Sony is pumping out new iPod and iPhone compatible docks and speakers at a mad pace. I regularly check in to see what is being released, and just as something new hits Sweden the sequel is planned and almost ready to ship in the US. Without a vast knowledge of the revenue Sony makes a year I can assume that the pace is held up by demand for new products. Something I find rather strange in the world of docks for the iPhone/iPod is the fact that most of them are based around the same design. A large diagonal speaker box with a dock in front of it. This is a boring trend to me, but for an alarm clock it is rather convenient to get easy access while in bed.
The clock is actually one of the stronger aspects of the DS11iP, as it is large and easy to see. It can be set to bright, medium or dimmed bordering on off. To some even the medium might be too bright at night whereas the dimmed is hard to see at all. I find it extremely usefull to have a visible clock when waking up. The snooze button located at the top is large, and you are able to re-snooze if you haven’t got an urge to go up at 4 am writing reviews. Dual alarms can be set using buttons located next to the iPhone dock.
The sound of the DS11iP is decent, but not more than that. It sounds like a clock radio with a slightly bigger scope to the audio. For a small room like a students dorm it works really well. For parties or trying to cover a living room full of dancing kids it is starting to strain. When the volume goes over 2/3 of max capacity it starts to tear apart the sound, and there is a risk of damaging the speakers. At 2 x 3.5 W this is hardly surprising, and you definitely get the amount of sound you pay for. The problem to me is that it looks more powerful than it is. There are two “equaliser” functions called Mega Bass and Mega Sound. To me a great audio device should be able to do without these kinds of functions, and give a warm rich sound without extra buttons. The Mega Bass adds a bit more warmness and thump to the sound at lower volumes. When cranking the volume the Mega Bass makes it strain earlier, and it makes it even more prone to having the sound cracking up. The Mega Sound is meant to separate and disperse the sound, and it does but as the speaker is small and low powered this doesn’t really enhance the sound. Instead it makes it come out almost distorted to my ears.
The radio is good, and it is easy to set up the channels. Using the iPhone or iPod Touch with the dock is just as easy. Just pop it in, press play and enjoy. Alarms can be set for either the radio or iPhone, and as the iPhone charges during the night this is definitely a handy solution.
There is a small remote with a whole bunch of buttons. It lets you control most aspects of the dock, and also lets you browse through your playlists on the iPhone. To me this is a nice addition, but at the same time if you use the DS11iP as an alarm clock you should already have it in snooze range. I tend to loose small remotes such as this. Another hardware related problem is the short power cable. I tried placing the dock on a shelf on the wall, but ended up having to use an extension cord even though the power socket was right beneath the shelf. The power cord isn’t detachable from the unit, which makes it a pain in the behind when you are trying to connect it behind a bookcase. The short power cord needs to be taken into consideration if you have more than 1 meter between your bed, and your closest power outlet.
I have one final thing to address, and that is the massive amount of buttons. Depending on how I choose to count them I end up with around 20-25 buttons.(preset radio channels included or not) Having lived with my iPhone for a couple of years now with a minimal amount of buttons I find the DS11iP rather excessive. The more buttons, the harder the device is to grasp and use. Using the alarm clock function it is rather easy to accidentally press buttons beside the snooze button. Furthermore my kids manage to set my alarms too easy at times neither I nor they appreciate once the alarms go off. This is not a problem only found with the DS11iP, and quite frankly I had the same issues with my first Walkman from Sony some twenty years ago. Sure it is cool that someone has invented a new function, and that it can be set to work on a button, but all functions don’t need their own buttons. I think the DS11iP could have had just the same functions with around 10 buttons.
+Great as a clock radio.
+Easy to set up, and operate.
+Good sound on lower volumes.
-Short power cord.
-Weak audio on loud volumes.
-Excessive use of buttons cheapens the design.
Criticism aside the Sony ICF-DS11iP is a good alarm clock dock suitable for usage as just that. Staying in bed reading a book while listening to it softly brings out the best in it. It looks quite alright from a distance. A bit austere maybe, but as you look at it from a closer range all the buttons make it look somewhat cheap. It can not replace your stereo if you want to have a party, and that is not what it was intended for either.
Final Rating
Sony ICF-DS11iP Speaker Dock at Sony.com $99.95
