Philips AJ300D

The Philips AJ300D is a convenient alarm clock and iPod speaker dock that offers reasonable sound quality for a competitive price. Offering a large LCD display, wOOx bass technology, and a sleek and stylish design, the AJ300D is an excellent bedside companion.

Sound quality is obviously the most important feature, and although the AJ300D suffers from distortion at higher volume levels, we were left feeling satisfied with the overall quality produced. At reasonable volume levels the system produces punchy and crisp sound, particularly excelling with bass response. Philips has included what they call wOOx bass technology on the rear of the unit, and this is basically a small subwoofer that provides deep and powerful bass despite the system's relatively small size. Unfortunately, sound quality at high volume levels is poor, and the AJ300D suffers from notable distortion.

The AJ300D supports the majority of iPods with a dock connector or any Philips GoGear player thanks to the use of dock inserts. Unfortunately there is no connector included for the iPod nano (2nd Generation), but all other iPods are supported. Conveniently, Philips also includes a rear mounted auxiliary input and standard cable in the sales package, which means you can use the AJ300D with any portable music player - although you won't be able to use this in tandem with the alarm feature.

Being a clock radio, the AD300D also has an FM radio feature with five presets, but you're out of luck if you want to listen to the football as there is no support for AM radio. There are two alarms on the unit, and you can choose to be woken with music from your iPod or GoGear player, the radio, or a standard alarm buzzer. Changing this method is as easy as flicking the switch located on the left hand side of the unit to dock, buzzer, or tuner.

The AJ300D immediately starts playing your iPod as soon as it's docked. If it's recently been played, it will resume the current track. If not, then the first song will start playing. Navigation with the included remote is a little limited; you can adjust volume skip tracks and pause/play tracks but you can't browse through playlists or adjust any iPod settings without using the actual iPod itself.

The design is attractive and measuring 191mm x 164mm x 161mm, the AJ300D is a fairly compact unit. Finished in an all-white and grey design that matches any white iPod, the front of the unit also features a large, bright LCD display. You can conveniently dim or turn off the backlight when the unit is in standby mode by pressing the snooze button. Buttons for power and time set, as well as an audio selector switch are located on the left side, while the right side has five preset buttons for the FM radio. A large snooze button sits on top, in between two alarm buttons. Conveniently, the time and date will remain on the unit for up to five minutes in the event of a blackout.