iHome iP9 for iPhone and iPod

Once upon a time iHome got the idea to build an alarm clock that not only docked with your iPod but allowed you to wake up to your iPod’s music, and an entire industry was born. A few years later and we’ve got companies releasing everything from extravagant several hundred dollar iPod alarm clocks with dozens of built-in features to inexpensive fold-up iPod alarm clocks that fit easily in your suitcase and everything in between.



And now here comes the iP9, the fifth generation of iHome’s own original iPod alarm clock (the original version was called the “iH5” if that helps you understand the nomenclature a little better), and while it doesn’t necessarily look that different from the original, it turns out the iP9 runs circles around it for the same original $99 price tag. And equally important for a certain segment of users, it works with the iPhone. Which wasn’t always a given.



First there was the iH9, which was essentially the same product as the iP9 but wasn’t shielded against cellular signals and was therefore essentially unusable with an iPhone (unless you count putting your iPhone in airplane mode to be “usable” anywhere but on an airplane, which I don’t). Then there was the $149-priced iP99 which was iPhone-compatible but was otherwise just a minimal step up from the iH9, meaning that iPhone users were essentially paying a $50 surcharge. But now the iP9 gets it right on all counts. It works equally well with the iPhone and the iPod, offers audio quality superior to any other sub-$100 iPod/iPhone alarm clock product on the market, the dual alarm clocks that so many iH5 users used to complain about not not having back in the day, and the remote control that used to cost $20 extra is now included the $99 package. In fact that remote control has also come a long way as it now offers EQ adjustment as well as the ability to navigate up and down your iPhone or iPod’s hierarchal menus (so long as you’re standing close enough to your iPhone or iPod to be able to read its screen). Throw in the built-in AM/FM radio with presets, and the value proposition keeps increasing.



Suffice it to say that iHome’s flagship $99 alarm clock product has come a long way in the four years since it first hit the market. Being picky would be asking why it now only comes in a choice of black or grey and no longer in the original white, but I suppose that would be like asking Apple why there’s no longer a white iPod on the market.



And of course there are other options out there. Altec Lansing’s Moondance Glow alarm clock (which is annoyingly still incompatible with the iPhone) offers superior qudio quality and a wider set of features, but it also comes with a $179 price tag which puts it in an entirely different category. And iHome’s own iP99 is still around, with its price now reduced to $129, but since it doesn’t offer $30 worth of additional audio quality I can only recommend the iP99 over the iP9 to those users who strongly prefer the iP99’s more tunnel-like styling. And of course Chestnut Hill’s $499 George alarm clock is in a category unto its own.



The bottom line is that the iP9 is the best sub-$100 iPod/iPhone alarm clock product on the market, an impressive fact considering that companies like Logitech and XtremeMac (and too many others to list) have been nipping at iHome for years with impressive alarm clock offerings of their own. And those competing products will continue to come to market as more iPod and iPhone users decide they want to wake up to their own music (and of course we’ll review those products as they do).



But right now my money is on the iP9. If $99 is your budget and you’re not looking for a portable alarm clock (iHome and various competitors offer those as well), the iP9 is hands-down the best alarm clock stereo system for use with your iPhone or iPod.