Ring Fit Adventure — it also infuses Nintendo charm throughout your day.
The Alarmó can chime bells every hour and also play “sleepy sounds” related to your theme. For Breath of the Wild, this includes sounds of campfires crackling, nocturnal animals, and fun excerpts from the game’s score. (I could be wrong, but it also seems to have a bit of a score to it moments before the blood moon arrives. I hope Nintendo removes it eventually — no one wants to go to bed fearing a blood moon.)
Does Alarmón actually work?
As an alarm clock, Alarmón gets the job done. It managed to wake me up successfully every day over the past week, and it was a lot less jarring than my iPhone’s loud speaker. Being welcomed into the world by Koroks and Mario just felt pleasant. Every toss and turn triggered more sound effects, which gradually woke me up.
In its default “constant mode,” Alarmón also gets louder the longer you stay in bed, and even more menacing characters like Bowser can appear.
But if you just want to keep things very quiet, there’s also a “gentle mode” that doesn’t increase the noise. Alarmow responds to even the mere act of getting out of bed with great celebration – honestly, it’s about time someone recognised this effort.