The new Sound Oasis S-850 travel alarm clock/sound machine has an appearance that is both contemporary and current. It has a really sturdy feel about it. On a device that can produce 19 sounds, yes, we said 19 noises, there are relatively few buttons to choose from. It is equipped with a rotating volume control for those times when there is insufficient light to locate the buttons. When the snooze button is pressed, the face of the clock illuminates in a pleasing shade of blue and remains lighted for around four seconds using the power supplied by the battery. If you often find yourself in the same time zone when travelling, you may take use of a convenient function called “home” or “away” that prevents you from having to adjust the clock or your alarm. If you choose away mode, it will also display the time at home in a smaller type on the face of the watch. A helpful function to have if you want to phone home but can’t quite put your finger on what time it is there.
First Impressions
We were successful in getting this device operational without having to refer to the handbook at any point. However, in order to get the directions on how to erase the note, we were required to search through the handbook.
Sounds
We found the sounds ranging from good to excellent on this unit. The 19 sounds are:
• Ocean Surf-Just waves, no sea gulls
• North Woods-A variety of different birds
• Thunderstorm-Rain and thunder
• White Noise-Just white noise
• Night Train-Just a train
• Spring Rain-Just rain
• Island Surf-Waves with seagulls…a lot of seagulls!
• Bonfire-The crackling of a fire
• Stream-Just a stream sound
• Hidden Cove-Similar to Ocean Surf, no birds
• Wind-Sporadic gusts of wind, about 150 MPH justs!
• Asian Garden-Sounds like rain with a harp playing
• Song Birds-Yep, birds
• Harbor Swell-Waves with the sound of some wind mixed in
• Bamboo Chimes-We’ve heard this playing at a museum exibit
• Summer Night-Frogs and crickets
• Cooling Fan-Love this one! Sounds like a fan
• Rainforest-A stream with some exotic birds
• Jet Lag-A soothing melody with birds chirping
• Memo-20th sound, but does not repeat
You have a total of 15 seconds to record your thoughts using the memo feature. This is helpful for those who need to make a note of anything they recall just before they fall asleep, which is a common occurrence. It is also possible for your significant other to leave you a romantic surprise message using this method.