Sony ICF-C218 FM Radio

Pros :
- Backup Battery
- Good FM reception
- Large Display ( Just the right brightness )
- Sleep Mode can be set at 90 , 60 , 30 and 15 mins

Cons :
- No digital audio tuning , turn a knob to tune

All in all an amazing buy , will order another one for the second bedroom.

This is a very good radio. The sound quality and loudness is excellent. Reception is clear.

The build quality is generally good. Only the switch to set the alarm mode to off/radio/buzzer feels to be a bit flimsy. Otherwise, it feels solid.

The display is sufficiently bright and displays the time/date/sleeper time information.

The only drawback i can point about this radio is that the FM/AM tuning is done manually through a knob. This makes tuning to the right frequency a bit cumbersome. It doesn't display the frequency on the LED screen either. It is thoroughly old-school, i.e. there is a red bar which moves showing the frequency.

It would have been nice if there was an auto-seek functionality.

Nevertheless, it is still a very good product. Does everything it says it does.

This is an elegant piece of clock radio which I bought based on my experience in the US.
However, I found the following issues with it.
1. This model does not support 12-Hour format which I prefer. It shows time only in 24-Hour format.

2. Battery back is really lousy. Of course, I knew it will not display the time during a power cut, but just keep the internal clock running. However, thanks to very frequent power cuts in our area recently, within a day the tiny little battery got drained out and set time got lost multiple times. I would imagine that providing a 9V battery is more reliable!!!

3. Another funny issue I see is, the FM radio comes on randomly on its own even though I've switched OFF the alarms and stuff. A couple of times, I thought my 5 year old son was fiddling with it!!!

Now I understand why I should go to the store to check the product first, before buying on flipkart. The product is made of cheap plastic. The speakers are bad. The tuning a pain.
The supplied batteries don't work. Avoid this product

I finally got myself an alarm clock after a lot of research on the internet, but there aren't a lot of options for which one to buy. I bought sony one just because of the brand name and nothing else.

Pros: Easy to setup.
Back-up cell is included in the packing itself.(only for storing the date and time)
Bright yellow LED display.
Good radio reception and a loud speaker volume.

Cons: Alarm Volume is too low.
Works only in 24 hours format.
Analog Radio tuning.
No back-up battery if the AC power goes out.
In Bangalore power can go out at anytime, so cant totally rely on the alarm to go off on time.
Its an ideal product for people who live an indo-american life, for me a strict no no. At this price point sony should at-least give a USB port so that it can play your favorite song as an alarm, it will be blissful to get up to your favorite song playing up in the morning.
Now, i have to put up my cell phone as the back-up alarm.

Verdict: The product is outdated. Buy it only if you really wanna buy it and use it as a show piece or just a normal digital table clock.