Nintendo Alarmo review: charming yet frustrating

Alarmo is the ultimate Nintendo product: it’s a fun and quirky twist on a bedside alarm clock (with a motion sensor!) that brings out your love for all things Nintendo. It’s a $100 device designed entirely to surprise and delight you. But there are also usability issues that make me think the company’s engineers haven’t encountered any modern gadgets in the past decade (that’s how long they’ve been developing Alarmo).

Here’s an example: There’s no easy way to enter your Wi-Fi password if you ever want to download new themes. Instead, you have to patiently turn the bulbous top knob until you land on the character you need, then press it down like Mario squishing a Goomba. That may not sound like a big deal, especially since you may only have to do it once, but it’s unnecessarily frustrating if you have a complex password with multiple capital letters, numbers, and symbols. Luckily my password is all lowercase, but it still took me three minutes to enter it. Instead of getting some rest, I just wanted to throw Alarmo out my window (-o).

But then I let myself be lulled to sleep by the sounds of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At half past six the rogue Koroks woke me from my sleep, making their telltale noises as I shuffled around my bed. And once I got up, they performed Hestu’s traditional celebration dance, much to the chagrin of my sleeping cats. All was forgiven.

What is Alarmo?

No one needs Alarmo (officially called the “Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo”), but its appeal to Nintendo fans is clear. It wouldn’t be out of place as a helping hand Mario Odysseywith its cartoonishly round, red case, studded feet and prominent control button (which lights up, of course). The 2.8-inch screen is surprisingly small and square, not round as some Nintendo promotional videos make it seem, and the speakers are loud enough to fill even large bedrooms with undistorted nostalgia bombs. Operating it is relatively simple: turn and press the knob, or use the back button to return to the previous screen. You can also view notifications, such as sleep cycle updates, by tapping the message button.

I’ll admit my bias: I practically grew up with Nintendo consoles, so it’s almost as if Alarmo was built specifically for someone like me. I don’t mind that the big red Alarmo cabinet doesn’t really match the sleek aesthetic of my bedroom. But I’m sure it’ll be a harder sell if you share a bed with someone who has fewer Nintendo pills. (More on that below.)

Although Alarmo is mainly presented as a Nintendo-themed alarm clock, it will come with sounds and characters at launch Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon3, Pikmin 4 and (oddly enough) Ring Fit Adventure – it also adds a little Nintendo charm all day long. Alarmo can produce an audio alert every hour and also play ‘Sleepy Sounds’ related to your theme. For Breath of the wildincluding the crackle of a campfire, nocturnal animals and delightful snippets of the game’s score. (I could be wrong, but it also sounds like there’s a bit of a score of the moments before a Blood Moon arrives. I hope Nintendo gets that out eventually – no one wants to go to bed dreading a Blood Moon.)

Does Alarmo actually work?

As an alarm clock, Alarmo gets the job done. I’ve managed to successfully wake up every day for the past week, and so far it’s been far less jarring than my iPhone’s blaring speaker. It just felt nice to be welcomed into the world by Koroks and Mario. Each twist and turn produced more sound effects, slowly waking me up. In the standard ‘Steady Mode’, Alarmo also gets louder the longer you stay in bed, and more nefarious characters like Bowser may appear. But if you just want everything to stay super chill, there’s also a ‘Gentle Mode’ that doesn’t let the noise escalate. Alarmo also responds to the fact that you get out of bed with a big party. Frankly, it’s about time someone recognized the effort.

While Nintendo does provide some rudimentary sleep stats, based on Alarmo’s motion detection and your alarm settings, they’re mostly useless. I think my numbers may be skewed by my three cats, who sleep on my bed most of the day, possibly triggering the device’s motion sensor. I certainly wish I could have slept for the 17 hours it recorded at one point. (I’m lucky to have six hours these days.) Even if Alarmo’s sleep tracking was functional, you can’t do much with the data because it’s all stuck on the device. That’s one of the many areas where it would have been helpful to have a separate app. (You’d think it would work with Pokemon Sleep, but no!)

Another problem? Alarmo’s unique motion-sensing technology is made for one sleeper only (just like Google’s latest Nest Hub). If you’re in bed next to a partner or unruly children, Nintendo recommends switching to ‘Button Mode’, which requires you to tap the top button to turn off the alarm. At least it’s easy to change Alarmo’s modes, and if you accidentally leave the sensor on, it’s not the end of the world if it actually goes off. You’ll hear a little more sound than normal, but you can still press the top button to mute the sound.

Set alarm

There are only three things in Alarmo’s box: the device itself, a USB Type A to USB-C cable, and a small instruction booklet. What is notably missing is a USB power adapter. That’s something we’ve gotten used to with smartphones and some Nintendo handhelds, but not bundling them together is still a pain for anyone who doesn’t have spare power adapters. I can imagine a parent trying to set up Alarmo for their eager child, only to be delayed by a day because they no longer need an adapter and have to purchase a separate adapter. That’s not surprising and delightful, Nintendo. It’s just annoying.

The actual onboarding process is quite simple. Once you plug it in, Alarmo will teach you how to use the top dial and button, and explain how the back button works. You can also turn the knob to adjust the volume. The device will instruct you to wave your hand in front of it to test the motion detection. You should aim Alarmo towards your bed and make sure it has a clear view of your sleeping area at the edge of a bedside table or table. The motion detection will not work if it is too high.

To complete the installation process, you will need to lie down and make sure that Alarmo can actually detect your movement. That worked without much fuss on my part, but when I was asked to sit up and lean in a certain direction, it took a few minutes to correctly detect when I was leaning to the right.

At the very least, Nintendo didn’t force me to connect to Wi-Fi during the initial setup. Instead, that’s triggered when you choose to update the themes, and the whole process required is just frustrating, as I described above. It’s not that Nintendo hasn’t learned to use QR codes via websites and apps to simplify logins. You Also need to log into your Nintendo Account once Alarmo is connected to Wi-Fi, but luckily I was able to use a QR code to do this via my iPhone.

I imagine Nintendo wanted a simpler onboarding experience for Alarmo, one that didn’t require external authentication or an additional app. But that desire for simplicity still leads to unnecessary frustration.

It would be nice to see a wider selection of themes too. I’m not sure many Nintendo fans are clamoring to experience the characters and music again Ring Fit Adventure, finally. Where’s Kirby? Where is Mario Kart? If there’s room for Splatoon and Pikmin, there should also be room for Nintendo’s more iconic franchises.

Is Alarmo worth it?

I’m no stranger to technology-infused alarms. My nightstand is already overloaded with gadgets, including an Amazon Echo Dot (which I use to play radio stations), an older Phillips SmartSleep driving light, a Homedics white noise machine, my iPhone 15 Pro Max (charging on a Belkin MagSafe stand), and a Hatch Baby Video Monitor. As much as I appreciated having bits of Nintendo magic in my bedroom, I didn’t enjoy it enough to replace the devices I already use.

But my daughter Sophia is a different story. We played most of it Tears of the Kingdom together, and I did my best to teach her the ways of Nintendo. (I’ll save the issues with the company’s extremely litigious attitude for when she’s older.) She’s eager to use Alarmo to wake up on her own, without my early morning nagging. She also likes Koroks, so I’m pretty sure the Zelda theme will be turned on permanently. At least, until Kirby arrives.

I’m not going to try to justify the need for a $100 alarm clock. If you’re a big enough Nintendo fan, you’ve probably already locked in your pre-order. And there’s a chance it will become more attractive over time if Nintendo manages to add themes and bring the price down. But for now, it’s a reminder that Nintendo can do more than just produce consoles and games. There’s still room for the company to make some weird swings, but it’s just a shame that Alarmo is expensive and imperfect.