I've been testing out the TimeVocalist talking button clock out for a few years now, and they just came out with a new hardware revision that sets the bar a lot higher for what a talking alarm clock can be.
What It Is
On the outside, it looks like your standard talking button clock. Think early 2000s to 2010s assistive tech. At first glance, it tells the time and date and has the aability to set aan alarm. It's also Bluetooth-enabled, and you can sync the time with an iPhone or Android device, set multiple alarms, and even activate pre-recorded reminders for common household chores, meal times, and medications.
What I Like
Multilingual Announcements
The company behind the clock clearly had some secret ace up their sleeve because this one unit supports 15 different languages on one device. That number climbs up to 21 if you count dialect splits. English alone has US, UK, and Australian English dialects, and that's just the beginning.
Customization
To make things even crazier, each dialect has two different voice options. You can select either a male or female voice depending on your preference, and everything is pre-installed, so there's no downloading voice packs or doing anything complex. You can also select between 12 and 24-hour time formats and three different volume levels.
Alarm And Reminder Settings
Once you connect to the app, you can set multiple different alarms and reminders (potentially up to 20 each). ss setting the time it goes off, you can also select specific weekdays aan alert goes off and choose between 20 different alarm tones or 20 different pre-recorded reminder messages. The reminder audio maps to whatever voice you're using, so if you have UK English with Amelia selected, your reminders will come out in that specific voice.
DST support
This clock will automatically adjust to Daylight Savings Time, but only the time adjusts so your alarms might go off an hour later than expected. I've notified the company about this.
Potential For Firmware Updates
The clock can receive updates over its connection to your phone when the app is open, so more features can and will be added over time where it makes sense.
What Could Be Better
- No hourly report
- App accessibility is OK but setting the time for alarms and reminders is kinda tedious
I heard somewhere that an hourly report could be coming sometime in the not-too-distant future.
Check it out here: TimeVocalist Talking Button Clock on Amazon
Curious to hear what you guys think.
Comments
I definitely still use a talking button block
This is awesome. I definitely still use a regular talking button clock. Mine is very simple though it just speaks the time either 12 or 24 hour time and it just has one US female voice and she doesn’t have a name or anything. But this clock sounds kind of cool. If I were going to use that I would pick either Australian voice or British voice in female. I really wouldn’t necessarily want my talking cock to be hooked up to an app or anything so I like the way my regular standalone clock is, but this thing sounds kind of cool. I love that we can still get these kinds of things.
@Singer Girl
That's fair. They have a sort of two-layer system going on here. There's still a manual button you can use to pick your language and voice and set basic settings, presumably for people who don't have smartphones. The app is used to make sure the time is accurate, so you wouldn't have to set things manually but you also wouldn't be connected all the time. You can also use it to set multiple different alarms and even set weekday vs. weekend schedules if you really wanted to. Everything happens on the clock, so there's no notifications through the app or anything like that. If you set a medication reminder at 7:30, you'll hear your chosen voice through the clock's speaker announce that it's time for meds at 7:30.
I get what you're saying about being always connected to an app, though. I probably wouldn't have gotten this beast either if it had to be constantly in range of my phone to work.
Creepy clocks
Several years ago I had this really awesome talking clock. I don't know the name and/or brand, but I liked it. It sort of was wedge shaped, wide at the base narrowing into a kind of point toward the top. It stood upright, and it was Wider on the sides than it was front to back.
I hope this is making sense to anyone reading this...
It had a wide button on the top, if I recall correctly, one press gave you the time, the next or maybe a double press gave you the date. I can't remember if it also had a weather function or not.
I remember the voice was really creepy, it had a young female voice with a subtle British accent. She always reminded me of the little Red Queen AI girl from the original Resident Evil film.
Every time she announce the time, I kept expecting her to also say, "You're all going to die down here."
Brian Sounds like
Pyramid talking clock! complete with rooster alarm! Huge loose button on top that you could smash down to relieve stress lol!
Just glad not to hear that chime before the time is spoken
I’m sure I can’t be only one. I don’t miss those chime noises of the clocks you used to make before they would tell the time. Right now I have the talking table clock. Nice simple model just speaks the time in 12 or 24 hour options and has just a beeping alarm. I don’t miss the rooster alarm either.
Re: Rooster alarm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bk16SLUt_0
Enjoy. 😇
Is it Portable?
Hi! Is it like a wrist watch or something that I can ware? My talking watch completely broke down, out of button-shapped battery now. I need something that can tell time, so I won't have to use my phone all the time. Thanks!
@Singer Girl
Um... I believe in your first post, there's a slight dictation issue... you missed an l in the word clock. Figured I'd point it out.
@David Lai
It's not a talking watch, but it is portable in the sense that it's small and could fit in a travel bag. If you take medications and you're gonna be staying in a hotel for a few days, this would be a good thing to pack if you don't want to rely on your phone. You'd have to use your phone to set up the reminders, but everything else happens on the clock itself. It's actually pretty neat.