Think about it. Your alarm clock is probably your most used gadget in the house.  Whether you use it to listen to some tunes or to wake you up for work in the morning it is vitally placed in our everyday lives.  So when my old Morphy Richards FM alarm clock was starting to die then Christmas seemed the ideal time to get a replacement.  Enter the Philips DAB Clock Radio which not only boasts DAB capabilities but FM and an MP3 Link.

Encased in a rather cheap feeling white plastic case the device makes up for it in the functions and the rather nice display.  Although it doesn’t look exactly like it does on the box the screen is backlit by a white light which is different to the majority of the rest on the market. No blue or green LEDs here.

The control system seems simple enough and you cycle through each setting with one button.  All the buttons are incorporated into the shell design but the problem with this is in the middle of the night it will take a while to get used to the button placement as they are all close together.  There is no real touch to each button which is a bit of a shame when it’s made by Philips but give them credit it looks the part. Oh and the brightness control is a nice extra with three presets so you can turn the display off if you find it too bright if it’s keeping you awake.

The MP3 link was a nice extra and is just a 3.5mm cable that you plug into your players headphone socket.  I could have opted for a dock version but this would restrict it to only iPods and to be honest I won’t listen to it much in my bedroom.  The advantage of the MP3 link is it is compatible with any audio source and from my tests it doesn’t sound that bad.

So no more dodgy signals from my old FM radio and the DAB paves the way for the future, or at least for five years until DAB+ is mainstream as unfortunately I don’t believe this Philips device to be upgradable or compatible with DAB+.  Another useful Christmas present though and I look forward to waking up to clear digital radio in the new year.