Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had to search for a while, both locally and online to find a clock radio that offers AM radio. This one was inexpensive and had an "Amazon recommended" note in the description so I used that as a deciding factor. The readout on this is green; through experience, I've learned that blue lights are the brightest and red the least annoying if you prefer a dark room. Green is somewhere in the middle. This one offers a dimming mode for the readout - there are four options from very bright to dim and it was easy to find a setting that works for me. The instructions tell you to simply plug the unit into the socket and the time will automatically set itself to Eastern time. There are instructions to reset if you live in a different time zone which is a good thing, since when I plugged in, the clock did set itself - to exactly two minutes earlier than the actual time. There is an option to set the date, but I'm not interested in that in the middle of the night so I haven't done that. No date shows on the readout and I don't know what it would look like if the date was set. To turn on the radio you have to hold the "on" button down until the station numbers appear, and then wait about 5 seconds for it to turn on. The radio sound is slightly tinny, but not annoyingly so. All settings are made by small, round buttons on the top of the clock. Most of the buttons have two different functions, which can be confusing. The functions are etched into the buttons and clock case with no color differentiation so you're reading black words and symbols on a black case, and in very small print. I have "senior eyes" and find it difficult to see the function of each button. Because of that, and minimal instructions (also in very, very small print) in the manual, my efforts to find and set a radio station led to accidentally setting both wake up alarms. At first, I couldn't figure out why the radio kept turning itself on an hour to an hour and a half after I turned it off. When I figured out what was happening and couldn't find any instructions on how to unset the alarm, I called the Emerson customer service number in the instruction manual. That led to a classic, machine-answered "press one for service, press two for radio," etc., which, when I had pressed the final selection, led to the recording saying "good-bye" and hanging up on me. Three times. I requested a return slip from Amazon and was offered a call from them to discuss the problem. I accepted the offer and received a call within minutes. The person who called took a few minutes to research what I explained, and ultimately gave me accurate directions to turn off the unwanted alarm and correct the time setting. With that resolution, I kept the clock radio. I gave four stars because it's a decent clock radio, one star for accuracy as the instructions are incomplete (no info on turning the alarm), three for sound quality due to the tinniness of sound, and four for value because despite the issues, it does what it says it will do. Update: I've had this clock radio since 9/19, so just over six months. Last night, after going to bed after 1 am, I awakened hours later and looked at the time - the clock read 12:54 am. I checked my phone, and the actual time was 5:57 am. (By the way, the clock loses a minute every month or so.) This morning I unplugged and re-plugged it as it is supposed to set itself when you do this. It did not work. Additionally, the read January 1, 2017 - probably before it was manufactured. Saved radio stations were also lost. I have lowered my rating from four stars to one because a clock radio that malfunctions after six months is not worth owning.