SDI iHome iHC5S review

The system includes a vertical stand that can hold (albeit loosely) most cell phones. The stand--just a hunk of delicate plastic--leaves room for the phone's charging cable to be attached. It can stand on any flat surface, or slide onto the rear of the iHC5S itself.

We haven't really said anything yet about the clock radio aspects of the iHC5S, but suffice to say the standard stuff is here: dual alarms, snooze bar, dimmer, along with four preset buttons (the FM1/FM2 toggle yields eight total FM presets, plus four for AM). In terms of connectivity, you get a line input for other audio devices and an external mic input (if you want to upgrade from the built-in speakerphone mic). The unit's powered by an AC adapter, but three AA batteries provide alarm clock backup in the event of a power outage. A small remote is also included; it can control basic functions (play/pause, track up/down) on paired devices that support AVCTP (audio/video control transport protocol).

Considering its size, we didn't expect the iHC5S to sound great--and it doesn't. But it doesn't sound terrible, either, though the radio reception on our review unit was poor, even with the wire antenna fully extended. Not surprisingly, the iHC5S is lacking in the bass department and just can't deliver a rich, full sound. Still, for a little bedside music system, it acquits itself well enough, especially if your musical taste tends to favor lighter listening as opposed to hard rock or rap and hip-hop.

While the speakerphone performance may not have been stellar, it was decent enough--we could hear callers fine and they said they could hear us well so long as we didn't stray too far away from the mic. Using the slide-out dialpad, we were able to dial numbers directly from the iHome without ever touching our test cell phone. We also had no trouble answer calls with a touch of the Talk button (on the front of the unit) and end them by tapping the Power button. No complaints there.

Summing up, the iHC5S incorporates some nice features that make it an intriguing choice for owners of Bluetooth-enabled cell phones with A2DP support. That said, the Bluetooth experience wasn't as straightforward or reliable as it should be, which makes the iHC5S hard to recommend at its $150 list price. Find it for closer to $100 and it's worth a closer look. But if not, wait till SDI Technologies works the glitches out and releases its next Bluetooth clock radio. The company has the right idea, it just needs to take it to the next level.