The only alarm clock among our picks with a design-award pedigree, the sedate beechwood Riki was designed by Japanese modernist Riki Watanabe, whose work was known for being simple yet functional. Why it’s great: If you want a dependable alarm clock with a timeless analog design that’s dead silent and easy to use, the Lemnos Riki checks all of those boxes. The developers recently added Bluetooth speaker functionality and are promising Spotify connectivity and additional sounds as features that are “coming soon.” We’ll update this guide when-and if-these features appear. For instance, we discovered one night that there were a few more soothing classical compositions to wake up to than we’d had the day before and that alarm-scheduling options had been expanded. But on a regular basis this clock can get additional features delivered via Wi-Fi updates. The Loftie isn’t “smart” like other smart alarm clocks, in that you won’t be served the news or the weather with the aid of a voice assistant. The two other buttons are for setting the alarm, accessing brightness and volume settings, setting the duration of the sleep timer, and choosing alarm tones. You won’t be able to read using the light, but it’s bright enough for when you’re fumbling for your glasses or going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

There’s an adjustable night-light hidden at the base that’s easily turned on and off, using the large button on top of the clock (it also works as the snooze button). We also liked the clock’s all-black exterior (it comes in a white and black option, too), which is free of distracting lights or branding. But it’s clear, and it automatically sets the time once connected to a Wi-Fi network. Of clocks we’ve tested, this one’s display isn’t the largest or the brightest. And though the clock’s single-speaker output can be a bit tinny for playing music, it can get surprisingly loud and is just fine for alarm tones and answering Google Assistant prompts. Fortunately, the clock’s two microphones (one in the front, the other in the back) are very sensitive and able to discern commands, even when we used a hushed volume at night. To set the alarm, adjust the volume, or turn on the night-light, it was always much easier to summon help with a “hey, Google …” instead. There’s also a tap at the top to enable the snooze feature, but it sometimes required another touch to register. Unless you’re looking at them from above, the buttons are discernible only by touch, and I often fumbled at night or in the early morning while trying to turn on music or adjust the volume. Even though the clock is outfitted with four evenly distributed buttons-for volume, turning on music, and the alarm settings-they are obscured from view due to the angled wedge design.

Most everything this alarm clock can do is hidden, accessed using its built-in Google Assistant voice controls or with the Google Home app.

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